David K. Dickinson on changing our conceptions of the intellectual capacities of young children
For decades early reading instruction has focused on children’s letter knowledge, their ability to attend to the sounds of language—phonemic awareness—and their decoding skill. Curricula teach these skills, teachers focus on them, schools mark progress by assessing them, and parents view them as hallmarks of reading success. Yet children from low-income homes continue to fall behind in reading comprehension as they move through the grades. Why? Research increasingly suggests that one major explanation is weakness in vocabulary and in children’s skill using language in the ways required for literacy success.Research also suggests that preschool can play an enduring role in fostering language skills that have long-term benefits for reading. In a longitudinal study that I conducted with Catherine Snow, Patton Tabors, and others at Harvard University, we examined children’s language experiences in preschool classrooms. Later we tested children in kindergarten and fourth grade. Using analyses that controlled for the quality of support parents provided for language and literacy and for other home variables, we found that higher quality language supports in preschool were associated with better decoding and reading comprehension skills at the end of fourth grade.
Insights we gained regarding the kinds of experiences that support language growth, experiences like those described in "Small Kids, Big Words: Research-based strategies for building vocabulary from preK to grade 3" (HEL, May/June 2008), were used when Judith Schickedanz and I created Opening the World of Learning (OWL). In this curriculum we take seriously the need to build code-related knowledge as well as language and conceptual knowledge. A fundamental principle guiding our development of OWL was the belief that all children should have access to the kind of high quality children’s books and intellectually enriching experiences that one can find in high quality preschools that served advantaged children. To this end we created four-week units that place high quality books at the core and systematically teach selected words as those books are read. Follow-up activities in small and large groups and in self-directed play (during “centers time”) provide occasions to deepen concepts and vocabulary.
But adopting the right curriculum is only the beginning of the process. Careful observations of the quality of conversations between preschool teachers and children have repeatedly found them lacking in intellectual depth. Judith Schickedanz and I have sought to change this dynamic as we have supported teachers in using OWL. We have met with success that points to the value of the supports the curriculum provides: Programs that have implemented OWL well have seen gains that are large enough to have measurable and lasting effects on later academic achievement. But these successes do not come easily. Implementing OWL well means reading and rereading books in ways that highlight and teach vocabulary, having small groups in which children get individualized instruction, and conducting informal conversations that build knowledge and language. Strong coaching, a clear understanding of the value of language, and sustained effort all are required.
If we are to change long-standing disparities in reading and associated language skills, we must change deeply entrenched conceptions of the intellectual capacities of young children. We also must find ways to help teachers become aware of and change how they converse with children in classrooms.
David Dickinson is a professor and interim chair of Vanderbilt University’s Department of Teaching and Learning. He is co-author of the Opening the World of Learning (OWL) curriculum.
