Poster #79 - An evaluation of a preschool-based intervention program to reduce the incidence of challenging behaviors, expulsion rates, and teacher self-efficacy in early education settings

• In Event: Poster Session 06

Abstract

Introduction
Issues with behavioral health often manifest themselves in early childhood and if left unaddressed, they increase a child’s negative experiences in school leading to social and academic difficulties, including school expulsion. A confounding concern is the disproportionate rate of suspension for minority children found in preschool. Considering the adverse consequences of early onset of behavioral difficulties, the frequency of these difficulties in early care and education environments and the potential negative effects, it is crucial to provide training and support in early childhood environments (Gilliam, et al., 2016; Gilliam & Reyes, 2018).

The goal of the current proposal is to evaluate the effectiveness of the Teacher-Child Interaction Training (TCIT), a program that focuses on teacher-child relationships and effective behavioral strategies on:
• Decreasing children’s challenging behavior and increasing their pro-social behaviors
• Increasing teachers’ self-efficacy, increasing their ability to manage challenging behaviors, and decreasing teachers’ burnout

Methods
TCIT (Lyon et al., 2009), adapted from Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), is a 12-week manualized, evidence-based program for children with behavioral challenges. The program includes training and coaching pieces. The training piece consists of two components, (Child-Directed Interactions and Teacher-Directed Interaction), each lasting 6 weeks with a total of four 3-hour didactic workshops. In-vivo coaching takes place once a week for the duration of the intervention (12 weeks) during teachers’ typical routines. Administrators from each school were trained as coaches to work with their teaching staff to support sustainability of the model.

Three early childhood programs serving children from diverse socio-economic, ethnic backgrounds, and abilities participated in the study. A total of six coaches and 24 classrooms were part of the project (8 classrooms per school), with 48 teaching staff implementing TCIT.

A pre-post, wait-list comparison design was implemented with two cohorts of teachers across each program. The following child and teacher domains were assessed:

• Child domain: Children’s behavioral challenges (DECA and SESBI-R)
• Teacher domains: Demographic information, teacher self-efficacy (TSES), teacher burnout (MBI), and TCIT skill acquisition (this was done using a coding system on videotaped interactions)

Results
Currently data analyses are being conducted. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) is being used to evaluate the impact that participating in TCIT has on the dependent variables: Children’s challenging behaviors, children’s pro-social skills, teachers’ self-efficacy, and teachers’ skill acquisition. The role of demographic variables (e.g., years of teaching, educational level, type of program, role in the program) is being included as moderator and mediator variables.

Implications
Considering the adverse consequences of early onset of behavioral challenges, the frequency of these difficulties in early education environments and the potential confounding negative effect of school expulsion, it is crucial to provide training and support in early childhood settings. In fact, teachers report challenging behaviors as their most significant concern and effectively managing behaviors as one of their greatest training needs. The results of this study\ will provide support for the implementation of TCIT across diverse early childhood programs in addressing challenging behaviors effectively while supporting children’s socio-emotional development and teachers’ wellbeing.

Authors

• Nurit Sheinebrg, Nova Southeastern University
  Presenting Author

• Andrea Connell, NSU

• Ana Laterrade, Nova Southeastern University

• Riley Christoph, Nova Southeastern University

• Tyler McCoy, Nova Southeastern University