Research Questions
- How will the Kindergarten Peer Assisted
Learning Strategies program (KPALS) added to Tier 1 ELA core classroom instruction affect the growth rate of letter and sound acquisition in preschool students compared to preschool students who receive only Tier 1 ELA core classroom instruction?
- Will students with little to no exposure to
letter names and sounds (<5 correct at pre-test) increase at a greater rate than students who have letter name and sound knowledge (>5 correct at pre-test) when given KPALS instruction in addition to Tier 1 ELA core instruction?
- Will students who speak English as a second language have a greater, average or lesser growth rate than students who speak English as a primary language when given KPALS instruction in addition to Tier 1 ELA core instruction?
Methodology
My action research study took place in a suburban elementary school in the North Kansas City School District. Fifty-four percent of the school population receives free or reduced lunch. The school is relatively diverse, as 32% of the student body is part of a minority group. This research was done in the summer school K2K setting. K2K is a two-week program for students who will be attending kindergarten in the fall. I conducted a comparative, quantitative-based study on two different K2K groups. Each group had around 20 students. Group 1 received the core ELA instruction for a K2K class throughout all eight days and 20 minutes of KPALS per day. Group 2 received only core ELA instruction all eight days.
Prior to instruction on the first day with each group, I gave each student an individual assessment on capital letter names (26), lowercase letter names (26) and letter sounds (26). On the last day of K2K for each group, the same assessments were given to each student. I found the average percentage of capital letter names, lowercase letter names, and letter sound production pre- and post- test for each group. I also found the difference of the pre- and post-assessment averages for each group and divided those two numbers giving each group a percentage of growth in each category tested using the following equation:
post-assessment – pre-assessment = x THEN x / pre-assessment = % growth
I compared the data in three ways to determine the effectiveness of KPALS and answer the research questions. First, I found the mean percentage growth of Group 1 and Group 2 and determined if Group 1 had less growth rate, about the same growth rate, or a higher growth rate than Group 2. If Group 1 showed a higher growth rate than Group 2, it could be ascertained that the KPALS treatment made a difference in their increased letter naming and sound knowledge.
Second, I separated students in Group 1, who received KPALS instruction, into two groups: students who had literacy exposure (>5 correct in any category at pre-test) from students who did not have literacy exposure (<5 correct in any category at pre-test). I found the mean growth rate of students with literacy exposure and the mean growth rate of students without literacy exposure. I compared the two means to determine if KPALS makes a greater impact on students without literacy exposure than it does those who have had literacy exposure. If students without literacy exposure showed a higher growth rate than students with literacy exposure, it could be assumed that the KPALS treatment made a difference in their increased letter naming and sound knowledge.
Lastly, I separated students in Group 1, who received KPALS instruction, into two groups again. This time the groups were: students who speak English as a second language from students who speak English as their first language. I found the mean growth rate of students who speak English as a second language and the mean growth rate of students who speak English as a first language, comparing the two means to determine if KPALS made a greater impact on students who speak English as a second language than it did those who speak English as their first language. If students who speak English as a second language show a higher growth rate than students who speak English as their first
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