Description

Using a hybrid Type 2 effectiveness-implementation design, this study tests the effectiveness and implementation of an evidence-based parenting intervention for improving parenting and school outcomes in a sample of 4-year-old children enrolled in public prekindergarten (PreK) programs in Maryland. Thirty Title 1 schools across two Maryland school districts (Baltimore City Public Schools n=20; Cecil County Public Schools n=10) will be randomized into experimental (receive the Chicago Parent Program intervention) or control (usual school practice) conditions. The Chicago Parent Program (CPP) is a 12-session group-based parenting intervention designed to strengthen parenting skills and parent engagement in children's learning and improve children's social-emotional and behavioral competence. All schools will participate for 2 years. In the experimental condition, school staff trained in CPP will implement the program in groups of 10-15 parents of PreK students in a virtual group or in-person group format (format order counterbalanced). Parents in the control condition will complete surveys only. Study outcomes for all participants will be evaluated at PreK baseline (T1), 4-5 months post baseline (T2), in the fall of kindergarten (T3), and at the end of kindergarten (T4). Outcomes include children's social-emotional-behavioral competence, parent engagement in early childhood education, and parenting skills; school community cohesion; kindergarten readiness, chronic absence, and retained in kindergarten. Additional evaluation data will be collected in the experimental condition assessing perceived effectiveness, implementation quality, uptake, and cost-effectiveness to understand factors that affect the likelihood the program can be successfully integrated and sustained in urban and rural school settings. Demographic background variables will be collected from parents at baseline. Variables include the caregiver role in relation to the PreK child; the race, ethnicity, age, and gender of the parent and PreK child; primary language spoken in the home; and parents' education, employment status, marital status, and annual household income. The investigators will also assess nine family economic hardships experienced over the past 12 months. Demographic background variables will also be collected from PreK teachers at baseline and K teachers in the fall of K and will include gender, age, race, ethnicity, education, and teaching experience at the teacher's current school.