Is dosage important? Examining Head Start preschoolers’ language and literacy learning after one versus two years of ExCELL

ABSTRACT

The current study examined whether Head Start children who experienced a high-quality preschool intervention, Exceptional Coaching for Early Language and Literacy (ExCELL), as three-year-olds began the subsequent pre-kindergarten (or four-year-old) year with stronger language and literacy skills than same-age peers who entered ExCELL in pre-kindergarten, as well as whether any differences remained at the end of the pre-kindergarten year. A total of 159 Head Start preschoolers participated, including 88 four-year-olds who had 1 year of ExCELL and 71 four-year-olds who had participated in ExCELL for 2 years. All children were assessed on language and literacy measures assessing vocabulary, alphabet knowledge, and phonemic awareness. Results showed that children who experienced ExCELL at age 3 had stronger vocabulary, sound awareness, and alphabet skills at the start of the pre-kindergarten year than peers who were new to the programme. However, there were few differences between these groups in their learning over time, and they concluded the pre-kindergarten year on equal footing. Thus, two years (at ages 3 and 4) of participation in the ExCELL intervention was not associated with better early-reading-related outcomes than one, pre-kindergarten year (at age 4) alone.

KEYWORDS:

• Head Start
• language
• literacy
• early intervention

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Annemarie Hindman is associate professor of educational psychology and early childhood education at Temple University. Her work explores the design and implementation of professional development around early language and literacy for teachers of young children.

Barbara Wasik is PNC Endowed Chair in Early Childhood Education at Temple University. She has led the ExCELL project for 20 years and is an expert on language and literacy development among young children in high-poverty preschoolers settings and on teacher professional development.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Education, Grant #S359B060081.