CREATIVE CURRICULUM IN PRESCHOOL EVALUATION

Creative Curriculum in Preschool Literacy Readiness

Abstract

A quasi-experimental, statewide intervention targeting preschool teachers' enhancement of children's language and early literacy was evaluated. Across 2 years and 20 Head Start sites, 750 teachers participated (500 targets, 250 controls), with 370 classrooms randomly selected to conduct pre- and posttest assessments (10 randomly selected children per class). The inability to randomize children to classrooms was addressed by examining children's performance for teachers who were control teachers in Year 1 and target teachers in Year 2. We also compared teachers with 2 years of training with teachers with 1 year of training and with control teachers. Greater gains were found for children in target classrooms than for those in control classrooms for all skills, but particularly for language skills, in Year 2, and this varied by program site. The presence of a research-based early literacy curriculum, higher levels of teacher education, and full-day versus half-day programs were significant moderators of intervention effectiveness. The challenges of implementing a statewide initiative across programs that varied in their readiness to implement a cognitively rich experience for preschool children are discussed.

Table of Contents

Abstract2

Table of Contents3

Chapter 1: Introduction4

Statement of the Problem4

Background and Justification6

Purpose of the Study11

Chapter 2: Literature Review17

Chapter 3: Methodology34

Introduction34

Design35

Research Questions35

Participants37

Data Analysis42

Procedures45

Limitations46

References49

Creative Curriculum in Preschool Literacy Readiness

Chapter 1: Introduction

Statement of the Problem

Reading readiness skills are necessary for preschool children to initiate the learning-to-read process (Matthews, Klaassens, & Walter, 1999). These capabilities are classified as: (a) pre-reading, (b) emergent literacy, and (c) early literacy. Reading literacy skills that are developed in the preschool grades are the foundation of a student's literacy throughout his/her school years. Research has shown that preschools provide various teaching materials to their students without deciding whether the application of the materials will meet particular preschool students' needs. Preschool students who do not acquire the necessary literacy skills in reading may struggle to achieve academically in elementary grades (Berg & Stegelman, 2003).

This article examines the impact of a program in one large statewide initiative designed to provide children with purposeful and planful cognitive instruction, social-emotional support, and a balance between child-centered and teacher-directed approaches to learning. This initiative was conducted from 2001 to 2003, at a time when Head Start agencies varied considerably in their readiness to implement instructional practices that specifically targeted cognitive skills (e.g., math, literacy instruction). Many Head Start programs within the state did not use a curriculum designed to enhance early literacy skills, due, in part, to concerns about the impact of a cognitive focus on children's social-emotional development.

The majority of preschool-age children entering kindergarten have experienced at least one of the theories on how children learn, such as environmental theory, which asserts children learn from their environment by copying and imitating peers on their performances. These theories have been developed by Johaan Heinrich Pestalozzi, John Locke, Jean Piaget, Erik Erikson, Friedrich Froebel, Albert Bandura, Burrhus Frederic, Maria Montessori, Albert Bandura and Lev Vygotsky. Envrionmental theory posits that children learn from their environment, and this is ...