Improving school readiness of high-risk preschoolers: Combining high quality instructional strategies with responsive training for teachers and parents
Introduction
There is growing consensus that providing young children, particularly those from low socioeconomic status (SES) homes, with high-quality classroom experiences prior to entering kindergarten is a key to closing a well-documented achievement gap (e.g., National Assessment of Educational Progress, 2009). High quality prekindergarten (pre-k) experiences increase the likelihood that children will enter school with the skills necessary for academic success (e.g., Heckman, Moon, Pinto, Savelyev, & Yavitz, 2010). However, many existing pre-k programs are not of high enough quality to assure that children from higher risk backgrounds will get the learning experiences they need to be school ready (e.g., Burchinal, Kainz, & Cai, 2011). For example, in the most recent impact study of Head Start, a federally funded preschool program for children from very low-SES homes, only a few small positive effects in cognitive and social skills occurred across pre-k, and these did not persist through first grade (USDHHS & ACF, 2010). Also, interventions implemented to enhance the effectiveness of pre-k programs, like Head Start, have yielded mixed results, and when there are improvements they are often small (Burchinal et al., 2011).
One potential solution to this problem of small impacts for many pre-k programs serving low-SES students is to increase parent responsiveness and support for school readiness in children’s home environments. Many pre-k programs, particularly Head Start, acknowledge the importance of having a parent component (Zigler & Muenchow, 1992), but parent involvement varies greatly across Head Start programs due, in part, to the quality of parenting programs chosen (Cooper & Lanza, 2014). There are few examples of Head Start programs incorporating parent programs that have evidence of effectiveness from experimental studies (Cooper & Lanza, 2014). There is a dearth of experimental studies evaluating effects on young children’s school readiness of a combined approach in which a high-quality pre-k classroom program is paired with an evidence-based parent program. This study examined the individual and combined impact of a school and home intervention that have both been shown to be effective.
Children from low-SES backgrounds often enter preschool behind in school readiness skills (e.g., Son & Morrison, 2010). School readiness is a multidimensional construct including cognitive skills (e.g., oral language, early literacy), social and behavioral skills, and self-regulation skills. The learning gains required for children from high-risk homes to be prepared for school are often not realized and can ultimately contribute to high dropout rates (Duncan & Sojourner, 2013) or reduced benefits from schooling (Lynch, Law, Brinkman, Chittleborough, & Sawyer, 2010). Early childhood teachers’ ability to provide the quality and intensity of learning experiences necessary for children from low-SES backgrounds to “catch up” in their development is hindered by many factors, one of which is teachers’ limited professional preparation and knowledge (Burns, Donovan, & Bowman, 2000). Educating young children requires teachers to have a deep understanding of curriculum content, pay attention to individual learning needs, and reflect on their teaching practices (e.g., Burns et al., 2000).
Research demonstrates that caregivers in the home environment can facilitate young children’s development of cognitive and social skills so they are better prepared to enter school (e.g., Bakermans-Kranenburg, Van IJzendoorn, & Juffer, 2003). However, this is less likely to happen in homes where parents have limited education and low incomes. Multiple life stresses, poor parental role models, and a limited understanding of their important role as their child’s teacher are contributing factors to this cycle (e.g., McLoyd & Wilson, 1990). Poverty is associated with low levels of rich language input (Hart & Risley, 1995), decreased experiences with books (Federal Interagency Forum on Child & Family Statistics, 2009), less responsiveness to children’s signals and needs (Landry, Smith, Swank, Assel, & Vellet, 2001), and more frequent use of power-assertive techniques (McLoyd, 1990, Van Zeijl et al., 2006). Thus, children from low-SES backgrounds are less likely to experience parenting behaviors known to predict more optimal school outcomes (e.g., Wakschlag & Hans, 1999).
