Emotions Matter:Classroom-based Integrated Intervention

描述(由申请人提供)：拟议研究的主要目的是通过一套基于课堂的干预措施来降低低收入学龄前儿童出现行为问题的风险，从而改善他们的入学准备。以下研究将确定学龄前以情感和行为为重点的干预措施是否对一年级儿童的学习成绩(通过标准化测试衡量)产生重大的长期影响。学校记录和教师报告)，以及学龄前和幼儿园的短期语言、识字前、情感和行为结果。 在这项拟议的研究中，伊利诺伊州芝加哥的八个Head Start地点(在32个教室登记了640名儿童)将被随机分配到四种不同治疗强度的条件下。教室目前使用的基于情绪的课程提供了一种低强度的“控制”条件，将根据MARE程序密集的干预措施进行测试。在第二个中等强度的“教师培训/课堂质量”干预条件下，教师将接受有效管理儿童破坏性行为的广泛培训，同时学习支持低风险儿童发展情绪和行为自我控制的技能(Webster-Stratton，At，2002)。在第三种高强度的“累积压力/心理健康咨询”干预条件下，心理健康顾问将被安排在Head Start教室中，每周两天，以便通过在早期教育环境中提供适当的服务、支持和转介来降低儿童情绪、行为和学习困难的风险(Donahue，at al.2000)。第四，成本较低的“教师助理”控制条件也将被包括在拟议的研究设计中，以更保守地估计这种模式提供的额外人员对心理健康咨询的影响。此外，预计干预措施的效果大小将受到两个缓和影响的显著影响，包括1)家庭和社区累积风险水平，以及2)方案实施的程度，概念化为在每个环境中实施的治疗“剂量”。 简而言之，这些干预方法中的哪一种代表了对幼儿日后在学校取得成功的机会的最佳投资？哪一项对幼儿的情绪和行为调整以及以后的入学准备提供了最大的长期好处？本申请中概述的研究将通过直接评估儿童的情绪和行为适应、语言和识字前技能来回答这些紧迫的经验性问题。该项目使用直接的儿童评估，还将包括家长和教师报告、儿童成绩、特殊服务的使用以及从学龄前到一年级的标准化成绩测试分数。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The principal aim of the proposed research is to improve low-income preschool-aged children's school readiness by decreasing their risk for behavioral problems through a set of classroom-based interventions. The following studies will determine whether emotionally- and behaviorally-focused interventions in preschool have a significant long-term impact an children's academic achievement in 1st grade (as measured by standardized tests. school records, and teacher reports) as well as on short-term language, pre-literacy, emotional, and behavioral outcomes, in the preschool and Kindergarten years. In the proposed research, eight Head Start sites in Chicago, IL (with 640 children enrolled in 32 classrooms) will be randomly assigned to four conditions of varying levels of treatment intensity. Classrooms' current use of an emotions-based curriculum offers a low-intensity "control" condition against which mare programmatically intensive interventions will be tested. In a second, moderate-intensity "teacher training/classroom quality" intervention condition, teachers will receive extensive training in effective management of children's disruptive behaviors, while also learning the skills support lower-risk children in developing emotional and behavioral self-control (Webster-Stratton, at al, 2002). In a third, high-intensity "cumulative stress/mental health consultation" intervention condition, mental health consultants will be placed in Head Start classrooms for two days a week, so that children's risk of emotional, behavioral, and academic difficulty can be reduced through appropriate service delivery, support and referral within early educational settings (Donahue, at al. 2000). A fourth, lower-cost, "teacher's aide" control condition will also be included in the proposed study design, to more conservatively estimate the impact of mental health consultation from the additional staffing that such a model offers. In addition, it is expected that the intervention's effect sizes will be substantially affected by two moderating influences, including 1) family and community levels of cumulative risk, and 2) the degree to which programs are implemented, conceptualized as "dosage" of treatment administered in each setting. In short, which of these intervention approaches represents the best investment in young children's chances for later school success? Which offers the largest long-term benefits to young children's emotional and behavioral adjustment and later school readiness? The studies outlined in this application will answer these pressing empirical questions using direct assessments of children's emotional and behavioral adjustment, language and pre-literacy skills. This project's use of direct child assessments will be complemented by the inclusion of parent and teacher report, children's grades, use of special services, and standardized achievement test scores from preschool through 1 grade.