Poster #165 - Impact of a Theatre Arts Program on Preschoolers’ Theatre Arts Skills

• In Event: 1-005 - Poster Session 01
  In Poster Session: PS 01 Section - Prevention and Interventions

Integrative Statement

Given the overlap between theatre arts and early education skills (Susman-Stillman, Asp, Rader, & Beckstrom, 2014), theatre arts strategies have been integrated into classrooms in an effort to improve children’s make-believe play and school readiness skills (Goldstein, 2015; Greenfader et al., 2014). Previous research examining the effectiveness of theatre arts has mainly focused on oral language/narrative skills (Mages, 2008); however, theatre arts participation may also influence theatrical skills such as their ability to collaborate with others or take on the role of a character. These theatrical skills may also be important for school readiness. Researchers, using the Preschool Theatre Arts Rubric (PTAR; Susman-Stillman, Englund, Webb, & Grenell, 2018), a validated observational tool to measure preschoolers’ theatre arts skills (independence of role play, use of facial expressions/gestures, collaboration, and overall theatricality), have found significant changes in children’s skills after participating in a local theatre arts program called Early Bridges (EB). However, this study did not include a control group. The goal of the current study was to examine whether EB program children make significantly greater gains in theatre arts skills compared to a control group of preschoolers who did not receive EB.

Participants are low-income preschoolers (N = 220) from an urban public school district. The EB program uses interactive storytelling and student story-telling/acting to improve children’s oral narrative skills. Classrooms were randomly assigned to receive EB or not. EB children received 19 1-hour sessions over the course of 5 months. Children’s skills were observed at the beginning and end of the intervention using the PTAR while children participated in story-acting. A control measure of children’s expressive language skills was obtained at Time 1 using the Battelle Developmental Inventory-2.

Controlling for children’s expressive language, we found significant improvements in children’s theatre arts skills over time (See Table 1). Children improved in their facial expressions and gestures (F(1,143)=12.03,p=.001), focus and persistence (F(1,142)=6.72, p=.01), and overall theatrical quality (F(1,143)=.03,p=.03). We then examined whether the amount of change over time was significantly different for the intervention and control groups (See Table 2). There were significant differences in children’s independence of role play (F(1,143)=4.33,p=.039) and facial expressions and gestures (F(1,143)=5.11, p=.025), when controlling for children’s expressive language, with the intervention group making greater gains. Finally, exploratory analyses revealed different effects of EB for English Language Learners (ELLs) and non-English Language Learners (non-ELLs). ELLs in the intervention group made significantly greater gains over time in their gestures than ELLs in the control group (F(1,100)=4.47,p=.04). There were also marginally significant changes over time for focus (F(1,100)=3.68,p=.06) and overall theatricality for ELLs but not non-ELLs (F(1,100)=2.01,p=.16).

These findings suggest EB targets children’s theatre arts skills and that improvements in certain skills are due to participation in EB and not just development or attending school. Additionally, our exploratory analyses revealed certain types of learners may benefit more from EB. Future analyses will examine whether participation in the EB program also impacts preschoolers’ performance on school readiness and academic achievement assessments.

Authors

• Amanda Grenell, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
  Presenting Author

• Michelle Englund, University of Minnesota Twin Cities
  Non-Presenting Author

• Chloe Webb, University of Minnesota Twin Cities
  Non-Presenting Author

• Annelise Pesch, Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota
  Non-Presenting Author

• Amy Susman-Stillman, University of Minnesota
  Non-Presenting Author