The Efficacy of Supplemental Early Literacy Instruction by Community-Based Tutors for Preschoolers Enrolled in Head Start

Résumé du livre

Broadly, the current study contributes to the growing body of evidence supporting the positive effects of PA (phonological awareness) interventions for preschoolers, demonstrating that PA instruction need not be postponed until kindergarten. Specifically, the current study addresses the paucity of research on PA training in preschool by testing the efficacy of a supplemental cohesive and explicit PA focused intervention that has been shown in previous studies to improve PA and alphabetic knowledge of at-risk kindergarteners. Second, the current study employs community-based paraeducator tutors as interventionists, and in so doing, extends other early K-1 reading research showing that paraeducators can deliver supplemental early reading interventions with a high degree of fidelity, particularly if the interventions are well scripted for non-certificated teachers' use. Finally, the authors chose to use a modified form of Interactive Book Reading as their comparison (control) condition to (a) control for supplemental instruction time and consistency, and (b) provide an alternative intervention approach appropriate for preschoolers. Indeed, studies support the benefit of interactive storybook reading for building emergent literacy skills; however, supplemental instruction that focuses on vocabulary acquisition has not, to date, been tested against explicit supplemental instruction in PA focused instruction with diverse (i.e., low socioeconomic, limited English proficiency) preschool children. Thus, this study also provides information regarding the relative impact of two approaches on preschoolers' PA and alphabetic and vocabulary knowledge. The primary research questions for the current study were: (a) does a supplemental PA focused intervention implemented by paraeducators have a direct, positive impact on at-risk preschool children's literacy outcomes?, and (b) does the intervention have a unique impact on children's outcomes, after controlling for pretest skill, classroom and home literacy environments, and treatment fidelity? (Contains 1 table.).