1. Eighth Annual National Inclusion Conference July 22-24, 2008 Patsy Pierce, Ph.D., CCC-SLP Hillary Harper, M.S., CCC-SLP, Doctoral Student Division of Speech and Hearing Sciences Center for Literacy and Disability Studies UNC-CH

2. Lessons Learned from Year 1 Including children with significant disabilities in an Early Reading First project

3. Early Reading First On January 8, 2002, the President signed into law the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, which added two important new reading programs to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Reading First and Early Reading First. Early Reading First was created to address the growing concern that many of our nation's children begin kindergarten without the necessary foundation to fully benefit from formal school instruction.

4. Early Reading First The program supports the development of early childhood centers of excellence that focus on all areas of development, especially on the early language, cognitive, and pre-reading skills that prepare children for continued school success and that serve primarily children from low- income families. CFDA Number: 84.359A; 84.359B

5. Research Questions (1) Does participation in an ERF classroom lead to an increase in the number of children who achieve significant gains on oral language skills as measured by the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-III, Receptive? (2) Does participation in an ERF classroom lead to an increase in the percentage of preschool age children who demonstrate age-appropriate oral language skills as measured by the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-III, Receptive?

6. Additional Research Questions (3) Does participation in an ERF classroom lead to an increase in the average number of letters that preschool age children are able to identify as measured by the Upper Case Alphabet Knowledge subtask on the PALS Pre-K assessment? (4) Does participation in an ERF classroom lead to an increase in the overall early receptive and expressive oral language abilities of preschool age children as measured by the Preschool Language Scale-4 (5) Does participation in an ERF classroom lead to an increase the English Language Proficiency of preschool age children as measured by the pre- and post- administration of the Pre-LAS?

7. Richmond County Pubic Schools’ Early Reading First Program of Excellence Administration Linda Nicholson, Federal Programs; Haven Harrelson, Exceptional Children; Julie Brigman, More at Four ERF Team Project Director: Teressa Beavers Literacy Coaches: Corinne Watson, Andrea Kinsey Family Liaison: Jessica Gonzalez UNC-CH Professional Development: Patsy Pierce, Camille Catlett, Bonnie Dileone Evaluation: Karen Erickson Graduate Research Assistant: Hillary Harper 2007-2010

8. Intervention Components Head Heart Hands

9. Head=Foundations; NELP Findings Thrilling Three”: B-K Oral Language Alphabetic Code Print Knowledge/ Concepts Five Interventions: Code-related, shared reading, language enhancement, high- quality pre-K, family involvement (secondary analysis of NELP) National Center for Family Literacy. (2005). National early literacy panel: Synthesizing the scientific research on development of early literacy in young children. Available at http://www.nifl.gov/partnershipforreading/family/ncfl/NELP2006 Conference.pdf http://www.nifl.gov/partnershipforreading/family/ncfl/NELP2006 Conference.pdf NELP, 2007-see handout

10. Phonics Intentional Alphabet/Phonological Awareness Activities Ongoing Assessment Family Involvement Rich Oral Language Environments, Play- based Activities Supports for Emergent Reading/Writing Vocabulary Comprehension STRATEGIESSTRATEGIES OUTCOMESOUTCOMES Fluency HEART =

11. Hands=OWL Curriculum and Specific Intervention Strategies Build on interests using OWL themes and books as guides Shared Reading for vocabulary, print concepts, language Put the CROWD in the CAR “Writing” for real purposes

12. Year 1 Participants: Adults Comparision Classrooms –4 teachers with Bachelor’s degree; 2 with Master’s Degree –Average number of years of teacher experience: 11.3 (range: 2-34) Intervention Classrooms –4 teachers with Bachelor’s degree; 1 with Master’s Degree –Average number of years of teacher experience: 5.6 (range: 3-10) –Classrooms range in size from 6-18 children

13. Teacher/Environmental Measures ELLCO (annual pre-post) Arnett Scale (annual pre-post) Adult-Child Interactive Reading Inventory (annual pre-post) Monthly implementation observation Teacher Self-Assessment on language and literacy knowledge/application (11/07 and upon completion of on-line course) Please email piercep@med.unc.edu if you would like these referencespiercep@med.unc.edu

14. Teacher Self-Assessment Results (pre)

15. Year 1 Classroom Assessment Results: Early Language and Literacy Classroom Observation (pre and post)

16. Year 1 Classroom Assessment Results: Adult- Child Interactive Reading Inventory (pre and post)

17. Year 1 Classroom Assessment Results: Arnett Scale (pre and post)

18. Year 1 Child Demographics (disability)

19. Year 1 Child Outcomes (pre and post) * n=2 for Intervention Group

20. Family Measure Home Literacy Inventory (Marvin, C., & Ogden, N. (2002). A home literacy inventory: Assessing young children’s contexts for emergent literacy. Young Exceptional Children, 5(2), 2-11.)

21. Year 1 Family Data

23. Home Literacy Inventory Pretest (2007-2008)

24. Discussion: What we think is making the difference Differentiated instruction (shared reading handout) Curricular infusion with IEPs Adaptations –Materials-see examples; book ideas handout –Curriculum Note: Teachers received over 55 hours of training on the OWL curriculum and specific strategies plus at least weekly visits by Literacy Coaches from January-July, 2008

25. Example for OWL Curriculum Teacher Directed Activities & Interactions Activity PageIEP Goal (s) VocabularyBuilding Block Vocabulary Possible Spanish Vocabulary Possible Accommodations Soap Bubbles with Colored Water 12E. 1 E. 2 B. 11 B. 112 B. 111 bubbles, soap, color, food coloring, eggbeater, ice cream, whipped cream, pour, whisk Pop, blow Fun, colors, higher (families suggest)Battery operated bubble gun/switch; battery-operated drink mixer/switch; blowing bubbles communication board

26. Year 2… We are expecting more children to be at 85 SS or below on measures at the beginning of the year than were at the middle of the year; We are going to continue to concentrate on developing conversation and shared reading abilities with adults and ALL children; We are going to offer additional family supports.

27. Any Questions? hillary_harper@med.unc.edu; piercep@med.unc.eduillary_harper@med.unc.edu