Implementation of a Multi-Component, Multi-Tiered Early Childhood Intervention Program: Identifying Barriers and Supports

In recent years, early childhood scholars and professionals have examined various intervention programs designed to foster preschoolers’ self-regulatory skills given their links to fewer behavior problems and greater academic competence (Bierman & Torres, in press; Blair & Razza, 2007; Diamond & Lee, 2011; McClelland & Wanless, 2012).  Such skills reflect the ability to manage one’s own behavior, emotions, and attention in a voluntary and adaptive manner (Eisenberg & Spinrad, 2004).  The current study seeks to identify the degree to which teacher, classroom, child, and family factors at baseline serve as barriers and supports to various aspects of the implementation of an early childhood intervention program that targeted the improvement of children’s self-regulation.  In particular, we focus on the implementation of the Chicago School Readiness Project (CSRP), which aimed to enhance low-income children’s preparedness for school in the context of a clustered, randomized controlled trial (RCT) design, using multi-component, multi-tiered mental health intervention services. 

More specifically, this investigation seeks to explain the degree to which child and family characteristics, as well as teacher and classroom factors at baseline explain the implementation of various components of the CSRP intervention.  Implementation will be examined in terms of quality and dosage.  Quality speaks to how well an intervention program meets the needs of participants, and dosage refers to the amount of intervention services participants receive (Durlak & Dupre, 1998; Fixsen et al., 2005; Greenhalgh et al., 2005; Perry et al., 2010; Stith et al., 2006).  Analyses took into account the nested design of CSRP and involved OLS regression models that predicted quality and dosage measures from baseline features of children, families, teachers, and classrooms.

Measures reflect an array of background characteristics and implementation indicators.  The CSRP intervention design includes multiple components, such as teachers’ receipt of behavior management training, teachers’ implementation of behavior management strategies learned from training sessions, and mental health consultants’ coaching of teachers in the classroom (Raver et al., 2008, 2009, 2011).  Implementation measures included dosage in terms of these three intervention components and the quality of the implementation of the latter two components (Li-Grining et al., 2010, in press).  Predictors encompassed characteristics of families (e.g., single parenthood), children (e.g., behavior problems), teachers (e.g., age), and classrooms (e.g., emotional climate). 

Overall, findings suggest that implementation was even across children from various backgrounds and classrooms.  However, significant prediction of some aspects of implementation emerged.  For instance, family factors were related to some teachers’ evaluations of mental health consultants.  Also, children’s initial levels of behavior problems were associated with some indicators of dosage.  In addition, there were links between teachers’ age and implementation measures, and between classroom emotional climate and dosage.