A Multilevel Examination of the Role of Head Start Teacher Characteristics in Ratings of Child Behavior

• In Event: Poster Session 06
  In Poster Session: PS 06 Topic - School Readiness/Childcare

Abstract

This study sought to understand how Head Start teachers’ levels of depression, attitudes about child development, and job satisfaction relate to their ratings of children’s social skills and problem behaviors. Researchers have become increasingly aware of the influence of teacher mental health on child outcomes, including behavior and social-emotional development (Jennings & Greenberg, 2009; Roberts, LoCasale-Crouch, Hamre, & DeCoster, 2016; Jeon, Buettner, & Snyder, 2014). However, the question remains of whether children in classrooms with teachers who are depressed have more behavior challenges, or if teachers who are depressed perceive child behavior differently. This study further considered the relation between teacher attributes and child behavior through two questions:
1. How are teacher-level attributes (depression, job satisfaction, attitudes) related to teacher reports of children’s behavior?
2. Do teacher and observer reports of child behavior differ as a function of teacher depression?

This study is a secondary analysis of the Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) 2014. Data were weighted to represent Head Start centers across the US. For this study, teacher and observer survey data were used to explore the relations between teacher variables and child social skills and problem behavior. Teacher variables included depression (CES-D; Radloff, 1977), job satisfaction, and attitudes about child development (Teacher Beliefs Scale; Burts et al. 1990). Teacher-reported social skills and problem behavior were reported using the Social Skills Rating System (SSRS; Gresham and Elliott 1990; Elliott et al. 1988) and Behavior Problems Index (BPI; Peterson & Zill, 1986). An independent observer completed the Leiter International Performance Scale Revised (Leiter-R; Roid and Miller, 1997) to report on children’s social skills and problem behavior following a one-on-one testing session. See Table 1 for descriptive statistics.

We first examined bivariate correlations to assess the association among teacher attributes and child behavior. Given the large portion of variance attributed to the classroom level (ICCs > .33), multilevel modeling was used. We next tested the relations between teacher attributes and teacher reports of child skills/behavior (time 2), controlling for child age, sex, and teacher-reported behavior (time 1; Table 2). For question 1, teacher depression and developmentally appropriate attitudes predicted teacher-reported social skills, and job satisfaction predicted teacher-reported problem behavior. For question 2, observer-rated child behavior and an interaction between observer rating and teacher depression were entered into the model predicting teacher-rated child behavior. Results indicated that teacher depression did not moderate the agreement between observer and teacher ratings of child behavior.

This study has important implications for Head Start and early childhood education more broadly. Taken in conjunction with previous research, this study suggests that teacher well-being, specifically depression, attitudes, and job satisfaction, are important factors to consider in interventions addressing child social skills and problem behavior. Further, depression did not moderate agreement between teachers and observers, suggesting that child behavior differences that are not solely a function of teachers experiencing depression viewing children’s behavior more negatively. These results provide support for the need to attend to teacher mental health when assessing and targeting children’s behavior in early childhood education.

Authors

• Kelsey Ann Clayback, University of Virginia - Charlottesville
  Presenting Author

• Callie Silver, Stanford University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Kate Zinsser, University of Illinois at Chicago
  Non-Presenting Author