A Test of the Kids in Transition to School (KITS) Program in Disadvantaged Neighborhoods
Condition: School Readiness
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The purpose of this project to determine whether the KITS Program, an intervention to improve
      early literacy, prosocial and emotion and behavior regulation domains of school readiness,
      improves school readiness and school outcomes in children from socioeconomically
      disadvantaged neighborhoods.
    

Detailed description: 
      PURPOSE: This project is a randomized efficacy trial of the KITS Program, an intervention to
      improve early literacy, prosocial and emotion and behavior regulation domains of school
      readiness, with children from socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods. The project will
      extend the evidence on the efficacy of the intervention from two previous randomized efficacy
      trials of the KITS Program with special needs populations to examine the impacts of the
      intervention on the broader population of children from disadvantaged backgrounds in general
      education.

      SETTING: The intervention will be conducted in elementary school classrooms in high-poverty,
      high-crime neighborhoods in a medium-sized metropolitan area of the Pacific Northwest during
      the summer before and the first 2 months of kindergarten.

      POPULATION: This study involves the recruitment of 240 children who will be entering
      kindergarten in the fall and their families in three yearly cohorts (n = 80). The children
      will be recruited from neighborhoods that have been selected as some of the most
      disadvantaged in the state in terms of income and school readiness indicators.

      INTERVENTION: The KITS Program is a high-intensity, short-term program timed to occur during
      the transition to kindergarten-a critical developmental milestone with far-reaching effects
      on school outcomes. The curriculum focuses on the early literacy, social, and self-regulation
      skills critical for success in kindergarten and on contextual characteristics (i.e., parent
      involvement in early literacy and positive parenting). KITS features 24 curriculum-based
      therapeutic playgroups focused on early literacy, social, and self-regulatory skills and 12
      psychoeducational parent workshops focused on parent involvement in early literacy and
      positive parenting practices.

      CONTROL CONDITION: The children in the services-as-usual condition will receive any early
      childhood learning services that they would typically receive prior to school entry. Services
      received will be assessed at each data time point.

      RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: The children will be randomly assigned to the KITS condition or
      a services-as-usual condition and assessed at four time points: spring prior to kindergarten,
      immediately prior to kindergarten entry, kindergarten fall, and kindergarten spring; 160 of
      the children will also be assessed in first grade spring.

      MEASURES AND KEY OUTCOMES: Our multimethod, multi-informant outcome measures will include the
      following: direct assessments of early literacy and social-emotional skills prior to
      kindergarten and literacy skills and social-emotional functioning during kindergarten and
      first grade; parent and teacher reports on child skills and behaviors, parent involvement in
      early literacy and school, and parenting practices; direct classroom observations of child
      academic engaged time and social behaviors; and school records data on grades, office
      discipline referrals, special education services received, and attendance.

      DATA-ANALYTIC STRATEGIES: Analyses will employ variable-centered (e.g., ANOVA and regression)
      and person-centered (e.g., latent growth curve modeling) approaches. Multilevel latent
      variable modeling will be used to test how changes in hypothesized mediators affect
      longer-term outcomes and how outcomes vary depending on level of hypothesized moderators.
    

Intervention name(s): KITS Program
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Intervention description(s): The KITS Program is a 4-month psychosocial intervention for children at high risk for school difficulties and their caregivers. The intervention begins in the summer before kindergarten and continues across the first two months of kindergarten. The KITS intervention consists of: (a) child school readiness play groups to facilitate the development of self-regulatory, social, and early literacy skills (2 times per week in summer, 1 time per week in the fall); and (b) a 12 session psychoeducational workshop to promote parent involvement in the child's early literacy and schooling and the use of effective parenting techniques (once per week in summer, bi-weekly in the fall).
Other intervention name(s): Kids in Transition to School Program
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single (Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Prevention
Keywords: school readiness; literacy; social emotional skills; self regulation; caregiver involvement; socioeconomic disadvantage