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NCT Number: NCT04465708

HOPS Study: A Conceptual Replication

The purpose of this current study is to conduct a conceptual replication with an independent evaluation team of the randomized controlled trial conducted by Langberg and colleagues, which demonstrated the efficacy of the Homework, Organization, and Planning Skills (HOPS) intervention. The study will be conducted under routine practice conditions with school staff serving as interventionists; the study sample will include the broad range of students with organization, time management, and planning problems. The study will examine how implementation factors (fidelity, engagement, working alliance) are related to outcomes, and it will explore the potential moderating role of school organization factors on outcomes.

Active, Not Recruiting

This study is active but is not currently recruiting participants.

Key information

Conditions

Executive Dysfunction Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders Mental Disorders Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Age range

11 year–15 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19146, United States

About this study

Organization, time management, and planning (OTMP) skills are associated with academic performance. A randomized controlled trial found that the Homework, Organization, and Planning Skills (HOPS) intervention was effective in improving student organization skills and homework performance, with moderate to large effect sizes. HOPS is a 16-session skills training program, provided individually to students in grades 6 through 8 who have OTMP skills deficits that contribute to academic difficulties. Two parent consultations and one teacher consultation promote generalization and maintenance of effects. The current study is a conceptual replication of the previous HOPS study, conducted by an independent evaluation team. The intervention will be delivered under routine practice conditions, with school staff serving as interventionists. The study will examine how fidelity, engagement, and working alliance are related to outcomes, and it will explore the extent to which school organization factors moderate outcomes. Across 30 schools in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Investigators will recruit a total of 240 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students with OTMP deficits. Parents and teachers provide data about the students. School counselors, Principals, and an Individualized Education Plan (IEP)/504 Plan Case Manager may provide data about the organizational context of the schools. The intervention is provided individually to students by a member of the school staff or a member of the research team.

Using a cluster randomized design, Investigators will randomize schools to HOPS or Treatment as Usual - Wait List (TAU-WL), ratio of 2:1. In HOPS schools, students will be randomly assigned to receive intervention by school providers (HOPS-ST) or by research team providers (HOPS-RT). Outcomes will be assessed at Baseline and Post-Treatment period for all students, at 5 school months after Baseline assessment for all students in the HOPS condition, and at 12 calendar months after Baseline for students who are in the HOPS condition and who stay in the same school into the following academic year. Participants in TAU-WL will receive HOPS following Post-Treatment data collection. Participants in TAU-WL will be evaluated again a third time with an abridged battery after they receive HOPS.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

STUDENTS

  • Male or female students in grades 6 through 8.
  • Student is in a general education classroom.
  • Student is nominated for the study by at least one teacher(s) who rates the student as needing the intervention and having OTMP skills deficits that have a negative impact on academic performance (rating > 3 on a 4-point scale on at least one of four interference items of COSS-T)
  • Parental/guardian permission (informed consent) and student assent.

PARENTS

  • The parent/legal guardian's child is eligible for the study

SCHOOL PROVIDERS

  • School providers will be chosen by school administrators as personnel who are capable of delivering the HOPS intervention (HOPS-ST) in the school context.

RESEARCH PROVIDER

  • A person with experience providing instruction or intervention to students in a school context.
  • A member of the research team who will provide the HOPS intervention to the HOPS-RT condition
  • Has consented to be a "secondary research participant"

Exclusion criteria

STUDENTS

  • Students will be excluded if they are in a pull-out special education classroom for more than 50% of the day, because the organizational demands for these students may differ from those placed mostly in general education.
  • Students with a one-to-one aide will be excluded because the presence of an aide substantially alters how an organizational intervention is implemented.
  • Students from families in which both caregivers do not speak English will be excluded because the program has not yet been developed for non-English speakers.
  • Students who may have participated in HOPS before (as it is a commercially-available program) is not eligible to participate in this study.

PARENTS

  • Parents who are not fluent in English are excluded since at this time because the intervention and many of the study outcome measures are not available in other languages.

SCHOOL PROVIDERS

  • Any school professional who declines to participate will not be enrolled.

RESEARCH PROVIDERS

  • Does not consent to be a "secondary research participant"

Treatment and study plan

Homework, Organization, and Planning Skills

Behavioral

HOPS is a 16-session, skills training program, provided individually to students in grades 6 through 8 who have OTMP skills deficits that contribute to academic difficulties. HOPS includes two parent consultations and one teacher consultation to promote generalization and maintenance of effects.

