Closing the Achievement Gap: Progress Monitoring of Head StartStudents within an Early Reading First

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Closing the Achievement Gap Progress Monitoring
of Head Start Students within an Early Reading
First Curriculum

• Karen L. Gischlar, Edward S. Shapiro,
• Patricia H. Manz, Ageliki Nicolopoulou
• Lehigh University
• Center for Promoting Research to Practice

NHSA, 2007 San Antonio, TX
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Project LEARN

• Partnership between Lehigh Universitys Center
  for Promoting Research to Practice and Community
  Services for Children, Inc., located in
  Allentown, PA funded by an Early Reading First
  grant from the U.S. Department of Education

http//www.lehigh.edu/ineduc/learn/index.html
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The Setting

• Community Services for Children, Inc.
• Seven full-day, full-year Early Reading First
  classrooms across three sites
• Classrooms serve 137 three- and four-year old
  children and their families
• More than 25 of students speak Spanish as their
  primary language

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The Students

• Sample includes 50 of students
• Age
• 18 three-year-old children (25.7)
• 52 four-year-old children (74.3)
• Gender
• 33 male (47.1)
• 37 female (52.9)
• Primary language
• 26 (37.14) English Language Learners
  (ELLs), primary language Spanish

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The Curriculum

• Opening the World of Learning (Pearson Early
  Learning, 2005)
• Research-based, integrated curriculum designed to
  develop language and early literacy skills
  through content areas mathematics, science, and
  social studies
• Instruction supported by literacy mentors
• Periodic integrity checks
• On-going professional development

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Progress Monitoring

• What is it?
• Evidence-based practice used to assess student
  progress and to evaluate effectiveness of
  instruction
• Why is it important?
• Indicator of general health
• Data-based decision-making
• Early intervention
• Efficient means for communicating student
  progress

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CIRCLE Assessment

• Center for Improving the Readiness of Children
  for Learning and Education (CIRCLE CIRCLE Group,
  2004)
• Letter Naming, Vocabulary, and Phonological
  Awareness measures
• Three benchmark periods
• PDA administered
• Immediate feedback and suggested classroom
  interventions for addressing individual skill
  deficits
• Spanish version

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CIRCLE cont....
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CIRCLE cont....
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Using CIRCLE to Make Instructional Decisions

• Letters Group
• Polly Pocket
• Dora Explorer
• Bob Builder
• Alliteration Group
• Dora Explorer
• Jimmy Neutron
• Spongebob Squarepants

Letter Sorting and Matching (28) Name Sort
(12) Name Chart (14)
Tongue Twisters (1) Fingerplays and Poems (2)
Sounds in Motion (3)
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CIRCLE Sample Lesson

• Sounds in Motion Activity
• Have students stand in a circle.
• Explain that they will be listening for the first
  sound in their names.
• Call out a letter sound, name an animal and a
  movement that begins with that same letter sound.
  For example If your name starts with /s/, go
  into the circle and slither like a snake.
• As the students enter the circle, add their names
  to the alliterative sentence. For example Susan
  and Sam are slithering like snakes.
• Continue the activity using letters appropriate
  for your students names.

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IGDI

• Individual Growth and Development Indicators
  (IGDI Early Childhood Research Institute on
  Measuring Growth and Development, 1998)
• Picture Naming, Rhyming, and Alliteration
• Monthly administration
• All materials downloadable free of charge
• Free website provides individual and classwide
  progress monitoring graphs

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IGDI cont....
Picture Naming
Alliteration
Rhyming
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IGDI Graph
Instructional decision?
Pebbles Flintstone Picture Naming
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IGDI Graph
Instructional decision?
Fred Flintstone Alliteration
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IGDI Graph
Instructional decision?
Barney Rubble Rhyming
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Year 1 CIRCLE Findings
English version only
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Year 1 CIRCLE cont....
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Year 1 IGDI Findings
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Year 1 IGDI cont....
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Implications for Practice

• Assessment
• Benchmarking and progress monitoring allow for
  ongoing assessment of progress of all students
• Instruction
• Continual monitoring allows teacher to track
  student response to instruction and intervention
  and adjust accordingly
• Intervention/Prevention
• At-risk students receive early intervention
  designed to ameliorate future learning problems

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Pathways to Success

• Administrative support
• Instructional support
• Time
• Professional development
• Assessments
• Data review
• Team meetings
• Financial resources
• Technology