FPG Child Development Institute, CB #8180, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-8180, USA.
Prev Sci. 2012 Oct;13(5):472-82. doi: 10.1007/s11121-012-0274-5.
Recent years have seen increasing numbers of classroom-based interventions designed to enhance the school readiness of at-risk preschoolers. Even the most comprehensive, well-designed programs can suffer from limited effectiveness due to low-frequency implementation by teachers. The current study presents findings from the Building Bridges (BB) project, an integrated program targeting school readiness in Head Start and low-income child care centers. Previous studies have reported the role of teacher-level and program-level characteristics in predicting teacher implementation of an intervention. The present study examines the role of student characteristics-language and math ability, social skills, and behavioral functioning-in predicting implementation exposure. These associations were examined in the context of program type (Head Start, child care) and intervention condition (consultation, no consultation). 88 classrooms (41 Head Start, 47 child care) participated in the BB intervention. Implementation exposure was predicted by several distinct student characteristics. Teachers whose students exhibited poorer language skills implemented significantly more BB activities, a finding that was consistent across program types and intervention conditions. A marginally significant trend was identified for oppositional behavior when interacted with intervention group in that teachers whose students demonstrated higher rates of oppositional behavior implemented fewer intervention activities when they did not have a consultant. Teachers in child care centers with a BB consultant had higher rates of implementation than did teachers in all other groups. These findings provide important information regarding the student-level characteristics that should be evaluated in order to optimize implementation of an intervention.
近年来,越来越多的基于课堂的干预措施被设计出来,旨在提高有风险的学龄前儿童的学校准备水平。即使是最全面、设计最好的项目,由于教师实施的频率低,也可能效果有限。本研究介绍了“桥梁建设”(Building Bridges,BB)项目的研究结果,该项目是一个针对学前教育和低收入儿童保育中心的学校准备的综合项目。以前的研究报告了教师水平和项目水平特征在预测干预措施实施方面的作用。本研究考察了学生特征(语言和数学能力、社交技能和行为功能)在预测实施暴露中的作用。这些关联在项目类型(学前教育、儿童保育)和干预条件(咨询、无咨询)的背景下进行了研究。共有 88 个班级(41 个学前教育,47 个儿童保育)参与了 BB 干预。实施暴露由几个不同的学生特征预测。其学生语言技能较差的教师实施了更多的 BB 活动,这一发现在项目类型和干预条件上都是一致的。在与干预组相互作用时,对立行为有一个略微显著的趋势,即当他们没有顾问时,表现出更高对立行为率的学生的教师实施的干预活动较少。有 BB 顾问的儿童保育中心的教师实施率高于其他所有组的教师。这些发现为评估干预措施实施的学生水平特征提供了重要信息。