Research
The Partners for Literacy Curriculum is a research-based curriculum developed by Barbara H. Wasik and Joseph Sparling that builds on three randomized experimental early intervention studies as well as on empirically-based reading research, research on children’s social and emotional development, teacher-child relationships, and social problem solving. The three experimental studies include the following:
- The Abecedarian Project (Ramey & Campbell, 1984)
- Project CARE (Wasik, Ramey, Bryant, & Sparling, 1990)
- The Infant Health and Development Program (IHDP Consortium, 1990).
The first two studies were conducted at the FPG Child Development Institute with children from low-income families beginning during each child’s first six weeks of life. The third study was a national eight-site study which began in infancy with children who were low birthweight. In these three studies, children in the center-based early childhood intervention program demonstrated significant gains in cognitive skills compared with children in control groups.
The Partners for Literacy Curriculum has advanced considerably beyond these earlier studies to become a comprehensive curriculum with a much stronger focus on literacy and language skills and social development. A selection of research that supports strategies and materials used in the Partners for Literacy Curriculum is listed below.
- Oral Language (Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998; Hart & Risley, 1999)
- Interactive Book Reading (Lonigan & Whitehurst, 1998; Whitehurst & Lonigan, 1998)
- Alphabet Knowledge (Juel, 1991)
- Phonological Awareness (Adams, Foorman, Lundberg, & Beeler, 1998)
- Extended Teaching/Caregiving (Klibanoff et al., 2006)
- Positive Teacher-Child Relationships (Pianta, 2004)
- Literacy-Rich Classrooms (Roskos & Neuman, 1993; Neuman & Dickinson, 2001)
- English Language Learners (Tabors, 1997)
- Coaching Parents (Hanft, Rush, & Shelden, 2004)
- Home Visiting (Wasik & Bryant, 2001)
References
- Adams, M. J., Foorman, B. R., Lundberg, I., & Beeler, T. (1998). Phonemic awareness in young children: A classroom curriculum. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes.
- Hanft, B. E., Rush, D. D., & Shelden, M. L. (2004). Coaching families and colleagues in early childhood. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes.
- Hart, B., & Risley, T.R. (1999). The social world of children: Learning to talk. Baltimore: Brookes.
- The Infant Health and Development Program Consortium. (1990). Enhancing the outcomes of low birth weight, premature infants: A multi-site randomized trial. Journal of the American Medical Association, 263, 3035-3042.
- Juel, C. (1991). Beginning reading. In R. Barr, M. L. Kamil, P. B. Nosenthal, & P. D Pearson (Eds.), Handbook of reading research (pp. 759-788). New York: Longman.
- Klibanoff, R. S., Levine, S. C., Huttenlocher, J., Vasilyeva, M., & Hedges, L. V. (2006). Preschool children’s mathematical knowledge: The effect of teacher “math talk.” Developmental Psychology, 42(1), 59-69.
- Lonigan, C. J., & Whitehurst, G. J. (1998). Examination of the relative efficacy of parent and teacher involvement in a shared-reading intervention for preschool children from low-income backgrounds. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 17, 265-292.
- Neuman, S. B. & Dickinson, D. K. (Eds.). (2001). Handbook of early literacy research. New York: Guilford Press.
- Pianta, R. C. (2004). Enhancing relationships between children and teachers. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
- Ramey, C. T., & Campbell, F. A. (1984). Preventive education for high-risk children: Cognitive consequences of the Carolina Abecedarian Project. American Journal of Mental Deficiency, 89, 515-523.
- Roskos, K., & Neuman, S. B. (1993). Environment and its influences for early literacy teaching and learning. In S. B. Neuman & D. K. Dickinson (Eds.), Handbook of early literacy research (pp. 281-292). New York: Guilford.
- Snow, C. E., Burns, S., & Griffin, P. (Eds.). (1998). Preventing reading difficulties in young children. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
- Tabors, P. (1997). One child, two languages: A guide for preschool educators of children learning English as a second language. Baltimore: Brookes.
- Wasik, B. H. (Ed.). (2004). Handbook of family literacy. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
- Wasik, B. H., & Bryant, D. M. (2001). Home visiting: Procedures for helping families (2nd ed.). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
- Wasik, B. H., Ramey, C. T., Bryant, D. M., & Sparling, J. J. (1990). A longitudinal study of two early intervention strategies: Project CARE. Child Development, 61(6), 1682-1696.
- Whitehurst, G. J., & Lonigan, C. J. (1998). Child development and emergent literacy. Child Development, 69, 848-872.