Other names: HOPS

Primary outcomes

  1. Change in Student Functioning at Home

    Time frame: Baseline, 4 calendar months after baseline, 6 school months after baseline, 12 calendar months after baseline

    The Children's Organizational Skills Scale - Parent version (COSS-P) will be used to assess changes in OTMP functioning at home. COSS-P total scores have good discriminant validity and are sensitive to treatment effects. The COSS-P uses a 4-point rating scale (1=Hardly ever or never to 4=Just about all of the time). The COSS-P yields three subscale scores: Materials Management, Organized Actions, and Task Planning. Minimum scores for each subscale and the Total score are 40 and maximum scores are 90, with higher scores representing more impairment. The COSS-P will be used primarily as an outcome measure. In addition, Investigators will examine whether severity of organization problems, as measured by Baseline COSS-P scores, moderates the effect of treatment on academic outcomes.

  2. Change in Student Functioning at School

    Time frame: Baseline, 4 calendar months after baseline, 5 school months after baseline, 12 calendar months after baseline

    The Children's Organizational Skills Scale - Teacher version (COSS-T) will be used to assess changes in OTMP functioning at school. COSS total scores have good discriminant validity and are sensitive to treatment effects. The COSS-T uses a 4-point rating scale (1=Hardly ever or never to 4=Just about all of the time). The COSS-T yields three subscale scores: Materials Management, Organized Actions, and Task Planning. Minimum scores for each subscale and the Total score are 40 and maximum scores are 90, with higher scores representing more impairment. The COSS-T will be used primarily as an outcome measure. In addition, Investigators will examine whether severity of organization problems, as measured by Baseline COSS-T scores, moderates the effect of treatment on academic outcomes.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Change in Student Proficiency in Academic Subject Areas

    Time frame: Baseline, 4 calendar months after baseline, 5 school months after baseline, 12 calendar months after baseline

    The Academic Progress Report (APR) is a teacher-report measure that assesses proficiency in up to six academic subjects relative to standard expectations (1=Well below standard expected at this time of year; 3=At standard; 5=Well above standard). The sum of ratings across six academic subjects is the unit of analysis. The minimum score is 1 and the maximum score is 5, with higher scores indicating higher functioning. Reliability is acceptable (alpha = .84), and this measure is sensitive to treatment effects for an elementary school organizational skills training intervention. For each participating student, Investigators will obtain teacher ratings on the APR from two of the student's academic teachers to attempt to capture the student's academic performance in a standardized fashion.

  2. Change in Student Academic Grades

    Time frame: End of school year prior to year of enrollment, end of school year of enrollment, end of school year after year of enrollment

    Investigators will obtain report card grades for the academic year prior to student enrollment, the academic year of student enrollment, and the academic year following student enrollment for all participating students. Investigators will calculate students' grade point average based on report card grades.

  3. Change in Student Homework Performance at Home

    Time frame: Baseline, 4 calendar months after baseline, 5 school months after baseline, 12 calendar months after baselinee

    The Homework Problem Checklist (HPC) is a 20-item parent-report measure that assesses student homework performance. Factor analyses conducted by Power and Langberg et al., have indicated that the HPC has two distinct factors: Homework Completion and Homework Materials Management. Scores range from a minimum of 0 to a maximum of 60, with higher scores representing higher impairment. The HPC has been shown to be sensitive to the effects of interventions to improve student homework and organization skills.

  4. Change in Student Homework Competence at School

    Time frame: Baseline, 4 calendar months after baseline, 5 school months after Baseline, 12 calendar months after baseline

    The Homework Performance Questionnaire - Teacher Revised Version (HPQ-T) assesses students' homework behavior during the past 4 weeks. Each item is rated on a 7-point scale indicating how often each behavior occurs (never or rarely = 0% to 10% of time; almost always/always = 91% to 100% of time). The 17-item General factor that assesses overall homework competence, which has strong psychometric properties, will be used in the analyses. This score is generated by averaging the scores of items 9-25, with a minimum score of 0 and a maximum score of 6. Higher scores indicate higher functioning.

  5. Progress monitoring of organization skills

    Time frame: For students enrolled in the 2025-26 school year only, the measure will be administered to caregivers and teachers weekly for about 4 weeks (until four forms are completed) and biweekly for about 12 weeks (until the end of the intervention period.

    Children's Organizational Skills Scale (COSS) Screening and Direct Behavior Rating Form (caregiver and teacher versions). This measure (both versions) has 10 items that are scored on a 6-point scale (0=never; 5=all the time). With reverse scoring of some items, higher scores reflect greater organizational skills deficits. The measure yields a Total Score, score on a standard set of five formative assessment items, and a score on a hybrid version consisting of three core items and two individualized items indicating major areas of deficit at baseline. These measures have been validated for use in formative assessment (progress monitoring) by our research team.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Other

Collaborators

  • Rutgers University
  • U.S. Department of Education
  • University of Pennsylvania

Registry information

Official study title

Evaluation of Homework, Organization, and Planning Skills (HOPS) Program: A Conceptual Replication

Important dates

Study start
2021
Primary completion
2027
Study completion
2027
First posted
Jul 10, 2020
Registry last updated
Apr 15, 2026

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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