Project Activities
The researchers will randomly assign schools to INSIGHTS or a business as usual control condition and recruit three cohorts of kindergarten students and their families for participation over two years, with the INSIGHTS program implemented in classrooms and with families in the second half of kindergarten and again in the first half of 1st grade.
Structured Abstract
Setting
The study will take place in rural areas in eastern and central Nebraska where poverty rates range from 30 to 50 percent and the majority of families are White, non-Hispanic.
Sample
Approximately 630 students (and their parents), 90 kindergarten teachers, and 90 1st grade teachers from 30 elementary schools will participate in this study.
Intervention
INSIGHTS is an emotional/behavioral skills intervention that gives children, parents, and teachers a framework for appreciating, supporting, and managing individual differences in temperament to optimize children's behavior and academic achievement. It is delivered to children once per week for 10 weeks in kindergarten and again in 1st grade during class time; teachers receive 2-day workshops and parents receive the intervention in 6 sessions over the same 10-week period.
Research design and methods
Researchers will use a cluster-randomized design with three cohorts of schools. In each cohort, they will randomly assign10 schools to receive INSIGHTS (treatment) or to continue with their typical practices after they recruit kindergarten participants and collect baseline data. There will be four subsequent assessment points: after intervention at the end of kindergarten, at the beginning of 1st grade, after the 1st grade intervention period, and at the end of 1st grade.
Control condition
Schools in the control condition will continue with typical practice but will be offered INSIGHTS training and materials once all data collection is complete.
Key measures
The researchers will use standardized instruments (e.g., the Woodcock-Johnson IV, the School-Age Temperament Inventory) and observational tools (e.g., the Classroom Assessment Scoring System – CLASS) to assess children's achievement, readiness, regulation, temperament, behavior, and family resources; teacher efficacy; and classroom quality. The researchers will use survey and observation methods, document reviews, and attendance logs to identify costs associated with implementation of INSIGHTS in rural Nebraska.
Data analytic strategy
The researchers will use linear mixed models to test the effects of INSIGHTS on students' classroom behavior and academic achievement; teachers' sense of efficacy and classroom quality; and parent involvement and self-efficacy. They will use multilevel structural equation modeling to test moderators of effects (e.g., school readiness, temperament). They will also test whether pre-post improvements in classroom environment quality and children's behavior, enhanced classroom quality, and better teacher self-efficacy are at least partial mediators of the effect of INSIGHTS on child academic outcomes.
People and institutions involved
IES program contact(s)
Products and publications
Products: Researchers will produce evidence of whether the positive effects of INSIGHTS for kindergarten and 1st grade teachers, families, and students in New York City can be replicated in rural Nebraska communities. The researchers will produce peer-reviewed publications along with working papers and briefs summarizing methods and lessons for practice shared through print, digital (i.e., web, email), and social media (e.g., Twitter, Facebook) channels.
ERIC Citations: Find available citations in ERIC for this award here.
Related projects
Supplemental information
Co-Principal Investigator: Rudasill, Kathleen
Questions about this project?
To answer additional questions about this project or provide feedback, please contact the program officer.