Reducing Aggressive Behavior of Preschoolers, Research Paper Example

Draft Purpose Section of Action Plan

Challenging and aggressive behavior (“any repeated pattern of behavior that interferes with learning or engagement in social interactions.”) (McCabe & Frede, 2007, p. 1). This behavior has a high prevalence in Berean Christian School, in West Palm Beach, too. The author of the current research draft would like to examine intervention methods and strategies that would reduce this type of behavior and improve the quality of care and learning.

Setting and Participants

The author would like to research the correlation between risk factors and aggression in a pre-school classroom of Tremblay et al. (2004) found three different trajectories that increased aggression among pre-school children. Those children coming from a family where the mother was a teenager when became pregnant were more likely to show aggression than their peers. Low income and single parenthood were also found to be predictors of anti-social and aggressive behavior among children. The study will focus on these social determinants to identify at risk and highly vulnerable children.

The target community is a high diversity, low income community, only 69 percent of the population speaks English, and almost 30 percent of families rely on social security (Area Vibes)

Berean Christian School, 8350 Okeechobee Blvd. West Palm Beach, FL 33411 is providing day child care on a community basis for children aged 2 to 4. As the majority of Hispanic minority families are Catholic, this preschool is popular among immigrant families.

The setting of the study is a highly diverse classroom where 40 percent of children are from low income families, 30 percent belong to an ethnic minority, and 25 percent of children live in a single parent family,

The target group of the intervention study is at risk children who show aggressive behavior in classroom, and their parents.

A successful intervention program should focus on parents’ education, teacher training, effective intervention policies, and creating a positive classroom environment, according to Raaijmakers (2013).

The author would recommend the following interventions: social-emotional intervention for at-risk children, curriculum change to promote positive behavior support, incredible Years teacher training program to provide educators with the knowledge to educate both children and parents, and a special parenting education plan designed to teach positive parenting, focusing on single parents. The study will focus on measuring intervention outcomes of the plan, in order to create a framework for educators dealing with pre-school classroom aggression.

References

Area Vibes. (n.d.) West Palm Beach, FL Demographics. Retrieved from:  http://www.areavibes.com/west+palm+beach-fl/demographics/

McCabe, L. & Frede, E. (2007) Challenging behaviors and the role of preschool education. Preschool Policy Brief. Rutgers.

Raaijmakers, Maartje (2013) Aggressive Behavior in preschool children. Neuropsychological correlates, costs of service use, and preventive efforts. Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry of the University Medical Center Utrecht.

Tremblay, R., Nagin, D., Se´guin. J., Zoccolillo, M., Zelazo, P., Boivin, M., Pe´russe, D. &  Japel, C. (2004) Physical aggression during early childhood: trajectories and predictors. Pediatrics. vol. 114 No. 1 July 2004. e43-e50.