Knowledge to Action: The CONNECT (Center to Mobilize Early Childhood Knowledge) Web-Based Module on Dialogic Reading

• In Event: Crossing the Divide: Integrating Doing What Works Resources Into Professional Learning—Results From Four Implementation Projects

Abstract

This presentation is an overview of CONNECT’s evidence-based practice approach to professional development as exemplified in their web-based instructional module on dialogic reading. It includes how the module is infused into professional development with findings on social validity and impact on learners’ implementation of dialogic reading practices in classrooms.

The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (2010) released a report asserting that teacher education in the U.S. needs to be turned upside down. To prepare effective teachers for the 21st century, teacher education must shift from emphasizing academic preparation loosely linked to school-based experiences to programs in which research-based practice is grounded and interwoven throughout academic experiences and professional coursework.

CONNECT, a project funded by the US Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs, has developed free, web-based modules on research-based practices to support the implementation of quality early care and education services for young children and their families. The approach taken in developing the modules and supporting faculty use is based in part on an adaptation of the common steps in 31 theories and frameworks focused on the process of knowledge translation (Graham, Tetroe, & KT Theories Research Group, 2007).

The DWW implementation award to develop and implement a module on dialogic reading using DWW resources has been complementary to the work of CONNECT. In collaboration with faculty and literacy experts, CONNECT selected and tailored the DWW resources with other resources to provide faculty with a focused set of reliable evidence related to the practice of dialogic reading. The instructional assets were organized into the CONNECT 5-Step Learning Cycle adapted from the five-step decision-making process used in evidence-based medicine (i.e., the clinical teaching model). Resources include video clips, audio clips, handouts and activities. Instructor support materials such as activity guides and alternate activities were also developed to help faculty implement the module.

The module was used in an early childhood pre-service practicum seminar with 20 students between February – April 2011. Information on its use and acceptability was collected. An implementation fidelity measure was developed and pilot tested to assess preliminary effectiveness of this approach in pre-k classrooms.

Preliminary findings indicated that learners found the module content and resources to be useful, relevant, and of high quality. There was also indication of growth in learners’ use of dialogic reading practices in their practica settings. These initial findings suggest that a clinical evidence-based instructional approach on dialogic reading used in teacher education may affect teachers’ practice in classrooms. The FREE web-based module, including a Spanish translation will be available for faculty and PD providers to use to enhance their professional development on dialogic reading.

Significance of the Study:

Preliminary findings from this project indicate that faculty use and value fidelity checklists, based on research, for providing preservice students with performance feedback on dialogic reading practices. The findings also indicate that an evidence-based practice approach to teaching dialogic reading in a semester-long practica seminar promotes growth in preservice students’ use of dialogic reading practices in their practica settings.

Author

• Pamela J. Winton, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill