Validity Studies of CIRCLE: A Preschool Eco-Behavioral Interaction Measure for Intervention Decision Making

The goal of this project, Validity Studies of the Classroom Code for Interactive Recording of Children's Learning Environments (CIRCLE) (Version 2.0): A Preschool Eco-Behavioral Interaction Measure for Intervention Decision Making, is to validate a classroom observational measure that can be used to assist preschool teachers in revising and implementing interventions for children who are identified as unresponsive to existing classroom learning contexts (e.g., classroom activity structure such as small groups, academic content such as literacy). When a child's behavior is not responsive to the instruction provided, intervention adjustments are necessary. The Classroom Code for Interactive Recording of Children's Learning Environments (CIRCLE) (Version 2.0) is a classroom observation system that provides information to teachers on what adjustments are needed by assessing time-sampled contexts, teacher behavior and child behavior, and using these data to estimate response dependencies (i.e., the probability that a certain child behavior co-occurs with a specific classroom context and teacher behavior). To provide this information, the measure must be sensitive to variations in children's response dependencies, psychometrically sound, and provide benchmarks for decision making. This project aims to strengthen the evidence for the validity of the CIRCLE for use within inclusive preschool settings that use a tiered approach to learning, with the ultimate goal of improving outcomes for young children with or at risk for disabilities