Tools of the Mind: Promoting ELLs' Language, Self-Regulation & School-Readiness

描述(由申请人提供)：拉美裔儿童教育结果不佳的风险增加，小学和中学年级的阅读和数学成绩低于非西班牙裔白人，高中辍学率较高。在一定程度上，拉美裔儿童面临的风险增加与贫困人口比例过高有关。然而，风险的增加也与早期教育环境中对英语学习者(ELL)儿童的语言支持减少有关，导致在识字、数学和社会情感能力方面的基础技能和能力较差。为了解决ELL拉丁裔儿童入学准备不足的问题，我们建议测试一种被称为思维工具的创新学前课程的有效性，该课程旨在促进语言和自我调节发展，并促进儿童早期的学术和社会情绪能力。为了评估该计划，我们将在德克萨斯州埃尔帕索和佛罗里达州皮内拉斯县的80个学前班教室中对400名儿童进行随机对照试验。治疗教室将实施心智工具，而控制教室将在每个地点实施经批准的“一切照常”课程。我们假设，治疗效果将在学前班结束时观察到，并将持续到幼儿园和一年级结束时。我们进一步假设，思维项目的工具对儿童语言发展(西班牙语和英语)和儿童自我调节发展的影响将部分解释到一年级结束时项目对学校成绩的持续影响。然而，我们认识到，样本中儿童接受的西班牙语教学量的变化也将影响早期语言发展和学校结果。因此，我们包括了以西班牙语(TX)和英语(FL)为主的教学语言的网站，以检验这样一种假设，即在学前班期间主要接受西班牙语教学的学生将在西班牙语和英语语言发展方面经历更大的增长，这将导致幼儿园和一年级的识字和数学成绩更高。 公共卫生相关性：该项目将提供有关促进英语学习者儿童入学准备的最佳方式的信息。特别是，它将测试关于关键教学策略如何促进语言和自我调节方面的发展的假设，这些方面对学校的早期阅读、数学和社会情绪能力非常重要。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Latino children are at increased risk for poor educational outcomes, scoring below non-Hispanic Whites in reading and math in elementary and secondary grades and dropping out of high school at higher rates. In part, increased risk to Latino children is associated with overrepresentation in poverty. Increased risk is also associated, however, with reduced language support in early educational environments for children who are English Language Learners (ELLs), leading to poor foundational skills and abilities in literacy, math, and social-emotional competence. To address the problem of poor school readiness among ELL Latino children, we propose to test the efficacy of an innovative preschool curriculum known as Tools of the Mind that is designed to enhance language and self-regulation development and promote children's early academic and social-emotional competencies. To evaluate the program, we will conduct a randomized controlled trial involving 400 children in 80 pre-k classrooms in El Paso, TX and Pinellas County, FL. Treatment classrooms will implement Tools of the Mind and control classrooms will implement "business as usual" approved curricula at each site. We hypothesize that treatment effects will be observed at the end of pre-k in classrooms implementing Tools of the Mind and will be sustained at the end of kindergarten and first grade. We further hypothesize that effects of the Tools of the Mind program on child language development (in both Spanish and English) and on child self-regulation development will partially account for sustained program effects on school achievement through the end of first grade. We recognize, however, that variation in the amount of instruction in Spanish that children in the sample receive will also influence early language development and school outcomes. Accordingly, we include sites in which the language of instruction will be predominantly Spanish (TX) and predominantly English (FL) to test the hypothesis that ELLs who receive predominantly Spanish instruction during pre-k will experience greater growth in their Spanish and English language development and that this will result in higher literacy and math outcomes in kindergarten and 1st grade. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: This project will provide information about the best ways to promote the school readiness of children who are English Languages Learners. In particular, it will test hypotheses about the ways in which key teaching strategies promote the development of aspects of language and self-regulation that are important for early reading, math and social-emotional competence in school.