Co-Principal Investigators: Judith Carta; Mary Louise Hemmeter (Vanderbilt University)

Purpose: The purpose of this project is to support teachers' implementation of a tiered model for promoting social-emotional growth in infants and toddlers by adapting an existing evidence-based tiered model and refining a professional development (PD) approach to support the teachers' implementation. Many early childhood teachers lack important skills for supporting children's early social-emotional development. As a result, many children enter kindergarten with or at high risk for challenging behavior that puts them on a trajectory for continuing behavioral and academic problems. Although an array of prevention-based tiered approaches are available for promoting social-emotional competence in preschool-aged children, none have focused on infants and toddlers. The current project will be the first to develop a three-tiered model withPD aimed at supporting teachers' implementation of tiered instruction to promote the social-emotional development of infants and toddlers. The Infant-Toddler Pyramid Practices (based on the Pyramid Model for preschoolers) will include PD to support teachers' implementation of three tiers of instructional practices, including instructional/caregiving practices for high-quality environments for all children, universal screening for behavioral or social-emotional delays, higher tiers of intentional teaching of social-emotional skills, progress monitoring for children in the higher tiers, and a decision-making model to determine appropriate intervention for children's changing social-emotional functioning.  

Project Activities: The project will begin with the iterative process of developing a tiered model for promoting the social-emotional development of infants and toddlers, which will include the adaptation of an existing tiered model for preschoolers and refinement of the PD approach to support teachers in implementing the model with infant and toddlers. In Years 1 and 2, the research team will partner with three advisory boards of stakeholders that will review and provide feedback on the features of each component of the tiered model and the feasibility and acceptability of the PD approach, as well as field test the components with a small number of teachers. Based on the feedback, the research team will refine the PD to support implementation, procedures for using measures to identify children who need higher levels of support, materials for use with infants and toddlers in each tier, and a decision-making framework to assist teachers in making instructional decisions. In Year 3, a randomized controlled trial will be conducted to evaluate the promise of the PD for improving teachers' implementation of the tiered model, teachers' skills in promoting growth on children's social-emotional competence, and children's reduction in challenging behavior.

Products: The products of this project include a fully developed tiered model to promote social-emotional growth in infants and toddlers, including a PD approach to support teacher's implementation of the tiered model. Products will also include peer-reviewed publications and presentations.

Structured Abstract

Setting:  The research will take place in infant/toddler classrooms in Kansas and Tennessee.

Sample: The lead teachers in nine infant-toddler classrooms and at least six children per classroom will participate in the iterative development phase. In the pilot study, 24 infant-toddler classrooms, including 24 lead teachers and at least 6 children per room, will participate.

Intervention: The tiered model for infants and toddlers, Infant-Toddler Pyramid Practices, is an adaptation of the Pyramid Model (designed to promote social-emotional development in preschoolers). The three tiers of the model include universal teaching practices for all children, secondary practices for children at risk for challenging behavior and social-emotional delays, and intensive individualized practices for children who continue to have social-emotional delays and ongoing challenging behavior despite implementation of the earlier tiers. The intervention components to be developed and refined in this project include the following: (1) PD—including group training, materials, and practice-based coaching—to support teachers' implementation of three tiers of instructional practices; (2) universal practices (Tier 1) for promoting the social and emotional development of all infants and toddlers, (3) processes for using sensitive measures to identify children who need higher levels of support, (4) Tier 2 materials for more explicit teaching of social skills, (5) Tier 3 materials for implementing behavior support plans for children who exhibit challenging behavior or social-emotional delays, and (6) a clearly defined decision-making model incorporating universal screening and progress monitoring to assist teachers in making instructional decisions to provide appropriate levels of support at all tiers.

Research Design and Methods: In Years 1 and 2, the research team will partner with three advisory boards, each representing a different group of stakeholders (expert researchers, program administrators and teachers, and families) to obtain feedback on the features of each component of the model. The team will also field test components with nine lead teachers and the infants/toddlers in their classrooms. Based on the input and feedback, the research team will further develop/modify the three-tiered model with its PD approach, accompanying materials for each tier, and procedures for identifying children for higher tiers and making instructional decisions about the appropriate level of support. For the Year 3 pilot study, researchers will use a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the feasibility and promise of the tiered model with its PD approach for improving teacher implementation and student social-emotional outcomes. Teachers will be randomly assigned to the intervention or control condition. Teachers assigned to the intervention will participate in the PD and implement the full tiered model with the children in their classrooms. Baseline data on classrooms, teachers, and children will be collected before PD training; teacher fidelity data will be collected on a regular schedule throughout the school year; and child outcome data will be collected mid- and post-intervention. Data will be analyzed to determine the impact of the tiered model with PD on teachers' implementation of the evidence-based practices that promote children's social-emotional development, as well as children's growth in social-emotional competence and reductions in challenging behavior. The study will also evaluate changes in teacher stress and teacher engagement with families.

Control Condition:  The pilot study will use a business-as-usual control group in which teachers receive only the PD typically provided by their center.

Key Measures: In the iterative development phase, data will be collected through surveys and focus groups on the acceptability of the PD approach, feasibility of the tiered instructional practices, clarity of the coaching, barriers to implementation, and other supports that will be needed to implement the tiered model. In the pilot study, the Teaching Pyramid Infant-Toddler Observation Scale will be used to assess teachers' use of Tier 1 practices. Teacher fidelity of Tiers 2 and 3 instruction will be assessed by researcher-developed fidelity measures. Teachers' engagement with families will be assessed with the Self-Assessment of Family Engagement Practices, teacher stress will be assessed by the Maslach Burnout Inventory, and teacher readiness to implement evidence-based practices will be measured by the Evidence-Based Practice Attitude Scale. Classroom and teacher demographics will also be collected. In terms of child outcomes, social-emotional development will be assessed by the Devereux Early Childhood Assessment for Infants and for Toddlers and the Early Social Indicator will be used to track improvements in child social-emotional competence. Children's challenging behavior will be assessed using the Target Child Observation System.

Data Analytic Strategy: The iterative development will follow qualitative case study procedures for analyzing input from key stakeholders on the components of the tiered model with the PD approach. For the pilot study, the research team will use descriptive, cross-sectional, and longitudinal analytic approaches, including growth curve modeling, to examine the impact of the model on teachers' implementation fidelity and whether fidelity moderates the impact of the intervention on children's social-emotional growth, reduction of challenging behaviors, family engagement, and teacher stress. Analyses will also be conducted to determine whether fidelity moderates the relationship between the child outcomes and teacher stress.

Project Website: https://prism.ku.edu/