Continuing the trend from previous years, results of Year V evaluation indicate ELLM is effective in increasing language competence and alphabet letter recognition for the children of Collier County.  Overall, children participating in ELLM classrooms improve receptive and expressive vocabulary - essential prerequisites for successful literacy performance.  Following is an analysis and interpretation of assessment results.

Alphabet Letter Recognition
Figure 1 represents the percentage of ELLM children recognizing letters of the alphabet (upper and lowercase) by quantified categories. Children are considered proficient in letter recognition when they correctly recognize at least 40 of the 52 upper- and lower case letters presented. In the fall of 2008, 10.6% of ELLM children were considered proficient in letter recognition. When these same children were retested in the spring of 2009, 75.1% were considered proficient.  This significant 64.5% increase in letter recognition proficiency is attributed to interventions implemented by the ELLM program and is consistent with results from previous years.

Figure 1

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Tables 1 and 2 presents an overview of ALRI scores.  It is worth noting that Years IV and V show a significant increase in student gains. The contributing variable is the introduction of WOW (Wings on Words for English Language Learners) which has supported students who are learning English as they acquire early literacy skills. 

Figure 2 represents the percentage of ELLM children considered proficient at the pre- and post-test of the ALRI across the years.

Language Competence

Figure 3 displays group gains in language competence from the beginning to the end of the school year as measured by the PPVT-4 and the EVT-2.  The mean percentile ranking for receptive vocabulary increased from 18 to 32; the mean percentile ranking for expressive vocabulary increased from 21 to 32.  These gains are attributed to the children’s participation in ELLM classrooms.

Another way to understand group gains in receptive and expressive vocabulary for ELLM children is by comparing the change in percent of scores at low, average, and high performing from pre- to post-test. These scores are displayed in Figure 4, with pretests (fall) represented by faded bars and posttests (spring) represented by darker bars. Gains are indicated by a decrease in the percent of scores at low performing (blue), resulting in an increase in the percent of scores at average (red) and high (green) performing. The percent of ELLM children scoring at average and high performance at the end of the school year increased in both receptive vocabulary (PPVT-4) and expressive vocabulary (EVT-2).  Post-test results revealed 71% of ELLM children performed at the average/high levels in both receptive and expressive vocabulary.

Receptive Vocabulary

Figure 5 represents the percent of ELLM children performing in each proficiency category at the pretest (fall) and posttest (spring) on receptive vocabulary.  At the beginning of the school year, 62% of ELLM children exhibited low performance and 38% exhibited average/high performance in receptive vocabulary. When these same children were retested in spring, 29% exhibited low performance and 71% exhibited average/high performance in receptive vocabulary.

Figure 6 represents the distribution of PPVT-4 scores across three performance categories of low, average, and high. In the fall, receptive vocabulary scores are skewed to low performing while the spring scores show a distribution more closely resembling that of a normal distribution. This figure illustrates that the spring receptive vocabulary performance of ELLM children as a group is more comparable to that of the general population.

Expressive Vocabulary

Figure 7 represents the percent of ELLM children performing in each proficiency category at the pretest (fall) and posttest (spring) on expressive vocabulary.  At the beginning of the school year, 54% of ELLM children exhibited low performance and 46% exhibited average/high performance in expressive vocabulary. When these same children were retested in spring, 29% exhibited low performance and 71% exhibited average/high performance in expressive vocabulary.

Figure 8 represents the distribution of EVT-2 scores across three performance categories of low, average, and high. As with the receptive vocabulary scores, expressive vocabulary scores are skewed to the low performance category in the fall, while the spring scores show a distribution more closely resembling that of a normal distribution. This figure illustrates that the spring expressive vocabulary performance of ELLM children as a group is comparable to that of the general population.

Based on assessment results, it is evident children participating in ELLM classrooms continue to realize gains in language competency and alphabet letter recognition, resulting in improved early literacy skills for these children.  As a group, children participating in ELLM classrooms typically enter the school year as a low-performing group and exit the school year with group performance comparable to that of their average to high performing peers.

In summary:

• In the fall, 62% of ELLM children were “low” performers on the PPVT-4 assessment. Without intervention (e.g., ELLM, WOW, SEEDS), no change in their performance as compared to their peers nationally would be expected in the post-test. However, the post-test revealed only 29% were “low performing” and 71% were “average” to “extremely high.”
• In the area of expressive vocabulary, which relates to comprehension, the EVT-2 pre-test results showed 54% of the ELLM students ranking “extremely and moderately low.” In the spring, only 29% remained in the lowest performing group.  45% scored in the “low and high average” range in the fall; 69% scored in this category on the post-test. A few of the ELLM students gained the “high” rank by the spring. It should be noted that the EVT-2 assessment requires students to answer in English and the growth seen reflects the progress predominantly Spanish speaking children made in learning English words and using them appropriately (including word forms and tense) 
• PPVT-4 and EVT-2 align with the new the FAIR assessment that will be used in Kindergarten.

YEAR V: IMPLEMENTATION