David K. DickinsonVanderbilt University

David.Dickinson@Vanderbilt.Edu

Language Fundamentals for Kentucky’s Early

Education Initiative

Improving Third Grade Reading

Converging effortsNational Governor’s Association Third Grade

ReadingCommon Core CurriculumAnnie E. Casey

Urgency:Grade 3 is predictive of high school graduation.Failure to graduate is very costly: “Every student who does not complete high

school costs our society an estimated $260,000 in lost earnings, taxes, and productivity.”Early Warning! Why Reading by Grade Three Matters. Annie E. Casey

Grade 4 NAEP ‘07 Kentucky was 18th

Kentucky’s Challenge

Language

National Governor’s Comprehensive State Strategy to Improve Third Grade Reading

Proficiency

Extended Simple View of Reading

Language

Decoding

Reading Comprehension

7

Grades 1 to 4

Print Skill

Birth - Kindergarten

Early Language Is Predictive of Long-term Academic Success

Language at ages 3 and 4 is related to reading ability in grades 3 and 4. (NICHD, 2005; Storch & Whitehurst, 2002; Walker & Greenwood, 1994)

Vocabulary at the end of kindergarten and grade 1 is related to:Comprehension in grades 4, 7 – 8 (Dickinson & Tabors,

2001)

Comprehension in 11th grade (Cunningham & Stanovich, 1997)

Language exposure and acquisition birth – three predicts later language. (Marchman & Fernald, 2008)

Fernald, Portillo, Zangl, & Marchman (2008)

Learning About Language Processing Abilities of Two-Year Old Children

Faster Processing Relates to Faster Vocabulary Growth (Fernald, Perfors, & Marchman, 2006)

Children with faster mean RT at 25 months had more accelerated growth in vocabulary across the 2nd year

Mean numberof words inproductivevocabulary(MB-CDI)

Faster RT group RT at 25 mo <750 ms

Slower RT group RT at 25 mo >750 ms

Variability in the Amount of Child-directed Speech

Infants of mothers who talked relatively more heard: 7 times more words 5 times more utterances 3 times more different words Sentences twice as long

SES did not account for variability

Infants who heard more speech at 18 months had larger vocabularies at 24 months AND they increased more in processing speed.

Hurtado, Marchman, & Fernald (2008)

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Early Language Processing Skill and Vocabulary Growth Is Key

Children who understand words faster at 24 months also have larger vocabularies (Fernald et al., 2011).

Efficiency of language processing at 24 months relates to age 8 language (Marchman & Fernald, 2008).

The size of a child’s vocabulary at ages 3, 4 and the end of preschool is related to vocabulary at age 13. (Farkas Beron, 2004).

Vocabulary Growth Between 30 and 36 months by Income (Hart & Risley, 1995)

Professional Welfare

Vocabulary at 30 months

766recorded

words

357recorded

words

Vocabulary learned in 6 months

350recorded

words

168recorded

words

The Way Forward

Transition to Kindergarten

Kindergarten

Home

Early Childhood Programs

Community

Home

Early Childhood Programs

Community

Laudable Features of Your Approach

Statewide integrated vision for birth – school entry across entities that serve young children.

Press for high quality child care linked to evaluation. Strategy for assessing young children using a broad-

gauged tool and tracking children into school.

QUESTIONS: 1. Will data be passed to the teachers how need it and

will there be assistance to teachers in interpreting it? 2. Will there by systematic efforts to use data

a. to support struggling children and b. to build on successes of children who are exceeding expectations?

Suggestions for Statewide Improvements in Early Language

Develop a vision that encompasses all and launchCoordinated and sustained community-wide efforts:

media campaignsLibraries, museumsBusinesses and non-profit organizations

Suggested messages: Infuse responsive caretaking with language.Use the world and your daily life as a classroom.

Teach language throughout the day.Read and discuss books every day.