Given the pragmatic challenges of preparing children from low-SES backgrounds for school and research demonstrating the importance of responsive adults in supporting children’s development, intervening in both the classroom and home environments may best promote children’s school readiness. Theoretical frameworks that consider person-environment fit (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2006) and correlational research (Barbarin, Downer, Odem, & Head, 2010) suggest that providing pre-k children with congruent teacher and parent emotionally responsive, cognitively stimulating practices optimally supports school readiness. In turn, better alignment between these two environments may allow children to use their cognitive and emotional resources to learn more from their interactions with more competent adults. We further detail theoretical and empirical support for this theory of change below.
Parenting research across different theories and research frameworks (e.g., attachment: Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978; socio-cultural: Rogoff, 1990) describes the importance of responsive adults for children’s optimal early development. Responsiveness encompasses a range of emotionally and cognitively responsive adult behaviors and practices that collectively support children’s social, behavioral, self-regulation and cognitive skills (e.g., Bornstein and Tamis-LeMonda, 1989, Grusec and Goodnow, 1994). Emotionally responsive parenting includes high levels of warm, reciprocal behaviors that acknowledge children’s signals and needs in ways that are prompt and contingent to what children are signaling (e.g., Dunst & Kassow, 2008). Cognitively responsive parenting integrates rich language input and actions that build on and scaffold children’s interests so children are appropriately challenged and supported as they learn new concepts and skills (e.g., Tamis-LeMonda, Bornstein, & Baumwell, 2001). Following the child’s lead and responding contingently are thought to support learning, in part, by facilitating the child’s development of mechanisms for coping with stress and novelty in his or her environment (Ainsworth et al., 1978). With repeated experiences of these responsive practices, trust is formed between the caregiver and child that allows the child to internalize this sense of security and generalize learning to new experiences. Evidence from experimental responsive parenting interventions demonstrates that when responsive practices are increased, children show gains in independent problem-solving, language, and social skills (Bakermans-Kranenburg et al., 2003; Landry, Smith, Swank, & Guttentag, 2008) as well as behavioral development (Van Zeijl et al., 2006).
A central hypothesis of the current study was that children would benefit from the interactive effect of providing both high quality, responsive instruction in preschool and a responsive parenting intervention. There are several reasons for this expectation. As teachers are learning to implement organizational strategies, activities, and responsive interactions with children that promote language development, pre-literacy skills, and self-regulation, parents are simultaneously learning related skills at home, including how to promote their children’s language skills, increase children’s focused attention, manage behavior using positive strategies, and increase interactive book-reading. Thus, children may be receiving more exposure to activities that promote language, literacy, and attention-focusing skills than they would if only the home or school environment were receiving intervention (i.e., additional dosage). A second reason to expect an enhanced effect of this dual intervention model is related to increased alignment between home and school expectations and practices, which provides greater consistency for children. Churchill (2003) examined the concept of “goodness of fit” between the alignment of Head Start parents’ and teachers’ expectations of children and parenting behaviors, and found that the fit between parent and teacher was significantly positively correlated with children’s observed social skills.
Few studies have experimentally examined the effects of parent-plus-teacher interventions on school readiness skills. A few have specifically examined the effects of dialogic reading interventions, programs that train adults to do shared book reading to support children’s language development (see Mol, Bus, de Jong, & Smeets, 2008). Dialogic reading studies have produced mixed results when examining a parent-plus-teacher approach. One study reported better language outcomes for classroom only and classroom-plus-home interventions relative to a control group (Whitehurst et al., 1994), while another study found effects were largest for a home only condition, not a combination of a home and classroom intervention (Lonigan & Whitehurst, 1998). Yet another study examining a print referencing style of shared reading found no added benefit of a school-plus-home intervention relative to classroom only print-focused condition (Justice, Logan, Kaderavek, & Dynia, 2015). Differences in outcomes across these studies may be due to a number of factors including low levels of implementation by parents in some studies and differences in program intensity. As all of these studies incorporated parent programs that specifically target book reading, an activity that is not always an everyday activity for low SES families, it raises the question of whether parent interventions that go beyond reading would show an added benefit when combined with a classroom based program.
