Evaluation of a social interaction coaching program in an integrated day-care setting

Professional Development Targeting Classroom Management and Behavioral Support Skills in Early Childhood Settings: A Systematic Review

Early childhood educators are expected to provide the children in their centers high-quality care and preparation for later school success. At the same time, nearly a third of children enter early care and education settings displaying challenging behaviors, which in turn impacts educators' stress levels and wellbeing. It is then unsurprising that classroom management and providing behavioral supports are consistently identified as areas where educators require further training upon entering the workforce. The purpose of this study is to conduct a systematic review of the empirical literature on professional development (PD) approaches targeting these areas for early childhood professionals. Forty-two studies were identified as meeting inclusion criteria and were coded for strategies targeted, the context and characteristics of the PD series, and the research design and outcomes utilized. Findings revealed that studies were highly variable in terms of targeted strategies, format of administration, training dose, research design, educator and child samples, and reporting practices. The majority of studies were conducted with educators from Head Start and public preschools and utilized research staff in the administration of the PD approaches. This indicates a need for more high-quality empirical evidence on PD approaches that cater to the larger early childhood workforce and centers' needs. Implications for researchers and early childhood mental health professionals and administrators are discussed.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12310-022-09562-x.

Measuring coaching: behavioral and skill-based managerial coaching scales

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is two-fold: to identify the reliability and content validity of two popular managerial coaching scales – the Ellinger Behavioral Scale and the Park Skills-based Scale – to determine the extent to which the construct, coaching, is more accurately measured as a behavioral construct or a skill-based construct from the perspective of the coach, and from that of his or her direct reports using a single data set.

Design/methodology/approach

– This research utilized survey research which tested the reliability and validity of two existing coaching scales. Analyses included correlation matrices, principle axis factor analysis, and confirmatory factor analysis.

Findings

– Results of this research indicate that neither scale is perfectly reliable and valid. However, given the results of the analysis, the authors recommend the Park scale for leaders and the Ellinger scale for team members.

Research limitations/implications

– This research indicates that investment in valid scales for use by direct reports to measure the coaching expertise of their managers is warranted.

Practical implications

– There are several implications that are evident as a result of this research. First, there are implications for the training and development of employees. Too, many organizations look to coaching and coaching skills as a benchmark for selecting future leaders – the understanding of how current scales are able to identify coaching expertise is important to the manager selection process.

Originality/value

– This research offers one of the first comparative analyses of currently available coaching scales. It contributes to the literature on coaching by providing a clear and thorough review and analysis of scales currently available for testing managerial coaching expertise. Practitioners and scholars can benefit from this research by developing a better understanding of the contexts in which these two coaching scales are most reliable and valid.

A Small-Scale Randomized Efficacy Trial of Carescapes: Enhancing Children's Social Development in Child Care Homes

The quality of the child care environment and caregiver practices can potentially have significant, lasting impact on children's social development. This study involves the development and a small-scale efficacy trial of the Carescapes program, a video-based training program that focuses on promoting positive social development in young children attending family child care. Fifty-seven caregivers who provided child care in their homes were randomly assigned to immediate intervention or waitlist control groups. Random coefficients analyses showed significant increased use of effective behavior management practices and decreased overall children's problem behavior for the intervention group. A mediation model demonstrated that increases in effective behavior management practices were associated with decreases in problem behavior. A medium intervention effect was found for caregiver's monitoring and a small effect for use of positive attention. These effects declined 5 months following the intervention. Implications for future efficacy and effectiveness studies in family child care settings that involve strategies to facilitate maintenance are discussed.

The effects of verbal support strategies on small-group peer interactions

PURPOSE

This study investigated whether child care providers could learn to facilitate peer interactions by using verbal support strategies (e.g., prompts, invitations, or suggestions to interact) during naturalistic play activities.

METHOD

Seventeen caregivers were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups, stratified by center so that staff from one center could attend the training program together. The experimental group received inservice training on how to facilitate peer interaction; the control group received training on adult-child communication strategies. Caregivers in the experimental group were taught to facilitate children's interactions with their peers by using indirect referrals (e.g., alerting children to situational information, offering praise) and direct referrals (e.g., telling a child what to say to a peer, inviting children to play together).

RESULTS

At posttest, the caregivers in the experimental group used more verbal supports for peer interaction than the caregivers in the control group. Specifically, they used more utterances to promote communication between peers and to invite children to interact together. In turn, the children in the experimental group initiated interactions with peers more often and engaged in extended peer sequences more often than the children in the control group.

CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS

The results support the viability of this training model in early childhood education settings and suggest that future research of its effects with children who have disabilities is warranted.

Inclusive Education of Young Children with Deaf-Blindness: A Technical Assistance Model

Using a technical assistance model, the New England Center Pilot Project provides training and consultation to programs for young children who are deaf-blind in inclusive education settings (preschool, kindergarten, and first grade). This article discusses the model's four major components, salient issues, and recommendations to enhance inclusive education.