Pr Early Literacy and Transition Kindergarten November, 2011

2 The Opportunity Gap California 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, †U.S. Department of Education: Reading Literacy in the United States: Findings From the IEA Reading Literacy Study.

3 Grade Level Reading Source: California Department of Education, STAR Test Results, Percentage of 3 rd 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 million26 million45 million # Words/ Hour 6161,2512,153 # Questions/ Hour # Affirmations / Prohibitions 5/1112/732/5 # words in vocabulary 2,00012,000*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 Evidence based curriculum Intentional 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 1 Literacy 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 Results Classroom Support for Language and Literacy, Source: Early Literacy Foundations Initiative, Early Language and Literacy Classroom Observation (ELLCO) & ELLCO Pre-K, 2007 – Note: Clients may be included more than once if they participated in multiple SEEDS classes between 2007 and 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 , so results reflect the combined data for Child Choice and Initiative N=134, Book Reading N=215, Children's Writing N=221, Approaches to Curriculum N=134.. Quality of Classroom Support

15 IGDI’s Results Percentage 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,

16 Primary Language of SEEDS Trained Early Childhood Educators

17 Educational Attainment of SEEDS Trained Early Childhood Educators

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…