PALS NEWS
INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION SCIENCES STUDY Kindergarten PALS
2004-2006
We are currently involved in a multi-site randomized controlled study funded by the Institute of Education Sciences. This study is examining the level of teacher assistance needed to successfully scale-up a research-validated reading intervention, Reading PALS, for promoting reading development in children in kindergarten and fourth grade.
In this project, we target 2 grade levels where scaling challenges may differ substantially: kindergarten (where early childhood educators define “developmentally appropriate” practices and where, according to most reading specialists, an important reading objective is word-level skills) and 4th grade which is guided by more uniform academic standards and where the major challenge is to transition from learning to read to reading to learn).We first determine whether, and if so with what levels of teacher support, PALS can be implemented and sustained. Second, we examine whether, when implemented with levels of teacher support that schools can realistically deliver, reading outcomes improve. Third, we explore how implementation fidelity mediates achievement and we identify the minimum set of PALS features associated with positive student outcomes. Fourth, we investigate how teacher characteristics (e.g., perceptions of self-efficacy), skills (e.g., classroom management), and views of school climate mediate PALS implementation and sustainability. Fifth, we explore how Title I designation affects implementation and sustainability. Sixth, we supplement our largely quantitative approach with case studies to describe implementation and sustainability factors in ways that reach multiple audiences. Finally, we calculate the costs associated with successful scaling. The broad goal is to understand how to scale-up PALS to help general educators promote stronger reading outcomes.
In Year 1 (2004-2005), we conducted a 17-week, randomized field trial in 6 of the poorest counties in south Texas; in Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Bloomington, Minnesota; and in Nashville, TN. At each site, about 50 kindergarten teachers (with 1000 students) were randomly assigned within their schools to 4 conditions: (a) no-PALS (level 1), (b) PALS taught to teachers in a 1-day workshop (level 2), PALS taught in a 1-day workshop followed by several “booster” sessions throughout the year (level 3), and PALS taught in a 1-day workshop, followed by several booster sessions throughout the year, and once-per-week mentoring (level 4). On all PALS teachers (in levels 1, 2, and 3), and their students, we conducted systematic observations of their PALS implementation twice during the year. We also tested sub-groups of high-achieving, average-achieving, and low-achieving (including special needs) kindergartners in each class prior to and immediately following the 17-week PALS intervention. We used a battery of phonological and reading tasks.
Our data have been collected and double checked at every stage for accuracy. Analyses will include examination of relationships between scaling up strategies and teacher and student fidelity of PALS implementation and students’ reading progress during the kindergarten year. We are also exploring how teacher characteristics and their perceptions of school climate mediate PALS implementation. With multi-level hierarchical analysis, we will examine how these variables contribute to PALS implementation (and eventually sustainability), as a function of teacher support level, site, grade level, and Title I status.
Preliminary analyses on only the teacher fidelity data indicate that (a) teachers in levels 3 and 4 demonstrated greater fidelity than teachers in level 2; (b) teachers in level 3 outperformed those in level 2; (c) teachers in level 4 also outperformed their counterparts in level 2, but (d) there was no difference in fidelity of treatment between teachers in levels 3 and 4. Moreover, there were no statistically significant interactions between these various support levels and site (Texas vs. Minnesota vs. Tennessee) and observations (Time 1 vs. Time 2). Thus, looking only at teacher fidelity, there is some indication that the “less expensive” level 3 support is as good as the “more expensive” level 4 support in scaling up PALS.
