Progress 06/15/10 to 02/14/11
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Outputs completed during the reporting period that contributed to the goals and objectives of the Early Vocabulary Learning Intervention for Non-English Speaking Students are comprised of the evaluation design, teacher training, Teacher's Manual usability and the creation of the instructional materials, including parent support resources. Thirty-six preschool children (age 3-5) from two Head Start classrooms in Wyoming participated in a quasi-experimental efficacy study of Babble Tree's fast track English learning program. Children in two classrooms that used the same daily curriculum (i.e., Creative Curriculum) were randomly assigned to a control and a treatment group. Eighteen students were assigned to the control group and did not receive Babble Tree's English Vocabulary learning Tool-kit (Bridges program) and eighteen students were assigned to the treatment group and received the Bridges mini lessons. Students in both classes attended school 3 times per week for 3.5 hours per day. The treatment group received 20-30 minutes of Babble Tree's instructional approach three times per week for eight weeks. Each classroom had two instructors (ratio 9:1), with a Spanish-speaking teacher and an English-speaking teacher. Other than the Bridges mini lessons used in the treatment group, class instruction was in Spanish for both groups of the morning and afternoon classes. The Pre-Kindergarten Inventory of Demonstrated Skills (Pre-KIDS) assessment was administered as a pre-and post-evaluation tool. Prior to the program implementation period, five Head Start teachers attended a preliminary teacher training/orientation session. Additional support for the treatment group teachers included three additional classroom demonstrations of the proposed innovation to help support program presentation, and a bilingual parent-involvement presentation for parents of students within the treatment group. To meet Technical Objective 1 and used as the "treatment" variable in this study, the design of the early vocabulary toolkit materials of the study included: A) Preliminary Teacher's Manual and Teacher Training Presentation, B) 20 Mini-Lessons/Games designed for pre-k /stage I-II language learners, C) Student Activity Resource, D) Two assessment measures with individual and class progress reports, E) Bilingual language playing cards, and F) Bilingual Parent Guide. Technical Objective II was to demonstrate that the vocabulary toolkit developed through Technical Objective I is more effective than conventional methods. Technical Objective III consisted of teacher manual usability, and was evaluated by teacher ratings and qualitative data. Plans for the dissemination of the outputs completed during the period of the project include presenting the final report findings to the Head Start community and early learning programs that set sights on research-based English and Spanish language development tools and training curricula. PARTICIPANTS: Individuals who worked on the project include: Dr. R Timothy Rush, Professor of Education, University of Wyoming; Doctor of Philosophy, Reading and Educational Psychology Statistics and Measurement, Purdue University; Master of Arts Reading and Educational Psychology and Bachelor of Science, Elementary Education, University of Minnesota, Dr. Samara Madrid, Assistant Professor of Early Language and Literacy, University of Wyoming; Doctorate Early Childhood Education, Ohio State University; Masters of Arts, Psychology, San Jose State University; Bachelor of Arts, Psychology, University of Hawai'i at Hilo, Dr. James Asher, Emirate Professor of Psychology and Statistics, former Associate Dean San Jose State University; Doctorate from University of Houston, Master Degree University of New Mexico. He was awarded six post doctorate fellowships at the University of Washington (linguistics), Stanford University Institute in Monterey, California. He has published more than 100 articles in academic journals and five books. Margaret Japel, M.Ed., received a Masters of Education, Curriculum and Instruction, Literacy; Bachelor of Arts degree, French; Bachelor of Education, Modern Languages; English as a Second Language k-12 and French teaching certification. She has taught ESL for prek-12 students and serves as a Project Coordinator for a collaborative community grant initiative serving Spanish speaking children and families. Jennifer Rosner, M.A.T., received a double Bachelor of Arts in Marketing and International Business with a minor in International Relations from Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), a Master of Arts in ESL from School for International Training (SIT), and has years of teaching experience with k-12 students. Margaret Gagnon, received a Bachelor of Arts, Education Major in English and French from the University of Minnesota, Minor in German. She has completed graduate work in French, English and English as a Second Language and thirty-four years teaching experience as a language-learning instructor. Helen Courtney, received a Bachelor of Arts, Spanish and French, University of New Mexico. She is a professionally certified Spanish Teacher and Translator who grew up in Mexico. She has extensive training in child development, TPR Training from Dr. Asher and Blaine Ray, education, psychology, and second language learning. Carmina Oaks, Latino Leader and Community Liaison Commissioner, Mexican Kindergarten Teacher, Linda Edington, Kindergarten, Art and Music Teacher with over 25 years in Early Childhood Learning. Training and professional development that was provided by the project entailed a teacher orientation training, follow-up demonstrations and a bilingual parent training presentation. TARGET AUDIENCES: Target audiences for efforts include Head Start programs, early learning institutions and preschool programs with high concentrations of English Language Learners (ELLs), especially those who work to support and evaluate bilingual initiatives and various language acquisition approaches. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.
Impacts
The findings and results of the study contribute to the need for high standards learning programs and research-based curricula evaluations that address the growing number of Limited English Proficiency students in the United States. Babble Tree's program is suited to meet the needs of the more than 5.5 million Limited English Proficiency (LEP) students (of which 80% are Spanish speaking), including the more than 300,000 Head Start English language learners across the nation who reportedly enter school ill-prepared, lacking specific pre-literacy and language skills needed for early academic and social school performance. These students as a group are not performing at a rate consistent to their English-speaking peers. This will be an increasing problem as the Hispanic population in the United States continues to rise. Rural communities have seen the largest increase and growth of Hispanic populations, and consequently English learners. Rural communities struggle to find prepared ELL teachers. Further, there is a lack of appropriate materials and resources available to teachers working in small and rural districts with English learners (Gandara; Maxell-Jolly, Driscoll, 2005; ibid, 2005; OELA report, 2002). Using SPSS, A 2 x 2 repeated measures ANOVA with between subject factors was conducted to determine if there was a significant difference between the control and treatment group pretest and posttest scores. Analysis revealed a statistically significant difference between the two groups (p less than .000) with the treatment group demonstrating a higher posttest gain as compared to the control group. To support the bilingual rationale of including home language support tools and resources, the company presented a Bilingual Parent Guide program, which included a parent training. The parent training program presented the bilingual rationale and supplied participants with bilingual home learning tools, including language playing cards, games, and activities to support pre-literacy development and oral language growth. Parent survey results gathered during the parent training meeting demonstrated that parents' prior knowledge regarding school readiness was enhanced via the training presentation. Teachers from the Head Start program and prekindergarten classrooms within the study site were surveyed and provided feedback on the Teacher's Manual and bilingual support materials. Teachers were asked to record their reactions to the lesson materials provided during the intervention. Anecdotal notes and teacher comments were used as formative evaluation and applied to continuous improvement of the Teacher's Manual and training elements. Teacher survey results and anecdotal comments revealed that not only was there evidence of significant student gains, but also the teachers and students were strongly in support of the proposed language learning approach.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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