Immediate effects of a school readiness intervention for children in foster care
Pears, K. C., Fisher, P. A., Kim, H. K., Bruce, J., Healey, C. V., & Yoerger, K. (2013). Early Education & Development, 24, 771-791.
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examining192Students, gradePK
Grant Competition
Review Details
Reviewed: December 2018
- Grant Competition (findings for Kids in Transition to School)
- Randomized Controlled Trial
- Meets WWC standards with reservations because it is a randomized controlled trial with high attrition, but the analytic intervention and comparison groups satisfy the baseline equivalence requirement.
This review may not reflect the full body of research evidence for this intervention.
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Findings
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS): Letter Naming Fluency subtest |
Kids in Transition to School vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Full sample;
|
9.27 |
8.52 |
No |
-- |
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Sample Characteristics
Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.
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Female: 51%
Male: 49% -
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West
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Race Black 1% Native American 2% Other or unknown 14% Pacific Islander 2% White 52% -
Ethnicity Hispanic 30% Not Hispanic or Latino 70%
Study Details
Setting
Children in the study were in nonkinship or kinship foster care. The intervention for children and families involved in the child welfare system was delivered in early childhood centers and school-based classrooms in two counties in the Pacific Northwest. The study sample included children entering kindergarten in the fall, and the intervention was delivered in the summer before kindergarten entry.
Study sample
Sample demographics for the consented sample are reported for each group, but not for the full sample. Information on age, gender, and race/ethnicity are reported, and the groups were demographically equivalent on these observed variables. Generally, the groups were half male (KITS-SRP: 52%, FCC: 46%), half European American (KITS-SRP: 55%, FCC: 51%), almost one-third Latino (KITS-SRP: 30%, FCC: 31%), and around one-sixth other racial/ethnic groups (KITS-SRP: 15%, FCC: 18%). No information on socioeconomic status (e.g., free-and-reduced lunch) is reported.
Intervention Group
KITS-SRP is implemented in center- or school-based classrooms during the 2 months prior to kindergarten entry, in order to prepare children in foster care for kindergarten. It consists of a 24-session, child-focused curriculum (with 2 hours sessions meeting twice weekly) which teaches children self-regulatory, prosocial, and early literacy skills. This component is taught by a graduate-level lead teacher and two assistant teachers to groups of 12 to 15 children. The caregiver-focused component also uses a manualized curriculum, meets at the same time as the child-focused groups, and is taught by one facilitator and one assistant.
Comparison Group
FCC, the foster care comparison group, received child welfare services as usual, which could include any number of psychosocial and health interventions, including which child psychotherapy, speech therapy, Head Start programs, or another early childhood education program.
Support for implementation
The school readiness teachers and the caregiver group facilitators completed a standardized 40-hour training program. They also attended weekly intervention team meetings to review progress of children and caregivers and tailor intervention strategies to address behavioral and literacy needs that were identified in the meetings. The children and caregivers received supplemental materials and weekly homework assignments through Home-School Connection newsletters to outline school readiness topics and home practice actvities.
An indicator of the effect of the intervention, the improvement index can be interpreted as the expected change in percentile rank for an average comparison group student if that student had received the intervention.
For more, please see the WWC Glossary entry for improvement index.
An outcome is the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are attained as a result of an activity. An outcome measures is an instrument, device, or method that provides data on the outcome.
A finding that is included in the effectiveness rating. Excluded findings may include subgroups and subscales.
The sample on which the analysis was conducted.
The group to which the intervention group is compared, which may include a different intervention, business as usual, or no services.
The timing of the post-intervention outcome measure.
The number of students included in the analysis.
The mean score of students in the intervention group.
The mean score of students in the comparison group.
The WWC considers a finding to be statistically significant if the likelihood that the finding is due to chance alone, rather than a real difference, is less than five percent.
The WWC reviews studies for WWC products, Department of Education grant competitions, and IES performance measures.
The name and version of the document used to guide the review of the study.
The version of the WWC design standards used to guide the review of the study.
The result of the WWC assessment of the study. The rating is based on the strength of evidence of the effectiveness of the intervention. Studies are given a rating of Meets WWC Design Standards without Reservations, Meets WWC Design Standards with Reservations, or >Does Not Meet WWC Design Standards.
A related publication that was reviewed alongside the main study of interest.
Study findings for this report.
Based on the direction, magnitude, and statistical significance of the findings within a domain, the WWC characterizes the findings from a study as one of the following: statistically significant positive effects, substantively important positive effects, indeterminate effects, substantively important negative effects, and statistically significant negative effects. For more, please see the WWC Handbook.
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Tier 1 Strong indicates strong evidence of effectiveness,
Tier 2 Moderate indicates moderate evidence of effectiveness, and
Tier 3 Promising indicates promising evidence of effectiveness,
as defined in the
non-regulatory guidance for ESSA
and the regulations for ED discretionary grants (EDGAR Part 77).