Implementing Banking Time with Teachers and Preschoolers Displaying Disruptive Behaviors: Links Between Consultant-Teacher Relationship Quality, Implementation Fidelity and Dosage, and Dyadic Teacher–Child Interactions

Teacher consultation is commonly used to ensure that classroom-based interventions are implemented with fidelity to achieve targeted outcomes, yet the consultation process is not well understood. Consultant-teacher relationship quality is one feature of consultation that may promote intervention outcomes—both directly and indirectly via teachers’ implementation. The current study used mediation models to examine the direct links between consultant-teacher relationship quality, assessed from the perspective of the consultant and teacher, and observed dyadic teacher–child interactions, as well as the indirect effect through teachers’ implementation fidelity and dosage. Implementation data come from the Banking Time intervention (N = 168 children, 57 teachers), a dyadic teacher–child intervention that targets the quality of interactions between teachers and preschoolers perceived to display disruptive behavior. Consultants (N = 4) worked with teachers to support their implementation of specific Banking Time practices. Findings supported a direct link between consultant-reported relationship quality and teachers’ observed interactions with children; however, no evidence for an indirect effect was found. Consultant-reported relationship quality predicted implementation dosage but not fidelity. Across findings, consultant-reported relationship quality emerged as a stronger predictor of outcomes than teacher-reported relationship quality. Results have implications for school-based interventions that employ teacher consultation to support teachers.