Teaching Pre-school: Recognition & Response

RESEARCHERS at the FPG Child Development Institute recently completed a study on a new approach to teaching pre-kindergartners called Recognition & Response (R&R).

R&R is a tiered model for pre-k based on Response to Intervention (RTI), designed to provide high quality instruction and targeted interventions that are matched to children’s learning needs.

The recognition component of R&R involves universal screening of all children and progress monitoring of those who require additional supports to learn. The response component provides an effective core curriculum, intentional teaching and targeted interventions. Collaborative problem-solving offers a process by which teachers, parents and specialists can work together to plan and evaluate instruction at all tiers.

R&R helps teachers use information they gather on children’s skills to improve the quality of instruction for all children and to provide targeted interventions to some children who need additional supports to learn.

This study offers the first evidence of the effectiveness of R&R for promoting language and literacy skills in pre-k children enrolled in community early childhood programs.

Key Findings

As part of the Recognition & Response approach, pre-k teachers conducted universal screenings on every child throughout the year. This information helped teachers learn which children could benefit the most from language and literacy interventions (the target group).

The target group who received the language and literacy interventions made greater gains than their classmates in letter naming, vocabulary, sound awareness, and print knowledge. The target group made gains at the same rate as their classmates on other language and literacy skills.

Pre-k teachers were able to implement this approach successfully with a high level (97%) of accuracy. They found R&R an acceptable and useful instructional approach; 92% reported that they would recommend R&R to other teachers.

Study Method

Teachers conducted universal screenings of all children and used these results to select a target group of four children in each classroom. These children received a language and literacy intervention in a small group for 15 minutes a day for two months. Teachers conducted progress monitoring of these children during the intervention and a second universal screening on all children following the intervention. Also, researchers administered standardized assessments of language and literacy skills to the target children and a comparison group before and after the intervention.

The study was conducted with 353 four-year-olds in 24 child care, Head Start, and public pre-k classrooms in Maryland and Florida. The children who participated were 46% girls and 54% boys; 67% White, 24% African-American, and 9% Other; and 49% Latino. The educational levels of teachers who participated were 63% bachelor’s degree, 25% associate’s degree, and 12% graduate degree.

What Was Learned?

____ This study provides the first evidence of the efficacy of Recognition & Response for supporting the development of pre-k children with potential learning difficulties in language and literacy.

____ Further research is needed to examine the effectiveness of this approach with larger samples across different content areas.

____ Given the growing interest in RTI for pre-k, the early childhood field needs policies, guidelines, and resources to support implementation on a broader scale. __

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