Project Description:
Granite Ladders is an experimental study of an early literacy preschool curriculum, Ladders to Literacy, to boost the pre-reading and writing skills of young children living in poverty in New Hampshire. The project is a collaborative effort between the Institute on Disability (IOD) at the University of New Hampshire, Southern New Hampshire Services, Inc. (SNHS), a Community Action Program, and Research Triangle Institute (RTI), a national evaluator hired by the U.S. Department of Education. Funded by a $1.4 million grant from the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) at the U.S. Department of Education, the project began in the Fall of 2002 and will continue until the Summer of 2006.
In Year 1 (2002-03), project investigators recruited 109 children from 12 randomly selected classrooms at SNHS’s Head Start program. All classroom teachers used the Creative Curriculum to instruct children. Teachers in six classrooms were randomly assigned to an experimental condition, in which they adopted activities from the Ladders to Literacy curriculum to enhance language and early literacy instruction for children in their classrooms. This research design was repeated in Year 2 (2003-04) with 126 preschoolers from 14 randomly selected classrooms. Data were collected each year from children, parents/guardians, teachers, and classrooms. In Year 3 (2004-05), project investigators will assess the Year 2 child cohort in kindergarten, as well as collect information from their kindergarten teachers and classrooms. In Year 4 (2005-06), project investigators will assess the Year 2 child cohort in first grade, as well as collect information from their first grade teachers and classrooms.
The project’s research questions are: (a) Are there differences in language and early literacy outcomes between children in the experimental group and those in the control group by the end of preschool? (b) Are there differences in outcomes for those who attend full-day vs. half-day classroom programming? (c) Are there differences in implementation of the intervention across experimental classrooms? (d) Are there differences in implementation of the intervention and outcomes between English Language Learners and English-fluent preschoolers? and (e) Are there differences in language and early literacy outcomes by group (i.e., experimental vs. control) as children experience the first two years of elementary school?
Keyword(s):
early literacy, English Language Learners, Head Start, poverty,
Core Function(s):
Performing Research or Evaluation
Area of Emphasis
Education & Early Intervention
Target Audience:
Students/Trainees (long or intermediate trainees), Professionals and Para-Professionals, Family Members/Caregivers
Unserved or Under-served Populations:
Racial or Ethnic Minorities, Disadvantaged Circumstances, Limited English, Geographic Areas, Rural/Remote, Urban, Specific Groups
Primary Target Audience Geographic Descriptor:
Mulit-County
COVID-19 Related Data:
N/A
