PROJECT 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 feasibility research uses an established implementation science framework to adapt and
implement an evidence-based Family-School Partnership Intervention (FPSI) across a range of ECE settings.
FSPI 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). Initial staff training is completed during a single
professional development day; implementation supports are offered by a research clinician throughout. A
community-viable intervention to promote timely and appropriate supports for children with social-communication
delays in ECE would support a foundational learning mechanism during the early childhood period. Related
deficits in social-communication skills are characteristic for developmental disabilities such as ASD. In the U.S.,
18%, 51%, and 66% of children aged 1-2, 3, or 4 years, respectively, are enrolled in center-based ECE, providing
a natural and critical access point for addressing children’s early social-communication delays.
The proposed implementation science framework (Dynamic Adaptation Process) has four phases intended
to support the implementation of EBPs in community settings. During the first two phases (Exploration &
Preparation; ~9 months), 30 stakeholders will engage in an iterative process to provide expertise and feedback
to guide model adaptations while maintaining fidelity to the core elements of FSPI. Stakeholders will be selected
systematically to account for the multi-system (Pre-K, Head Start, private childcare, special education) and multi-
level (state administrators, ECE directors, teachers, parents) context of ECE. During the last two phases
(Implementation & Sustainment), 30 parent-teacher teams from 10 ECE organizations (sampled to maximize
variation) will be recruited to participate in field testing of FSPI. 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).
