Early Reading First: Improving Language and Literacy Skills
First Chance for Children implemented a three-year $2.7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education from October 1, 2006 thru September 30, 2009 to develop preschools that excel in teaching language and early literacy skills to at-risk children.
RURAL Excellence
The project, called RURAL Excellence, was a partnership among five preschool centers and Reading First-eligible school districts located in rural central Missouri. The vision for RURAL Excellence was to create preschool “Centers of Excellence” that support children’s development of oral language and literacy skills, thinking and mathematical skills, and social skills that enable children to experience a successful transition to kindergarten. RURAL Excellence served over 170 preschool children, their parents, and preschool teachers each year during the three-year grant term.
Children, parents, and teachers were part of the project. Children were provided high-quality early learning experiences through the implementation of the Emerging Language and Literacy Curriculum (ELLC). The ELLC is based on story book-themed units to involve children in all areas of development including language and literacy-rich activities. Each child received their own book to accompany each theme—two books each month.
Parents had opportunities to attend workshops and teacher conferences designed to involve them in enhancing their child’s learning experiences. Teachers were provided on-going training as well as support and mentoring from early childhood educators in implementing the curriculum. Classrooms received instructional materials for implementation of the curriculum. In addition, each child’s development and progress was monitored to ensure success.
The positive results for both children and teachers were documented through ongoing assessment in cooperation with the Center for Family Policy and Research, University of Missouri. RURAL Excellence used a quasi-experimental, longitudinal design to track the effectiveness of the project. This meant that classroom and teacher outcomes, as well as student outcomes, were tracked over time for two preschool groups: the group receiving Early Reading First support and the comparison group. The comparison group was made up of preschool programs and children that were similar to the ones receiving Early Reading First support. By comparing gains in both groups, the project’s impact on teacher and student outcomes was determined. We have good evidence that RURAL Excellence/Early Reading First made a difference for both teachers as well as preschoolers. When compared to comparison group teachers, RURAL Excellence teachers: (1)provided significantly more language-and literacy-rich classroom environments; and (2) used significantly more specific, intentional teaching practices, in language/literacy as well as other areas. Children in RURAL Excellence preschool classrooms, compared to their comparison group peers, showed significantly greater gains in early literacy skills, including enhanced receptive vocabulary, expressive vocabulary, and phonological awareness.
Furthermore, preliminary analysis of follow-up data from the three years indicates that the size of the positive effects is unexpectedly large. For several pre-literacy skills, the effect size was more than half a standard deviation. These results placed our RURAL Excellence program among the most successful Early Reading First grant programs in the country.
First Chance for Children’s Early Reading First grant project made a difference in preparing children, especially those at-risk, for success in kindergarten and beyond.