A Systematic Review of Teacher-Mediated Interventions to Improve the Mathematical Performance of Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

Abstract

ABSTRACT Students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) demonstrate poor academic outcomes, particularly in mathematics. Student-mediated interventions (e.g., self-management, self-monitoring, self-instruction) are replete in the intervention literature base for students with EBD. However, teacher-mediated interventions have been examined less frequently. The goal of this project was to examine the literature on teacher-mediated interventions to improve the mathematical performance of students with EBD to identify what is known and gaps that need to be filled. A total of 17 studies including 47 students met inclusion criteria; however, only seven studies including 17 students met the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) Pilot Single-Case Design Standards with or without reservations. Using the WWC Evidence Standards, six studies demonstrated moderate evidence of effect and one study demonstrated weak evidence. The omnibus Tau-U was 72% (CI95 62–82%), representing data from the seven studies that met the WWC Design Standards. We calculated the between-case standardized mean difference (BC-SMD) for four studies that met assumptions; the effect sizes ranged from 3.48 to 0.45. Implications for research and practice are discussed.