Description:
The University of California will use a randomized experimental design to evaluate an intervention for improving writing development for Head Start preschool children whose first language is Spanish. In addition, they will test the maintenance of learning gains when children begin kindergarten. The study seeks to answer the following research questions: (a) is an instructional intervention designed to facilitate writing development effective for Spanish-speaking children in Head Start? (b) do the effects of the intervention interact with initial levels of vocabulary knowledge? Eighty (N=80) Head Start children will participate in the study. The study will have an alternative treatment control group, who will receive an alternative treatment not related to writing, and a treatment group, who will receive an instructional activity based on targeted instruction and storybook examples. Writing samples will be collected and evaluated. Findings of the study are expected to support instructional and curricular innovations in Head Start programs that produce more optimal development in reading and writing in kindergarten and first grade.
Resource Type:
Administration for Children and Families/OPRE Projects
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