A new approach for promoting language and literacy skills in preschool children helped teachers improve instruction for all their pupils and identify those who needed additional academic support, according to a study by the FPG Child Development Institute, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The approach, called Recognition & Response, is based on “response to intervention,” or RTI, a multitiered method of instruction that includes regular monitoring of student progress and support services for those who struggle to learn to read.
The study looked at 353 children in 24 child-care, Head Start, and public preschool programs in Maryland and Florida. It found that children targeted for intervention progressed more rapidly than peers who didn’t receive the additional instruction, and that they improved significantly in basic language and literacy skills.
