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424 DOMITROVICH ET AL. Downloaded By: [Pennsylvania State University] At: 15:23 17 February 2011 Limitations and Future Directions This study has several strengths, including monthly ratings of implementation fidelity and a diverse set of predictors of variations in quality, but several limitations are noteworthy. First, reliability data for the coaches’ratings were not available because, unlike measures based on relatively brief classroom observations (La Paro & Pianta, 2003), the monthly coach ratings were based on information gleaned from four weekly meetings with teachers and four classroom visits. It was not feasible to obtain ratings from a second individual with equally extensive classroom contact. However, the reliable correlations between coach ratings and outside observer ratings provide some assurance of the reliability of the coach ratings and offset this constraint to some extent. Third, teacher perceptions of the intervention were collected at the end of the intervention year, so it is not clear whether these perceptions were a cause or a consequence of teacher implementation fidelity. For example, it is possible that teachers who implemented the program with quality came to perceive the program as being congruent with their teaching style (i.e., a “convert effect”). In future studies of REDI sustainability we will examine these constructs longitudinally to clarify the direction of effects. Fourth, a larger sample would have allowed for greater confidence in the findings and for the exploration of how the teaching pairs might influence each other’s practices. Finally, ratings of teacher openness to consultation and implementation fidelity were both collected from the perspective of REDI coaches. Shared method variance inflates the correspondence between these variables. Future studies will include assessments of the teachers’ perspective and will measure other aspects of the coach–teacher relationship process to clarify the essential ingredients of this type of professional development experience. In this regard, research on the “therapeutic alliance” between psychotherapists and their clients may offer some useful insights. Meta-analyses have confirmed that the therapist–client relationship is an essential element through which the process of change occurs (Martin, Garske, & Davis, 2000), with most researchers including measures of the affective bond, degree of collaboration, and goal or activity alignment between the therapist and client from both individuals’ perspectives. Other intervention studies that employ coaches are beginning to include measures such as these (J. Wehby, personal communication, September 9, 2008). Our findings are consistent with the conceptual models of implementation described by Greenberg and colleagues for school-based preventive interventions (Domitrovich et al., 2008; Greenberg, Domitrovich, Graczyk, & Zins, 2005) in which characteristics of two distinct components must be considered to make evidence-based interventions work effectively in community settings: the intervention itself and its support system (Chen, 1998; Klein & Sorra, 1996). It is around issues related to support systems that the interests of the prevention field converge with those of professional development. Researchers in both these areas can bene-
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN HEAD START REDI 425 fit from examining each others’ theories, practices, and measurement strategies. What this study suggests is what many of us already believe, that the motivation and engagement of teachers in the moment are as important as the more distal experiences that have traditionally been considered the primary pathway to quality practice. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Downloaded By: [Pennsylvania State University] At: 15:23 17 February 2011 This project was supported by the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development grants HD046064 and HD43763 awarded to Karen L. Bierman of The Pennsylvania State University. The authors would like to thank the administration and teaching staff of the Head Start programs participating in the REDI project. We also extend our appreciation for the many hours of support provided to teachers by the REDI coaches. REFERENCES Aber, J. L., Brown, J. L., & Jones, S. M. (2003). Developmental trajectories toward violence in middle childhood: Course, demographic differences, and response to school-based intervention. Developmental Psychology, 39, 324–348. Adams, M. J., Foorman, B. R., Lundberg, I., & Beeler, T. (1998). Phonological sensitivity in young children: A classroom curriculum. Baltimore: Brookes. Administration for Children and Families. (2003). Head Start FACES: A whole-child perspective on program performance. Fourth progress report. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Administration on Children, Youth, and Families. (2001). Head Start FACES: Longitudinal findings on program performance. Third progress report. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Arnold, D. H., McWilliams, L., & Arnold, E. H. (1998). Teacher discipline and child misbehaviour in day care: Untangling causality with correlational data. Developmental Psychology, 34, 276–287. Beals, D. E., DeTemple, J. M., & Dickinson, D. K. (1994). Talking and listening that support early literacy development of children from low-income families. In D. K. Dickinson (Ed.), Bridges to literacy (pp. 19–40). Oxford, England: Blackwell. Bierman, K. L., Greenberg, M. T., & the Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group. (1996). Social skill training in the FAST Track program. In R. D. Peters & R. J. McMahon (Eds.), Preventing childhood disorders, substance abuse, and delinquency (pp. 65–89). Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Blau, D. M. (2000). The production of quality in child-care centers: Another look. Applied Developmental Science, 4, 136–148. Bowman, B. T., Donovan, S., & Burns, M. S. (Eds.). (2001). Eager to learn: Educating our preschoolers. Washington, DC: National Academy Press. Brooks, V. (1996, February). Mentoring: The interpersonal dimension. Teacher Education, pp. 5–10. Bryant, D. M., Burchinal, M., Lau, L. B., & Sparling, J. J. (1994). Family and classroom correlates of Head Start children’s developmental outcomes. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 9, 289–309.
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