Abecedarian ABC Preschool Leads

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• Abecedarian (ABC) Preschool Leads
• to Better Reading and Math Skills
• Craig T. Ramey, Ph.D
• Georgetown Distinguished Professor of Health
  Studies
• Director, Georgetown University Center on Health
  and Education
• Bridging and Building Partnerships with
  Families, Schools, and Communities
• Albuquerque, NM
• November 8-10, 2004

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• A Commitment to Improving
• K-12 Educational Achievement
• Begins in the First 5 Years of Life

Ramey Ramey, 2000
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Seven Essential Transactions ForCaregivers with
Young Children

• Encourage exploration
• Mentor in basic skills
• Celebrate developmental advances
• Rehearse and extend new skills
• Protect from inappropriate disapproval,
• teasing, and punishment
• Communicate richly and responsively
• Guide and limit behavior

Ramey Ramey, 1999 Right from Birth
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Effects of Mothers Speech on Infant Vocabulary
Huttenlocher et al, Developmental Psychology,
(1991)
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Evidence-based Skillsfor Learning to Read

• Oral Language Comprehension
• Phonological Awareness
• Letter Name Knowledge
• Concepts about Print

Neuman and Dickinson, Handbook of Early Literacy
Research, 2001
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• The Impact of Early Environments
• on Childrens Developmental Competence

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• It is the totality of a childs
• experience that lays the
• foundation for a lifetime of
• greater or lesser competency.

Ramey Ramey, 2000
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Key Research Question for Abecedarian (ABC)
Project

• Can the cumulative developmental toll
  experienced by high-risk children
• be prevented or reduced significantly
• by providing systematic, high-quality, early
  childhood education from
• birth through kindergarten entry?

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• The Abecedarian (ABC) Project is a randomized
  controlled trial (RCT) that tests the efficacy of
  early childhood education for high-risk children
  and their families.

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Abecedarian Preschool Program

• Control Group _
• Adequate nutrition
• Supportive social services
• Low-cost or free primary
• health care

• Treatment Group _
• Adequate nutrition
• Supportive social services
• Free primary health care
• Preschool treatment
• Intensive (full day, 5 days/week,
• 50 weeks/year, 5 years)
• Learningames Curriculum
• Cognitive / Fine Motor
• Social / Self
• Motor
• Language
• Individualized pace

Campbell Ramey, 1995 American Educational
Research Journal
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Abecedarian Caregiver/Child Guiding Principles
for Social and Linguistic Competence

• Develop a relationship that is close, so that you
  know the childs interests and abilities
• Display warmth, acceptance, and positive regard
  for the child
• Allow the child as much autonomy and
  self-determination as is consistent with his/her
  needs and abilities, so long as others rights
  are also respected

McGinness and Ramey, Canadian Journal of Early
Childhood Education, 1981
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Abecedarian Communication Functions

• Self-maintaining
• Directing
• Reporting
• Logical reasoning
• Predicting
• Empathizing
• Recognizing interpersonal needs of others

McGinness and Ramey, Canadian Journal of Early
Childhood Education, 1981
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Abecedarian Language Strategies for Teachers

• Modeling informative talk
• Listening actively
• Responding to childs speech
• Prompting expressive language
• Reinforcing with explicit praise

McGinness and Ramey, Canadian Journal of Early
Childhood Education, 1981
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Preschool Results(Birth to 5)
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Z Scores and Mean Standardized Scores for
High-Risk Preschool Treatment and
ControlChildren in the Abecedarian Project at
Nine Preschool Measurement Occasions
Ramey et al, 2000 Applied Developmental Science
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Percent of Abecedarian Sample in Normal IQ Range
(gt84) by Age (longitudinal analysis)
Martin, Ramey, Ramey, 1990 American Journal of
Public Health
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Verbal Scale Scores (McCarthy)for Abecedarian
(ABC) Project
Ramey Campbell, 1979 American Journal of Mental
Deficiency
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Active Mother-Child Involvement (such as talking,
touching, playing with toys/game, reading)
Farran Ramey, 1980 Child Development
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Abecedarian Project Post-High School Education
for Teen Mothers
Ramey et al, 2000 Applied Developmental Science
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Brief Summary of Abecedarian ResultsDuring
Preschool Period

