Poster #74 - Demonstrating the Efficacy and Scalability of Summer Success, a Comprehensive Kindergarten Readiness Program

• In Event: 2-163 - Poster Session 08
  In Poster Session: PS 08 Section - Education, Schooling

Integrative Statement

It is well-recognized that children from socioeconomically-disadvantaged families are more likely to enter formal schooling with limitations in their readiness to learn (e.g., Magnuson et al., 2004). Furthermore, this “achievement gap” may persist across time setting these children on a trajectory of poor academic and social outcomes (Duncan et al., 2007). Given the importance of kindergarten readiness to children’s achievement trajectories, there have been considerable efforts to identify avenues to improve children’s readiness for schooling (e.g., Bierman, et al., 2008; Pears et al., 2014). In particular, there is a great need for developing and testing kindergarten readiness programs that are comprehensive in nature and target a broad range of readiness skills including foundational academic skills, social-emotional competencies, physical health, and the creative arts.
The interdisciplinary Summer Success program was developed through collaborative efforts between researchers at The Ohio State University with expertise ranging from Developmental Psychology to Education to Kinesiology, educators and administrative personnel in Columbus City Schools, and various community partners. The program also incorporated feedback from parents of children participating in pilot sessions. Results from the pilot program indicated significant improvement in participating children’s skills across multiple readiness domains.
In an effort to bring the program to scale, the current study investigated the efficacy of the Summer Success program in an urban neighborhood with high levels of poverty and residential mobility in Memphis, Tennessee. Participants were recruited through a waitlist maintained by Shelby County Schools of children not enrolled in Head Start programs as well as canvassing and distributing program flyers at local churches and community centers. All children were entering kindergarten in the forthcoming fall. A total of 21 children (M= 60 months, SD= 4.1 months; 12 males, 9 females) participated in one of two, consecutive 4-week sessions. The program was administered by five staff members, including a certified lead teacher and four undergraduate students, and explicitly addressed instructional objectives focusing on skills within the following domains: narrative, literacy, math, and socio-emotional skills. The Summer Success program manual was utilized to implement daily lessons which included shared book-reading and small-group activities centered on daily lesson targets. Educational field trips to a children’s museum and library were also incorporated into the program sessions.
At pre- and post-test conducted in the first and last weeks, respectively, all children were assessed on narrative (a subtest of the Test of Narrative Language), literacy (the standardized Get Ready to Read assessment), behavior regulation (the Head-to-Toes task), and a researcher-developed math assessment. A paired t-test comparing means from pre- to post-test for all children showed significant gains on narrative, t (20) = 2.95, p < .01, literacy, t (20) = 3.54, p < .01, behavior regulation, t (20) = 4.67, p < .001, and various math skills including counting, categorization, and patterning (see Figure 1). These preliminary findings demonstrate a successful replication of Summer Success in a low-income, urban neighborhood in Memphis with medium to large effect sizes in improving children’s academic and behavior regulation skills across only a 4-week program.

Authors

• Kiren Khan, Rhodes College
  Presenting Author

• Alyson Hoyt, Rhodes College
  Non-Presenting Author

• Saneela Tameez, Rhodes College
  Non-Presenting Author

• Ariel Chavers, Rhodes College
  Non-Presenting Author

• Brealan Muniz, Rhodes College
  Non-Presenting Author

• Samir Rassoul, Rhodes College
  Non-Presenting Author