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LEEP: Creating Literacy Environments in Preschool Programs
This study will examine the impact that the Language Environment Enrichment Program (LEEP) has on teaching and the development of language and literacy in young children. LEEP is a Head Start intervention designed to do two things: to increase preschool teachers' and supervisors' understanding of how young children develop language and literacy; and to promote the adoption of effective classroom and supervisory practices. Head Start teachers and their supervisors will be randomly assigned to receive either the LEEP model or existing inservice training opportunities. The model's effectiveness will be examined at the end of one and two years using classroom observation measures, teacher surveys and a teacher curriculum planning task. LEEP's impact on children will be examined by assessing children's language and literacy growth at the end of their first and second years in Head Start. One-third of the children will be from Spanish-speaking homes, so their assessments will be conducted in English and Spanish.
A Program for Teaching Morphemic and Contextual Analysis: Effects on Fifth-Graders' Vocabulary Growth and Reading Comprehension
The study will examine the effects of teaching fifth-grade students to infer word meanings by analyzing the meaningful parts of words such as base words, prefixes, and Latin/Greek roots and by analyzing surrounding linguistic and visual context clues. Following an exploratory study in which intervention, measures, and research methods will be refined, a large-scale training study involving 15 teachers and approximately 375 students will be conducted in a diverse, public school system in the Southeastern U.S. The research will involve a classroom-based, experimental program that investigates the efficacy of instruction in morphemic and contextual analysis on fifth-grade students' ability to independently learn the meaning of unfamiliar words and the effects of such vocabulary growth on students' reading comprehension.
Oracy Norms for African American Elementary Students
The purpose of this study is to develop quantified normative statements for major expressive and receptive language skills of African students enrolled in first through fifth grade. The sample for developing these normative statements is stratified by grade, socioeconomic status, gender, and community type. The study will also identify grammatical characteristics and features of African American English and examine how these characteristics are related to academic achievement and expectation of performance. Findings of this study will help us better understand the linguistic skills of African American students and the ways in which linguistic skills undergird academic achievement.
Validation of an Alternative Language Screening Procedure for African-American Children
Too frequently young African-American children are inaccurately diagnosed as having learning disabilities because oral language screening tests are not culturally and developmentally appropriate. The inaccurate diagnoses result in inappropriate special education placements and pose a risk factor for later academic achievement. In this two-year study, 100 African American 3- and 4-year-olds attending Head Start centers in Lansing, Michigan and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, will be screened for language delays, using a standardized measure and an experimental measure, the Minimal Competence Core (MCC). The research will determine if the MCC is more accurate than the standardized test in identifying young children who have language delays that require special services. To determine accuracy, the children will be examined by an independent speech clinician and followed for one year. Classroom teachers' and families' observations and judgments also will be included in the overall determination of the MCC's accuracy in predicting language problems. Furthermore, the study will investigate the performance and demographic differences between the children who pass both tests, fail both tests, or pass the MCC but not the other test.
Reading Policy in the States: Interests and Processes
This project will examine how reading policy has been formulated in five states. The purpose is: (1) to understand communities of interest groups and their beliefs and activities, and (2) to describe, compare, and explain the interplay of interest groups and policymakers as they engage in policy creation. Case study methods will be used to collect archival materials for the past ten years and to interview approximately 50 key policy actors in each state. Focal points of the analysis include identifying interest groups and other policy actors in reading issue networks, their beliefs and policy goals for reading, influence tactics, and the streams of policy politics and problems.
Inscription Rich, Computer-Mediated Instructional Materials for English Language Learners in Mathematics
An interdisciplinary team of researchers knowledgeable in the areas of mathematics instruction, language learning, and instructional technology will design and evaluate computer-mediated instructional materials to raise the level of mathematics achievement of English Language Learning (ELL) students in middle-school. The team of five researchers will build upon previous research on computer-mediated simulations and on how ELL students learn mathematics in traditional classroom settings. They will: (1) modify and enrich existing computer-mediated instructional materials; (2) use both laboratory and classroom settings to test the modified materials; and (3) assess the effectiveness of the materials for increasing ELL students' academic achievement in mathematics, as well as English language proficiency. The study will identify key instructional design elements that are essential in developing computer-mediated materials for both fluent English speakers and English language learners.
From Cortex to Classroom: Supporting Earliest Brain Development for Improved Learning
Research indicates that over 50 percent of premature babies who weigh between 1000 and 1500 grams at birth usually have later school and learning problems due to deficits that occur early in the baby's brain development. These deficits result in language and reading disorders, diminished problem-solving skills, poorly developed mathematics and spatial reasoning abilities, and inappropriate social-emotional development. This longitudinal, experimental study is based on the assumption that traditional neonatal intensive care nursery interventions and surroundings (bright lights, loud noises, continuous turning and handling of the baby) over-stimulate a "preemie's" already fragile central nervous system, further jeopardizing healthy brain development. The research will determine if a new package of interventions that alter the traditional intensive care nursery environment will improve the brain development, brain structure, and developmental outcomes ( cognitive, language, and social-emotional development) of very low birthweight babies.
Prevention of Behavioral and Social Problems: Steps to Achievement and Resilience (Project START)
A growing number of preschool children are being identified by early childhood educators as having behavior problems that usually carry over into the early elementary school years. Both their parents and teachers are at a loss for what to do. This research study will develop and test a set of interventions designed to identify and treat behaviors in young children that are predictive of later social and behavior problems. The study will assign 200 preschoolers and their families into one of three intervention groups. One group will receive a classroom-based intervention provided by a trained teacher. The second intervention will be provided in a small parent education and support group. The third intervention will be a home-based, individualized family support and training program. The goals of the study are to eliminate behavior problems in young children and to produce classroom and home-based interventions that will support young children's social development and school performance. The research results will also provide families with the skills needed to maintain the children's progress.
A Longitudinal Evaluation of the School of the 21st Century
This evaluation of a school reform model that offers year-round preschool care and education, extended day programs, and family support will be conducted in five schools with geographic, income, and ethnic variations. It will use standardized tests with pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, and 3rd grade students to examine language and reading ability, parent and teacher surveys to gather data on student behavior, family demographics, parent involvement, teacher expectations, and school climate, and cost-benefit analyses to estimate cost-effectiveness. It will compare groups who participate at different times and at different levels of intensity. The evaluation will provide data about a school reform model that has been implemented in over 500 schools in 17 states and used as the basis for state legislation in Connecticut and Kentucky.
Implementation and Outcomes of Universal Preschool Education
This evaluation will examine the implementation and effectiveness of a court-ordered statewide preschool program. New Jersey is under a Court Order to provide universal, high quality, intensive preschool education in 28 high poverty urban areas for nearly 50,000 3- and 4-year olds beginning in Fall of 1999. State administrative data will be supplemented by district surveys and parent interviews to examine how these 28 school districts and their community partners implement these preschool programs. Within three of these school districts, children will be randomly assigned to either the state preschool program or to the home or center-based child care program typicall available to the children in the districts. The effects of the program on the children's development and learning will be determined through teacher ratings, parent reports and standardized assessments. The children in the new preschool programs and the children in the typical community programs will be followed through the end of kindergarten in order to assess how the program affects their school readiness. The results of this evaluation will address how well a state can implement high quality, intensive preschool education on a universal basis, and determine if such programs can prevent children in poverty from falling far behind in academic and social abilities.
Postsecondary Outcomes of the Title I Child-Parent Centers
This project looks at 18 years in the history of a group of disadvantaged, inner city children, and seeks to determine whether a special pre-school intervention with parent involvement, education, and social support had lasting effects. Specifically, the research will compare college attendance, employment experiences, and quality of life at age 23 for those who participated in Chicago's Parent-Center Program as pre-schoolers versus a control group of youth who did not participate. The research involves data collection via young adult interviews, justice system records, welfare service records, and documentation of college attendance and completion. The analysis will subject to statistical models different measures of intensity of participation in the pre-school program and measures of the different pathways that lead to adult outcomes, and then determine the benefits of the initial intervention against its costs.
Optimal Educational Contexts for Young Children Living in Poverty
This three-year study focuses on how young children who are living in poverty move from preschool to formal schooling and how school and classroom practices are linked to their optimal academic and social development. Phase I of the study will make use of the first four waves of the U.S. Department of Education's new Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten cohort (ECLS-K). The ECLS-K, which contains information on the same 23,000 children at the beginning and end of kindergarten and first grade, will be used to examine the relationship between variables such as classroom size and teacher qualifications and disadvantaged children's performance on standardized measures of cognitive, social, and motor development. Results of Phase I will guide the selection of 8-10 high-poverty schools and kindergarten classrooms that will constitute the Phase II observational sample. Phase II schools and classrooms will be studied in depth to discover how teachers and schools "beat the odds" by providing poor children with learning environments that successfully promote their growth and development.
Successful Educational Pathways for Children Placed At Risk
This longitudinal study is examining the characteristics, processes, and connections among contexts of school, home, and community that differentiate children who succeed in school despite growing up in poverty, from those who do not. The project will follow, from third through fifth grade, a sample of 390 children from rural Vermont (predominantly Caucasian), inner city Pittsburgh (predominantly African American) and Venice, California (predominant Latino) who have been studied since before their first birthday. Since the children in the study entered kindergarten, their academic achievement and school engagement have been assessed directly and through other sources such as teacher reports and school records. In addition, information on qualities of the classroom and school environment has been obtained from teachers and through classroom observation. Finally, additional information has been obtained from yearly parent interviews, school principals and the census.
Student Identity, Peer Affiliation and Academic Engagement: A Comparative Study of Immigrant and Nonimmigrant High School Youth
The central question of this study concerns the reason students of Mexican descent fare poorly in school while many other students who share similar backgrounds excel. It examines the role of the peer group in shaping school performance of immigrant and non-immigrant minority students by focusing on their orientation to school, social and academic engagement in school, and academic achievement during high school. Multiple measures, quantitative and qualitative, will be used to study the experiences of students in one California high school, and comparative data will be collected from additional high school sites. This research will provide findings on how various school practices tend to channel some students toward engagement and others toward alienation. The study examines processes that require students and school officials to construct effective learning environments that use peer affiliation to facilitate negotiation and assistance.
School-Based Protection of Youth At-Risk for Joining Gangs
This project will examine the school experiences of at-risk youth as both risk and protective factors for joining gangs. It utilizes a longitudinal design to examine how two groups of youth (gang members and youth at-risk for gang membership) experience schooling in Los Angeles, and how their experiences either increase their risk of joining gangs or interact to reduce the odds of joining gangs. Four hundred 12 to 14 year old ethnically diverse males and females will be interviewed at the beginning of middle school, and followed-up in 18 months to assess predictability to joining gangs. Administrator interviews will supplement the youth data with school governance and structural influences on student achievement. Data from this study will support efforts by educators to design school-based prevention and intervention efforts by arming educators with tools to correctly identify youth at particular risk of joining gangs, and youth especially amenable to protective interventions.
The Effects of the Chicago Public Schools' Promotion Policy and Summer Bridge Initiative on Student Achievement and Opportunity to Learn
The Consortium of Chicago School Research is a comprehensive 4-year examination of the Chicago Public Schools' promotional policy, which combines high stakes testing with extra resources and second chance approaches through summer and after school programs. The researchers are studying effects of the policy on achievement, instruction, student attitudes, and later high school outcomes. They also will analyze the effect of different strategies employed by schools and teachers to manage the policy, and various strategies employed to deal with at-risk and retained students. Finally, they will study variations by students' prior levels of risk, demographic characteristics and school characteristics. The study draws upon and expands a comprehensive longitudinal database of achievement test scores, transcript files, and student and teacher survey data from as far back as 1994.
Overcoming Disadvantage: Mode of High School Exit as a Turning Point in the Lives of Urban Youth
This project will examine four pathways of transition from high school into adulthood for urban youth. These pathways are: high school dropouts with no further schooling, dropouts with GED completion, high school graduates with no postsecondary enrollment and high school graduates who enrolled in college. The researchers will conduct in-depth, qualitative interviews with 80 young adults from low-income families selected from an ongoing panel of Baltimore youth. The goal of the project is to identify sources of resilience in low-income urban youth's lives.
Project Act Early: Addressing the Context of Teaching for Behaviorally At-Risk Young Students
This three year longitudinal study will examine individual, interactional, and environmental factors in elementary schools; study how those factors contribute to behavioral risk for students; and use this information to help teachers acquire effective classroom strategies and early intervention skills. The study will involve 6 schools, approximately 72 teachers, and 1,440 students and will use latent variable growth curve modeling to study influences on students' behavioral adjustment to the classroom over time. Researchers also will use an experimental design to evaluate two types of professional development designed to help teachers work effectively with students at high risk of poor behavioral and educational adaptations.
Assessing the Cost Effectiveness and Value Added of Educational Policies
This study will use a set of newly available state longitudinal data files to assess the cost-effectiveness of a wide set of educational policies and practices. The researchers will conduct data analyses and work with policymakers of a selected state to inform policy on raising student achievement and issues involved in resource allocations. Two outcomes are expected from this study. First, it will provide solid and useful evaluations of major educational policies such as class-size reduction initiatives using various data sources and advanced statistical techniques. Second, by using existing data and working closely with policymakers, it will help the selected state identify data gaps and develop the next-generation data collection system to support education reform.
Preparing Students for a Diverse Democracy
The focus of this study is on enhancing new social and cognitive skills for student learning in areas important for living and working in a diverse society. The study will test the link between students' thinking, social development and changes in democracy outcomes (attitudes, values and behavior). The study proposes a multi-method approach to address the central research questions and to seek multiple ways of understanding how interaction with diverse peers (informal and facilitated through campus initiatives) plays a role in preparing college students for a diverse democracy.
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