Pr

Early Literacy andTransition Kindergarten

November, 2011

2

The Opportunity GapCalifornia data mirror alarming national statistics

• One in three children enter kindergarten lacking basic pre-reading skills.*

• The average middle-class child has 1,700 hours of picture book reading by 1st grade. The average low-income child has 25 hours.*

• 60% of the kindergarteners in the neighborhoods where children do poorly in school do not own a single book.†

*Jeff McQuillan, The Literacy Crisis: False Claims, Real Solutions, 1998.

†U.S. Department of Education: 1996. Reading Literacy in the United States: Findings From the IEA Reading Literacy Study.

3

Grade Level Reading

2006-2007 2007-2008 2008-2009 2009-2010 2010-20110%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

37% 38%44% 44% 46%

34% 34%40% 37%

40%

21% 20%25% 24%

28%

12% 12%16%

24%28%

California

Santa Cruz County

PVUSD

Freedom Elementary

Source: California Department of Education, STAR Test Results, 2007-2011.

Percentage of 3rd Grade Students “At” or “Above” Grade Level In English/Language Arts

A Story of Three Children Entering Kindergarten

Hart & Risley, 1995 Child 1 Child 2 Child 3# of Words Heard 13 million 26 million 45 million# Words/ Hour 616 1,251 2,153# Questions/ Hour 5 20 40# Affirmations / Prohibitions 5/11 12/7 32/5# words in vocabulary 2,000 12,000* 20,000

*Children need to know 10,000 – 12,000 words to be successful readers.

“The differences in the quantity and quality of children’s early interactions and oral language experiences predict early school success.”

(Dickenson& Tabors, 2001; Hart&Risley, 1995)

5

TK– The Gift of Time: System and Practice Change for Improved Child Outcomes

Elements of High Quality Programing:Dr. Russ Whitehurst; US Dept. of Ed. 2007

Evidence based

curriculumIntentional practice to

early reading predictors

Intensity and fidelity to

best practice and program

protocols

Early Learning and kindergarten-third grade alignment

Professional development that builds

teacher background knowledge

and skill over time through

training and coaching

and defined program protocols

Assessment: child outcomes,

teacher practice

outcomes, environmental

outcomes

What else do we know?

Family engagement

6

Relationship Based Early Literacy Skill Development: SEEDS

7

Teacher Professional Development“Setting goals helps me to ‘just do it.’ I find one doable thing

that I can achieve each day – even if it’s not perfect. Goals related to what I learn help me to ask and answer the question, ‘what am I doing to build the children’s skills?’ I may not get it perfect the first time but I know what I am

aiming for.” – Michelle McBride TK Teacher

Skill Development in strategies to achieve the Big 5 early reading predictors

Coaching

Assessment

Goal Setting

Instructional materials

Practice

8

Response To Intervention (RTI) in Early Childhood

Tier 1:Embedded and explicit instruction that all

children receive.Examples include: literacy-rich arrival routines,

mealtimes, Repeated Read Aloud, small group and theme-rich choice time.

Tier 2: Daily 5-10 minute small

group interventions for selected children.

Tier 3:Daily 1-on-1

interventions for selected children.

9

Using Child Assessments

Collect Benchmark

Data

Analyze Data

Plan and Implement

Interventions for Identified

Children

Monitor the Progress of Identified Children

Informing instruction and understanding the “aim” line

10

How Do We Know If TK Students Are on Target?

Given the resources you have for TK, how do you answer the questions:

• Which of my children are not on target for reading success?

• How can I help them move up the continua of complexity?

• How will I know when they secure the skills they need?

• Are my assessments objective?

• As a teacher, do I know what I am aiming for in TK?

11

Building a Strong Tier 1Literacy Rich Schedule

Integrity Observation checklists

Specific Strategies:

• Repeated Read Aloud emphasizing oral language/comprehension

• Big 5 Transitions emphasizing phonetic awareness

• “Strive for 5” or Feedback Loops

• Match-Point-Say for visual discrimination

12

Securing Skills through a Strong Tier 2

Child Assessment

Progress Monitoring

Daily Focused Interventions

Movement on the Continua of Complexity

13

Is it Working? Using the ELLCO to Promote High Quality Language and Literacy Support

• Classroom Structure• Curriculum • The Language Environment • Books and Book Reading• Print and Early Writing

What assessments do you use to assess the instructional support for children (CLASS, etc..)?

14

ELLCO ResultsClassroom Support for Language and Literacy, 2007-2011

Source: Early Literacy Foundations Initiative, Early Language and Literacy Classroom Observation (ELLCO) & ELLCO Pre-K, 2007 – 2011.Note: Clients may be included more than once if they participated in multiple SEEDS classes between 2007 and 2011. Low-quality support = means less than or equal to 2.5; Basic support = means between 2.51 and 3.5; High-quality support = means between 3.51 and 5. Percentages less than 3% are not labeled. * The analysis of the question began in 2007-08, so results reflect the combined data for 2008-2011.Child Choice and Initiative N=134, Book Reading N=215, Children's Writing N=221, Approaches to Curriculum N=134..

Quality of Classroom Support

Pre Post Pre Post Pre Post Pre Post0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

10.4% 15.3% 19.5% 22.4%

35.8%

6.7%

49.3%

10.7%

49.3%

10.0%

37.3%

12.7%

53.7%

93.3%

35.3%

88.4%

31.2%

89.6%

40.3%

86.6%

Low-Quality Support Basic Support High-Quality Support

Opportunities for Child Choice and Initiative*

Approaches to Book Reading

Support for Children's Writing

Approaches to Curricu-lum*

15

IGDI’s ResultsPercentage of Children Scoring “At” or “Above” the Target Level

in Three Pre-Literacy Skill Areas, by Primary Language

Source: Early Literacy Foundations Initiative, Individual Growth and Development Indicators (IGDIs) Assessment Tool, 2010-2011.

Picture Naming Rhyming Alliteration Picture Naming Rhyming Alliteration Picture Naming Rhyming Alliteration0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

32.3%

18.5% 21.7%

6.3% 7.7%

18.9%

4.9% 5.8% 7.2%

62.1%

31.0%

56.9%

13.6%

26.0%

56.0%

18.0%

30.6%

49.8%

57.1%48.9%

68.1%

29.3%

46.5%

72.3%

25.6%

50.0%

61.1%

Oct Jan May

Primarily English-Speaking

ChildrenEnglish Assessment

Primarily Spanish-Speaking Children

Spanish Assessment English Assessment

16

Primary Language of SEEDS Trained Early Childhood Educators

24.7%

50.0%

22.2%

3.1%

English Only Spanish Only Bilingual English/Spanish Other

17

Educational Attainment of SEEDS Trained Early Childhood Educators

8.8%

10.1%

22.0%

25.3%

6.1%

12.2%

7.3%4.0%4.3% No Formal Schooling Less Than High School Diploma/GED

High School Diploma/GED Some College

AA in non-ECE/CD AA in ECE/CD

BA in non-ECE/CD BA in ECE/CD

Some Graduate School or above

18

TK – Making the most of the time

For children to establish a pattern of successful learning in TK, assessment, instruction and strategies need to be adaptive, with clear goals.

A focus on language and literacy development needs to be fun and meaningful. It is an intentional lens during all activities. It never means giving up math or science. It enriches other activities through language rich opportunities and experience. For example, an alliteration song supports classroom management and open ended questions build scientific inquiry…