Effects of a Professional Development Program on Classroom Practices and Outcomes for Latino Dual Language Learners
Buysse, Virginia; Castro, Dina C.; Peisner-Feinberg, Ellen (2010). Early Childhood Research Quarterly, v25 n2 p194-206 2010. Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ874839
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examining193Students, gradePK
Single Study Review
Review Details
Reviewed: April 2026
- Single Study Review (findings for Nuestros Niños School Readiness (NNSR))
- Randomized Controlled Trial
- Meets WWC standards with reservations because it is a cluster randomized controlled trial with high cluster-level attrition, but the analytic intervention and comparison groups satisfy the baseline equivalence requirement.
This review may not reflect the full body of research evidence for this intervention.
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Findings
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Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Woodcock Language Proficiency Battery (WLPB) - Revised |
Nuestros Niños School Readiness (NNSR) vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Full sample;
|
74.20 |
74.90 |
No |
-- |
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Sample Characteristics
Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.
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100% English language learners -
Female: 60%
Male: 40% -
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North Carolina
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Race Other or unknown 100% -
Ethnicity Hispanic 100% -
Eligible for Free and Reduced Price Lunch Other or unknown 100%
Study Details
Setting
The study was conducted in 55 pre-kindergarten classrooms in North Carolina. The classrooms were part of child care centers, public schools, and Head Start/blended classrooms selected from the North Carolina More at Four Pre-Kindergarten Program (MAF), a state-funded pre-kindergarten program that targets at-risk children. Classrooms were taught by English-speaking teachers who primarily used English as the language of instruction.
Study sample
A total of 55 lead teachers and 193 Latino pre-kindergarten dual language learners and their families participated in the study. The study analysis included 26 classrooms with 92 children in the intervention group and 29 classrooms with 101 children in the comparison group. The majority of students (60%) were female. To be included, classrooms had to have at least four Latino dual language learners, no more than 85% Latino enrollment, moderate to high program quality, and a lead teacher with at least an associate degree or progress toward a bachelor’s degree.
Intervention Group
The Nuestros Niños program was a professional development program designed to help teachers promote language and literacy skills such as phonological awareness, print concepts, oral language, letter identification and alphabetics for Latino pre-kindergarten children who are dual language learners. English-speaking teachers in classrooms where English was used as the primary language of instruction implemented the program. The Nuestros Ninos program consisted of three professional development components: (1) professional development institutes to promote teachers’ acquisition of core content knowledge and skills; (2) individualized consultation sessions to support teachers in implementing new instructional strategies in the classroom; and (3) community of practice meetings to provide participating teachers with opportunities for feedback, reflection, and collaborative problem-solving.
Comparison Group
Teachers in the comparison condition implemented their usual curriculum and were invited to participate in the professional development institutes at the end of the study.
Support for implementation
Teachers participated in a 3-day institute at the beginning of the school year. Consultants, who received intensive professional development and weekly supervision meetings, visited teachers in their classrooms every other week and conducted community of practice meetings on alternate weeks. Teachers received a handbook that contained the core concepts, instructional practices, classroom resources, and specific accommodations for Latino dual language learners.
An indicator of the effect of the intervention, the improvement index can be interpreted as the expected change in percentile rank for an average comparison group student if that student had received the intervention.
For more, please see the WWC Glossary entry for improvement index.
An outcome is the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are attained as a result of an activity. An outcome measures is an instrument, device, or method that provides data on the outcome.
A finding that is included in the effectiveness rating. Excluded findings may include subgroups and subscales.
The sample on which the analysis was conducted.
The group to which the intervention group is compared, which may include a different intervention, business as usual, or no services.
The timing of the post-intervention outcome measure.
The number of students included in the analysis.
The mean score of students in the intervention group.
The mean score of students in the comparison group.
The WWC considers a finding to be statistically significant if the likelihood that the finding is due to chance alone, rather than a real difference, is less than five percent.
The WWC reviews studies for WWC products, Department of Education grant competitions, and IES performance measures.
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The version of the WWC design standards used to guide the review of the study.
The result of the WWC assessment of the study. The rating is based on the strength of evidence of the effectiveness of the intervention. Studies are given a rating of Meets WWC Design Standards without Reservations, Meets WWC Design Standards with Reservations, or >Does Not Meet WWC Design Standards.
A related publication that was reviewed alongside the main study of interest.
Study findings for this report.
Based on the direction, magnitude, and statistical significance of the findings within a domain, the WWC characterizes the findings from a study as one of the following: statistically significant positive effects, substantively important positive effects, indeterminate effects, substantively important negative effects, and statistically significant negative effects. For more, please see the WWC Handbook.
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Tier 1 Strong indicates strong evidence of effectiveness,
Tier 2 Moderate indicates moderate evidence of effectiveness, and
Tier 3 Promising indicates promising evidence of effectiveness,
as defined in the
non-regulatory guidance for ESSA
and the regulations for ED discretionary grants (EDGAR Part 77).