Partners in School: Promoting Continuity across Home and School for Children with Autism by Improving Parent-Teacher Communication during the Transition to School

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PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT The goal of this Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development (K23) Award is to support the can- didate in launching a career as a school-based mental health services researcher. The overarching goal of the candidate’s research is to maximize continuity for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by ensuring that parents and teachers are aligned in conducting the same evidence-based practices (EBPs) across home and school. Training at the Kennedy Krieger Institute and Johns Hopkins University is proposed under the guidance of Rebecca Landa, PhD, and a team of multidisciplinary co-mentors. Training goals include: 1) de- veloping expertise in the communication needs of parents and teachers during the transition to school (i.e., pre-k) for children with ASD; 2) translating strategies developed in health communication theory and practice for use in early childhood educational settings; and 3) gaining skills in conducting school-based trials with the use of mixed methods. The research proposed builds logically from the candidate’s NRSA F32 used to develop Partners in School, a consultation model where parents and teachers of elementary children with ASD are supported in duplicating intervention elements from school to home. This model is lacking an explicit focus on education communication skills (ECS) training during the transition to school. The gap may be addressed using the LEAPS framework, a patient-physician communication intervention comprised of web-based videos. The research goals of this K23 are to: 1) refine Partners in School by adapting LEAPS for use in educational set- tings; and 2) apply it to improve parent-teacher communication during the transition to school for children with ASD. Aim 1 proposes to adapt the LEAPS framework for parents and teachers of children with ASD transition- ing to school. Qualitative methods will be used with three focus groups (n=6 parents; n=6 teachers; n= 6 par- ents and teachers). Aim 2 will use mixed methods to pilot test the feasibility and acceptability of the ECS vide- os. After finishing the ECS trainings, parent-teacher dyads (n=10) will complete a survey and be interviewed, resulting in a final set of 18 ECS videos. In Aim 3, teachers (n=24) will be randomized to Partners in School with (n=12) or without (n=12) ECS. Each teacher will work with a parent of two different children (n=48), result- ing in 24 dyads per condition. There will be two waves of data collection (pre and post). Mechanisms of change include communication knowledge (ECS), aligned orientation (alliance, relationship quality), and skills (problem solving). Proximal outcomes are fidelity (parent or teacher fidelity to the co-constructed student intervention plan, SIP) continuity (parent and teacher fidelity to the SIP), and feasibility and acceptability of Partners in School with ECS. Distal outcomes include parent-teacher (self-efficacy, satisfaction) and child (improvements in behavior and parent/teacher concerns) variables. This work is aligned with NIMH’s priorities because it es- tablishes a research-practice partnership, develops a service delivery model by adapting an evidence-based health communication strategy, and applies this new method to improve access and continuity of care.