Program and Teacher Characteristics Predicting the Implementation of Banking Time with Preschoolers Who Display Disruptive Behaviors

Abstract

This study examined the relationship among baseline program and teacher characteristics and subsequent implementation of Banking Time. Banking Time is a dyadic intervention intended to improve a teacher's interaction quality with a specific child. Banking Time implementation was examined in the current study using a sample of 59 teachers and preschool children displaying disruptive behaviors in the classroom (~three children per classroom). Predictors included preschool program type, teacher demographic characteristics (personal and professional), and teacher beliefs (self-efficacy, authoritarian beliefs, and negative attributions about child disruptive behavior). Multiple measures and methods (i.e., teacher report, consultant report, independent observations) were used to assess implementation. We created three implementation composite measures (dosage, quality, and generalized practice) that had high internal consistencies within each composite but were only modestly associated with one another, suggesting unique constructs of implementation. We found that type of preschool program was associated with dosage and quality. Aspects of teacher demographics related to all three implementation composites. Teacher beliefs predicted dosage and generalized practice. Results suggest that the factors that predict the implementation of Banking Time vary as a function of the type of implementation being assessed.

The classroom relational environment and children’s early development in preschool

“…With respect to practice and policy, school leaders should consider additional training and supports for teachers to form and maintain positive relationships with all of their students, perhaps even coaching teachers to build and manage effective relationships with children with whom they have more conflictual relationships or who are at higher risk for negative outcomes (e.g., Williford, Wolcott, Whittaker, & LoCasale‐Crouch, 2015). The implications for policy of this study, if replicated, could affect decisions to place children with certain teachers, in addition to in‐service training for teachers of young children.…”

Teachers’ Relationship Closeness with Students as a Resource for Teacher Wellbeing: A Response Surface Analytical Approach

“…The perspective that student–teacher relationships are important for teachers as well as for students might also motivate practitioners to enhance relationship quality and to detect possible sources of meaningful change. For example, the intervention program Banking Time, designed to enhance relational quality between a teacher and a preschooler might provide evidence-based practical suggestions as to how congruent close relationships in the classroom can be fostered ( Williford et al, 2015 ). This intervention program focuses on secluded teacher–child interaction time in which the teacher is asked (1) to observe the child’s behavior and emotions, (2) to narrate the child’s actions and to follow their intentions, (3) to label the child’s emotions in order to understand the child’s perspective and (4) to incorporate relevant relational themes.…”

Factors Associated with Teacher Delivery of a Classroom-Based Tier 2 Prevention Program

“…For example, Little et al (2013) found that teacher self-efficacy partially mediated the effect of training on treatment integrity in a dissemination trial of a school-based prevention program. However, recently Williford, Wolcott, Whittaker, and Locasale-Crouch (2015) did not find an association between teacher self-efficacy and teacher integrity of Banking Time, a tier-2 early childhood intervention. In the current study, we hypothesized that teachers who had higher levels of self-efficacy at the outset of the study would be more likely to implement BEST in CLASS extensively and with competence than would teachers who had lower levels of self-efficacy.…”

“…Teachers' education background has also been hypothesized to be associated with program delivery (Domitrovich et al, 2008;Durlak, 2010) and research suggests that teachers' education is related to program quality (Pianta et al, 2005). Williford et al (2015) found that teachers with an early childhood education major provided greater dosage of Banking Time than teachers without an early childhood degree. Therefore, in the current study we hypothesized that teachers with more education would implement BEST in CLASS more extensively and with greater competence than would teachers with less training.…”