Promoting Positive Family Support in Middle Schools

Introduction: Positive Family Support is a tiered intervention designed to increase collaboration between families and school personnel during periods of developmental transition or risk.  PFS evolved from intervention trials of the Family Check-Up in schools.  Unlike the efficacy trials, the PFS model is intended to be delivered by school personnel with relatively little support from external consultants. Adaptations to the model for integration into middle schools have included tiered intervention intensity and consultation with school personnel.  We have implemented PFS in 41 middle schools who were randomly assigned to receive support in the model or school as usual.  Our goals were to understand successful factors related to uptake of the model in schools and evaluate the extent of parent engagement in schools who implemented the PFS model.

Method: The PFS model was implemented in 21 intervention middle schools across the state of Oregon. Schools varied on demographics, averaging 500 students per school with 30% ethnically diverse students.  School personnel were trained in the PFS model and received consultation and support over two years of implementation.  Factors related to parent engagement and the  uptake of the model were assessed.

Results: Using a measure designed to assess school-wide implementation, the FAM-SET was collected in each school over 2 years of the study. The FAM-SET is delivered as an interview to school personnel, and assesses the extent of uptake and implementation of the PFS model and related components.  Intervention and control schools were compared on a variety of topics, including positive contacts with parents, family support services, and processes for identifying at-risk students.  Intervention schools significantly differed on all of these variables across the 2 years of the study (d=.40 to 1.85). A PFS Student Readiness Screener (PFS-SRS) was designed as a pragmatic universal screening instrument for parents to report about areas in which middle school students may struggle. Psychometric findings suggest the PFS-SRS assesses a single domain, is internally reliable, and is correlated with teacher- and parent-reports on similar measures. Further, the universal PFS-SRS can be linked with targeted and indicated features of the PFS tiered intervention and with parent engagement.

Discussion: Results suggest that the PFS model can be successfully implemented in schools using proactive and pragmatic methods, and that schools that receive training in PFS show improvements in delivery of key parent engagement components when compared to control schools.  This study has implications for dissemination of family-centered support within schools.