REACH Annual Report - Family and Preventive Medicinefamilymedicine.uams.edu › wp... › 11 › REACH-Final-Report...UAMS REACH Final Report - FY15 Page 10 of 10 COMMENTS FROM DIRECTORS

ANNUAL REPORT FY14-15

UAMS REACH Evaluation Report - FY14 Page 1 of 10

REACH GOALS

REACH brings special training in positive guidance strategies and supporting children’s social-emotional

development to teachers and directors across Arkansas. REACH seeks to help fill the gap in high quality

in-service opportunities for child care providers who have found training ‘hard to reach.’ REACH targets

child care center directors and teachers who may be geographically distant from the major educational

centers in the state and/or who work for agencies that have difficulty releasing them for training.

REACH is supported by the Arkansas Department of Human Services/Division of Child Care and Early

Childhood Education.

THE OVERALL GOAL OF THE REACH PROGRAM IS TO INCREASE THE CAPACITY OF TEACHERS TO

SUPPORT SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN YOUNG CHILDREN.

REACH COMPONENTS

REACH consists of a series of trainings for directors and teachers as well as a variety of additional

supports designed to give teachers the tools they need to practice their new skills in the classroom.

Trainings are offered on-site at hours most convenient for staff (naptime, evening) and are repeated as

needed so that the whole center can participate.

•Creating a Plan to Support Children’s Social-Emotional Development

•Nurturing Staff to Nurture Children

Director Trainings

•A Nurturing Relationship with Every Child: Laying the Groundwork for Good Behavior

•Routines, Schedules, & Rituals: Tools for Effective Behavior Guidance

•Guided Talk: What to Do When Children Fight

•Positive Attention: How to Use It Effectively to Increase Good Behavior

•Choices: Giving Children the Power to “Be Good”

•Advanced Strategies: What to Do When a Child Needs Extra Help

Teacher Trainings: 1 per month


UAMS REACH Final Report - FY15 Page 2 of 10

Toolkit Items

• Books, CDs, posters, puppets, & other teaching tools to support classroom practice of new skills.

Calendar Cards

• Daily visual reminders to practice new skills.

Parent Pages

• Helps expose parents to the same concepts teachers are learning.

Classroom Coaching Visit

• Support for practicing new skills after each training.

Action Plans

• Teacher commits to try two new skills per training - shared with coach.

Coaching emails/ texts

• Support between trainings.



REACHING THE STATE

REACH coaches travel around the state to communities that may be underserved with training opportunities.

They also travel to centers whose staff cannot take advantage of the opportunities that are available due to lack

of time off, substitutes, or other barriers.

Half (51%) of those trained since program inception have been in the ECE profession at least 6 years. Most staff

in attendance worked directly with children as teachers or assistant teachers (71%). As expected given our

target population, less than a quarter of staff had their Child Development Associates degree (23%) or other

certification (20%). One-third (33%) of training participants had an Associate’s degree or higher. Teachers

varied in the barriers that made training ‘hard to reach.’

26%

28%

18%

36%

3%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

I cannot take time off work.

I am not aware of training opportunities nearby.

The cost of training prevents me from attending.

The training times are not convenient for me.

I am not interested in the topics offered.

Figure 1. Before REACH: Teacher-Reported Barriers to Training (N=315)

SINCE ITS INCEPTION, REACH HAS

COMPLETED TRAINING:

WITH MORE THAN 600 TEACHERS.

IN 42 CENTERS.

IN 21 COUNTIES.



REACH EVALUATION PLAN

The evaluation component of REACH was designed to assess change over time in the classroom environment,

child behavior, and teacher knowledge and practices. The design is two-fold: 1) to conduct independent

observations of the classroom using trained research assistants, and 2) to allow staff to reflect on each training

and those strategies, assessing their own knowledge and implementation along the way through use of

workshop feedback forms. Thus, we were able to evaluate teacher capacity to support children’s social-

emotional development as evidenced by:

Teacher perception of changes in his/her own behavior and implementation of REACH strategies

Classroom observations by trained data collectors to determine observed changes in teacher behavior, use

of materials and classroom tone.

Teacher and director satisfaction with REACH through pre and post surveys.

TEACHER PERCEPTION OF CHANGE IN THEIR OWN BEHAVIOR

Each training includes a self-assessment tool, allowing the teacher to reflect on his/her current behaviors in the

classroom and set attainable goals for the future. These are repeated a month later so that we can examine

change in teachers’ perception of their own behavior. The figure below summarizes areas where teacher

reported significant increases:



At the closure of REACH, we again asked teachers to indicate how much they agree that they now utilize key

REACH strategies. These results are summarized below.



