Abstract
This chapter describes the Research-based, Developmentally Informed Parent (REDI-P) home visiting program that was designed to support families of 4-year-old children attending Head Start through the transition into kindergarten. In REDI-P parents are provided with learning materials to use at home and coached in strategies to support child skill development in the dual domains of language-emergent literacy skills and social-emotional learning. A randomized trial documented significant benefits for children in kindergarten in areas of academic performance and social competence, and these benefits were sustained through third grade. Parents increased positive interactions and conversations with their children and reported higher academic expectations. By third grade, parents reported fewer child problems at home and less parenting stress. In addition to describing the program and its outcomes, this chapter describes links between initial program response (program engagement and intervention-related improvements in targeted competencies in kindergarten) and sustained benefits evident 2–4 years later, revealing the potential mechanisms of action and key factors that may account for the long-term benefits of parent engagement efforts at school entry. Implications of this research for the scaling of REDI-P and future design of similar family engagement programs are described, along with recommendations for next steps in this important area of research.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bailey, D., Duncan, G. J., Odgers, C. L., & Yu, W. (2017). Persistence and fadeout in the impacts of child and adolescent interventions. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 10, 7–39.
Baydar, N., Reid, M. J., & Webster-Stratton, C. (2003). The role of mental health factors and program engagement in the effectiveness of a preventative parenting program for head start mothers. Child Development, 74, 1433–1453.
Bierman, K. L., Domitrovich, C. E., Nix, R. L., Gest, S. D., Welsh, J. A., Greenberg, M. T., Blair, C., Nelson, K., & Gill, S. (2008). Promoting academic and social-emotional school readiness: The head start REDI program. Child Development, 79, 1802–1817.
Bierman, K. L., Nix, R. L., Heinrichs, B. S., Domitrovich, C. E., Gest, S. D., Welsh, J. A., & Gill, S. (2014). Effects of head start REDI on children’s outcomes one year later in different kindergarten contexts. Child Development, 85, 140–159.
Bierman, K. L., Welsh, J., Heinrichs, B. S., Nix, R. L., & Mathis, E. T. (2015). Helping head start parents promote their children’s kindergarten adjustment: The REDI parent program. Child Development, 86, 1877–1891.
Bierman, K.L., Welsh, J.A., Heinrichs, B.S., & Nix, R.L. (2018). Preschool home visiting boosts school readiness and reduces need for services in elementary school: A randomized program evaluation. JAMA Pediatrics,172(8): e181029.
Bierman, K.L., McDoniel, M. & Loughlin-Presnal, J.E. (2019). How a preschool parent intervention produced later benefits: A longitudinal mediation analysis. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 64,101058.
Blair, C., & Raver, C. C. (2015). School readiness and self-regulation: A developmental psychobiological approach. Annual Review of Psychology, 66, 711–731.
Brotman, L. M., O’Neal, C. R., Huang, K., Gouley, K. K., Rosenfelt, A., & Shrout, P. E. (2009). An experimental test of parenting practices as mediator of early childhood physical aggression. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 50, 235–245.
Collins, L. M., Murphy, S. A., Bierman, K. L., & the Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group. (2004). A conceptual framework for adaptive preventive interventions. Prevention Science, 5, 185–196.
Committee on Integrating the Science of Early Childhood Development. (2000). From neurons to neighborhoods: The science of early childhood development. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.
Domitrovich, C. E., Cortes, R., & Greenberg, M. T. (2007). Improving young children’s social and emotional competence: A randomized trial of the preschool PATHS curriculum. Journal of Primary Prevention, 28, 67–91.
Dumas, J. E., Nissley-Tsiopinis, J., & Moreland, A. D. (2007). From intent to enrollment, attendance, and participation in preventive parenting groups. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 16, 1–26.
Evans, M. A., & Shaw, D. (2008). Home grown for reading: Parental contributions to young children’s emergent literacy and word recognition. Canadian Psychology, 49, 89–95.
Ford, R. M., McDougall, S. J. P., & Evans, D. (2009). Parent-delivered compensatory education for children at risk of educational failure: Improving the academic and self-regulatory skills of a sure start preschool sample. British Journal of Psychology, 100, 773–797.
Isaacs, J.B. (2012) Starting school at a disadvantage: The school readiness of poor children. Brookings Institution. Retrieved July 7, 2019 from https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/0319_school_disadvantage_isaacs.pdf
Jones, D.E., Bierman, K.L., Crowley, D.M., Welsh, J.A., & Gest, J. (2019). Important issues in estimating costs of early childhood educational interventions: An example from the REDI program. Unpublished manuscript.
Justice, L. M., & Ezzell, H. K. (2000). Enhancing children’s print and word awareness through home-based parent intervention. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 9, 257–269.
Landry, S. H., Smith, K. E., Swank, P. R., & Guttentag, C. (2008). A responsive parenting intervention: The optimal timing across early childhood for impacting maternal behaviors and child outcomes. Developmental Psychology, 44, 1335–1353.
