Eighth Annual National Inclusion Conference

Eighth Annual National Inclusion Conference July 22-24, 2008 Patsy Pierce, Ph.D., CCC-SLP Hillary Harper, M.S., CCC-SLP, Doctoral Student Division of Speech and Hearing Sciences Center for Literacy and Disability Studies UNC-CH

Lessons Learned from Year 1 Including children with significant disabilities in an Early Reading First project

Early Reading First On January 8, 2002, the President signed into law the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, which added two important new reading programs to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Reading First and Early Reading First. Early Reading First was created to address the growing concern that many of our nation's children begin kindergarten without the necessary foundation to fully benefit from formal school instruction.

Early Reading First • The program supports the development of early childhood centers of excellence that focus on all areas of development, especially on the early language, cognitive, and pre-reading skills that prepare children for continued school success and that serve primarily children from low-income families. • CFDA Number: 84.359A; 84.359B

Research Questions • (1) Does participation in an ERF classroom lead to an increase in the number of children who achieve significant gains on oral language skills as measured by the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-III, Receptive? • (2) Does participation in an ERF classroom lead to an increase in the percentage of preschool age children who demonstrate age-appropriate oral language skills as measured by the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-III, Receptive?

Additional Research Questions • (3) Does participation in an ERF classroom lead to an increase in the average number of letters that preschool age children are able to identify as measured by the Upper Case Alphabet Knowledge subtask on the PALS Pre-K assessment? • (4) Does participation in an ERF classroom lead to an increase in the overall early receptive and expressive oral language abilities of preschool age children as measured by the Preschool Language Scale-4 • (5) Does participation in an ERF classroom lead to an increase the English Language Proficiency of preschool age children as measured by the pre- and post- administration of the Pre-LAS?

Richmond County Pubic Schools’ Early Reading First Program of Excellence Administration Linda Nicholson, Federal Programs; Haven Harrelson, Exceptional Children; Julie Brigman, More at Four ERF Team Project Director: Teressa Beavers Literacy Coaches: Corinne Watson, Andrea Kinsey Family Liaison: Jessica Gonzalez UNC-CH Professional Development: Patsy Pierce, Camille Catlett, Bonnie Dileone Evaluation: Karen Erickson Graduate Research Assistant: Hillary Harper 2007-2010

Intervention Components • Head • Heart • Hands

Head=Foundations; NELP Findings Thrilling Three”: B-K • Oral Language • Alphabetic Code • Print Knowledge/ Concepts Five Interventions: Code-related, shared reading, language enhancement, high-quality pre-K, family involvement (secondary analysis of NELP) National Center for Family Literacy. (2005). National early literacy panel: Synthesizing the scientific research on development of early literacy in young children. Available at http://www.nifl.gov/partnershipforreading/family/ncfl/NELP2006Conference.pdf NELP, 2007-see handout

O U T C O M E S HEART = Comprehension Fluency Vocabulary S T R A T E G I E S Phonics Intentional Alphabet/Phonological Awareness Activities Supports for Emergent Reading/Writing Rich Oral Language Environments, Play-based Activities Ongoing Assessment Family Involvement

Hands=OWL Curriculum and Specific Intervention Strategies • Build on interests using OWL themes and books as guides • Shared Reading for vocabulary, print concepts, language • Put the CROWD in the CAR • “Writing” for real purposes

Year 1 Participants: Adults Comparision Classrooms • 4 teachers with Bachelor’s degree; 2 with Master’s Degree • Average number of years of teacher experience: 11.3 (range: 2-34) Intervention Classrooms • 4 teachers with Bachelor’s degree; 1 with Master’s Degree • Average number of years of teacher experience: 5.6 (range: 3-10) • Classrooms range in size from 6-18 children

Teacher/Environmental Measures • ELLCO (annual pre-post) • Arnett Scale (annual pre-post) • Adult-Child Interactive Reading Inventory (annual pre-post) • Monthly implementation observation • Teacher Self-Assessment on language and literacy knowledge/application (11/07 and upon completion of on-line course) Please email piercep@med.unc.edu if you would like these references

Teacher Self-Assessment Results (pre)

Year 1 Classroom Assessment Results: Early Language and Literacy Classroom Observation(pre and post)

Year 1 Classroom Assessment Results: Adult-Child Interactive Reading Inventory(pre and post)

Year 1 Classroom Assessment Results: Arnett Scale(pre and post)

Year 1 Child Demographics (disability)

Year 1 Child Outcomes (pre and post) * n=2 for Intervention Group

Family Measure • Home Literacy Inventory (Marvin, C., & Ogden, N. (2002). A home literacy inventory: Assessing young children’s contexts for emergent literacy. Young Exceptional Children, 5(2), 2-11.)

Year 1 Family Data

Year 1 Family Data • Home Literacy Inventory Pretest (2007-2008)

Discussion: What we think is making the difference • Differentiated instruction (shared reading handout) • Curricular infusion with IEPs • Adaptations • Materials-see examples; book ideas handout • Curriculum Note: Teachers received over 55 hours of training on the OWL curriculum and specific strategies plus at least weekly visits by Literacy Coaches from January-July, 2008

Example for OWL Curriculum Teacher Directed Activities & Interactions

Year 2… • We are expecting more children to be at 85 SS or below on measures at the beginning of the year than were at the middle of the year; • We are going to continue to concentrate on developing conversation and shared reading abilities with adults and ALL children; • We are going to offer additional family supports.

Any Questions? hillary_harper@med.unc.edu; piercep@med.unc.edu

Eighth Annual National Inclusion Conference