Teacher Child Interaction Training (TCIT): Randomized Control Trial

Teacher-Child Interaction Training in Miami-Dade County Early Education Programs: A Randomized Control Trial

This study is being conducted to evaluate the effects of TCIT on child development, child behavior, and teacher use of skills in the classroom.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Behavior, Child
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: TCIT; Behavioral: Booster

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 622
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Florida
    • Miami, Florida, United States, 33136
      • Debbie School
    • Miami, Florida, United States, 33136
      • EasterSeals South Florida
    • Miami, Florida, United States, 33136
      • Linda Ray Intervention Center
    • Miami, Florida, United States, 33173
      • Arc of South Florida

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 1 year and older (Child, Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• UMTCIT will target classrooms of children ages 1-5 enrolled in four participating B-2 Early Education Programs in Miami-Dade County: Debbie School, Easterseals South Florida, Arc of South Florida, and Linda Ray Intervention Center. Participants will also include school staff (teachers, teaching assistants, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech/language pathologists) and students.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Children will be excluded from the study if they are 6 years of age or older or younger than 12 months of age at the start of each wave of treatment.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: TCIT; Teachers in the intervention group receive TCIT in the first half of the school year and booster coaching is provided throughout the second half of the school year as the Waitlist Control group is trained.	Behavioral: TCIT; TCIT consists of the following: CDI Teach Session: Teachers will participate in two training workshops in Child-Directed Interaction (CDI) skills. Specifically, teachers will learn to use positive attention skills and active ignoring.; CDI Coaching: Teachers will receive 90 minutes of CDI coaching in the classroom once or twice weekly for 6 total coaching sessions over a period of 4-6 weeks. The coach will observe the class and coach the teacher live using a microphone and bug-in-the-ear device.; TDI Teach Session: Teachers will complete two training workshops in Teacher Directed Interaction (TDI) skills, which focus on increasing compliance and reducing disruptive behavior. Teachers will learn to present developmentally appropriate, direct, and clear instructions and consistent positive and negative consequences.; TDI Coaching: Teachers will receive six 90-minute TDI coaching sessions once or twice weekly for 4-6 weeks.; Behavioral: Booster; Teachers in the Intervention group will receive additional booster sessions during the second half of the school year. Booster sessions consist of coaching teachers in CDI and TDI skills. Teachers receive 4-8 booster sessions.
Active Comparator: Waitlist Control; Waitlist Control teachers do not receive any intervention for the first half of the school year. They then receive the same TCIT training as the intervention group in the second half of the school year.	Behavioral: TCIT; TCIT consists of the following: CDI Teach Session: Teachers will participate in two training workshops in Child-Directed Interaction (CDI) skills. Specifically, teachers will learn to use positive attention skills and active ignoring.; CDI Coaching: Teachers will receive 90 minutes of CDI coaching in the classroom once or twice weekly for 6 total coaching sessions over a period of 4-6 weeks. The coach will observe the class and coach the teacher live using a microphone and bug-in-the-ear device.; TDI Teach Session: Teachers will complete two training workshops in Teacher Directed Interaction (TDI) skills, which focus on increasing compliance and reducing disruptive behavior. Teachers will learn to present developmentally appropriate, direct, and clear instructions and consistent positive and negative consequences.; TDI Coaching: Teachers will receive six 90-minute TDI coaching sessions once or twice weekly for 4-6 weeks.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in teacher use of TCIT skills	Teacher-Child Interaction Coding System (TCICS) in a behavioral coding system that allows trained observers to tally the occurrence of certain teacher behaviors. For CDI skills, if teachers use the skills at a frequency of 5 or more each, they have demonstrated proficiency. If they use the skills at a frequency of 7 or more each, they have demonstrated mastery. For TDI skills, percent correct follow-up of commands and questions at a rate of 50% demonstrates proficiency. Percent correct follow-up at a rate of 75% demonstrates mastery.	Baseline to 8 months
Student social-emotional functioning	The Devereux Early Childhood Assessment (DECA) identifies each domain as an area of strength (T-score >=60), an area of need (T-score <=40), or an area of typical functioning (T-score = 41-59). DECA t-scores range from 28 to 72 with higher scores indicating higher functioning.	8 months
Child prosocial behaviors	The Behavior Assessment System for Children, Third Edition - Student Observation System (BASC-3 SOS) is a behavioral observation coding system that allows for interval recording of a wide range of child positive and negative behaviors that may promote or impede learning and adjustment in the classroom. For the Adaptive Behaviors scale, there are 4 behaviors rated across 30 intervals, for a total possible score of 120 (range 0-120). Higher scores on the Adaptive Behaviors scale are indicative of higher functioning.	8 months
Child disruptive/maladaptive behaviors	The Behavior Assessment System for Children, Third Edition - Student Observation System (BASC-3 SOS) is a behavioral observation coding system that allows for interval recording of a wide range of child positive and negative behaviors that may promote or impede learning and adjustment in the classroom. The Problem Behaviors scale consists of 10 behaviors rated across 30 intervals, for a total possible score of 300 (range 0-300). Higher scores on the Problem Behaviors scale are indicative of poorer functioning.	8 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Child disruptive behaviors	The Sutter-Eyberg Student Behavior Inventory-Related (SESBI-R) is a teacher rating scale of disruptive behavior of children. It is a 38-item questionnaire with each item scored from 1 (never) to 7 (always) for a total scoring range of 38-266. The higher score indicates increased child's disruptive behavior in the classroom setting.	8 months
Child language development	Assess early language based on the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventories (CDI). It is comprised of an 89-word vocabulary checklist. The score is assessed in the amount of correct answers and measured in percentiles, from less than 1 to 100, depending on the child's age. Higher percentile scores indicate a higher vocabulary (i.e., more language) and lower percentile scores indicate a lower vocabulary (i.e., less language).	8 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Miami
• Collaborators: The Children's Trust
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Eileen M Davis, PhD, University of Miami

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): July 7, 2017
• Primary Completion (Actual): July 30, 2021
• Study Completion (Actual): July 30, 2021

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: June 25, 2019
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 25, 2019
• First Posted (Actual): June 27, 2019

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): August 3, 2021
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 2, 2021
• Last Verified: August 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Developmental Delay; Early Education Program; Behavior Management; Social Emotional Development; Special Education
• Other Study ID Numbers: 20170372

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No