Negotiating the Tension between DAP

1
Negotiating the Tension between DAP
Skills-Based Instruction in Kindergarten

• Sister Mary Karen Oudeans, Ph.D.
• Silver Lake College, Manitowoc, WI
• Ben Ditkowsky, Ph.D.
• Educational Consultant, Chicago, IL

2
What is Developmentally Appropriate Practices
(DAP)?

• DAP is based on the assumptions that children can
  develop without specific intervention and that to
  provide specific intervention may, in fact, be
  detrimental to development.
• DAP is based on the conviction that
• Early educational experiences and environments
  are important.
• Classroom practices following DAP guidelines
  enhance childrens development and facilitate
  learning.
• Superior academic benefits result from DAP
  practices

3
A few DAP Research Citations

• Bredekamp Rosegrant, 1992
• Bredekamp Copple, 1997
• Carta, Atwater, Schwartz, McConnell, 1993
• Dunn, Beach, Kontos, 1994
• Hyson, Hirsh-Pasek, Rescola, 1990
• Kostelnik, 1992
• Sherman, Mueller, 1996
• Stipek, Feiler, Daniels, Milburn, 1995

4
DAP Principles

• Age appropriateness and individualization
• Student readiness
• Teaching in the Zone of Proximal Development
• Integration of curriculum assessment
• Importance of active engagement
• c. f. Carta, Atwater,
  Schwartz, McConnell, 1993

5
Misinterpretations of DAP

• DAP does not mean teachers dont teach and the
  children control the classroom.
• Classrooms where teachers abdicate responsibility
  for instruction are NOT developmentally
  appropriate.
• Good (DAP) early childhood programs are,
• Highly organized and
• Highly structured environments
• Where teachers have carefully prepared
• Where teachers are in control

(e. g. Bredekamp Rosegrant, 1992 Kostelnik,
1992)
6
Statements of NAEYC IRA regarding Reading DAP
(1998)

• Learning to read and write is a complex,
  multifaceted process that requires a wide variety
  of instructional approaches.
• A DAP model of literacy learning and development
  is an interactive process.

7
Statements of NYEAC IRA regarding DAP

• Believes that--
• Goals and expectations for young childrens
  achievement in reading and writing should be
  developmentally appropriate, that is, challenging
  but achievable, with sufficient adult support.

8
NAEYC Expectations for Teachers

• Early Childhood Teachers need to understand and
  be skilled in
• The developmental continuum of reading writing
• A variety of strategies to assess and support
  individual children.
• Setting appropriate literacy goals
• Adapting instructional strategies

9
NAEYC Expects Teachers to

• Frequently read interesting and conceptually rich
  stories to children
• Provide daily opportunities for children to write
• Help children build a sight vocabulary
• Create a literacy-rich environment for children
  to engage independently in reading writing

10
NAEYC Goal for Kindergarten

• Children develop basic concepts of print and
  begin to engage in and experiment with reading
  and writing

11
Some Key Early Reading Syntheses

• Adams. M. J. (1990). Beginning to read Thinking
  and learning about print. Cambridge,MA The MIT
  Press.
• Snow, C. E., Burns, M. S., Griffin, P. (Eds.).
  (1998). Preventing reading difficulties in young
  children.Washington, DC National Academy Press.
• National Reading Panel. (2000). Teaching children
  to read An evidence-based assessment of the
  scientific research literature on reading and its
  implications for reading instruction Reports of
  the subgroups. Bethesda, MD National Institute
  of Child Health and Human Development. Also
  available on the internet
• http//www.nichd.nih.gov/publications/nrp/smallboo
  k.htm

12
What We Know From This Research

• Children who are at risk of reading disability
  can be identified as early as kindergarten
  (Torgesen, Wagner, Rashotte, Alexander, Conway,
  1997), and early intervention is the key.
• Kindergarten teachers have a brief window to
  intervene to prevent an escalating pattern of
  failure.
• Overall, to change outcomes, we must provide the
  highest quality instruction available as early as
  possible.
• The critical time for instruction Kindergarten!

