Invest in Kids Continues Support of Incredible Years® in Colorado | The Incredible Years® Blog

Invest In Kids continues to support quality implementation of Incredible Years® programs with sustainability and high fidelity throughout Colorado.  Thanks to Dr. Erin Albrecht, Data and Evaluation Manager at Invest in Kids for sharing their annual outcomes report with us!  Here are highlights from their annual statewide evaluation report.

During the 2018-19  academic year, three of The Incredible Years® universal prevention components were offered across 21 counties in Colorado with the support of Invest in Kids – the Preschool Basic Parenting Program, Classroom Dina Child Prevention Program, and Teacher Classroom Management Program.  These program components were delivered in schools and community-based settings to 7,027 children, 492 educational staff, 73 Parent Program Facilitators, and 595 parents across 21 counties in Colorado with the support of Invest In Kids.  Invest In Kids evaluates all three program components annually in order to track outcomes, monitor fidelity to the program models, and ensure and support practice improvement for program implementers.

Preschool BASIC Parent Program

Numbers Served: 73 Parent Program Facilitators delivered the Preschool Basic Parenting Program to 595 parents across 51 unique parent groups in Colorado.

Outcomes: There was a significant increase from pre-test to post-test for parent’s Appropriate Discipline, Clear Expectations, and Positive Parenting, and a significant decrease from pre-test to post-test for parent’s Harsh Discipline and Inconsistent Discipline. There was also a significant increase in preschool-aged children’s Prosocial Communication, Emotion Regulation, and overall Social Competence, as reported by parents.

Dinosaur School Child Prevention Program

Numbers Served: 464 teachers and education staff supported the delivery of Dinosaur School to 6,599 students.

Outcomes: There was a significant increase from pre-test to post-test for student’s Prosocial Communication, Emotion Regulation, Academic Skills, and overall Social Competence, as reported by teachers. In addition, there were significant increases from pre-test to post-test for all nine items that measured student progress on Dinosaur School social-emotional skills in the classroom.

Teacher Classroom Management (TCM) Program

Numbers Served: 30 teachers were in classrooms that benefitted from training and coaching in TCM, and 428 students were in those classrooms.

Outcomes: There was a significant increase from pre-test to post-test for teacher’s use of Positive Management Strategies and Planning and Support. There was also a significant increase in student’s Prosocial Communication, Emotion Regulation, Academic Skills, and overall Social Competence, as reported by teachers.

Program Coaching and Fidelity

In addition to training, Invest In Kids provides regular coaching and monitors the quality of fidelity to the Incredible Years program components in order to ensure that implementers have the support they need to deliver IY as intended.  Fidelity to the IY model is critical to ensure that meaningful program outcomes are achieved, and to promote sustainability for IY in classrooms, schools, and communities across Colorado.

As part of this process, IIK consultants and community-based peer coaches complete three fidelity checklists across the year for first and second year implementers in Dinosaur School, and three fidelity checklists for teachers receiving TCM coaching. IIK consultants complete up to two fidelity checklists during the course of the 14-week Parent Program, depending on the facilitators’ level of support from IIK. In 2018-19, the average fidelity ratings for the IY classroom components showed significant improvement over time, and the average fidelity ratings for Parent Program were consistent between the first and second fidelity checklists.

Coaching visits by IIK consultants and peer coaches with implementers include:

• Direct observation of implementers engaged in program delivery
• Regular fidelity assessments to ensure that the core components of the IY curriculum are being followed
• Collaborative goal setting with implementers
• Targeted coaching for implementers to improve specific domains of practice
• Discussion with implementers about implementation barriers and the creation of problem-solving strategies

Fidelity outcomes highlights include:

Dinosaur School

Fidelity: The average observed fidelity score showed a significant increase over time for both first and second year teachers.

Teacher Classroom Management (TCM)

Fidelity: The average observed fidelity score showed a significant increase over time for TCM teachers.

Preschool BASIC Parent Program

Fidelity: The average fidelity score was consistently high (above a three on a scale of one to five) between both checklists for Parent Program Facilitators receiving Level 1 and Level 2 coaching support.

Read the Invest In Kids 2018-2019 Outcomes report here

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