WWC review of this study

Effects of Preschool Curriculum Programs on School Readiness. Report from the Preschool Curriculum Evaluation Research Initiative. NCER 2008-2009

National Center for Education Research. (2008). National Center for Education Research. Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED502153

  •  examining 
    204
     Students
    , grade
    PK

Reviewed: January 2009

No statistically significant positive
findings
Meets WWC standards without reservations
General Mathematics Achievement outcomes—Indeterminate effect found for the domain
Outcome
measure
Comparison Period Sample Intervention
mean
Comparison
mean
Significant? Improvement
    index
Evidence
tier

Shape Composition

Curiosity Corner vs. Business as usual

Posttest

Preschoolers;
200 students

N/A

N/A

No

--

Woodcock-Johnson III (WJ-III): Applied Problems subtest

Curiosity Corner vs. Business as usual

Posttest

Preschoolers;
180 students

N/A

N/A

No

--

Child Math Assessment-Abbreviated (CMA-A) Composite

Curiosity Corner vs. Business as usual

Posttest

Preschoolers;
204 students

N/A

N/A

No

--
Oral language outcomes—Indeterminate effect found for the domain
Outcome
measure
Comparison Period Sample Intervention
mean
Comparison
mean
Significant? Improvement
    index
Evidence
tier

Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test III (PPVT-III)

Curiosity Corner vs. Business as usual

Posttest

Preschoolers;
201 students

N/A

N/A

No

--

Test of Language Development - Primary III (TOLD-PIII): Grammatic Understanding subtest

Curiosity Corner vs. Business as usual

Posttest

Preschoolers;
199 students

N/A

N/A

No

--
Phonological processing outcomes—Indeterminate effect found for the domain
Outcome
measure
Comparison Period Sample Intervention
mean
Comparison
mean
Significant? Improvement
    index
Evidence
tier

Preschool Comprehensive Test of Phonological and Print Processing (Pre-CTOPPP): Elision subtest

Curiosity Corner vs. Business as usual

Posttest

Preschoolers;
204 students

N/A

N/A

No

--
Print knowledge outcomes—Indeterminate effect found for the domain
Outcome
measure
Comparison Period Sample Intervention
mean
Comparison
mean
Significant? Improvement
    index
Evidence
tier

Test of Early Reading Ability III (TERA-III)

Curiosity Corner vs. Business as usual

Posttest

Preschoolers;
200 students

N/A

N/A

No

--

Woodcock-Johnson III (WJ-III): Letter-Word Identification subtest

Curiosity Corner vs. Business as usual

Posttest

Preschoolers;
177 students

N/A

N/A

No

--

Woodcock-Johnson III (WJ-III): Spelling subtest

Curiosity Corner vs. Business as usual

Posttest

Preschoolers;
194 students

N/A

N/A

No

--


Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.

Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.


  • Female: 50%
    Male: 50%
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    Florida, Kansas, New Jersey
  • Race
    Black
    50%

Setting

The study was conducted in 18 schools (31 classrooms) in Florida, Kansas, and New Jersey.

Study sample

In this study, 18 preschools were randomly assigned to intervention (10 schools) or comparison (8 schools) conditions. Prior to random assignment, schools were sorted into blocks on a number of conditions, including teacher experience, school location, and state report card score. Random assignment occurred within each block. From the schools, 31 preschool classrooms participated in the study (14 intervention classrooms and 17 control classrooms). Participants included 215 preschool-age children whose parents consented to their participation in the study. At baseline, children were an average 4.7 years old, half were male, half were African-American, and 14% were reported as having a disability. Although the intervention and comparison groups were similar in race and disability status, the treatment group had more boys (61%) than the comparison group (38%), a difference that was statistically significant. Attrition from the analysis sample (children with parent consent) was low: 2% at baseline, 5% at endof- preschool posttest, and 10% at end-of-kindergarten follow-up. Response rates varied by measure but were comparable across treatment and control groups.

Intervention Group

Intervention group children participated in Curiosity Corner. A Success For All (SFA) implementation measure was used by SFA trainers, who visited each classroom at least three times during the year and rated the implementation of each classroom. Fidelity of the classrooms was rated on a four point scale, ranging from “Not at all” (0) to “High” (3). The average fidelity score of the intervention classrooms was 2.0.

Comparison Group

The comparison condition varied across schools. Comparison schools in Florida primarily used the Creative Curriculum. The Kansas comparison schools participated in a blend of the Preschool and Language Stimulation curriculum and the Animated Literacy curriculum. Comparison schools in New Jersey used a teacher-developed curriculum. Comparison classrooms were visited twice a year by the trainers and rated using the same implementation measure as was used for the intervention classrooms. The average fidelity score of the comparison classrooms was 1.9.

Outcome descriptions

The primary outcome domains assessed were the children’s oral language, print knowledge, phonological processing, and math. Oral language was assessed with the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-III (PPVT-III) and the Test of Language Development-Primary III (TOLD-P:3) Grammatic Understanding subtest. Print knowledge was assessed with the Test of Early Reading Ability-III (TERA-3), Woodcock-Johnson III (WJ III) Letter-Word Identification subtest, and the WJ III Spelling subtest. Phonological processing was assessed with the Preschool Comprehensive Test of Phonological and Print Processing (Pre-CTOPPP) Elision subtest. Math was assessed with the WJ III Applied Problems subtest, the Child Math Assessment-Abbreviated (CMA-A), and the Building Blocks, Shape Composition task. For a more detailed description of these outcome measures, see Appendices A2.1–2.5.

Support for implementation

Success for All staff provided an initial training session for the intervention teachers and ongoing implementation support, including three visits a year to conduct observations and provide feedback.

 

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