13
Kindergarten Instructional Targets

• Phonological Awareness.
• The awareness and understanding of the sound
  structure of our language, that cat is composed
  of the sounds /k/ /a/ /t/.
• Alphabetic Principle. Based on two parts
• Alphabetic Understanding. Words are composed of
  letters that represent sounds, and
• Phonological Recoding. Systematically identifying
  a letter sound and blending the sounds together
  to retrieve the pronunciation of an unknown
  printed string or to spell.
• Automaticity Fluency
• The ability to translate letters-to-sounds-to-word
  s fluently and effortlessly

14
What should kids be able to DO by the end of
kindergarten that is most predictive of Success
in Reading.

• 1. Blending
• Orally blend
• onset-rime (m - ilk)
• 2 - 3 separately spoken phonemes into one
  syllable words. (m-e me . f - u - n fun.)
• 2. Segmentation
• Identify the first sound in a 1 syllable word (
  bug begins with the sound /b/)
• Say the individual sounds in 2 to 3 phoneme 1
  syllable words (/c/ /a/ /t/)

15
Teaching BIG Ideas in Alphabetic Understanding
in kindergarten

• Teach letter sound blending, segmenting
• Scaffold the Instruction
• read and practice
• first in isolation...
• then in words...
• then in connected text
• begin with most common, high frequency sounds and
  words
• teach one item at a time with intensive practice,
  ... then continue cumulative and distributed
  practice daily

16
What should kids be able to DO by the end of
kindergarten?

• Letter - Sound correspondence
• Identify letters by sound
• Say the most common sound for letters
• Decoding
• Blend sounds of letters to READ short words
• Sight-word reading
• Recognize common sight words
• (e.g. a, I, is, the, my you, of, are)

17
Alphabetic Understanding Research Conclusions

• Letter-sound knowledge
• is prerequisite to effective word identification.
  The primary difference between good and poor
  readers is the ability to use letter-sound
  correspondence to identify words.
• Students who acquire and apply alphabetic
  understanding early in their reading careers reap
  long-term benefits.
• Teaching students to listen, remember, and
  process the letter-sound correspondence in words
  is a difficult, demanding, yet achievable goal
  with long lasting effects.

18
Alphabetic Understanding Research Conclusions

• Combining instruction in phonological awareness
  and letter-sounds appears to be the most
  favorable for successful early reading.
• A whole word strategy, by itself, has limited
  utility in an orthography based on an alphabet.
• Awareness of the relation between sounds and
  their corresponding printed letter can be taught.

19
So-- The pressure is on!

• Kindergarten outcomes contribute substantially to
  first grade reading outcomes.
• By focusing on early literacy skills and
  attaining established phonological awareness in
  kindergarten, the likelihood of successful
  reading outcomes increases.
• For students with a deficit in phonological
  awareness in kindergarten, reading difficulty and
  reading failure are likely - unless skills are
  remediated early.

20
We know from previous research

• It is critical for kindergarten reading
  instruction to make explicit the connections
  between print and the sounds of spoken language.
• How we teach the two component skills of
  letter-sounds and phonological blending and
  segmenting is as important to childrens progress
  in becoming readers as what we teach.

21
Key Questions

• If traditional DAP kindergarten teachers
  implement a structured, teacher-directed set of
  instructional lessons will students meet key
  instructional benchmarks?
• If kids are successful, will teachers buy into
  the more structured approach?
• Will the size of the group make a difference
• whole group instruction (13 15 children),
• small group, (6 or fewer children)

22
Teacher Participants

• Teachers self-selected to participate
• 2 teachers in same district
• 1 teacher from K-5 school in neighboring district

• 1 teacher volunteered as Control.
• She allowed us to assess her students but felt
  her children were learning what was necessary to
  meet kindergarten benchmarks.

23
School A

• Intervention group (Whole class instruction)
• N 39 children am / pm Kindergarten (2 teachers)
• 15 minutes of explicit instructional lessons
  along with early literacy DAP instruction
• Control group (Traditional Kindergarten)
• N 26 children in am. / pm (1 teacher)
• Used early literacy program based on DAP
  guidelines

24
School B

• Intervention group (small group instruction)
• 22 children in am / pm kindergarten (2 teachers)
• 15 minutes of explicit instructional lessons
  along with early literacy DAP instruction
• (5 to 6 children in each group)

Difference from School A Children divided into 2
groups, 6 children each. 15-minute lessons taught
by classroom teacher Title 1 teacher.
25
Teachers Philosophy Statements

• I think children learn best by exploring
  experiencing many different things in our
  curriculum, My role should be to set up the
  activities so the children learn by doing.
• My jobis to take each child from the level they
  are at when they come into kindergarten and help
  them reach their highest potential.
• My philosophy generally is to accept children at
  their current point in development progress
  them according to their ability.

