Family-school Partnership Intervention for Early Childhood Education

Not Applicable

Recruiting

• Conditions: Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Interventions: Behavioral: Family-school Partnership Intervention (FSPI)

• Registration Number: NCT06506097
• Lead Sponsor: University of North Texas, Denton, TX

Brief Summary

Strategies for creating and maintaining reciprocal partnerships between teachers and parents are considered essential elements of developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood education (ECE). Particularly for children who are high-risk for behavioral, developmental, or mental health problems, effective partnerships between family and preschool are essential for promoting optimal classroom participation and learning outcomes. The current study is an uncontrolled (pre-post) feasibility trial of Family-School Partnership Intervention (FPSI). FSPI was developed using stakeholder input, is delivered by existing preschool staff, and aims to promote development and reduce barriers to learning among children with pre-clinical social-communication delays. FSPI integrates evidence-based practices (EBPs) from education (7 EBPs; National Association for the Education of Young Children) with clinical interventions for toddlers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) (12 EBPs at the educator-parent level and 8 EBPs at the parent-child level; Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions). Data will be collected across 10 ECE programs. At each participating ECE program, research procedures will be completed during a single school year. Selected ECE programs will include public school, Head Start, and private preschool programs. Participants include 20 non-teaching support staff (1-2 per program; e.g., director, principal, education-coordinator), 30 lead teachers (2-4 per program), and 60 children with social-communication deficits (two per teacher). Data collection will focus on feasibility data (enrollment, attendance, attrition, data completion), observational measures of implementation fidelity (at the educator-parent and parent-child level), and mixed methods to evaluate educator and parent acceptability and satisfaction and identify implementation drivers/barriers. This research will prepare a large, multi-site hybrid trial to evaluate the effectiveness of FSPI for promoting social-communication skills and kindergarten readiness, in addition to factors that mediate the relation between FSPI delivery and fidelity (implementation drivers/barriers).

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Study First Submitted: 2024-06-14
• Study Start: 2024-07-01
• Study First Submitted QC: 2024-07-10
• Study First Posted: 2024-07-17
• Status Verified: 2025-04
• Last Update Submitted: 2025-04-06
• Last Update Posted: 2025-04-09
• Primary Completion: 2025-07
• Study Completion: 2026-04

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: RECRUITING
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 110

Inclusion Criteria

• currently attending classroom of participating preschool teacher.
• nominated by teacher as child with elevated levels of social-communication challenges

Exclusion Criteria

• n/a

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: SINGLE_GROUP

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Family-school Partnership Intervention (FSPI)	Family-school Partnership Intervention (FSPI)	Participants include 20 non-teaching support staff (1-2 per program), 30 lead teachers (2-4 per program), and 60 children with social-communication deficits (two per teacher). FSPI creates new opportunities for teachers to partner with families, particularly parents of children with social-communication vulnerabilities. Specifically, teachers will be provided with a curriculum, training, and resources to engage two families from their classroom in three FSPI Playgroup meetings, scheduled over the course of the current school year. During each playgroup, teaches will help parents practice simple strategies for promoting communication during familiar routines such as play, book reading, preparing a snack, or completing a simple chore.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Feasibility benchmark - FSPI Completion	Through study completion, an average of 1 year	Throughout we will collect administrative data on attrition. Data will be judged against pre-specified feasibility criteria: % of parents completing the intervention. Benchmarks: \>80% for FSPI completion, \>75% for session attendance (parents), and \>80% for measure completion (staff, parents).
Feasibility benchmark - Measure Completion	Through study completion, an average of 1 year	Throughout we will collect administrative data on data collection components. Data will be judged against pre-specified feasibility criteria: % of measures completed by preschool staff and parents: Benchmarks: \>80%.
Feasibility benchmark - Enrollment	Through study completion, an average of 1 year	Throughout we will collect administrative data on enrollment. Data will be judged against pre-specified feasibility criteria: Enrollment (20 non-teaching staff, 30 teachers, 60 parents) will meet 100% of target.
Feasibility benchmark - Session Attendance	Through study completion, an average of 1 year	Throughout we will collect administrative data on session attendance. Data will be judged against pre-specified feasibility criteria: % of sessions completed by preschool staff and parents. Benchmarks: \>75% for session attendance.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

UNT; 🇺🇸 Denton, Texas, United States