Efficacy Trial of the Kids in Transition to School (KITS) Program for Children With Developmental Disabilities and Behavioral Problems
Condition: School Readiness
MeSH terms: Developmental Disabilities; Problem Behavior
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      This study focuses on children entering kindergarten with co-occurring developmental
      disabilities and behavior problems, a population especially likely to have low levels of
      school readiness. Prior research has shown that children with developmental disabilities are
      at risk for academic difficulties. Behavioral and social problems are likely to interfere
      with school adjustment. The investigators hypothesize that children who receive the
      intervention will show better school readiness and school adjustment outcomes.
    

Detailed description: 
      Purpose: This project is a randomized efficacy trial of KITS, an intervention to enhance
      social-emotional and early literacy domains of school readiness in children with co-occurring
      developmental disabilities and behavior problems who are entering kindergarten.

      Setting: The setting for the intervention will be playgroups and parent support groups
      conducted in center-based classrooms during the summer before and the first 2 months of
      kindergarten.

      Population: This study involves the recruitment of 200 children with co-occurring
      developmental disabilities and behavioral problems who are entering kindergarten in the fall
      (four yearly cohorts of 50 children each). The children will be recruited from the Lane
      County, Oregon, public agency responsible for early childhood special education services.

      Intervention: KITS is a short-term, intensive program timed to occur during the transition to
      kindergarten-a critical developmental milestone with far-reaching effects on school outcomes.
      The KITS curriculum focuses on the social-emotional and early literacy skills shown to be
      essential for success in kindergarten and on contextual characteristics (i.e., parent
      involvement in early literacy and positive parenting) to support and promote these skills.
      KITS features 24 curriculum-based school readiness playgroups to facilitate the development
      of self-regulatory, social, and early literacy skills (twice weekly in the summer before
      kindergarten and once weekly September-October) and 7 psychoeducational parent groups focused
      on parent involvement in early literacy and positive parenting practices (every 2 weeks
      June-October).

      Research Design and Methods: Children will be randomly assigned to the KITS intervention
      condition or a services-as-usual comparison group and assessed at four intervals: spring
      prior to kindergarten, immediately prior to kindergarten entry, kindergarten fall, and
      kindergarten spring. One hundred fifty of the children will also be assessed in the spring of
      first grade. KITS children will receive the intervention as described above.

      Control condition: Children in the comparison group will receive any ECSE or other services
      that they would typically receive. These will be assessed at each data collection point.

      Key measures: Multimethod, multiagent outcome measures will include the following: direct
      assessments of the child's social-emotional and early literacy skills prior to kindergarten
      and social-emotional functioning and literacy skills during kindergarten and first grade;
      parent and teacher reports on children's characteristics, parent involvement in early
      literacy and school, and parenting practices; and direct classroom observations of children's
      academic engaged time and social behaviors during unstructured school time.

      Data-analytic strategies: Analyses will employ variable-based (e.g., ANOVA and regression)
      and person-based (e.g., latent growth curve modeling) approaches. SEM will be used to test
      how changes in hypothesized mediators affect outcomes and how outcomes vary depending on
      level of hypothesized moderators.
    

Intervention name(s): KITS Program
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Intervention description(s): This is a 4-month psychosocial intervention for children with developmental disabilities and behavior problems who are entering kindergarten and their caregivers. The intervention begins in the summer before 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 times per week in the fall); and (b) a bi-monthly psychoeducational support group to promote parent involvement in the child's early literacy and schooling and the use of effective parenting techniques
Other intervention name(s): Kids in Transition to School (KITS) Program
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single (Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Prevention
Keywords: developmental disabilities; school readiness; literacy; social emotional skills; self regulation; caregiver involvement