Transcript The Rural Education Center

National Research Center on Rural
Education Support
The Rural Early Literacy
Initiative
NRCRES: Early School Transition
Collaborative
Lynne Vernon-Feagans, PI
Kirsten Kainz
Kate Gallagher
Steve Knotek
Marnie Ginsberg
Pledger Fedora
Steve Amendum
Kelley Mayer
Jason Rose
Andrea Sauer
Tim Wood
Heather Ward
Megan Livengood
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to improve the
teaching strategies of rural kindergarten
and first grade teachers in literacy, with a
specific focus on strategies that are
effective with struggling readers who do
not make reading gains using traditional
reading instruction.
Why focus on teacher training in
kindergarten and first grade?
• Research has shown that the first few years of school are critical for
children’s later school success, especially in the area of reading
(Alexander& Entwisle, 1992; Juel, 1988; Vernon-Feagans, Odom,
Pancsofar & Kainz, in press; Vernon-Feagans, Gallagher & Kainz, in
press;)
• Teachers in rural areas have more experience in teaching and
knowledge about the background of their students but teachers have
less access to professional development opportunities (GAO report,
2004; Lee & Burkham, 2003)
• Teachers and parents are more satisfied with their schools in rural areas
but children come to school with less formal and high quality preschool
experiences (Israel, 2004; Vernon-Feagans et al., in press).
Why focus on struggling learners?
• Struggling learners are usually the ones that do not make
expected progress (Pianta, 2001; Meisels, 2001)
• This emphasis on struggling learners has been highlighted
through disaggregated data mandated by NCLB
• Teachers report these struggling learners are the children
who have the least success in learning and behavior.
• Teachers often attribute poor learning by students on the
children’s behavior and/or their home situation.
Why focus on literacy?
• Reading becomes the foundation for subsequent academic
learning (Lyon et al., Snow, Burns & Griffin; 1998; VernonFeagans, 1996)
• Children’s ability to decode words at the end of first grade
accounts for 40% of their reading comprehension during
secondary school (Foorman et al., 1997)
The Targeted Reading Intervention
(TRI)
• Based on research based evidence
• Based on the 5 early reading constructs identified as
most important by Reading First and the National
Reading Panel
• Based on research in special education that emphasizes
individualized diagnostic teaching
• Specifically geared to children considered struggling
readers because they do not make progress with
traditional reading approaches.
• Teaching literacy that is always geared to the context of
the word and text.
• Teaching conducted in one on one teaching sessions
between the teacher and child at least 4 times a week at
the beginning of intensive intervention
The TRI Model of Reading
Word Work
Change One Sound
Guided Oral Reading
Collaborative Consultation Model for
Rural Teachers
• 3 Day Summer Institute for all teachers, aides,
and the principal to learn the TRI strategies
• Help teachers identify 5 struggling readers in
their classrooms
• Biweekly visits from UNC Literacy Consultant to
meet with individual teachers to model strategies
and problem solve about individual children.
• Attend grade level meetings to discuss
strategies and problem solve.
• Daily consultation from the on-site literacy
consultant identified by the principal as someone
who can spend 10 hours a week helping
teachers
• Bimonthly workshops on topics teachers choose.
Effective Collaborative Strategies in the LEEP Consultation Model
Research Design (2005-2006)
• Chose a poor rural county with limited access to teacher
professional development. (We have added an additional county to
the study in the 2006-2007 year).
• Select 4 elementary schools in the county who were willing to
participate.
• Randomly assign 2 schools to the intervention and 2 schools to the
control group. Target all kindergarten and first grade classrooms to
be part of the study. (One intervention school withdrew after a new
principal was appointed).
– 5 children in each classroom are randomly selected from those
children identified by the teacher as struggling learners
– 5 children in each classroom are randomly selected from those
children identified by the teacher as not struggling learners
Year 1
24 teachers
(n = 240)
Control
Experimental
Kindergarten
1st Grade
21 high risk 20 high risk
(4 teachers)
(4 teachers)
Year 2
24 teachers
(n = 240)
Kindergarten
1st Grade
30 high risk
30 high risk
(6 teachers)
(6 teachers)
30 low risk
30 low risk
22 low risk
19 low risk
24 high risk
25 high risk 30 high risk
(5 teachers)
(6 teachers)
30 low risk
30 low risk
30 high risk
(6 teachers)
(6 teachers)
30 low risk
30 low risk
Child Characteristics
EXP
Race
Black
White
Other
Gender
Male
Female
Parents Married
Maternal
Education
CON
61%
32%
7%
33%
37%
31%
73%
27%
46%
63%
37%
54%
M = 11.8
yrs
M = 13.3
years
Teacher Characteristics
# of years teaching
M = 18 yrs
Teacher Age
M = 43 yrs
Teacher Race
White
Black
Other
65%
30%
5%
National Board Certification
5%
Certification type
Temp
Regular
Specific grade certification
10%
40%
50%
Child Outcomes
(Fall and Spring Testing)
Outcome
F-Test
Group
LSMean
Phonological awareness F(1,69) =1.29
Phonics (CTOPPS)
C
.52
E
1.67
Word Attack (Woodcock F(1,151) = 4.09*
Johnson)
C
27.15
E
35.86
F(1,152) = 5.25*
Letter/Word
Identification (Woodcock
Johnson)
C
34.12
E
42.22
F(1,120) = 0.38
Peabody Picture
Vocabulary Test (PPVT)
C
1.20
E
2.32
Effect Sizes
Outcome
Control Treatment
Phonological Awareness
0.52
1.67
Blending Words
0.68
0.90
Elision
0.44
0.97
Sound Matching
0.06
0.21
Word Attack
27.16
35.86
Letter Word
34.13
42.22
PPVT
1.37
1.60
Note: * p < .05, ** p < .01, *** p < .001.
Diff
1.14
0.21
0.53
0.16
8.71*
8.09*
0.23
MSE
3.97
2.21
1.99
1.97
25.31
20.86
8.76
Cohen's-d
0.29
0.10
0.27
0.08
0.34
0.39
0.03
Conclusions
• The TRI intervention group made
significant gains in word attack and
letter/word identification in comparison to
the control group.
• Next year we hope to have a significant
impact on all areas identified by Reading
First and the TRI Model.