There may be advantages for the implementation of more global parent responsiveness interventions versus one specifically targeting one home activity (e.g., shared book reading). A recent study in Head Start programs combined a classroom enrichment program with a parent program that extends from preschool through the transition to kindergarten (Bierman, Welsh, Heinrichs, Nix, & Mathis, 2015). Home visits trained parents to use responsive interactions, dialogic reading and various language and literacy activities. Relative to a comparison group, effects were found for literacy skills and teacher-report of academic and social skills but not for vocabulary or reading fluency. Other parent programs that target a broad range of responsive parenting behaviors through home-based coaching have been shown to impact children’s learning in multiple contexts (e.g., everyday activities, play, book reading, independent play, and interactions with unfamiliar adults) and their language, social, and emotional skills (Guttentag et al., 2014, Landry et al., 2008, Van Zeijl et al., 2006). The addition of a coach working with families to support the use of new behaviors across everyday activities may have the added benefit of enhancing parent implementation compared with programs that target one specific activity (e.g., book reading). Results across this limited body of experimental research demonstrate the need for further examination of the added benefit of engaging parents of children from low-income homes to use responsive behaviors that support school readiness.
Parent and teacher support of several aspects of young children’s development are of interest in this study because they are all required for school readiness. These domains include cognitive skills, social and behavioral skills, and self-regulatory processes. Cognitive skills include oral language and early literacy (e.g., letter knowledge, phonological awareness) skills, while social and behavior skills include behaviors such as cooperation, social engagement, and comfort with new situations. Self-regulation skills involve children’s ability to sustain attention to goal-directed activity, resist interference from competing sources of stimulation, regulate their emotions, and respond effectively to situations that are motivationally significant (Garon, Bryson, & Smith, 2008). Children from low-SES homes often show difficulties developing these skills (e.g., Noble, Norman, & Farah, 2005).
Adults can support preschool children’s cognitive skill development by providing a stimulating environment with engaging, playful learning activities (Burns et al., 2000). Caregivers and teachers can foster social, behavioral and self-regulation skills by providing sensitive support for children’s immature attentional and communication skills, help in identifying the goals of a task, and in planning how to achieve the goal (e.g., Bernier, Carlson, Deschenes, & Matte-Gagne, 2012). Responsive parenting is related to the development of social and self-regulation skills, including tasks that require inhibiting a response when problems are emotionally arousing (i.e., effortful control: Bernier et al., 2012; Sroufe, Coffino, & Carlson, 2010). Several studies show positive effects on self-regulatory skills using interventions (e.g., curriculum, classroom routines) that trained educators to support these skills (e.g., Domitrovich, Cortes, & Greenberg, 2007; Raver et al., 2011).
The current study examined the separate and interactive benefits of classroom and parent interventions for preschool-age children in Head Start programs. The study design addressed a question that has not received much attention from experimental studies, namely the extent to which training adults (teachers, parents) across home and school settings to use similar responsive practices, but different types of learning activities, can promote school readiness skills. The interventions targeted key aspects of the home and classroom with the greatest potential to support preschool children’s learning, namely responsive, intentional adult caregiving behaviors and language- and literacy-promoting activities (Hart and Risley, 1995, Pianta and Steinberg, 1992).
Experimental studies of the present parent intervention, Play and Learning Strategies (PALS), have shown significant increases in parents’ use of behaviors that are responsive to children’s signals and those that support children’s language skills (range of effect sizes, d = 0.30–0.52). Increases in these behaviors, in turn, mediated significant increases (d range = 0.16–0.38) in children’s language, cognitive and social-emotional skills (Landry et al., 2008; Landry, Smith et al., 2011). The framework for PALS includes four specific areas of responsiveness in the home environment documented to be important for promoting growth in cognitive and social skills: (1) maintaining vs. redirecting children’s attentional focus and interests, (2) contingent responsiveness, (3) rich language input, and (4) warm sensitivity (Landry et al., 2008).