26
Teachers Philosophy Statements

• My job is to develop the childs natural
  curiosity and desire to learn through the
  provision of meaningful, interesting age
  appropriate experiences.
• I believe children learn best through meaningful
  hands on experiences which allow them to interact
  with objects, materials, and people in their
  environment.
• The role of the teacher is to systematically
  model, teach, and design learning situations in
  which the students learn concepts, skills, and
  ideas, using a variety of waysthrough explicit,
  implicit, actual hands on experiential
  instruction. The method of delivery depends on
  the students and how they learn best.

27
Types of Literacy Activities in DAP Classrooms

• Memorizing letter names sounds
• Rhyming games
• 6-trait writing lessons
• Phonemic awareness activities that stress variety
  of skills
• Phonics lessons focusing on individual letters
  sounds and how to blend them
• Shared reading writing experiences
• Independent writing experiences based on real
  life experiences

28
Assessment Targets and Age Range
Initial Sound

• Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills
  (DIBELS) were developed by Good and Associates at
  the University of Oregon to measure and monitor
  student outcomes of key instructional targets in
  beginning reading.

29
Assessment Targetsand Age Range
Initial Sound
Initial Sound Fluency measures a childs ability
to say the initial sound of a spoken word
30
Assessment Targets and Age Range
Initial Sound
Phonemic Segmentation Fluency measures a childs
ability to say all of the sounds in a spoken
word
31
Assessment Targets and Age Range
Initial Sound
Nonsense Word Fluency measures a childs ability
to say the sounds in or read make-believe
words
32
Initial Sound Fluency (ISF)
33
Initial Sound Fluency
34
Initial Sound Fluency
35
Initial Sound Fluency
36
Initial Sound Fluency
37
Initial Sound Fluency
38
Initial Sound Fluency

• We can see that intervention makes a difference
  for ISF.
• But ISF is not a goal in and of itself.

39
Initial Sound Fluency and Phoneme Segmentation
Fluency
40
Initial Sound Fluency

• ISF corresponds with PSF
• In general
• Children who scored higher in ISF scored higher
  in PSF as well.
• Children who scored lower in ISF scored lower in
  PSF as well.

41
Phonemic Segmentation Fluency (PSF)
42
Phonemic Segmentation Fluency (PSF)
43
Phonemic Segmentation Fluency (PSF)
44
Phonemic Segmentation Fluency (PSF)
45
Phonemic Segmentation Fluency (PSF)
46
Phonemic Segmentation Fluency (PSF)
47
Phonemic Segmentation Fluency (PSF)

• We can see that intervention makes a difference
  for PSF.
• But PSF is not a goal in and of itself.

48
Phonemic Segmentation Fluency and Nonsense Word
Fluency (NWF)
49
Phonemic Segmentation Fluency and Nonsense Word
Fluency

• PSF corresponds with NWF
• In general
• Children who scored higher in PSF scored higher
  in NWF as well.
• Children who scored lower in PSF scored lower in
  NWF as well.

50
Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF)
51
Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF)
52
Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF)
53
Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF)
54
Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF)
55
Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF)
56
Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF)
57
Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF)

• We can see that intervention makes a difference
  for NWF.
• But is NWF measuring how well kids can decode
  real words ?

58
Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF)
59
Word Reading Generalization
60
Word Reading Generalization

• How many untrained words should a kindergarten
  student read in a minute?
• The DAP answer is
• As many as they can.
• How many words can they read?

61
Word Reading Generalization
Using a structured program does not look like it
is detrimental to academic development in fact,
it appears to facilitate early reading ability!
62
What does this mean for individual Children?

• Remember DAP Guidelines for teaching
• Age appropriateness and individualization
• Student readiness
• Teaching in the Zone of Proximal Development
• Integration of curriculum assessment
• Importance of active engagement

