HEAD START UNIVERSITY PARTNERSHIP: Measurement Development

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PICCOLO A New Measure to Assess Parenting,
Guide Parenting Interventions, Track Program
Outcomes
Lori Roggman, Mark Innocenti,
Vonda Jump Norman, Gina Cook,
Katie Christiansen
Utah State University
Head Start Research Conference, 2008
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What is PICCOLO?How can programs use it?
PICCOLO is a developmental parenting measure
of - Affection (less antisocial behavior, more
compliance) - Responsiveness (attachment securit
y, emotion regulation) - Encouragement (explorat
ion, cognitive development) - Teaching (languag
e, emergent literacy) Programs can use PICCO
LO to - assess parenting (10 mo - 3 yr) - pla
n intervention - evaluate programs
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What is PICCOLO? Parenting Interactions with Chil
dren Checklist of Observations Linked to Outcom
es
Easy - 10-min observation, live or video
Practical - useful to plan home visit
activities Reliable - observers usually agree,
r .85 Valid - predicts child outcomes at age
3 PreK vocabulary, cognitive tests, b
ehavior
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Why did we develop PICCOLO?
Many programs for infants, toddlers, or young
children emphasize positive parenting
interactions to promote childrens early
development. But few programs measure it!
Programs that focus on parenting need a valid, r
eliable, practical measure to assess parenting,
guide interventions, and track program outcomes.
Thats why we developed PICCOLO.
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How was PICCOLO developed?
Collected new data from 4,500 clips of 2,0
00 families
Used data video archive mostly from Early
Head Start
Selected best 29 items from 100 items
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PICCOLO Domains
AffectionWarmth, physical closeness,
positive expressions to child.
Responsiveness Responding to childs cues,
emotions, words, interests, behaviors.
Encouragement Active support of childs explor
ation, effort, skills, initiative, curiosity,
creativity, play.

Teaching Shared conversation and play, cognit
ive stimulation, explanations, questions.
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PICCOLO domains have 7-8 items each EXAMPLES
Item Scoring 0 None - Absent didnt see,
not observed at all. 1 Some - Bar
ely there sometimes seen but not often.
2 Lots - Consistently there seen
often.
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What do practitioners say about PICCOLO?
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USE PICCOLOTO ASSESS PARENTING STRENGTHS
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How to use PICCOLO to assess parenting
1. Plan to do a 10-minute observation on a home
visit 2. Select activities that will engage par
ent and child 3. Score the observation live o
r from video.
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How to select PICCOLO observation activities
Select activities that . . . fit program g
oals can be done in limited space engage
both parent and child last at least 10 minute
s
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Activities for PICCOLO observations Picture
books (Hungry Caterpillar, Good Night Moon,
etc.) Puzzles, blocks, play-dough, art materia
ls Pretend play toys Family routines P
lanned home visit activities
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When to do PICCOLO Ratings Live Immedi
ately after home visit Later while watching vid
eo (recommended) alone with parent wit
h supervisor
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USE PICCOLOTO PLAN INTERVENTION
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How to use PICCOLO to plan intervention

• Look for highest PICCOLO domain scores.
• Ask what daily activities involve those
  behaviors.
  
• Plan with parent to do that activity on a home
  visit.
  
• During activity, ask about related parenting
  behaviors in that and other domains.
  

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PICCOLO is . . .

• Positive All PICCOLO items describe positive
  parenting behaviors.
  
• Emphasize what parents do well and often.
• Explain how PICCOLO behaviors support their
  childrens development.
  

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PICCOLO is . . .

• Practical PICCOLO helps practitioners identify
  parenting strengths to encourage parents to do
  more.
  
• Ask when parents do PICCOLO behaviors as part of
  their regular family activities.
  
• Plan one of those activities for a home visit.
• Observe and comment on PICCOLO behaviors during
  activities

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PICCOLO is . . .

• Culturally Responsive PICCOLO was developed
  from over 4,500 observations of
  European-Americans, Latino-Americans,
  African-Americans.
• Ask what child outcomes are important.
• Ask how they try to support those outcomes.
• Ask what parenting behaviors are important.

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USE PICCOLOTO TRACK PROGRAM OUTCOMES
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How to use PICCOLO to track program outcomes

• Use PICCOLO at start and end of program years.
• Calculate parents with domain scores average or
  above
  
• Look at which domains are highest
• Ask parents which domains are important
• Compare across and between program years.

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PICCOLO is sensitive to program impacts



n.s.
p Evaluation Project
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Use PICCOLO to improve programs

• Track developmental parenting as an outcome
• Are parenting interventions working?
• Do intervention activities match PICCOLO
  strengths?
  
• Do parents improve PICCOLO scores?
• Which parents improve most?

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Example of PICCOLO changes in parents
with domain scores at or above average
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PICCOLO Parenting Interactions with Children
Checklist of Observations Linked to Outcomes
Support materials available for PICCOLO
Measuring the High Notes of Parenting Intera
ctions
Manual
PICCOLO Training DVD
PICCOLO Training DVD
Funded by ACYF Grant 90YF0050
Parenting Interactions with Children
Checklist of Observations Linked to Outcomes
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PICCOLO Program Partners Bear River Head Start
, Logan, UT Davis Early Head Start, Layton, UT
Guadalupe Schools Early Childhood Program,
SLC, UT
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Thanks!
We are grateful to the parents and children in
the video clips used to develop PICCOLO. Many
participated in the Early Head Start research
project. We are also grateful to the Early Head
Start Research Consortium and the Head Start
Bureau for making those video clips available for
research and to the Administration for Children
Youth Families for making the PICCOLO project
possible through Grant 90YF0050.