The TEAM Prevention Program

The TEAM Prevention Program aims to prevent childhood aggression and get children off to a good start in school by helping them learn positive social skills and effective problem-solving strategies, reduce misbehaviors, follow parent and teacher directions, and feel good about themselves. The overall goal of the project is for all children to reach their full potential and to develop strong self-esteem.

The program is based on studies that show that how children behave, learn, and feel about themselves in the early school years are good indicators of whether they will have problems as teenagers. The long-term goal of the TEAM Prevention Program is to prevent delinquency, dropout, violence, and drug and alcohol abuse.

The TEAM Prevention Project is a partnership between school districts who wish to participate and teachers, with the UW Parenting Clinic. The National Institute of Mental Health, The National Institute of Nursing Research, and The National Institutes of Health fund the project. There are over 400 Head Start children and their families involved in a collaborative project with Head Start. At least 125 families and teachers can participate in our current project.

Project Activities

Baseline Assessment
In the fall of the school year, we obtain baseline assessments of all the children participating in the project. We include social competence at home and at school, peer relationships and academic readiness in the assessments. We observe children in clinics as they interact with their parents and with a best friend and include assessments of social competence, attributions and problem-solving strategies. We also conduct home interviews, observe children at home and in the classroom, and obtain teacher evaluations on standardized measures. Information is held in the strict confidence to the fullest extent permitted by law.

Promoting parenting competencies and strengthening families
The parenting program consists of a comprehensive series of sessions covering topics such as:

• encouraging children's cooperation
• promoting children's thinking skills
• motivating children
• promoting social skills
• the importance of being clear, predictable and positive
• strategies to decrease children's inappropriate behaviors
• fostering children's problem-solving skills
• effective communication with children
• anger management
• promoting children's social and academic success in school.

Program Evaluation

Random assignment
Children and their families are randomly assigned to either the Parent Training Program, the Child Social Skills and Problem-Solving Training Program, the School Involvement Program, or a combination of these programs. No program is considered a "placebo" or less effective than others. Random assignments allow researchers to evaluate what, if any, effects we get from working with parents, children, teachers or all three.

Evaluating the program
The program is evaluated based on assessments with teachers, parents and children through classroom observations, home visits, teacher and parent questionnaires and clinic assessments. parents and teachers are asked for a comprehensive evaluation of the intervention program. Parents and teachers are paid for completing the assessments.

Follow-up assessment of children's progress
We measure children's progress again one and two years after the intervention is completed. Assessments consist of interviews with parents and observations of children at home. We ask parents how well their children are coping academically and socially, and how they are feeling about their child's progress. The information we gather will be useful in developing new and better programs to help children make friends and get along with other children.

Teacher evaluation
Teachers provide their assessments of children's social competence in the classroom. This is a crucial component in understanding how we can improve children's learning and behavior. Information about each child's attendance, academic progress, and any awards or honors will be collected from school records.

Why do we involve teachers?
Next to parents, teachers are the most important people in young children's lives. They have knowledge and expertise about early child development and can tell us what works best to promote children's social skills, effective problem-solving and academic learning in the classroom. Teachers also see how children learn and behave within large groups of children of similar age. More than 1000 teachers have completed our assessments.

What happens to information collected in the project?
The research project is concerned with the learning and behavior of children in general, not of particular individuals families, children, teachers or schools. Participants are identified by number only, not by name. Data are used only by staff members of The Parenting Clinic for statistical purposes. Staff members have taken an oath of confidentiality. All information is stored in locked rooms at the University. No agency or court can subpoena our records.

How long will the project continue?
If our funding continues, we hope to interview teachers and parents as the children move into elementary and middle school. We aim to offer parenting programs throughout the child's early school years, and have applied for a grant that would enable us to continue the parenting program beyond the early grade school years.

For information:
The Parenting Clinic
UW School of Nursing
(206) 543-6010