Elements of Effective Programs

Infant-toddler: Expectations for language-support during care routines Regular 1-1 interactions with that include talking High quality books Parent education related to language use

Preschool: same as infant-toddler plus a robust curriculum (commercial or teacher-developed) that has Clear expectations for learning about the world Specific goals for language exposure including specific

vocabulary words.

All programs Professional development Coaching Evaluation and feedback systems Community connections around specific content objectives

A Success Story: Early Reading First

Early Reading First in NashvilleWilson, Dickinson & Rowe, Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 2013.

11 to 13 classrooms over 4 yearsState-funded pre-k with certified teachersOWL as curriculum

Evaluation tools ELLCO Fidelity of curriculum delivery

Strong supports Coaching Professional development

Early Language & Literacy Classroom Observation: ELLS & TELL

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1.5

2

2.5

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3.5

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5

3.63.5 3.6

4.24.1 4.2

4.4 4.4 4.4

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4.2

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4.0

4.3

3.46

Year 1

Year 2- Visit 1

Year 2 - Visit 2

Year 3- Visit 1

Year 3 - Visit 2

Column1

Column2

TELL

Strong Language and Literacy Support

Languag

e En

viro

nmen

t

Books

& B

ook

Readin

g

Prin

t & E

arly W

ritin

g

Languag

e & L

itera

cy S

ubscale

1

1.5

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4.3

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3.2

3.7

4.0

4.5

4.1 4.24.1

4.4

4.04.2

Early Language & Literacy Classroom ObservationLanguage & Literacy Subscale

Year 1

Year 2 - Visit 1

Year 2 - Visit 2

Year 3- Visit 1

Year 3 - Visit 2

PPVT Gains by Ethnicity, Language Status

YEAR TWO YEAR YEAR THREE

Letter-Word Gains By Ethnicity, Language

Year Two Year Three

ELLCO Predicted Language Gains

ELLCOSome very high scores

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Some variability in quality

Fall-spring growth in oral language was significantly related ELLCO scoresFidelity to Book Reading methodsTime in learning and child engagement

ratings

Using ELLCO for Program Improvement

Provides objective shared criteria for judging qualityTeachers and teaching teams can use itBasis for coaching conversationsMeans for tracking growth

Most effective for guiding attention to classroom organization and use of materials.

Teacher-child interaction needs to be considered in a setting-specific manner (book reading, centers).

Curriculum-Specific Checklists

For different classroom setting identify teaching behaviors you value and expect to see. Specify behaviors particularly related to

language.Have a means of tracking success in

implementation.

Suggested settings:Book readingCenters timeGroup instructional settingsMeal times

Book Reading Fidelity Rating..\..\..\..\..\Videos\Finalized movies\Kelli U.V. Days 1 & 3 matched clips.mpg

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Outcome Gains by Classroom Measures

General Strategies

Shared vision of classroom organization and child-centered pedagogy

Systematic approach to language instruction:Book reading

Repeated readings with increasing child involvement

Focused instruction on selected wordsComprehension-oriented conversations

Intellectually rich units/themes with identified learning goals, hands on activities and trips

Intentional use of informal times to talk 1-1Centers timeMeal times

General Strategies

Support to teachers for improving instructionCoachingTime to plan with other teachersProfessional development linked to language

growth Materials (books especially) to enable

delivery. Connections to community resources for

theme-related enrichment. Sustained support for program

implementation. It may take three years. Strategies for dealing with teacher turnover.

Congratulations!

Your plans for the future are models for what the country needs to do.

Try to develop community-wide plans to foster learning birth – grade three. Keep language and conceptual learning in

mindAim high, children have enquiring and

capable mindsShare your successes

Be “The One” for Each Child

I am only one.

But still I am one.

I cannot do everything.

But still I can do something.

And because I cannot do everything

I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.

Rev. Edward Everett Hale

from: Singing the Living Tradition,

Unitarian Universalist hymnal