Enhancing Communication and Academic Achievement in LowIncome Kindergartners

1
Enhancing Communication and Academic Achievement
in Low-Income Kindergartners

• Ann Cale Kruger, Audrey Ambrosino, Lynda Kapsch
• Georgia State University

2
Previous Research on Georgia Wolf Trap

• Quasi-experimental
• Pre-intervention /post-intervention designs
• Significant benefits in Communication
• Theory of Mind
• Emotion Understanding
• Writing
• Effects especially noted in low-income children
• Effects not the targets of the intervention

3
DOE Study

• Three-year experimental design
• Random assignment with waiting controls
• Pre-intervention/Post-intervention
• Kindergarten students
• Years 1, 2, 3 combined
• 542 students (51 male)
• 93 African American
• 71 qualified for free (? 130 poverty level) or
  reduced-cost lunch (130-185)
• 2008 federal poverty level for a family of 4 is
  21,200

4
Data Sources
5
Control Data

• Research in applied settings requires dealing
  with noise
• School T as the source of control data is
  conservative
• Compared to other control schools, pretest scores
  at T were the highest for several variables
• T was at the median of all schools in 1st grade
  performance on standardized tests in 2008 H
  ranked the lowest and G the highest

6
Final Subject Pool for Three Year Analysis

• Low-income students only (eligible for free or
  reduced-cost lunch)
• 281 students (52 males)
• 93 African American

7
Hypotheses

• Intervention students will show more improvement
  than control students in
• Language Development
• Academic Achievement
• Each child serves as their own control using
  analyses of covariance

8
Data Currently Available for all Three Years

• Language Development
• PPVT (receptive vocabulary)
• TOLD-P3 subtests
• Oral Vocabulary (semantics)
• Grammatic Understanding (syntax)
• Sentence Imitation (syntax)

9
Starting Point for the Sample
10
Vocabulary PPVT Standard Scores
11
Grammatic UnderstandingTOLD Standard Scores
12
Sentence ImitationTOLD Standard Scores
13
Another View of the Data

• Three Years at School G
• From Control School to Two Years of Intervention
• Includes all income levels

14
Three Years at School G Vocabulary PPVT Raw
Scores
15
Follow-up on Year 1 Cohort

• Academic Achievement
• Report Card Grades
• Standardized Test Scores (CRCT)
• All income levels
• Compared to controls, Year 1 intervention
  children
• Had significantly higher report card grades Year
  2 (their 1st grade year) and
• Had significantly higher language arts
  standardized tests scores Year 2
• All without further intervention

16
Year 1 Follow-upLong-Term Effect on All Course
Grades
17
Year 1 Follow-up Long-Term Effect on
Achievement in Language Arts
18
Data Still Being Collected

• Story Writing
• Academic Achievement
• Report Card Grades
• Georgia Kindergarten Achievement Test
• Standardized Test Scores (CRCT)
• Year 2 data is only relevant data on hand for
• Story Writing
• Special Needs Students

19
Preliminary Analyses Year 2 Story Writing

• Compared to control students, intervention
  students had significantly greater pre-post
  improvement in
• Expressive Vocabulary
• Number of Sentences
• Number of Adjectives
• Number of Quotes from Characters

20
Preliminary Analyses -Year 2 Kindergarten
Special Needs

• Compared to control students with special needs,
  intervention students with special needs had
• Significantly higher course grades in
  Kindergarten
• Significantly higher Kindergarten achievement
  test scores (the state mandated test of first
  grade readiness).

21
Recap

• Major Findings of the Study to Date
• Language Development-Three Year Analysis
• Significant improvement in semantics and syntax
• Academic Achievement - Followup on Year 1
• Significant improvements for all Year 1
  intervention students one year later
• Language arts standardized tests
• Report card grades
• Without further intervention

22
Contributions

• Not a revolution, but a reminder
• Developmental appropriateness
• Encouraging children to find their voice
  child-centered education supports symbolic
  development
• Authentic, meaningful activity in a language rich
  and emotionally engaging context
• Usefulness of this approach for development and
  learning

23
Contact Information

• Ann Cale Kruger, Georgia State University
• ackruger_at_gsu.edu