63
Based on ISF in October of Kindergarten we
predicted these students in the DAP classroom
would not be able to read
Control Group Typical predicted non - readers
(based on ISF)
60
50
40
Phonemes per minute
30
20
10
0
0PSF
1PSF
2PSF
3PSF
4PSF
Session For PSF Assessment
64
and in May, (Children with Low ISF in October)
couldnt read words likemop, him, run
65
Based on ISF in October of Kindergarten we
predicted these students in the DAP classroom
would be able to read
Control Group Typical predicted readers (based
on ISF)
60
50
40
Phonemes per minute
30
20
10
0
0PSF
1PSF
2PSF
3PSF
4PSF
Session For PSF Assessment
66
And in May, they read an average of about 4 or 5
words per minute.
Control Group Typical predicted readers (based
on ISF)
60
Wd Rdg Gen
50
25
24
23
22
21
40
20
19
18
17
16
15
Words read per minute
Phonemes per minute
14
30
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
20
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
10
1
2
Student
0
0PSF
1PSF
2PSF
3PSF
4PSF
Session For PSF Assessment
67
Based on ISF in October of Kindergarten we
predicted these students in the DAP classroom
would be able to read
Control Group Typical predicted readers (based
on ISF)
60
50
40
Phonemes per minute
30
20
10
0
0PSF
1PSF
2PSF
3PSF
4PSF
Session For PSF Assessment
68
Does DAP meet individuals at the Zone of Proximal
Development?
Control Group Typical predicted readers (based
on ISF)
60
Wd Rdg Gen
They had the skill in segmentation
50
25
24
23
22
21
40
20
19
18
17
16
They could not read, even though they were
ready to read!
15
Words read per minute
Phonemes per minute
14
30
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
20
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
10
1
2
Student
0
0PSF
1PSF
2PSF
3PSF
4PSF
Session For PSF Assessment
69
Based on ISF in October of Kindergarten we
predicted these students in the WHOLE CLASS
Intervention Classroom would NOT be able to read
70
CAN whole group instruction meet kids at the Zone
of Proximal Development?
71
Based on ISF in October of Kindergarten we
predicted these students in the WHOLE CLASS
Intervention Classroom would be able to read
72
Based on ISF in October of Kindergarten we
predicted these students in the Small Group
Intervention Classroom would NOT be able to read

• 3 of 4 children made it to criterion levels on PSF

73
(No Transcript)
74
Can small group instruction meet children at the
ZPD?
75
October ISF predicted reading and

• By May they could read.

76
Basic Components of Lesson Sequence

• Activity 1 Letter Names and Sounds
• Sequence a, m, t, s, i, f, d, r, o, p, n, l, c,
  b, u, g, h, x, e, v, j, w, k, y, z, q
• The more useful letters are introduced first.
• The most common sound is taught
• Letter names and sounds are introduced
  simultaneously. The name of this letter is __.
  The sound for this letter is /----/.

77
Basic Components of Lesson Sequence

• Activity 2 Phonemic Blending Segmenting
• auditory blending and segmenting
• separate activities within the same lesson
• combined after children are able to segment words
  correctly into individual sounds
• 4 - 6 words are used in each instructional cycle.
• Words contain sounds that were taught previously
  or will be taught in the following cycle (e.g.,
  am, mat, sam)

78
Basic Components of Lesson Sequence

• Activity 3 Strategic Integration
• only words that children have been taught to
  blend and segment in earlier cycles.
• a blank tiles represent a phoneme when the
  letter name and sound is first introduced.
• manipulative letters are used after the letter
  name and sound are taught reviewed.
• Word Cards replace letter cards.

79
Instructional Design Features

• Carefully sequenced examples, practice,
  corrective feedback, and review
• Clear, unambiguous strategies for teaching
  phonological blending segmenting skills, letter
  names sounds
• Clear, unambiguous strategies for making explicit
  connections between the sounds in words and
  letters in words

80
Answers and Directions

• If traditional DAP kindergarten teachers
  implement a structured, teacher-directed set of
  instructional lessons will students meet key
  instructional benchmarks?
• Yes
• But teacher effectiveness depends on teacher
  knowledge and skill.

81
Answers and Directions

• If kids are successful, will teachers buy into
  the more structured approach?
• Not necessarily, even when presented with
  increased student performance teacher reports
  vary.
• T1 It is hard for me to follow a set list of
  wordsExplicit instruction is necessary but 15
  minutes is too much will not repeat the
  program
• T2 I will use parts but not on a continuous
  basis
• T3 At first the children did not like reading
  hard for them to concentrate it taught
  them a system to use when reading as they
  learned to read their attitude changed toward
  the program

82
Answers and Directions

• Will the size of the group make a difference
• whole group instruction (13 15 children),
• small group, (6 or fewer children)
• Yes, statistically and educationally significant
  differences on multiple indicators.

83
No Child Left Behind Education Act 2001

• Commitment to every child can read by the end of
  third grade
• Focus is on scientifically based early reading
  interventions and achieving results for all
  children
• Schools, districts that fail to make adequate
  yearly progress toward statewide proficiency
  goals subject to improvement, corrective action
  plans to get them back on course.
• Key wordsprevention, early identification, and
  early intervention

84
Implications for instruction

• Balance can work
• Structured, carefully sequenced instruction in
  key target areas results in higher gains, than
  attempts to catch kids at their individual ZPD
  with DAP instruction alone.
• Use connected, decodable text facilitates early
  word reading.
• Print rich environments, and interesting stories
  to can facilitate the development of oral
  language and comprehension.