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Families And Schools Together (FAST) is a multifamily group intervention program designed to build protective factors for children (ages 4 to 12), to empower parents to be the primary prevention agents for their own children, and to build supportive parent-to-parent groups. Developed in 1988, FAST has been implemented in more than 800 schools in 45 States and five countries. It is based on research in several areas: social ecology of child development; child psychiatry; family stress; family systems; social support; family therapy; parent-led play therapy; group work; stress, isolation, and poverty; and adult education and community development. The overall goal of the FAST program is to intervene early to help at-risk youth succeed in the community, at home, and in school and thus avoid problems such as adolescent delinquency, violence, addiction, and dropping out of school. Another goal of the FAST program is to produce changes at the levels of individual child functioning and the local social network. The FAST program achieves its goals by respecting and supporting parents rather than by criticizing and undercutting their power. Using the existing strengths of families, schools, and communities in creative partnerships, FAST offers youth structured opportunities for involvement in repeated relationship-building interactions with the primary caretaking parent, other family members, other families, peers, school representatives, and community representatives.
The program begins when a teacher or other school professional identifies a child with problem behaviors who is at risk for serious future academic and social problems. The professional then refers the family for participation in the program. Next, trained recruiters—often FAST graduates—visit the parents at home to discuss the school’s concerns and invite them to participate in the program. The family then gathers with 8 to 12 other families for eight weekly meetings, usually held in the school. The meetings, which typically last 2½ hours, include planned opening and closing routines, a family meal, structured family activities and communications, parent mutual-support time, and parent–child play therapy. These group activities support parents to help teach their child to connect to the cultures of work and school. A trained team consisting of a parent, a school professional, a clinical social worker, and a substance abuse counselor facilitates the meetings. The team is also required to represent the culture of the families participating in the program. Families participate in a graduation ceremony at the end of 8 weeks and then continue to participate in monthly follow-up meetings, run by the families, for 2 years.
Four randomized controlled trials (RCT) of the FAST program have been completed. All four studies used widely recognized outcome measures of child behavior, with established reliability and validity—the Social Skills Rating System (SSRS) and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL)—which include subscales for social skills, aggression, and academic performance.
The first RCT (Layzer et al., 2001) involved 400 low-income African-American children identified as at-risk by teachers. These youths were randomly assigned to a FAST treatment group or a control group. Among the families who participated, 77 percent participated in at least one session, 78 percent attended at least five sessions, and the overall completion rate was 60 percent. The evaluation measured the outcome ratings of the children by parents and teachers 1 year after the intervention, using hierarchical linear modeling and an intention-to-treat (ITT) model.
The second RCT (Kratchowill et al., 2004) used universal recruitment of 100 Native American children in kindergarten through second grade from three reservation schools in a generally low-income, rural area. All children were matched into 50 pairs based on five variables: age, gender, grade, Tribe, and teacher assessment of high versus low classroom aggression on the CBCL. The matched pairs were then randomly assigned to FAST treatment or control groups. Among the families who participated, 100 percent participated in at least one session and 80 percent returned for at least five sessions. Pretest–posttest and 1-year follow-up data was collected and analyzed with an ITT model.
The third RCT (McDonald et al., 2006) involved 10 urban elementary schools that were randomly assigned to either the FAST treatment group or a comparison condition called FAME (Family Education). A universal treatment strategy was used in which all families with children in the treatment or comparison condition classrooms were recruited for the study. The study included a 2-year follow-up. This study concentrated on a subsample of 130 Latino families (80 assigned to FAST and 50 assigned to FAME) who agreed to participate in the research and with 2-year follow-up teacher data. Among those who agreed to join the study, 89 percent participated in at least one session, 78 percent participated in at least five sessions, and the overall completion rate was 69 percent.
The fourth RCT (Kratchowill et al., 2006) involved 134 children identified as having behavioral problems from kindergarten through second grade in an ethnically diverse school district that served at-risk, low-income communities. All children were matched into pairs based on five variables: age, gender, grade, race, and teacher assessment of high versus low classroom aggression on the CBCL. The matched pairs were then randomly assigned to FAST treatment or control groups (67 matched pairs). Among families who participated, 100 percent participated in at least one session and 90 percent returned for at least five sessions. Pretest–posttest and 1-year follow-up data was collected and analyzed with an ITT model.
The results of the first RCT showed that 1 year after the intervention, children in the FAST treatment group showed significantly more positive scores on social skills (SSRS) than control group children, as rated by parents, and significantly lower scores than children in the control group on the CBCL subscale for externalizing (aggressive) behaviors, as reported by parents. Children in the FAST treatment group also were given higher social skills ratings than the control group from teachers blind to the experimental condition, though the difference was not significant. Parent involvement and volunteering were also significantly higher among FAST parents than control group parents after 1 year.
The results of the second RCT showed statistically significant differences at 1-year follow-up on the CBCL and SSRS. FAST participants were favored over control group participants in assessments by teachers blind to experimental condition, regarding classroom behavior and academic performance, and parents indicated that FAST youths were much less withdrawn than the control youths were.
The results of the third RCT showed that Latino children in the FAST treatment group were given statistically higher ratings of academic competence and social skills and statistically lower scores on aggression than children in the FAME control condition.
Finally, the results of the fourth RCT showed no significant differences in the ratings of FAST and control group children on standardized measures by teachers blind to experimental condition. However, parents of children in the FAST group rated their children significantly lower on the CBCL than parents in the control condition. In addition, school district data on the use of special education services showed that children who participated in FAST received 1/14 the number of special education services received by children in the control group.
Kratchowill, Thomas R., Joel R. Levin, Lynn McDonald, Phyllis A. Scalia, and Gail Coover. 2006. “Families And Schools Together: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Multifamily Support Groups for Children at Risk.” Manuscript submitted for publication.
Kratchowill, Thomas R., Lynn McDonald, Joel R. Levin, Holly Young Bear–Tibbetts, and Michelle K. Demaray. 2004. “Families And Schools Together: an Experimental Analysis of a Parent-Mediated Multifamily Group Program for American Indian Children.” Journal of School Psychology 42:359–83.
Layzer, Jean I., Barbara D. Goodson, Lawrence Bernstein, and Cristofer Price. 2001. National Evaluation of Family Support Programs: Volume B. Research Studies: Final Report. Prepared by Abt Associates Inc. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children, Youth, and Families.
McDonald, Lynn, D. Paul Moberg, Roger Brown, Ismael Rodriguez–Espiricueta, Nydia I. Flores, Melissa P. Burke, and Gail Coover. 2006. “Afterschool Multifamily Groups: A Randomized Controlled Trial Involving Low-Income, Urban, Latino Children.” Children and Schools 28(1):25–34.
Lynn McDonald, Ph.D., MSW
Wisconsin Center for Education Research
1025 West Johnson Street
University of Wisconsin—Madison
Madison, WI 53706
Phone: (608) 263-9476
Fax: (608) 253-6338
E-mail: mrmcdona@facstaff.wisc.edu
Web site: http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/fast
Staff
FAST National Training and Evaluation Center
2801 International Lane, Suite 105
Madison, WI 53704
Phone: (888) 629-2481
