Project Activities
Iterative development of the intervention will take place in Years 1 and 2, with 6 teachers providing feedback each year to the research team and contributing to the development process. The research team will develop Story Maps as well as classroom activities that support and extend the use of book-related vocabulary and concepts throughout numerous content areas in the classroom. In addition, researchers will develop the professional development component, fidelity of implementation measure for the teacher and the coach, and a child progress monitoring measure. The researchers will conduct a pilot study in Year 3 to see if the fully developed Story Talk leads to improved vocabulary skills for children and improved quality of teachers' talk and vocabulary instruction. The team will also assess usability and feasibility of the intervention.
Structured Abstract
Setting
The iterative development activities and pilot study will take place at Head Start preschools located in an urban setting in Maryland.
Sample
Six teachers and their approximately 108 students in Year 1 and another six teachers and their approximately 108 students in Year 2 will participate in the iterative development activities. Thirty teachers and their approximately 540 students will participate in the pilot study. About 88% of students are African American and native English speakers and half are male. About 15% of participating students have special needs. Students will be three to five years old. All participating students are eligible for free/reduced lunch.
Story Talk is a book reading intervention for preschool classrooms that promotes significant increases in children's vocabulary by improving the quality of teachers' talk and vocabulary instruction. It will include Story Maps, which are reading guides that provide teachers and assistants with step-by-step guidance for explicit questions and comments that can promote children's language and vocabulary development throughout the reading. In addition, the intervention will provide classroom activities that support and extend the use of book-related vocabulary and concepts throughout numerous content areas in the classroom. It will also include a professional development component with video exemplars to model authentic examples of best practices and targeted individualized coaching.
Research design and methods
Iterative development of the intervention will take place in Years 1 and 2. First, the research team, along with a focus group of teachers, will choose 12 preschool-appropriate themes from popular literacy, mathematics, and social skill curricula. Next, the research team will identify books for each theme. Once the books have been identified, Story Maps and classroom activities will be developed. Thereafter, the Story Maps, classroom activities, and professional development will be implemented in authentic education settings. The research team will systematically observe and collect coach and teacher feedback data and student data to determine whether the intervention is operating as intended, and they will use these data to modify each intervention component. In Years 1 and 2, measures will be developed to assess coach and teacher fidelity to the intervention, teacher knowledge of intervention content, and children's ongoing, curriculum-related vocabulary acquisition. In Year 3, a pilot study will be conducted. Fifteen classrooms will be randomly assigned to the Story Talk intervention, and 15 classrooms will be randomly assigned to the control condition. The pilot study will be conducted across one full academic year. Teachers in the Story Talk condition will implement the Story Talk intervention, participate in professional development training, and receive coaching. A series of pre- and post-tests will be administered before and after the intervention for both the Story Talk and control conditions. Classroom observations and progress monitoring will occur at particular points throughout the pilot study.
Control condition
In the pilot study in Year 3, control classroom teachers will follow their standard instructional practices; however, they will receive all of the books that the intervention classrooms receive, though they will not be provided with the Story Maps or activities. The control classroom teachers will have opportunities to participate in their typical professional development.
Key measures
Measures used during will include assessments of coach and teacher fidelity to the intervention, teacher knowledge of intervention content, and children's ongoing, curriculum-related vocabulary acquisition. In the pilot study, children will also be assessed on the (receptive) Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-IV and the (expressive) Expressive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test-4. A subset of children will be assessed on broader language skills using the Preschool Language Scale, 4th Edition. Teachers will be assessed on fidelity of implementation, knowledge acquired from professional development, and classroom quality (using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System). The coach will be assessed on fidelity of implementation.
Data analytic strategy
The research team will develop regression models, including multilevel models and multilevel mediational analysis to address their research questions. Analyses will explore the relation between intervention status and (1) child vocabulary and language outcomes, (2) teacher fidelity to intervention, (3) teacher knowledge, and (4) the global quality of teachers' language instruction.
People and institutions involved
IES program contact(s)
Project contributors
Products and publications
At the conclusion of this project, the team will have developed a fully developed version of Story Talk, a book reading intervention for preschool classrooms. The team will also have evidence of the promise of Story Talk at improving young children's vocabulary outcomes. Peer-reviewed publications will also be produced.
Publications:
Wasik, B. A., & Hindman, A. H. (2023). Story Talk: Using Strategies from an Evidence‐Based Program to Improve Young Children's Vocabulary. The Reading Teacher, 76(4), 429-438.
Wasik, B. A., & Hindman, A. H. (2020). Increasing preschoolers’ vocabulary development through a streamlined teacher professional development intervention. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 50, 101-113.
Wasik, B. A., Hindman, A. H., and Snell, E. K. (2016). Book reading and vocabulary development. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 37: 39-57.
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To answer additional questions about this project or provide feedback, please contact the program officer.
