Date of Award

2011

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

School of Education

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of wraparound services on students' classroom behavior, social behavior, emotional functioning, and academic skills. As a philosophy and a process, wraparound services support the student, family, and teachers by organizing and blending natural supports, interagency services, and behavioral and academic interventions in the schools. Through the Illinois Positive Behavior Interventions in the Schools (IL-PBIS) Network, the schools selected for this study have been supported in implementing school-wide preventions and interventions, targeted interventions with small groups of students not responding to school wide supports, and intensive interventions with students with the most severe emotional and behavioral needs. This dissertation used multiple case study methodology to examine the effects of wraparound services as a part of a three tiered behavioral support system on the emotional and behavioral functioning of two students.

Using surveys completed over time by the students' wraparound teams and stored in an online data management system, the researcher analyzed the effects of wraparound services on the emotional, behavioral, social, and academic functioning of the students. Additionally, the researcher sought to identify how the integrity of wraparound implementation affected student success. Results of this study highlight the truly individualized nature of wraparound, as the students received very different interventions, had different needs, and varying levels of success. This study also sheds light on the levels of success for a student receiving wraparound as a part of special education supports versus a student receiving wraparound as a part of general education supports. Through receiving wraparound supports, both students showed overall improvements both behaviorally and academically, reflecting many studies documenting the connection between academic and behavioral functioning. There was also found to be a high level of integrity of intervention implementation for both students, as rated by their teams.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

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