The Early Childhood Study of Language and Literacy Development of Spanish-Speaking Children
Principal
Investigator: Patton
O. Tabors
Other Investigator: Mariela
Páez
Harvard Graduate School of
Education
PURPOSE
Researchers at the Harvard Graduate
School of Education are studying the language and literacy development
of young children who come from Spanish-speaking homes in and around Boston,
MA and Washington, DC. The purpose
of this longitudinal research is to identify different ways that parents
and schools can help children be more successful in school. The research will result in more appropriate and effective ways
to both predict and assess the literacy skill development of young Spanish-speaking
children.
SAMPLE
AND ACTIVITIES
The study will follow a group of 300 Spanish-speaking
4-year-old children from the time they enter pre-kindergarten until
they leave second grade. We are defining Spanish-speaking children as
those children who are exposed to Spanish at home and have some knowledge
of this language. Each child will
be assessed for Spanish and English language ability in the fall and the
spring of their pre-K year and in the spring of kindergarten, first and second grade year.
The assessment sessions will not last longer than an hour. Each
child will receive a book to bring home at the end of each assessment
session.
Participating families will be interviewed once
at the beginning of the study to collect basic demographic information.
The child's teacher will also be asked to allow
the researcher to observe in his or her classroom for a short time to
rate the amount of Spanish and English used in the classroom. Teachers will receive a gift of books for the
classroom for their cooperation.
A small number of families will also be asked to participate
in a more intensive version of this study. These families will be visited at home for
a more extensive interview and
will also be asked to audiotape a family mealtime.
Families will be paid $50 after completion of the home visit. When the children in these families are entering
kindergarten the families will be interviewed (generally by phone) to
find out what type of school program they have chosen for their child
and why. The classroom visits
for this more intensive study will involve an interview about the teacher's
attitudes about language and literacy development and audiotaping a group
time in the classroom. Again,
the child's teacher will receive a gift of books for the classroom for
his or her cooperation.
FINDINGS
All information gathered by the researchers at the
Harvard Graduate School of Education will be kept confidential and will
be used for research purposes only. No
names of individual participants will ever be used in any report or presentation
on this research.