Description:

Co-Principal Investigator: Simmons, Deborah

Purpose: At the time of this study, there were few interventions that specifically targeted developing comprehension skills among preschool children. In this project, the researchers examined the effectiveness of a preschool curriculum designed to bridge the vocabulary and comprehension gap that existed for many disadvantaged children. The curriculum integrated preschool and home learning, narrative and informational text, and word and world knowledge. At the conclusion of this project, the investigators aimed to have a fully developed intervention (Words of Oral Reading and Language Development) and evidence of its effectiveness.

Structured Abstract

THE FOLLOWING CONTENT DESCRIBES THE PROJECT AT THE TIME OF FUNDING

Setting: Two public preschool sites in a small city in central Texas are participating.

Sample: Three groups are involved in this project: teacher and researchers who are piloting, field testing, and providing input on the feasibility and effectiveness of the program; preschool children from low-income and diverse linguistic groups; and parents of participating children. The research team is working with 10 teachers, each of whom teaches 2 half-day sessions. Twenty preschool classes are participating, with approximately 22 students per classroom for a total of 440 participating preschool students. These students are overwhelmingly considered economically disadvantaged (60 percent) with a large percentage being Hispanic (38 percent).

Intervention: The new preschool curricular intervention being developed is entitled Project WORLD (Words of Oral Reading and Language Development). Project WORLD is a vocabulary and knowledge-building curriculum delivered in the context of story read-alouds. The curriculum is organized around thematic units that support the development of world knowledge. Eight vocabulary words are targeted for instruction each week. Finally, students are exposed to both narrative and informational text and are taught about the differences and similarities between text structures.

Research Design and Methods: The researchers are using a design experiment in phase 1 to systematically develop and formatively refine the intervention through observations and analysis. In phases 2 and 3, in order to determine the potential effectiveness of this novel instructional approach, the 10 participating preschool teachers, each of whom teaches 2 classes, are being randomly assigned to experimental and comparison conditions for a total of 10 experimental and 10 comparison classes. In phase 2, five of the experimental classes are being randomly assigned to include parent participation in a home-based shared book-reading curriculum.

In phase 2, the researchers are creating a Spanish version of the curriculum. A study to obtain preliminary evidence of the effectiveness of the Spanish version is planned for phase 3. Finally, a refined version of the English-language curriculum is being evaluated.

Comparison Condition: In both conditions, shared book reading occurs for 20 minutes per day, 5 days per week, for the entire school year. Shared book reading in the comparison classrooms is implemented in the context of their standard curriculum.

Key Measures: A series of oral language and emergent literacy assessments are being administered. Observational data are being collected to assess implementation fidelity and to describe literacy activities seen in comparison classrooms. Finally, observational and self-report data are being collected from parents in order to describe how parents are implementing the shared book reading at home and to describe the literacy environment of the preschoolers' homes.

Data Analytic Strategy: Both qualitative and quantitative analyses will be used throughout the study. Analytic procedures will focus on differences between students in the intervention and comparison groups, and on identifying students for whom the intervention is most successful. Analysis of covariance and repeated measures analysis of variance will be the primary procedures used to examine group differences. This development project is intended only to obtain evidence of the potential effectiveness of the intervention; the study is under-powered for analysis at the unit of random assignment (teacher and classroom) and will be analyzed at the level of the student. Qualitative data will be analyzed to provide measures of teacher change and fidelity of implementation.

Related IES Projects: WORLD Efficacy Study (R305A110638)

Products and Publications

ERIC Citations: Find available citations in ERIC for this award here.

WWC Reviews:

Gonzalez, J. E., Pollard-Durodola, S., Simmons, D. C., Taylor, A. B., Davis, M. J., Kim, M., & Simmons, L. (2010). Developing low-income preschoolers' social studies and science vocabulary knowledge through content-focused shared book reading. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 4(1), 25–52. [WWC Review]

Pollard-Durodola, S. D., Gonzalez, J. E., Simmons, D. C., Kwok, O., Taylor, A. B., Davis, M. J., ... & Simmons, L. (2011). The effects of an intensive shared book-reading intervention for preschool children at risk for vocabulary delay. Exceptional Children, 77(2), 161–183. [WWC Review]

Select Publications

Book chapter

Simmons, D.C., Pollard-Durodola, S.D., Gonzalez, J.E., Davis, M., and Simmons, L. (2007). The Construction of Shared-Reading Interventions: Principles for Accelerating the Vocabulary Development and Comprehension of Low-Income Households. In S.B. Neuman (Ed.), Literacy Achievement for Young Children from Poverty(pp. 187–212). Baltimore, MD: Brooks Publishing.

Journal articles

Davis, H.S., Gonzalez, J.E., Pollard-Durodola, S., Saenz, L.M., Soares, D.A., Resendez, N., Zhu, L., and Hagan-Burke, S. (2016).Home Literacy Beliefs and Practices among Low-Income Latino Families. Early Child Development and Care, 186(7): 1152–1172.

Durodola, S.D.P., Gonzalez, J.E., and Simmons, D.C. (2014). Accelerating Preschoolers' Content Vocabulary: Designing a Shared Book Intervention in Collaboration With Teachers. NHSA Dialog, 17(3).

Gonzalez, J.E., Acosta, S., Davis, H., Pollard-Durodola, S., Saenz, L., Soares, D., ... and Zhu, L. (2017). Latino Maternal Literacy Beliefs and Practices Mediating Socioeconomic Status and Maternal Education Effects in Predicting Child Receptive Vocabulary. Early Education and Development, 28(1), 78–95.

Gonzalez, J.E., Darrensbourg, A., Perez, E., Villareal, V., Kim, M., and Haynes, R. (2011). Exploring the Underlying Factor Structure of the Home Literacy Environment (HLE) in the English and Spanish Versions of the Familia Inventory: A Cautionary Tale. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 26(4): 475–483.

Gonzalez, J.E., Pollard-Durodola, S., Simmons, D.C., Taylor, A.B., Davis, M.J., Fogarty, M., and Simmons, L. (2014). Enhancing Preschool Children's Vocabulary: Effects of Teacher Talk Before, During and After Shared Reading. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 29(2), 214–226.

Gonzalez, J.E., Pollard-Durodola, S., Simmons, D.C., Taylor, A., Davis, M.J., Kim, M., and Simmons, L. (2011). Developing Low-Income Preschoolers' Social Studies and Science Vocabulary Knowledge Through Content-Focused Shared Book Reading. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 4(1): 25–52.

Pollard-Durodola, S., Gonzalez, J.E., Simmons, D., Taylor, A., Davis, M., and Simmons, L. (2011). The Effects of an Intensive Shared Book-Reading Intervention for Preschool Children at Risk for Vocabulary Delay. Exceptional Children, 77(2): 161–183.