Format

Individual Presentation

First Presenter's Institution

NA

Second Presenter's Institution

NA

Location

Sloane

Strand #1

Social & Emotional Skills

Strand #2

Family & Community

Relevance

The proposed presentation relates the Social & Emotional Skills and Family & Community strands that are connected with the conference theme. The Kaleidoscope program is an early intervention program in a large Midwestern school district designed for students who are behaviorally at-risk. Specifically, the goals of Kaleidoscope program, which has been in existence for more than 7 years are to reduce suspensions and disciplinary occurrences by improving students’ social, behavioral, and emotional skills. Kaleidoscope simultaneously works in the classroom as well as in the home to increase parental involvement in schools as well as support positive parenting. The Kaleidoscope program model is unique in that it teams a social worker and a behavior specialist to collaborate across home and school. The behavior specialist not only focuses on the student but also on the classroom, often helping referring teachers to improve classroom climate and management and positive behavior supports. Kaleidoscope social workers seek to facilitate family-school intensive partnerships that also focus on social and emotional skill development and meaningful change for referred youth. This study sought to add to the early intervention literature by describing this program model and examining its effectiveness.

Brief Program Description

The Kaleidoscope program is an early intervention program for students at-risk for school failure because of behavioral challenges. This presentation will highlight findings from a mixed method study exploring how the program functions, the types of services and supports it provides, and broad program outcomes. Implications are important for school professionals designing programs to address the needs of at-risk students.

Summary

Given that students with behavior challenges are at increased risk for a variety of negative school and life outcomes (Ialongo, Poduska, Werthamer, & Kellam, 2001; Reinke, Herman, Petras, & Ialongo, 2008; Scholfield, Bierman, Heinrichs & Nix, 2008; Vitaro, Brendgen, Larose, & Trembaly, 2005), it is critical for schools, families, and communities to develop and implement early intervention programs that effectively moderate the effect of at-risk factors. However, according to Reddy and his colleagues (2009), additional efficacy and effectiveness research that examines the impact of school programs in home and school are still needed. Aligned with the urgent need in the field for more research on early intervention programs that connect home and school components, the current study examined the functions, services and supports of the Kaleidoscope early intervention program, as well as broad program outcomes using existing program data.

A 90-minute focus group session was conducted with Kaleidoscope program staff with the intent of understanding how the program functions and the specific services and supports offered to students and their families. This presentation will highlight key findings which have yielded a rich description of the critical components of the Kaleidoscope early intervention program model and why the model is important for the success of at-risk students. Additionally, quantitative analyses of existing data yielded findings related to student behavior, service intensity and duration, special education referrals, and other program outcomes. For example, students were rated using the Behavior Rating Scale (BRS) at enrollment and again at disenrollment and changes in behavioral functioning were examined with paired means t-tests using SPSS. The average BRS score at enrollment was 24.78 (SD=6.31), which increased to 31.68 (SD=9.36) at the time of exit from the program, representing both statistically significant (t=11.77; df=193; p

Evidence

Some evidence suggests that prevention and early intervention are more effective than tertiary responses in the remediation of problems (Compton, Burns, & Egger, 2002; Mash & Dozois, 2003; Panayiotopoulos & Kerfoot, 2007). Also, it has well documented that family - school collaboration can facilitate improved classroom functioning for students exhibiting behavioral challenges (Golly, et al., 1998; McConaughy, Kay, & Fitzgerald, 1999; McDougal, Nastasi, & Chafouleas, 2005; Panayiotopoulos & Kerfoot, 2007; Reinke, Splett, Robeson, & Offutt, 2009). Family-school linkages are a particularly important component to include in prevention and early intervention efforts, given that inequalities in home, neighborhood, and peer groups account for significantly more of the variance in children’s academic achievement than variations in school environments (Cowan, Cowan, Ablow, Johnson, & Measelle, 2005).

Biographical Sketch

Tianqian Wang is a second year PhD student in Special Education at Indiana University. Her primary research interest is early childhood special education, especially young children with emotional and behavioral disorders. She is passionate about enhancing the well being of children with EBD and supporting their families through evaluation and advocating interagency collaboration.

Heidi Cornell is a doctoral candidate in Special Education at Indiana University. Her primary research interests are related to the education of students with or at-risk for emotional and behavioral challenges. She is passionate about enhancing school programing to address the needs of students with emotional and behavioral challenges and their families.

Jeff Anderson teaches in the undergraduate and graduate programs in curriculum and instruction at Indiana University. He has extensive experience in teacher education, special education, and urban education and conducts research focusing on connecting

Keyword Descriptors

early intervention, at-risk students, family-school partnership, parental involvement, social and emotional skill development, program evaluation

Presentation Year

2016

Start Date

3-8-2016 10:15 AM

End Date

3-8-2016 11:30 AM

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Mar 8th, 10:15 AM Mar 8th, 11:30 AM

The Kaleidoscope Program: Early Intervention Program for Students with Behavior Challenges

Sloane

The Kaleidoscope program is an early intervention program for students at-risk for school failure because of behavioral challenges. This presentation will highlight findings from a mixed method study exploring how the program functions, the types of services and supports it provides, and broad program outcomes. Implications are important for school professionals designing programs to address the needs of at-risk students.