Project Activities
The advanced patterning intervention consists of a set of 480 patterns that are presented in a variety of formats and types and that are progressively more complex. Students interact with the patterns multiple times a week throughout the school year. During each year of the grant, a new cohort of students and their teachers will participate in the efficacy study to examine whether advanced patterning instruction leads to greater gains in early math, early literacy, and higher-order thinking than comparable time spent on literacy instruction or math instruction.
Structured Abstract
Setting
Participating schools are located in an urban area of Virginia.
Sample
Study participants will include approximately 675 kindergarten students and their teachers each year during Years 1 through 3, resulting in a total sample size of approximately 2025 students. Each year, students will be drawn from 45 classrooms across 8 schools. Of the students who consent, the 15 students who score the lowest on a patterning screener within each classroom will be included in the study. Within the schools from which the student sample is drawn, 51% of students are eligible for free or reduced lunch.
The intervention is advanced patterning instruction (i.e., instruction on patterns more complex than those typically used in classrooms). Students are presented with patterns one at a time from easiest to most difficult for 15 minutes, 3 days per week, for 7 months. For each pattern, students are presented with one item missing from the pattern and are asked to select the missing item from four possible alternatives. After making a selection, students receive feedback about whether their selection was correct or incorrect. Performance is scaffolded through explanation and repetition. The patterning set contains 480 variable patterns that are presented in a variety of formats and types and are progressively more complex.
Research design and methods
For this randomized controlled trial, the same procedures will be used for each of the three years of the project. First, at the beginning of each school year, students within each classroom will complete pre-tests. Next they will be stratified based on their literacy and mathematics pre-test scores and then will be randomly assigned to one of three conditions: advanced patterning instruction, math instruction, or literacy instruction. Next, teachers will administer instruction (which varies by condition) in small groups for 15 minutes per session, 3 times a week, for 7 months. Researchers will observe classrooms to ensure fidelity of implementation. Finally, students will complete post-tests at the end of the school year.
Control condition
The two control conditions are business-as-usual literacy instruction and math instruction.
Key measures
Key measures include a researcher-developed pattern test, the Woodcock-Johnson III Quantitative Concepts scales 18A, 18 B, and scale 10 (Applied Problems) to measure math skills, and the Test of Early Reading Ability – Version 3 (TERA-3) and the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) tests of early literacy. To measure executive function skills as potential mediators, students will complete the Corsi Blocks task (working memory), the Day Night test (inhibition), and the Multiple Classification Card Sorting Task (MCCST; cognitive flexibility).
Data analytic strategy
The research team will conduct analyses using structural equation modelling in Mplus version 7.4. They will model the treatment as an exogenous predictor, while also controlling children's pretest scores on literacy and mathematics. In addition to direct effects, the research team will test for any mediators (e.g., executive function skills) and moderators (e.g., demographic variables) of the effects.
People and institutions involved
IES program contact(s)
Products and publications
Researchers will produce evidence of the efficacy of advanced patterning instruction for kindergarten students as well as peer-reviewed publications.
Publications:
ERIC Citations: Find available citations in ERIC for this award here.
Related projects
Supplemental information
Co-Principal Investigators: Kidd, Julie; McKnight, Patrick
Questions about this project?
To answer additional questions about this project or provide feedback, please contact the program officer.
