Research Supporting PLS

This article focuses on young children with problem behaviors across home, child care, preschool, and Head Start settings, with a focus on the role of parents, teachers, and caregivers. Findings indicate that supportive environments, positive adult–child interactions, and explicit instruction in early life skills such as communication, self-regulation, and social skills significantly reduce persistent problem behavior and support school readiness. 

This review article discusses preschool-aged children participating in the Preschool Life Skills (PLS) program across inclusive preschool, Head Start, and small-group or individualized instructional settings. Findings show that explicit, systematic instruction in foundational life skills leads to consistent increases in skill acquisition, generalization, and maintenance, along with meaningful reductions in problem behavior and improved kindergarten readiness. 

This study focused on preschool-aged children with autism spectrum disorders and developmental disabilities in inclusive preschool classroom and clinic-based settings using a response-to-intervention model. Findings showed that preschool life skills instruction was effective for teaching communication, attention, and delay-tolerance skills, with some children acquiring skills through classwide instruction and others requiring more individualized support, though generalization to peers and adults was limited without additional programming.

This study discusses parents as behavior change agents implementing the Preschool Life Skills (PLS) program with preschool-aged children, including typically developing children and children with autism spectrum disorder, across home and preschool settings. Findings showed that parent-delivered PLS instruction led to meaningful increases in preschool life skills, reductions in problem behavior, and some generalization of skills to preschool environments, with parents reporting high acceptability and ease of implementation. 

This pilot study examined typically developing preschool-aged children in a community-based preschool in Ireland, where the Preschool Life Skills (PLS) program was implemented as a classwide and tiered intervention within daily classroom routines. Results showed significant increases in preschool life skills, meaningful reductions in problem behavior, and evidence of skill generalization and short-term maintenance, supporting the effectiveness of PLS as a preventive, school-readiness intervention in early childhood settings.

This systematic replication examined preschool-aged children enrolled in Head Start classrooms, where the Preschool Life Skills (PLS) program was implemented as a classwide intervention during regularly scheduled classroom activities. Results showed substantial increases in preschool life skills and large reductions in problem behavior across two classrooms, replicating earlier findings and demonstrating that PLS can be effectively implemented by classroom teachers in early childhood education settings serving children at risk.

This study evaluated a classwide Preschool Life Skills (PLS) teaching program with typically developing preschool-aged children in a full-day, inclusive preschool classroom, focusing on instruction following, functional communication, delay tolerance, and friendship skills taught during daily routines. Results demonstrated a more than fourfold increase in preschool life skills and approximately a 74% reduction in problem behavior, with teachers reporting high satisfaction, supporting PLS as an effective early intervention for improving social competence and school readiness.

This study is focused on typically developing preschool-aged children and their parents participating in the Preschool Life Skills (PLS) program delivered via telehealth, with instruction embedded within daily home routines during COVID-19–related service disruptions. Results demonstrated increases in children’s preschool life skills, decreases in challenging behavior, and high parent fidelity and acceptability, indicating that parent-mediated PLS delivered remotely is an effective and accessible approach for supporting early life skills development.

This study evaluated preschool-aged children in inclusive early childhood classrooms to examine the generalization and maintenance of functional communication and self-control skills taught through the Preschool Life Skills (PLS) program across unfamiliar teachers, classrooms, and activities. Findings showed that while some short-term generalization occurred, consistent generalization and long-term maintenance were strongest when teachers were informed of the target skills and teaching procedures, highlighting the importance of teacher involvement in sustaining preschool life skills over time.

This study investigated six typically developing preschool children in inclusive preschool classrooms to assess the generalization and long term maintenance of functional communication and self control skills taught through the Preschool Life Skills program when implemented across unfamiliar teachers, classrooms, and activities. 

This study focused on nine children with developmental disabilities, including autism spectrum disorder and Down syndrome, in a specialized school setting using a tiered Preschool Life Skills–based intervention delivered through classwide, small-group, and one-to-one instruction. Findings showed that systematic life skills instruction led to skill acquisition and maintenance for all participants, with large reductions in errors and problem behavior, demonstrating that a tiered life skills approach is effective for children with more intensive support needs.

This study evaluated five kindergarten-aged children with intellectual and developmental disabilities, including children who used augmentative and alternative communication, in a public special education classroom using a classwide, tiered Life Skills Program adapted from Preschool Life Skills. Results demonstrated a functional relation between the intervention and increased use of social and communication life skills, with preliminary evidence of generalization and maintenance across settings and adults and a decreasing trend in interfering behavior over the school day.