WWC review of this study

Supporting Preschool Children with Developmental Concerns: Effects of the Getting Ready Intervention on School-Based Social Competencies and Relationships

Sheridan, Susan M.; Knoche, Lisa L.; Boise, Courtney E.; Moen, Amanda L.; Lester, Houston; Pope Edwards, Carolyn; Schumacher, Rachel; Cheng, Katherine (2019). Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED611793

  • Randomized Controlled Trial
     examining 
    136
     Students
    , grade
    PK

Reviewed: May 2022

At least one finding shows promising evidence of effectiveness
At least one statistically significant positive finding
Meets WWC standards without reservations
School Climate outcomes—Indeterminate effect found for the domain
Outcome
measure
Comparison Period Sample Intervention
mean
Comparison
mean
Significant? Improvement
    index
Evidence
tier

Parent-Teacher Relationship Scale (PTRS)

Getting Ready vs. Business as usual

0 Days

Spring Year 2;
63 teachers

4.54

4.34

No

--
Show Supplemental Findings

Parent-Teacher Relationship Scale (PTRS)

Getting Ready vs. Business as usual

-6 Months

Interim Outcome: Fall Year 2;
67 teachers

4.43

4.28

No

--

Parent-Teacher Relationship Scale (PTRS)

Getting Ready vs. Business as usual

-1 Years

Interim Outcome: Spring Year 1;
85 teachers

4.25

4.22

No

--
Student Behavior outcomes—Statistically significant positive effect found for the domain
Outcome
measure
Comparison Period Sample Intervention
mean
Comparison
mean
Significant? Improvement
    index
Evidence
tier

Student-Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS)

Getting Ready vs. Business as usual

0 Days

Spring Year 2;
135 students

125.99

120.32

Yes

 
 
18
 

Social Skills Improvement System-Rating Scale (SSIS-RS): Social Skills Scale

Getting Ready vs. Business as usual

0 Days

Spring Year 2;
136 students

105.51

100.73

No

--

Social Skills Improvement System-Rating Scale (SSIS-RS): Problem Behaviors

Getting Ready vs. Business as usual

0 Days

Spring Year 2;
136 students

96.81

100.41

No

--
Show Supplemental Findings

Social Skills Improvement System-Rating Scale (SSIS-RS): Problem Behaviors

Getting Ready vs. Business as usual

-1 Years

Interim Outcome: Spring Year 1;
230 students

103.57

106.17

No

--

Social Skills Improvement System-Rating Scale (SSIS-RS): Social Skills Scale

Getting Ready vs. Business as usual

-6 Months

Interim Outcome - Fall Year 2;
145 students

98.65

96.95

No

--

Social Skills Improvement System-Rating Scale (SSIS-RS): Social Skills Scale

Getting Ready vs. Business as usual

-1 Years

Interim Outcome: Spring Year 1;
234 students

92.57

91.61

No

--

Student-Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS)

Getting Ready vs. Business as usual

-1 Years

Interim Outcome: Spring Year 1;
235 students

115.94

115.81

No

--

Social Skills Improvement System-Rating Scale (SSIS-RS): Problem Behaviors

Getting Ready vs. Business as usual

-6 Months

Interim Outcome - Fall Year 2;
146 students

121.74

119.26

No

--

Student-Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS)

Getting Ready vs. Business as usual

-6 Months

Interim Outcome - Fall Year 2;
146 students

99.54

102.98

No

--


Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.

Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.


  • Female: 44%
    Male: 56%

  • Rural
  • Race
    Black
    4%
    Native American
    2%
    Other or unknown
    11%
    Two or more races
    12%
    White
    71%
  • Ethnicity
    Hispanic    
    30%
    Not Hispanic or Latino    
    70%
  • Eligible for Free and Reduced Price Lunch
    Other or unknown    
    100%

Setting

This study was conducted with students, educators, and parents across 94 publicly funded preschool classrooms in school systems or Head Start agencies in a Midwestern state.

Study sample

A total of 136 pre-school children were included in the study. The 136 children were taught by 97 teachers. To be eligible for the study, children had to be eligible for two years of early childhood education (ECE) at the time they entered the clusters to enable them to participate in the full two years of the intervention, meet criteria related to family income, special education status, and family receipt of public assistance, complete the DIAL-4 screening, and score 90 or below in the cognition, language, and/or social skills portions of the screening measure. Fifty-six percent of children were male and one-third of students had an individualized education program, which indicates that they have a disability. Seventy-one percent of children were White, 4% were Black, 2% were Native American, less than 1% were Asian, and 23% were two or more races or did not report race. Thirty percent of the children identified as Latino or Hispanic. The majority of parents (78%) received public assistance over the last 12 months. The researchers randomly assigned 48 teachers to the intervention group and 49 teachers to the comparison group.

Intervention Group

Getting Ready is a parent engagement intervention that aims to promote school readiness for children from birth to age 5. The intervention focuses on strengthening relationships between homes and schools by utilizing a set of strategies educators can use to support parent’s participation in their child’s early learning. The strategies can be used in unstructured interactions, such as child drop-off or pick-up, or notes sent home, and during structured interactions such as home visits or parent-teach conferences. For this study, there were 6 structured interactions per school year (12 total across the 2-year study) with at least one parent, the ECE, and the child. On average, families participated in 13 structured contacts with educators during the 2-year study.

Comparison Group

Parents and children in the comparison condition received business-as-usual preschool services, which involves four parent–ECE contacts per school year (two 60-min home visits and two parent–ECE conferences). In addition, to help provide equivalent time that ECEs spent with parents, two additional structured contacts were offered to each parent annually, for a total of 12 structured contacts over the 2-year study. On average across the 2-year study, educators and parents in the comparison group participated in 11 structured contacts.

Support for implementation

Educators in the intervention condition received a 1-day training at the beginning of their participation in the study. Additionally, twice a month for 2 years they received ongoing professional development through 90-minute individualized and group coaching.

 

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