Thursday, March 12, 2020

The Routines-Based Model Internationally Implemented: 2. How the Model Became of Interest, Internationally


When we talk about global implementation, we need to remember that U.S. implementation counts too. The Routines-Based Model (RBM) is implemented, to one extent or another, in many places in the U.S. The RBI or the RBM are the most frequently cited strategies for improving federal child or family outcomes, in state systemic improvement plans (SSIPs). Some states, like Alabama, Maine, Mississippi, and Tennessee have adopted the model and are at different stages of implementation. Siskin Children’s Institute, where I used to work, still demonstrates most of both the home-and community-based components of the model as well as the Engagement Classroom Model, under the leadership of Deidra Love and Julie Mickel, respectively. 

In addition, Multnomah Early Childhood Program in Portland, Oregon, is adopting the home- and community-based practices in a large metropolitan environment, with Cami Stevenson, the RBM Enterprise[1] associate director and an administrator and coach there, as a key player. Other states adopted the model but drifted away from it, to other similar models or approaches—an object lesson in distractibility, sustainability, and compatibility, in implementation work. 
 

Figure 1. Implementation of the Engagement Classroom Model (part of the RBM) at the Slownezna Kraina Preschool in Cieszyn, Poland

The first country outside the U.S. to show an interest in implementation of the RBM was Portugal, because I had been working intensively with the University of Porto (under the leadership of Professor Joaquim Bairrão) (Grande & Pinto, 2009; Pessanha, Pinto, & Barros, 2009) Pessanha, Pinto, & Barros, 2009). Eventually, the Portuguese national association for early intervention adopted the model, wrote a manual, and provided sporadic training around the country. Meanwhile, students I had worked with, such as Cecília Aguiar and Tânia Boavida, began their own leadership in Lisbon. 
 

Figure 2. Rita, Robin, Cecilia, Nadia in Lisbon

Spain followed suit, when Marga Cañadas became an indefatigable ambassador for the approach. Within countries, the spread of the model is something we try to keep track of. In Spain, for example, implementation sites are gradually growing, and, even within comunidades autónomas (states) such as Castilla La Mancha, officials are documenting the extent to which the RBM is being adopted. Pau García Grau and Catalina Morales Murillo have recently conducted some intensive training in Castilla La Mancha. Some Canadians were interested, in particular Kamal Haffar, who worked to spread the word in Ontario. Quietly, Ai-Wen Huang went about conducting research on the model, and she has produced the only randomized control trial on the RBM (Hwang, Chao, & Liu, 2013). 

In Singapore, Lim Hong Huay led Project ECHO, which used the model for classroom practices. In New Zealand, Julia Woodward and colleagues at the Ministry  of Education, decided that all children and families receiving early intervention through their system would receive practices under the RBM. In Australia, a program in Victoria and Canberra, Noah’s Ark, under the leadership of John Forster and his lieutenants, Kerry Bull and Stephen Carberry, implemented the model. Meanwhile, in Western Australia, Denise Luscombe was also using many of the model’s practices in her training and consultation to others in the Perth area. 

Through connections Cañadas had made, a large agency serving children with physical disabilities, Teletón Paraguay, adopted the model. This agency is one of a number of rehabilitation organizations in Oritel, a federation of Teletones, meaning that we might have the opportunity for implementation throughout Central and South America. The most recent implementer has been an agency in Silesia, in Poland, the SÅ‚oneczna Kraina, whichis implementing the Engagement Classroom Model, under the leadership of Krystian Kroczek, Lucyna Legierska, Sylwia Wrona, and Natalia Józefacka. 

I insert here a sad note about our Portuguese implementers. Ana Pinto and Tânia Boavida both died within the past year. When I began working in Portugal, Bairrão appointed Ana as my baby-sitter, so we spent much time together and worked collaboratively. She even visited me at my home in Nashville. My dean, Peter Hlebowitsh, and I visited Ana a couple of years ago. 


Tânia was my post-doctoral fellow and a true friend. She had her baby, Leonor, the day after she defended her dissertation, she dragged Leonor and José to Chattanooga, and spent she two years having fun with me. She was my intellectual granddaughter, having been lucky enough to be a student of Cecilia Aguiar at ISCTE, and Cecilia was a student of mine. I miss Tânia enormously. Both of these consummate professionals gave the field so much and have been stripped from our lives way too early.

Countries have their cultural anomalies and identities, yet we find that, universally, professionals want to help caregivers provide the most support possible to caregivers and children, families want their children to participate meaningfully in their everyday lives, and programs want professionals to carry out practices at a high quality. We make adaptations as necessary, to be culturally responsive, but we don’t sacrifice needs assessment by interviewing families, strategy development by collaborating with caregivers, or evaluation by determining (a) how well goals are met, (b) families’ quality of life, and (c) how well children are functioning in their daily routines.

Grande, C., & Pinto, A. I. (2009). Estilos interactivos de educadoras do Ensino Especial em contexto de educação-de-infância. Psicologia: Teoria e Pesquisa, 25, 547-559.
Pessanha, M., Pinto, A. I., & Barros, S. (2009). Influência da qualidade dos contextos familiar e de creche no envolvimento e no desenvolvimento da criança. Psicologia, XXIII, 55-71.



[1] The RBM Enterprise is our name for the implementation of the RBM around the world. It includes using the EIEIO at the University of Alabama as a hub for materials and other information; coordinating training and presentations around the world; and assisting individuals, agencies, districts, states, and countries in implementation of the model.