• Positive Effects on
• IQ Performance
• Learning cognitive performance
• Language development
• Resilience to non-optimal biological and
  behavioral conditions
• Social responsiveness
• Academic locus of control
• Maternal education
• Maternal employment

• No Effects on
• Maternal attachment
• Parenting child rearing attitude
• Home environments
• Decreased Effects
• Incidence of intellectual subnormality
• Ramey Ramey, 1999

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Abecedarian (ABC) Preschool Findings Replicated
in theFirst 3 Years of Life in Randomized
Controlled Trials (RCTs)

• Arkansas
• Connecticut
• Florida
• Massachusetts
• New York

North Carolina Pennsylvania Texas Washington
Ramey Ramey, 2000 in Securing the Future
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Infant Health and Development ProgramMaternal
Education X Treatment Group
Ramey Ramey, 1998 Preventive Medicine
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Outcomes Affected Positively (plt.01) by the
Infant Health Development Program
Ramey 1999, adapted from Gross, Spiker, Haynes,
1997, Helping Low Birth Weight, Premature Babies
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School Results
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Reading Achievement Over Time
Campbell Ramey, 2001 Developmental Psychology
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Math Achievement Over Time
Campbell Ramey, 2001 Developmental Psychology
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Abecedarian Project
Ramey Ramey, 1999 MR/DD Research Review
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Early Adult Results
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Percent in Skilled Job or Higher Education
Campbell, Ramey, et al, 2002 Applied
Developmental Science
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Age at Birth of First Child
Campbell, Ramey, et al, 2002 Applied
Developmental Science
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Key Findings from Abecedarian Project(Abecedaria
n one who learnsthe basics such as the
alphabet)

• Kindergarten to 21 Years Old

• Intelligence (IQ)
• Reading and math skills
• Academic locus-of-control
• Social Competence
• Years in school,
• including college
• Full-time employment

• Grade Repetition
• Special Education
• placement
• Teen Pregnancies
• Smoking and drug
• use

Plus benefits to mothers of these children
(education, employment)
Ramey et al, 2000
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Why Some Well-Intended Preschool ProgramsHave
Failed to Close the Achievement Gap

• Poorly prepared teachers
• Educational programs not intensive enough
• Remedial rather than preventive focus
• No direct teaching of important cognitive and
• linguistic concepts, vocabulary
• Redundant or poorly coordinated family and
• early childhood services

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Recommendations

• Provide strong leadership for a comprehensive
• early childhood educational initiative that is
  linked
• explicitly to K-12 learning and achievement
• targeted for high risk children
• grounded in scientific evidence
• builds upon existing resources

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Sources of Available EarlyChildhood Education
Funding include

• Elementary and Secondary Education Act
• Title I Disadvantaged Children
• Title IV 21st Century School After School
• Title V Innovative Block Grant
• Early Head Start
• Head Start
• Child Care Development Fund (CCDF)
• Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
• Early Reading First
• Social Services Block Grant
• Even Start
• Early Intervention (0-2 yrs 3-5 yrs)

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Recommendations

• Design and implement a strong accountability
• system that continuously monitors program quality
  
• and documents child progress and outcomes
• To inform quality improvements
• To strengthen training and technical assistance
• To reward performance

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The future for our nations children

• Positive educational outcomes can be achieved for
  all children during pre-K years and beyond
• Benefits include much more than just reading
• Reading success is a key, because of strong
  linkages to all learning and social adjustment
• Strategic investments yield substantial social
  and fiscal benefits to society (at least 1-to-4
  costbenefit ratio)

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