National Research Center on Rural Education Support

1. National Research Center on Rural Education Support The Early School TransitionCollaborative

2. NRCRES: Early School Transition Collaborative Lynne Vernon-Feagans, PI Kirsten Kainz Barbara Wasik Joe Sparling Kate Gallagher Steve Knotek Marnie Ginsberg Pledger Fedora Steve Amendum

3. Purpose The purpose of this study is to improve the teaching strategies of rural kindergarten and first grade teachers in the areas of literacy and behavior management, with a specific focus on children who have been identified as struggling learners.

4. Overview • Rationale for focusing on Rural Schools • Rationale for the importance of the Transition to School • Rationale for teaching strategies for Struggling Learners • Rationale for the content of Literacy and Behavior • Research Design • School Characteristics • Professional Development Collaboration • Teacher and Child Outcomes • Progress of the project • Demonstration of teacher strategies with struggling learners

5. Justification of Focus on Rural Schools • 40% of public schools are in non-metro areas, depending on your definition of metro. • Rural schools generally have fewer resources • Rural teachers indicate that distance is a factor that prevents them from pursuing professional development opportunities • Rural schools often have the inability to attract and retain high quality teachers • Economic strategies have resulted in the closing of community schools that have forced many children to ride buses long distances.

6. Most of the research about children at risk for poor school outcomes is based on studies of urban children Almost half of all poor children live in rural areas. Children in non-urban areas on average are more poor than children in urban areas There is some evidence that there may be different risk and protective factors in urban versus rural areas

7. Percent of Children Living in Poverty 1959-2004

8. Percent of Children Living in Poverty in Metro and nonMetro

9. Risk Factors Associated with Non-Urban Life • More maternal depression • More tobacco use • More alcohol and prescription drug abuse • Less access to health and mental health services • Less access and availability to childcare • Longer distances to work and childcare • Less access to public transportation • Fewer good jobs

10. Protective Factors Associated with Non-Urban Life • Less exposure to random violent crime • More single family homes • More homes and land owned by families • More access to extended family • Stronger connections to religious institutions • Greater sense of community

11. The Family Life Project: Families and Children in Rural America • 16.5 million program project (NICHD) • Following a birth cohort of every baby born to mothers who reside in 3 poor rural counties in North Carolina and 3 poor rural counties in Pennsylvania (oversampling for poverty and ethnicity). • Families are followed intensively over the children’s first three years. We are in the process of applying for the renewal of the grant to follow the children into school.

12. Why focus on the transition to school in rural areas? • Research has shown that the first few years of school are critical for children’s later school success (Vernon-Feagans, 1996, 2004; Alexander& Entwisle, 1992) • Children in rural areas are often “known” by teachers • Children in rural areas have less access to resources before formal schooling • Children in rural areas often have a rich and supportive family life that is not understood by schools.

13. Why focus on struggling learners? • Struggling learners are usually the ones that do not make expected progress (Pianta, 2001; Meisels, 2001) • This emphasis on struggling learners has been highlighted through disaggregated data mandated by NCLB • Teachers report these struggling learners are the children who have the least success in learning and behavior. • Teachers often attribute poor learning by students on the children’s behavior and/or their home situation.

14. Why focus on literacy and behavior? • Research and teacher reports suggest that children’s behavior can facilitate or hamper learning (Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000). • Reading becomes the foundation for subsequent academic learning (Snow, Burns & Griffin; Vernon-Feagans, 1996)

15. From http://www.ncruralcenter.org/databank/rural_county_map.asp

16. Research Design • Choose a poor rural county with limited access to teacher professional development (One of the 10 poorest counties in North Carolina, identified nationally as a persistently poor county since 1970, county-wide low literacy rates). • Select 4 elementary schools in the county who are willing to participate. • Randomly assign 2 schools to the intervention and 2 schools to the control group. Target all kindergarten and first grade classrooms to be part of the study. • 5 children in each classroom are randomly selected from those children identified by the teacher as struggling learners • 5 children in each classroom are randomly selected from those children identified by the teacher as not struggling learners

17. Year 1 24 teachers (n = 240) Year 2 24 teachers (n = 240) Kindergarten 1st Grade Kindergarten 1st Grade Experimental Control

18. Characteristics of the Schools • Since last April • Superintendent retired • Both principals at the experimental schools resigned and new principals name in August • The K-5 coordinator for the county resigned and the new coordinator was named in August • The average number of years of teaching in the district is over 20 years. • There is only one teacher in kindergarten and one teacher in 1st grade who have taught in another county. • Availability of teaching assistants is limited • Availability of support staff – school psychologist, guidance counselor – extremely limited

19. Characteristics of one Intervention School • 91% free and reduced lunch • 71% minority students • 67% passed third grade EOGs • 61% teachers with at least 10 years of experience • 21% teacher turnover rate

20. Teacher Professional Development: Collaborative Consultation A Professional development model that empowers teachers to articulate classroom difficulties and allows them control over the process of development through interaction with other professionals who value and validate their needs and skills. The consultation emphasizes diagnostic teaching during one-to-one interaction with the struggling learners.

21. Transactional:The model is a bidirectional model where information from the schools influences the strategies and materials we use and in turn the strategies and materials we give to the schools influences their competence. This is an ever evolving model that changes with the ongoing needs of schools, teachers, and students.

23. Rural Schools’ Behavior and Literacy Needs and Goals for Struggling Learners in Kindergarten and First Grade Transactional processes Collaborative Consultation Development of Problem Solving Diagnostic Strategies Development of Relevant Teaching Strategies Training Collaborative School Partners in Problem Solving Diagnostics and Teaching Strategies Implementation of Diagnostics and Strategies in One to One Teaching Moments Improved Behavior and Literacy for Struggling Learners

24. Specific Collaborative Consultation • Consultants visit each classroom each week to promote teachers’ one to one diagnostic teaching strategies with struggling learners, starting with one child identified by the teacher. Teacher tries to work with the child 15 minutes per day. • Focus of consultant work to date – building rapport, establishing routines, examining classroom and school resources, facilitating classroom climate. • Former teachers hired as aides so teachers can work with struggling learners

25. Teacher Outcomes • Improved literacy resources in the classroom • Improved behavior management in the classroom • Improved literacy teaching strategies for struggling learners • Improved teacher/child relationship with struggling learners • Improved perceptions of teaching struggling learners • Improved overall teaching strategies

26. Child Outcomes • Children’s Literacy Development • Vocabulary (PPVT-III) • Oral Language (Wordless Picture Book Activity) • Print Awareness (Concepts about Print) • Sublexical Skills (CTOPP) • Word ID ( WJ-DRB: Word Attack & Letter Word/ID) • Reading Rate (Qualitative Reading Inventory) • Reading Comprehension (Qualitative Reading Inventory) • Children’s Behavior • Problem Behaviors (Classroom Behavior Inventory) • Engagement (One-on-One Observation) • Independence (Classroom Behavior Inventory) • Affect (One-on-One Observation)

27. Implementation of Design • Have identified students in classes • Obtained informed consent • Pretest teacher questionnaires (complete) • Pretest classroom observations (complete) • Pretest child assessments (almost complete) • Developed a demonstration classroom (complete)