Since 2017, Child Trends has served as a strategic planning and research partner to Conscious Discipline, an adult-focused, social-emotional learning (SEL) and classroom management program. Our work includes efforts in three areas: cross-cutting supports, special studies related to the Conscious Discipline Parenting Education Curriculum, and supports for broader implementation of the program.
Child Trends has provided a range of cross-cutting supports, including:
- Exploring opportunities for Conscious Discipline to be included in evidence-based program registries, resulting in their addition to the CASEL “SEL-ect” program guide
- Reviewing and enhancing the Conscious Discipline theory of change and logic model (publication under review)
- Providing technical assistance for researchers studying Conscious Discipline—for example, managing research inquiries and developing FAQs for researchers, program evaluators, and child care programs and education systems interested in conducting research on Conscious Discipline
- Completing a literature review to help Conscious Discipline better understand how its model aligns with the best and latest research on social and emotional development and universal, school-based social and emotional learning programs
Child Trends also facilitated various supports related to the Conscious Discipline Parenting Education Curriculum, including:
- Completing a descriptive study of the Conscious Discipline Parenting Education Curriculum delivered in four Head Start programs, published in the Journal of Research in Innovative Teaching & Learning: A key finding was that, after the seven-week Conscious Discipline parenting class series—and again at 12-week follow-up—parents participating in Head Start who had completed the class series reported decreased use of harsh discipline techniques and improved relationships with their children.
- Facilitating inclusion of the Conscious Discipline Parenting Education Curriculum in Head Start’s approved list of Parenting Curricula for Group-based Delivery
- Developing a tool for child care programs and education systems to assess parenting practices and beliefs for parents of children ages 3 to 8—the Parenting Young Children Survey (PYCS; unpublished)
Additionally, Child Trends has provided a broad range of implementation supports, including:
- Helping Conscious Discipline refine its existing tools to assess intervention fidelity
- Analyzing the psychometric properties of Conscious Discipline’s ‘readiness to implement’ tool, which is completed by educators, an effort that led to an improved, shorter version of the tool
- Exploring how educators who serve as local/site-level coordinators of Conscious Discipline implementation are identified, selected, and supported in their leadership roles
- Collecting information from exemplar clients from child care and education system settings to tell their story of selecting and implementing Conscious Discipline over many years, shedding light on successes and challenges experienced along the way
For more information about this project, contact Kristen Darling at kdarling@childtrends.org.
Resources
Conscious Discipline Partners with Child Trends for Enhanced Research Support
Assessment Tools & Queries
Frequently Asked Questions About Supporting Data-Informed Conscious Discipline Implementation
Frequently Asked Questions About Conducting Research on Conscious Discipline
Conscious Discipline Parenting Education Curriculum Yields Positive Outcomes
Resilience and Conscious Discipline