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UIC Early Reading First Building the Foundations for Early Literacy Excellence. Alicia J Wyche Summer Internship 2009. What is Early Reading First?. Federal program that supports the development of early childhood centers of excellence
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UIC Early Reading FirstBuilding the Foundations for Early Literacy Excellence Alicia J Wyche Summer Internship 2009
What is Early Reading First? • Federal program that supports the development of early childhood centers of excellence • Mission: ensure that all children enter kindergarten with the necessary language, cognitive, and early reading skills for continued success in school • Grants are designed to help early childhood centers improve their programs • serve primarily children from low-income families.
UIC-Early Reading First • Awarded 2 federally funded grants from the U.S. Department of Education • In collaboration with the UIC Center for Literacy • Charting a Course to Literacy (2006-2009) • Partnership with three Chicago Public Charter Schools • Achieving Preschool Language and Literacy Excellence (2008-2011) • Partnership with five Archdiocese of Chicago Schools
Project GoalsUIC-ERF • Equip children to acquire the oral language, critical thinking, and early literacy skills needed for successfully developing later reading skills. • Design language and print rich environments of the highest quality that will provide children with meaningful cognitive learning experiences. • Enhance the knowledge and skills of school-based education professionals so that instructional practices consistent with scientifically-based reading research increase.
Participants & Method • Participants • Three- and four-year-old children • Collaborative team that includes: early childhood teachers, school administrators, university faculty, early literacy coaches, and graduate students • Methods • Implementation of a comprehensive preschool curriculum that includes professional development and coaching • Collection of student assessment data
Classroom CurriculumOpening the World of Learning (OWL) • Research-based comprehensive early literacy program specifically designed for preschool students • Integrated approach covers all domains of learning • Thematic lessons include Language and Literacy, Social Studies, Science, Mathematics, The Arts, Physical, and Social/Emotional Development • Authors: Judy Schickendanz and David Dickinson in collaboration with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools
Assessment Tools • Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening (PALS-PreK) • Provides information about a child’s exposure to, and mastery of early literacy skills that are related to later success in reading. • Skills: Name Writing, Upper Case Letters, Lower Case Letters, Letter Sounds, Beginning Sound Awareness, Print & Word Awareness, Rhyme Awareness • Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, 4th Edition (PPVT4) • Provides information about a child’s vocabulary development. • Child is shown four pictures while the adult says a word and asks the child to point to the matching picture.
STEP=UP Summer Internship 2009 Data Analyst Intern • Conduct analyses from collected assessment data • Document program impact and track children's’ growth and achievement • Display on project website, present to school administrators, use in future academic publications
Results: What did I gain? • Knowledge of early childhood instruction, assessment, and best practices • Experience with large quantitative databases- growth modeling • Organizing, cleaning, and creating databases • Generating Excel graphs • Running analyses using statistical software (spss)
What now? • Continue involvement with project as graduate research assistant • Scheduling and administering assessments • Managing assessment data and creating reports • Running analyses on data • Video taping instruction for professional development purposes
For further information about UIC-ERF • Project Website: www.uic.edu/educ/erf • Contacts • Dr. William Teale; Principal Investigator • Dr. Jeffri Brookfield; Principal Investigator • Dr. Maureen Meehan; Principal Investigator • National Early Reading First Website:http://www.ed.gov/programs/earlyreading/index.html