Program Description

"A practitioner-friendly, scientifically based curricular supplement designed to develop and strengthen young children’s early foundations in language and literacy. Lessons are organized around adult-child readings of high-quality storybooks meant to supplement – not replace – an educator’s instruction. The curriculum was developed through a two-year collaborative effort in which Crane Center researchers worked closely with early childhood educators, state-level policymakers, and speech-language pathologists. It is widely used in early childhood programs in the United States and internationally."

Cost

Free

Intended Population

• Intervention
• Intensified intervention

Grade

• Pre-K

Intended Group Size

• Any

ELL/DLL

• Partial

Multisensory Applications

• No

Computer-Based Delivery

• Partial

Scripted

• Instructor Scripted

Comprehensive or Skill Specific

• Comprehensive

Placement Tests

• No

Accelerated Learning

• Yes

Assessment to Monitor Skills Mastery

• Yes

Error Correction Built In

• Yes

Fidelity Measures Provided by Publisher

• Unspecified

Research Summary

Literature review revealed mixed results. Most students made gains on print knowledge, whereas vocabulary development was represented by mixed results. One study indicated negative effect sizes for narrative language and phonological awareness.

Study Citations

Hillbert, D. D. & Eis, S. D. (2014). Early intervention for emergent literacy development in a collaborative community pre-kindergarten. Early Childhood Education Journal, 42(2), 105-113. doi: 10.1007/s10643-013-0588-3

Justice, L. M., McGinty, A. S., Cabell, S. Q., Kilday, C. R., Knighton, K., & Huffman, G. (2010). Language and literacy curriculum supplement for preschoolers who are academically at risk: A feasibility study. Language, Speech, and Hearing Sercices in Schools, 41(2), 161-178. doi: 10.1044/0161-1461(2009/08-0058)

Mashburn, A., Justice, L. M., McGinty, A., & Slocum, L. (2016). The impacts of a scalable intervention on the langage and literacy development of rural pre-kindergarteners. Applied Developmental Science, 20(1), 61-78. doi: 10.1080/10888691.2015.1051622

Evidence-Based Practice (EBP)

• Mixed evidence