Defense Date

3-3-2008

Graduation Date

Spring 2008

Availability

Immediate Access

Submission Type

dissertation

Degree Name

PhD

Department

Clinical Psychology

School

McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts

Committee Chair

Kara E. McGoey

Committee Member

Stephen J. Bagnato

Committee Member

Tammy L. Hughes

Keywords

early childhood education, early language, early literacy, preschool

Abstract

This study examined the effectiveness of Direct Instruction (DI) as an enhancement to a Developmentally Appropriate Preschool (DAP) curriculum in the form of increased pre-academic, language, and early literacy competencies for high-risk preschool children. Sixty-one preschool children were randomly assigned to either a DI-Add-On group or DAP-Only group. The children were administered the Kaufman Survey of Early Academic and Language Skills (K-SEALS; Kaufman and Kaufman, 1993) and Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS; Good and Kaminski, 2002) prior to receiving the intervention and upon completion of the study. All of the children were also administered the DIBELS throughout the implementation of the DI intervention to monitor their progress throughout the curriculum. It was hypothesized that children receiving both DI and DAP would demonstrate greater attainment of pre-academic, language, and early literacy skills than children who only participated in the DAP curriculum. The research questions were statistically analyzed by multivariate analysis of covariance and single subject data analysis. Results of the study confirmed the hypothesis. Children who received both DI and DAP demonstrated greater attainment of pre-academic, language, and early literacy skills than children who only participated in the DAP curriculum.

Format

PDF

Language

English

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