Partners in School: Promoting Continuity Across Home and School for Children With Autism by Improving Parent-Teacher Communication During the Transition to School
Overview
- Phase
- Not Applicable
- Intervention
- Not specified
- Conditions
- Autism Spectrum Disorder
- Sponsor
- New York State Psychiatric Institute
- Enrollment
- 48
- Locations
- 1
- Primary Endpoint
- Parent-Teacher Alliance Questionnaire (PTAQ)
- Status
- Completed
- Last Updated
- last year
Overview
Brief Summary
Partners in School is a collection of implementation strategies (e.g., communication training, problem-solving consultation) to help parents/primary caregivers and teachers of children with autism spectrum disorder implement the same practices across home and school.
Detailed Description
We recruited a total of 48 participants (N=22 parent-teacher dyads) from urban and suburban public schools in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Teachers were matched on years of teaching experience (0-2 years, 3-5 years, 5-10 years, or 11+ years), and then randomized to the experimental condition or the control condition. The experimental condition had 13 parent-teacher dyads (N=26 participants) and the control condition had 11 parent-teacher dyads (N=22 participants). The experimental condition included the five steps of Partners in School including the pre-consultation phone interview, web-based communication skills training for the parent or teacher through School Talk, in-person parent-teacher conference, three weeks of implementing the same intervention with the student at home (by parents) and school (by the teacher), and a post-consultation phone interview. Parents and teachers also completed surveys at the beginning and end of Partners in School. The control condition had the same experiences but the parents/teachers in that condition did not receive communication skills training through School Talk. One of the key outcomes is that recruitment, randomization, condition protocols, retention, and assessment of Partners in School with School Talk is feasible and acceptable. These findings are significant to the scientific field because they suggest that researchers can partner with public schools and train parents and teachers to communicate and collaborate effectively in order to double the dosage, intensity, and impact of evidenced-based practices for young children on the autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
Investigators
Gazi Azad
Research Scientist and Assistant Professor
New York State Psychiatric Institute
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria
- •Must be parent/primary caregiver or full-time, lead teacher
- •Must have or teach preschool, pre- kindergarten, kindergarten, or 1st grade child with ASD
- •Must have or teach child with ASD that can see and hear
- •Access to internet via wifi-enabled phone, tablet, or computer
- •Must be English or Spanish speaking
- •An active email -
Exclusion Criteria
- •Parents with younger (less than preschool) or older children (in 2nd grade or above)
- •Teachers who teach older than 1st grade.
- •Teaching assistants
Outcomes
Primary Outcomes
Parent-Teacher Alliance Questionnaire (PTAQ)
Time Frame: at study completion, an average of 10 weeks
The PTAQ is a 20-item measure that assesses the degree to which parents believe they have a sound working relationship with the teacher (and vice versa). A five-point Likert scale is used from strongly agree to strongly disagree. An example item is, "My child's teacher treats me as a partner in the development of my child's education plan." It was adapted from the Parenting Alliance Inventory
Change from Baseline Fidelity (to Student Intervention Plan) at 3 weeks
Time Frame: daily for three weeks
Daily home-school notes will list the steps in the student intervention plan generated during the consultation meeting. Parents and teachers will indicate whether each step was completed at home or at school, respectively. The number of intervention steps completed by parents (parent fidelity) and teachers (teacher fidelity) will be computed.
Change from Baseline Alignment (of Student Intervention Plan) at 3 weeks
Time Frame: daily for three weeks
Daily home-school notes will list the steps in the student intervention plan generated during the consultation meeting. Parents and teachers will indicate whether each step was completed at home or at school, respectively. The number of steps in the student intervention plan completed by both parents and teachers will be used as the measure of continuity.
Adapted LEAPS Questionnaire about ECS training (A-LEAPS)
Time Frame: at study completion, an average of 10 weeks
The A-LEAPS will be an 18-item parent questionnaire (adapted patient form) and a 23-item teacher questionnaire (adapted physician form). At the baseline self-assessment, parents and teachers will be asked to report on their communication practices using never, sometimes, or always used. At the post-consultation self-assessment, they will be asked to again reflect on their communication practices, but this time with the specific Partners in School parent-teacher consultation meeting just completed. An example item is, "I set an agenda for the meeting so that I am sure we get to all the things I want to cover."
Parent-Teacher Relationship Scale-Second Edition (PTRS-II)
Time Frame: at study completion, an average of 10 weeks
The PTRS-II is a 24-item measure that examines the degree of connection felt between parent and teacher pairs, by examining joining (affiliation and support, dependability and availability, shared expectations and beliefs, and communication from the other) and communication to the other (sharing of emotion and sharing of information). A five-point Likert scale is used from almost never to almost always. An example item is, "I don't like the way this teacher talks to me."
Participation in Problem Solving Scale (PPSS)
Time Frame: at study completion, an average of 10 weeks
The PPSS asks respondents to assess their problem solving competencies using 12-items. Items are rated on a five-point Likert scale from disagree very strongly to agree very strongly. An example item is, "I gathered specific information to measure this student's progress."
Secondary Outcomes
- Pervasive Developmental Disorder Behavior Inventory (PDDBI)(at study completion, an average of 10 weeks)
- Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS)(daily for three weeks)
- Family-Professional Partnership Scale (FPPS)(at study completion, an average of 10 weeks)
- Frequency and Severity Form (FSF)(at study completion, an average of 10 weeks)
- Self-Efficacy with Communication Form (SECF)(at study completion, an average of 10 weeks)
- Consultant Adherence(at study completion, an average of 10 weeks)