Research and Results
Research Foundations for the WOVEN WORD Program
School Success in Early Childhood
Early childhood is an exciting time of rapid development. Young children are growing physically, cognitively, socially, and emotionally. Often, development in one area is strongly tied to development in another. The WOVEN WORD program is based on a body of theory and research that supports integrating the areas of emergent literacy and social and emotional development (Bryant, 2000; Espinosa, 2002).
Emergent Literacy Skills
"Emergent literacy," an academic focus in early childhood classrooms, refers to the prereading skills in young children that develop later into reading and writing skills (Teale & Sulzby, 1986). Through the WOVEN WORD program, teachers learn to use a shared reading technique, called dialogic reading, that has been shown to improve emergent literacy skills (Whitehurst, Arnold, et al., 1994; Whitehurst, Falco, et al., 1988; Whitehurst, Zevenbergen, et al., 1999).
Social and Emotional Skills
Emergent literacy and social and emotional development overlap in significant ways. For example, language plays a vital role in the development of both emergent literacy and social and emotional learning (SEL) skills (Gallagher, 1999; Snow, Tabors, & Dickinson, 2001). SEL skills include self and social awareness, self-management, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, 2003).
Read more about emergent literacy and social and emotional concepts with their corresponding skills.
Weaving Families into the Program
Research demonstrates that dialogic reading is most effective when families read the same books at home, using the same kinds of questioning techniques, that children experience in their classrooms (Whitehurst, Arnold, et al., 1994; Whitehurst, Falco, et al., 1988). In the WOVEN WORD program, a component called the Home Link provides families with opportunities to learn and use these books, strategies, and activities.
WOVEN WORD Program Study
Novacek, J., Raskin, R., Hirschstein, M., and Cooper, D. (2006). Evaluation of a curriculum that teaches emergent literacy and social and emotional skills in a variety of early childhood settings: Preliminary results. Presented at Head Start's Eighth National Research Conference, Washington, D.C.
In this study, scientists evaluated the WOVEN WORD program in 14 preschool and kindergarten classes; 161 children, 14 teachers, and 114 families participated. The WOVEN WORD program was taught in an eight-class intervention group, and not in a six-class control group.
Children in both the intervention and control groups were assessed twice for their emergent literacy skills and social and emotional skills with standardized literacy tests, teacher ratings and parent ratings: once before the WOVEN WORD program was taught, and again six months later. Intervention teachers were also asked to rate their satisfaction with the program.
Results from the evaluation study showed that children who started school with good social and emotional skills also tended to start school with stronger emergent literacy skills, and vice versa.
The relationship between children's social and emotional and emergent literacy skills was the same for girls as it was for boys, the same for white children and children of color, and the same for children who were rated as having a greater number of problem behaviors as children who had fewer problem behaviors.
Results also showed that all children who participated in the study demonstrated significant growth in their emergent literacy skills and their social and emotional skills over the six-month study period. But children who were taught the WOVEN WORD program also showed significantly greater growth in their social and emotional skills than children in the control group.
The majority of intervention teachers reported they were satisfied with the WOVEN WORD program, would use it the following year, and would recommend it to both kindergarten and preschool teachers. In addition, 47 of 51 preschool and kindergarten children who were taught the WOVEN WORD program and interviewed said they liked talking about the books in class.
References
Blair, C. (2002). School readiness: Intergrating cognition and emotion in a neurobiological conceptualization of children's functioning at school entry. American Psychologist, 57(2), 111–127.
Bryant, D. (2000, Spring). Linking literacy and language with social-emotional learning. Prevention Update, 1–4.
Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning. (2003). Safe and Sound: An Educational Leader's Guide to Evidence-Based Social and Emotional Learning Programs. Chicago, IL: CASEL.
Espinosa, L. M. (2002). The connections between social-emotional development and early literacy. In Set for Success: Building a Strong Foundation for School Readiness Based on the Social-Emotional Development of Young Children (Vol. 1, pp. 30–44). Kansas City, MO: The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.
Gallagher, T. M. (1999). Interrelationships among children's language, behavior, and emotional problems. Topics in Language Disorders, 19, 1–15.
Snow, C. E., Tabors, P. O., and Dickinson, D. K. (2001). Language development in the preschool years. In D. K. Dickinson and P. O. Tabors (Eds.), Beginning Literacy with Language (pp. 1–25). Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes.
Teale, W. H., and Sulzby, E. (1986). Emergent literacy as a perspective for examining how young children become readers and writers. In W. H. Teale and E. Sulzby (Eds.), Emergent Literacy: Writing and Reading. Norwood, NH: Ablex Publishing.
Whitehurst, G. J., Arnold, D. S., Epstein, J. N., Angell, A. L., Smith, M., and Fischel, J. E. (1994). A picture book reading intervention in day care and home for children from low-income families. Developmental Psychology, 30, 679–689.
Whitehurst, G. J., Falco, F. L., Lonigan, C. J., Fischel, J. E., DeBaryshe, B. D., Valdez-Menchaca, M. C., and Caulfield, M. (1988). Accelerating language development through picture book reading. Developmental Psychology, 24, 552–559.
Whitehurst, G. J., Zevenbergen, A. A., Crone, D. A., Schultz, N. D., Velting, O. N., and Fischel, J. E. (1999). Outcomes of an emergent literacy intervention from head start through second grade. Journal of Educational Psychology, 91, 261–272.