Within the classroom these same responsive practices were targeted and combined with training in the use of: (1) progress monitoring assessments, (2) whole- and small-group instruction for cognitive activities, (3) repeated exposure to concepts to expand understanding, and (4) a balance of teacher- vs. child-directed activities. The classroom intervention, The Early Education Model (TEEM), was implemented through face-to-face, small-group teacher trainings that used a web-based, multicourse program combined with in-classroom coaching to support implementation. In two large experimental studies, TEEM has demonstrated greater increases (moderate to large effect sizes) in teachers’ practices compared to teachers who did not receive TEEM, as well as gains in children’s language and literacy skills (small effect sizes) compared to children in control classrooms (Landry, Anthony, Swank, Monsegue-Bailey, 2009; Landry, Swank, Anthony, & Assel, 2011).
Using a randomized control design in which intervention conditions were completely crossed (i.e., PALS/No TEEM, TEEM/No PALS, PALS + TEEM, and No PALS/No TEEM), we considered three research questions. First, what are the impacts of the TEEM intervention on teacher behaviors? Second, what are the impacts of the PALS intervention on parent behaviors? We examined adult behaviors that constitute responsive practices and promote school readiness. Third, what are the benefits of each of the interventions on the school readiness skills of preschoolers from socioeconomically disadvantaged families? As part of this question we also asked, to what extent are additive or interactive effects present in child outcomes when the two interventions are implemented simultaneously?
In the home setting we provided the program in English or Spanish according to parents’ preference. We hypothesized that the PALS intervention would promote changes in parent behaviors such as warm responsiveness and cognitive scaffolding, and positive changes in children’s school readiness, compared to the No PALS condition (Landry et al., 2008, Landry, Smith et al., 2011, Landry, Swank et al., 2011). For the TEEM classrooms, instruction and coaching on responsiveness and effective instructional approaches were expected to result in greater improvement in teachers’ behaviors and children’s school readiness outcomes compared to control classrooms (Landry, Anthony et al., 2009, Landry, Swank et al., 2009). We expected the greatest impact of combined parenting and classroom interventions. These changes in children’s experiences, across two settings, were hypothesized to intersect to promote greater improvements in school readiness skills compared to each intervention alone or control condition.
Section snippets
Research design
We recruited Head Start centers in the Houston and Austin metro areas across three academic years. Directors of six Head Start agencies were contacted and all agreed to participate. One classroom per building was eligible to participate each year. Classroom teachers were randomized to either the TEEM (n = 39) or ‘No TEEM’ control (i.e., business as usual, n = 38) conditions. Parents of children in all classrooms were invited to participate and sign informed consents. Of the 828 total children with
Pre-analysis data inspection
Pre-analysis data inspection included examination of patterns of missing data, potential outliers, and departures from normality. Mild departures from normality were found for several variables. Non-normality of variables was handled using different model assumptions (e.g., Poisson, negative binomial, logistic). In all analyses, maximum likelihood estimation was employed, which yields unbiased estimates in the presence of missing data when the pattern of missingness is ignorable, which is
Discussion
This study examined whether training both teachers and parents to use an emotionally- and cognitively-responsive style would result in greater school readiness skills for children enrolled in Head Start programs than either intervention alone or a control group. Results showed significant increases in targeted adult behaviors across the school and home. Some intervention effects were observed for children’s school readiness skills, but we consider below possible reasons why group differences
Conclusions
Similar to recent shared book reading studies (Justice et al., 2015, Lonigan and Whitehurst, 1998), the hypothesis that simultaneous, aligned teacher-plus-parent interventions would be more powerful than the classroom program alone or the home program alone was not broadly supported. The only instance of a significant, positive interaction was for children’s engagement during book reading for students experiencing both the classroom and home programs. Findings of this study demonstrate the
Author note
The research reported here was supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grant R305A090212 to the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston as well as a gift from the Still Water Foundation. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of the Institute or the U.S. Department of Education nor those of the Still Water Foundation.
Acknowledgements
This project would not have been accomplished without the support of the following Head Start Agencies: (1) AVANCE Houston, (2) Gulf Coast Community Services Association, (3) Harris County Department of Education, (4) Neighborhood Centers Incorporated, (5) Tri-County Child Development Council, and (6) Child Inc., Austin, Texas.
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