Pre-Kindergarten Curriculum: Literacy and Relationships

Pianta, Robert

Abstract

This Early Childhood Education and School Readiness Planning Grant will develop an integrative curriculum in early literacy and social relationship/self-regulation skills for implementation and evaluation in state-funded pre-k classrooms. This planning year supports design of the implementation and evaluation study. The proposed curriculum module is a comprehensive early literacy program inclusive of multiple components (e.g., phonological awareness, orthographic awareness, oral language and literacy motivation) and is integrated with a comprehensive approach to facilitating children's social relationship and self-regulatory skills through child-teacher relationships (e.g., understanding emotions, cooperation, task orientation, classroom management). The curriculum will be implemented through six proposed approaches to training that vary systematically in terms of the original source of training information (written materials only or written plus demonstration/workshop) and the follow-up support available to teachers (none, distal support via the Web, or on-site). Effects of the training and curricular intervention on teachers and children will be evaluated in the pre-k year (for pre-k teachers and children) in a statewide pre-k program for high-risk children and for the children as they move into kindergarten. Evaluation of implementation fidelity and outcomes (for teachers and children) will be conducted via a randomized design and through collection of observational assessments and standardized tests (for children). The results of this planning year will be the formation of a management and investigative team, design and development of the curriculum materials in literacy and social/self-regulation skills, enrollment of the sample and randomization of the groups, finalization of the data collection procedures, and preparation of the R-01. In short, the aims are to: (1) Form a collaboration with statewide pre-k programs and consultants in literacy and social relationship/self-regulation interventions; (2) Design a comprehensive/integrated curriculum in early literacy and social relationship/self-regulation skills and develop planned variations in training pre-k teachers to implement this curriculum, and (3) Design a randomized trial (sample, intrumentation, staffing) to evaluate the curriculum and training in terms of effects on children in the pre-k and 1st year and the implementing pre-k teachers.