Head Start Classroom-based Approaches and Resources for Emotion and Social Skill Promotion (Head Start CARES)

The purpose of this study was to deepen the evidence base for interventions that support the social-emotional skills that underlie children's engagement and attention to learning tasks by schools (learning behaviors) and their social interactions with teachers and peers (social behaviors). The study tested three theoretically-distinct approaches to enhancing children's social-emotional development, along with a comprehensive coaching and training model, on a large scale within the Head Start system.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Teacher Practice; Child Social-Emotional Development
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Incredible Years Teacher Training; Behavioral: Preschool PATHS; Behavioral: Tools of the Mind

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 2670
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • New York
    • New York, New York, United States, 10016
      • MDRC

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 3 years to 4 years (Child)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Grantees had to have at least 4 centers with a similar racial/ethnic composition
• An equal number of classrooms with full-day or part-day programs
• And a similar mix of four-year-old-only and mixed-age (three-and four-year-old) classrooms.
• Children had to speak English and Spanish.

Exclusion Criteria:

• A grantee was excluded from the sample if it: only ran early Head Start programs
• Only served migrant children
• Was located in a U.S. territory
• Only or mostly provided family child care or home services
• Was more than 100 miles from a "primary airport,"
• Operated fewer than 4 centers with two classrooms each
• Had been in operation for less than 2 years
• Was not in compliance with Head Start Standards
• They were already systematically implementing a social-emotional curriculum or participating in another evaluation study.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

4

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: Control Group; Control group
Experimental: Incredible Years; incredible years intervention	Behavioral: Incredible Years Teacher Training
Experimental: Preschool PATHS; Preschool PATHS (Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies)	Behavioral: Preschool PATHS
Experimental: Tools of the Mind	Behavioral: Tools of the Mind

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Classroom Climate: Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS)	Class-level outcome	0 to 12 months
Teacher Practice: Adapted Teaching Style Rating Scale (TSRS)	Class-level outcome	0 to 12 months
Executive Function: Head-to-Toes	Child-level outcome	0 to 12 months
Executive Function: Pencil Tap	Child-level outcome	0 to 12 months
Social Problem-Solving: Challenging Situations Task	Child-level outocme	0 to 12 months
Emotion Knowledge: Emotion Situations and Identification Tasks	Child-level outcome	0 to 12 months
Pre-Academic Skills: Academic Rating Scale	Child-level Outcome	0 to 12 months
Pre-Academic Skills: Expressive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test	Child-level outcome	0 to 12 months
Pre-Academic Skills: Woodcock-Johnson III	Child-level outcome	0 to 12 months
Behavior Regulation: Behavior Problems Index	Child-level outcome	0 to 12 months
Social Behaviors: Social Social Skills Rating Scale	Child-level outcome	0 to 12 months
Social Behaviors: Cooper-Farran Behavioral Rating Scale- Interpersonal Skills	Child-level outcome	0 to 12 months
Learning Behaviors: Cooper-Farran Behavioral Rating Scale- Work-Related Skills	Child-level outcome	0 to 12 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: MDRC
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Pamela Morris, Ph.D., MDRC/New York University

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Mattera, S, Lloyd, CM, Fishman, M, and Bangser, M. (2013). A First Look at the Head Start CARES Demonstration: Large-Scale Implementation of Programs to Improve Children's Social-Emotional Competence. OPRE Report 2013-47. Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: April 1, 2009
• Primary Completion (Actual): June 1, 2012

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 25, 2014
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 3, 2014
• First Posted (Estimate): October 6, 2014

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): October 6, 2014
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 3, 2014
• Last Verified: October 1, 2014

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: HHSP23320072909YC