Cost Analysis of BEST in CLASS-Elementary: Average Cost per Teacher-Student Dyad and Marginal Cost per Additional Student.

This study used the Ingredients Cost Method (Levin & McEwan, 2001) to calculate the average cost of implementing BEST in CLASS-Elementary, a Tier 2 program that trains and coaches teachers to provide support to focal students who have unwanted problem behavior. Data were used from kindergarten to third-grade classrooms in a multisite randomized controlled trial. We describe the average cost of implementing BEST in CLASS-Elementary per teacher-student dyad as well as the marginal cost of adding up to two additional students in classrooms receiving the training and coaching. Data from 136 teacher student dyads (N = 63 teachers) were used in the current study. The average cost to implement the program, including teacher recruitment costs, was $2,866 per teacher-student dyad in a classroom, and the marginal cost of adding an additional focal student per treated classroom was $101. The actual intervention accounted for less than half of the total costs and coaches accounted for the highest investment (almost half of the total costs). Limitations of the current study as well as implications for future research in this area are discussed.