Clinical trial NCT02257814: Head Start Classroom-based Approaches and Resources for Emotion and Social Skill Promotion (Head Start CARES)
Official title: Head Start Classroom-based Approaches and Resources for Emotion and Social Skill Promotion (Head Start CARES)
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Teacher Practice
Child Social-Emotional Development
Lead sponsor: MDRC
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2014-10-06
Enrollment: 2670
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 3
Maximum age (years): 4
Standard ages: CHILD
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL

Brief summary: 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.


Eligibility criteria: 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.

Primary outcomes:
measure: Classroom Climate: Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS)
timeFrame: 0 to 12 months
measure: Teacher Practice: Adapted Teaching Style Rating Scale (TSRS)
timeFrame: 0 to 12 months
measure: Executive Function: Head-to-Toes
timeFrame: 0 to 12 months
measure: Executive Function: Pencil Tap
timeFrame: 0 to 12 months
measure: Social Problem-Solving: Challenging Situations Task
timeFrame: 0 to 12 months
measure: Emotion Knowledge: Emotion Situations and Identification Tasks
timeFrame: 0 to 12 months
measure: Pre-Academic Skills: Academic Rating Scale
timeFrame: 0 to 12 months
measure: Pre-Academic Skills: Expressive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test
timeFrame: 0 to 12 months
measure: Pre-Academic Skills: Woodcock-Johnson III
timeFrame: 0 to 12 months
measure: Behavior Regulation: Behavior Problems Index
timeFrame: 0 to 12 months
measure: Social Behaviors: Social Social Skills Rating Scale
timeFrame: 0 to 12 months
measure: Social Behaviors: Cooper-Farran Behavioral Rating Scale- Interpersonal Skills
timeFrame: 0 to 12 months
measure: Learning Behaviors: Cooper-Farran Behavioral Rating Scale- Work-Related Skills
timeFrame: 0 to 12 months
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: New York
country: United States
facility: MDRC
state: New York
Study officials:
affiliation: MDRC/New York University
name: Pamela Morris, Ph.D.
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: 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.