Loughlin-Presnal, J. E., & Bierman, K. L. (2017). Promoting parent academic expectations predicts improved school outcomes for low-income children entering kindergarten. Journal of School Psychology, 62, 67–80.
Lunkenheimer, E. S., Dishion, T. J., Shaw, D. S., Connell, A. M., Gardner, F., Wilson, M. N., & Skuban, E. M. (2008). Collateral benefits of the family check-up on early childhood school readiness: Indirect effects of parents’ positive behavior support. Developmental Psychology, 44, 1737–1752.
Manz, P. H., Hughes, C., Barnabas, E., Bracaliello, C., & Ginsburg-Block, M. (2010). A descriptive review and meta-analysis of family-based emergent literacy interventions: To what extent is the research applicable to low-income, ethnic-minority or linguistically-diverse young children? Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 25, 409–431.
Mathis, E. T., & Bierman, K. L. (2015). Effects of parent and child pre-intervention characteristics on child skill acquisition during a school readiness intervention. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 33, 87–97.
Mol, S. E., Bus, A. G., de Jong, M. T., & Smeets, D. J. H. (2008). Added value of dialogic parent-child book readings: A meta-analysis. Early Education and Development, 19, 7–26.
Nix, R. L., Bierman, K. L., McMahon, R. J., & Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group. (2009). How attendance and quality of participation affect treatment response to parent management training. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 77, 429–438.
Nix, R. L., Bierman, K. L., Domitrovich, C. E., & Gill, S. (2013). Promoting preschool social-emotional skills with the head start REDI program enhances academic and behavioral outcomes in kindergarten. Early Education and Development, 24, 1000–1019.
Nix, R. L., Bierman, K. L., Motamedi, M., Heinrichs, B. S., & Gill, S. (2018). Parent engagement in an enriched head start home visiting program: Predictors and associations with child outcomes. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 45, 106–114.
Reardon, S. F. (2011). The widening socioeconomic status achievement gap: New evidence and possible explanations. In R. J. Murnane & G. J. Duncan (Eds.), Whither opportunity?Rising inequality, schools, and children’s life chances (pp. 91–115). New York: Russell Sage.
Reese, E., Sparks, A., & Leyva, D. (2010). A review of parent interventions for preschool children’s language and emergent literacy. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 10, 97–117.
Reid, M. J., Webster-Stratton, C., & Baydar, N. (2004). Halting the development of conduct problems in head start children: The effects of parent training. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 33, 279–291.
Ryan, R. M., Fauth, R. C., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2006). Childhood poverty: Implications for school readiness and early childhood education. In B. Spodek & O. N. Saracho (Eds.), Handbook of research on the education of children (2nd ed., pp. 323–346). Mahwah: Erlbaum Associates.
Sandler, I., Schoenfelder, E., Wolchik, S., & MacKinnon, D. (2011). Long-term impact of prevention programs to promote effective parenting: Lasting effects but uncertain processes. Annual Review of Psychology, 62, 299–329.
Senechal, M. (2006). Testing the home literacy model: Parent involvement in kindergarten is differentially related to grade 4 reading comprehension, fluency, spelling, and reading for pleasure. Scientific Studies on Reading, 10, 59–87.
Webster-Stratton, C., & Taylor, T. K. (2001). Nipping early risk factors in the bud: Preventing substance abuse, delinquency, and violence in adolescence through interventions targeted at young children (0-8 years). Prevention Science, 2, 165–192.
Webster-Stratton, C., Reid, M. J., & Hammond, M. (2001). Preventing conduct problems, promoting social competence: A parent and teacher training partnership in head start. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 30, 283–302.
Welsh, J.A., Bierman, K.L., Nix, R.L., Heinrichs, B., & Gest, S.D. (2020). Sustained effects of a school readiness intervention: Fifth grade outcomes of the Head Start REDI program. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 53, 151–160.
Yoshikawa, H., Weiland, C., Brooks-Gunn, J., Burchinal, M. R., Espinosa, L. M., Gormley, W. T., … Phillips, M. D. (2013). Investing in our future: The evidence base on preschool education (Vol. 9). Ann Arbor: Society for Research in Child Development.
Acknowledgments
This project was supported by National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Grant HD046064. We greatly appreciate the cooperation of our partners in this project: the parents, students, teachers, and program personnel of the Head Start programs of Huntingdon, Blair, and York counties in Pennsylvania and of the school districts that participated in the follow-up study. In addition, this work reflects the particular efforts and talents of Gloria Rhule and Julia Gest, who contributed to the home visiting program development and served as program supervisors.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Bierman, K.L., Nix, R.L., Welsh, J.A., Heinrichs, B.S., Loughlin-Presnal, J.E., McDoniel, M.E. (2022). The REDI-Parent Program: Enhancing the School Success of Children from Low-Income Families. In: Bierman, K.L., Sheridan, S.M. (eds) Family-School Partnerships During the Early School Years. Research on Family-School Partnerships. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-74617-9_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-74617-9_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-74616-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-74617-9
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)