Can a Brief Dialogic Reading Intervention Improve Listening Comprehension of At-Risk Kindergarteners?

• In Event: Hilton Roundtable Session 4
  In Roundtable Session: Improving Academic Success in Kindergarten

Abstract

We report preliminary data from our partnership with a Title I school on the efficacy of a dialogic reading (DR) intervention with seven kindergarteners. DR is a shared book reading technique that encourages children to think about the story, express their thoughts, and make connections to personal experiences. In our previous research with primary grade students, we adapted the DR technique of Whitehurst and colleagues and incorporated an emphasis on vocabulary, creating Dialogic Reading with Integrated Vocabulary Enrichment (DRIVE). Our research indicated that about 2 total hours of DRIVE over several weeks improved first graders’ reading comprehension. In this study, kindergarteners with below-average listening comprehension on a norm-referenced test improved to average performance. Results warrant further investigation with larger samples.

Authors

• Cheryl C. Durwin, Southern Connecticut State University

• Dina L. Moore, Southern Connecticut State University

• Deborah A Carroll, Southern Connecticut State University