OBSERVED CHANGES IN CLASSROOMS

Independent classroom observations by trained research staff include ratings of teacher-child interactions and

the classroom environment collected at the beginning and end of the training series. The classroom observation

includes a revised version of the Arnett Caregiver Interaction Scale and a Social-Emotional Classroom Quick

Screen. In this section, we report on the impact of REACH coaching and training on classroom outcomes, as

observed by trained research staff.

58%

94%

99%

100%

91%

93%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

I have shared REACH parent pages with the parents ofchildren in my class.

I am better at labeling and describing feelings in theclassroom.

I often talk to children about what they're doing,feeling, and seeing.

I try to "catch children being good," and give positivefeedback.

When children fight, I help them come up with theirown solutions to the problem.

I teach children about the classroom schedule on aregular basis.

Percent agree/strongly agree

Figure 2. Teacher Self-Reported Use of Key REACH Strategies (N=191)



Arnett Caregiver Interaction Scale. The Arnett is an observational rating scale of teacher interactions with

children in the classroom completed by trained research staff. It consists of items that assess the teacher’s

sensitivity, punitiveness, detachment, and permissiveness with regard to engaging and disciplining children.

Significant improvements were seen on the total Arnett Caregiver Interaction score over time for 177 REACH

teachers, with teacher warmth and responsiveness increasing the most from baseline to follow-up. Specifically,

based on observations prior to REACH and at the end of REACH, we noticed the following improvements in

teacher-child interactions:

56%

29%

40%

41%

73%

67%

75%

81%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Being followed at observation

Posted near circle time area

Posted at eye level

Includes words & pictures

Figure 3. Recommended Use of Classroom Daily Schedules

Follow-up Baseline



Note. These are sample items from the data collection tool used.

Classrooms also demonstrated significant improvement in: Positive child/child and child/staff interactions. Teachers’ helping children label and express their feelings. Teachers’ use of transitions to help children move smoothly between activities. Teachers using opportunities to build both language skills and relationships through talking.

TEACHER & DIRECTOR SATISFACTION

Post-training survey results of both teachers and directors suggest that most are satisfied with the REACH

training.



Teachers were asked to rate the helpfulness of specific REACH components beyond the training itself. The figure

below summarizes their feedback.

85%

96%

100%

95%

96%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Because of REACH, I saw a difference in children'sbehavior.

As a result of REACH, I made changes that haveimproved the way things work in my classroom.

As a result of REACH, I have more positiveinteractions with the families I serve.

I developed a good relationship with my REACHcoach.

I would recommend REACH trainings to teachersat other centers.


Figure 4. Teacher Satisfaction (N=189)

97%

100%

97%

92%

100%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Because of the REACH coach, we really learned newstrategies for dealing with children's behavior problems.

We have made helpful improvements to the classroomenvironment because of the REACH coach.

We have learned new strategies for supporting social-emotional development in children.

We got what we hoped for out of the training process.

We would recommend REACH to other child care centerdirectors.


Figure 5. Director Satisfaction (N=38)



COMMENTS FROM DIRECTORS & TEACHERS

eachers:

The most important benefit from REACH has been the many ways of tweaking my classroom to help the children’s

behavior. The fidget bag, emotions poster, and the calm down techniques have all been a great help.

[I benefitted from] learning about my own emotions and how to relate to children better. Never give up on a

child whether he has problems or not. There is always a solution.

irectors:

[I have noticed] positive changes in the classroom environment. Structure and ease during transition of

classroom activities and moving throughout the facility. Promoting and encouraging choice. Most of the

classrooms have picture schedules, resulting in maintaining classroom structure and consistency. Staff are

encouraging children to express feelings by talking to children, not at children. Hearing and seeing more

positive interactions with children. Follow-up in the classroom made the training personal and applicable to

specific situations. Staff have an understanding of the hierarchy of children’s needs, and meeting those needs

first promotes learning.

SUMMARY

This evaluation provides strong evidence that the REACH program is meeting its goal to increase the capacity of

‘hard to reach’ teachers to support children’s social and emotional development. REACH has successfully

engaged teachers in diverse centers in a range of Arkansas communities. REACH evaluation results based on

both teacher reports and independent observations show positive impacts on nurturing teacher-child

interactions and the use of strategies to support children’s social and emotional skill development.

87%

71%

71%

78%

75%

11%

22%

23%

18%

17%

3%

8%

5%

4%

9%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Toolkit items

Calendar cards

Classroom visits from coach

Daily practice plans

Emails/texts from coach

Figure 6. Teacher Reported Helpfulness of REACH Training Components (N=203)

Very/mostly helpful Somewhat helpful Not very/not at all helpful

T D

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REACH Annual Report - Family and Preventive Medicinefamilymedicine.uams.edu › wp... › 11 › REACH-Final-Report...UAMS REACH Final Report - FY15 Page 10 of 10 COMMENTS FROM DIRECTORS