Research on Exceptional Coaching for Early Language and Literacy (ExCELL) in Pre-School

One versus two years of ExCELL in pre-k
While the effects of preschool programs have often been studied, it is less common to find studies examining the effects of program duration on student learning. Annemarie Hindman and Barbara Wasik from Temple University examined the effects of providing one year versus two years of the teacher professional development program Exceptional Coaching for Early Language and Literacy (ExCELL) on the language development and learning outcomes of three- and four-year-old preschoolers in the Head Start program.

ExCELL provides teachers with individualized coaching by providing a background in the concepts underlying preschoolers' language and vocabulary development, evolving into ways to develop these skills in the classroom. Teachers are provided with curriculum materials and an academic year of month-long coaching, each month cycling through a group workshop, a coach modeling targeted techniques in the classroom, the teacher using these techniques independently, and finally the coach observing the teacher and providing feedback.

In the present study, 159 four-year-old students in Head Start experienced either one year (n=88), starting at age four, or two years (n=71), starting at age three, with teachers using ExCELL. Students were in 10 Head Start centers in the urban northeast in adjacent neighborhoods with demographically similar populations. Almost all students and teachers were African-American and all were native English speakers.

At four years old, children were tested in the spring and fall using standardized tests measuring vocabulary, sound awareness, and alphabet knowledge. Results showed that although the four year olds who had already received one year of the program entered their second year with stronger vocabulary, phonemic awareness, and alphabet knowledge than their peers who had not yet experienced the program, by the year's end, these peers had caught up to them. Authors state that these findings suggest that ExCELL is most effectively taught in the second year of preschool.

Johns Hopkins University 

Research in Brief

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