Increasing book access for Latino kindergartners.

Abstract

The present study examined how classroom libraries affected 138 low-SES Latino kindergartners' early reading conceptualizations at an elementary school in Los Angeles. Results indicated that while students in both the control and experimental groups significantly improved from pretest to posttest, students who had larger classroom library collections scored significantly better than their peers. Evaluations conducted in Spanish and English provide insight into how second-language learners can improve their early conceptualizations of reading with increased access to reading materials, especially in their primary language.

Introduction

Wedged in a center of hopelessness in downtown Los Angeles, one elementary school serves the students of primarily Latino immigrants who live and work in the area. Inside the school's six kindergarten classrooms that serve nearly 235 students, children enjoy a haven of learning that gives no hint of the social unrest outside the facility's walls. At this school kindergarten is a place where children can paint a picture, watch a videotape or listen to a record with their friends--activities that are not available to most of them away from the school.

Possibly the single-greatest service the school's kindergartens offer their students, however, are print-rich environments with a multitude of books, shelving, stuffed animals and cushions, courtesy of BookEnds, a local non-profit agency (www.bookends.org). For students whose print exposure at home may be confined to the labels on food packages, the access to reading materials in English and Spanish that the kindergarten classrooms provide children is crucial in their emergent literacy development. Nowhere do these students find more books, newspapers or magazines than their classroom libraries supply. As most of these students have limited experience with books in their own homes (as many students' homes are no more than tiny motel rooms), the classroom libraries at the school's kindergarten classrooms take on an added importance. Therefore, the present study sought to explore and describe how young Latino children's early exposure to books through classroom libraries in their kindergarten classrooms impacted their early conceptualizations of reading. The primary purpose of the study was to examine what early conceptualizations these children have of reading and whether children's early reading conceptualizations were or were not significantly affected as a result of the introduction of well-stocked classroom libraries at their school.

Literature Review

Latino students are the most rapidly growing student population group in the United States (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000; Department of Commerce, 1991), and at-risk Latino children, in particular, have been identified as being in need of early educational interventions at preschools and daycare centers (Department of Education, 1992). Faced with a variety of economic and language barriers, many young Latino children have become overwhelmed. Consequently, these students often find themselves behind their peers early in elementary school, forcing them to constantly play "catch up" (Stanovich, 1986). A disproportionate number of these students suffer later academic failure (De la Rosa & Maw, 1990; National Center for Educational Statistics, 1996), forcing researchers to examine interventions and assessments that may help prevent future educational difficulties. The literacy resources schools provide children are obviously important in considering children's emergent literacy development, as the relationship between access to books and student reading achievement and attitude (or, interest in books) has been analyzed in numerous studies (Elley, 1984; Gaver, 1963: Krashen, 1993). For example, in several studies of students in developing countries (see reviews in Elley, 1998; Greaney, 1996), it was shown that increased access to books at school increases low-SES students' literacy capabilities. Here in the United States the increased availability of books to students has translated into better knowledge of vocabulary, comprehension, spelling and general knowledge (Anderson, Wilson & Fielding, 1988; Stanovich & Cunningham, 1992). "Book floods," programs that inundate educational facilities with increased book caches, have been shown to promote increased reading, which leads to greater improvements in literacy development (Elley, 1992; Morrow & Weinstein, 1986; Neuman, 1999). Improved literacy ability, in turn, has been shown to lead to improved attitude toward reading and enhanced language acquisition.

A major dilemma for researchers of young students lay in how best to assess these students' abilities. One of the most widely used measures of young children's concepts and understandings of the functions of literacy has been the Concepts About Print, CAP, test, which Clay (1993) describes thoroughly in An Observation Survey of Early Reading Achievement. Since the CAP began to be used by educators in New Zealand in the early 1970s, it has been administered widely throughout the United States. Yaden and Brassell (2002) observed that pre-school Latino students significantly improved their early reading conceptualizations as a result of a comprehensive emergent literacy program, while Wells (1986) found that the CAP could be used as a major predictor of one's future academic success. The CAP has been one of the most widely used standardized measures of students' early reading conceptualizations that goes beyond students' reading readiness skills and looks more closely at students' general understanding of print and its functions. Since it has been standardized in Spanish (Escamilla, Andrade, Basurto, Ruiz & Clay, 1996) as well as English, it has been seen as particularly useful in examining linguistically diverse students' early reading conceptualizations (Teale, 1990).

In conclusion, while studies have examined the effectiveness of various early reading interventions, the research on young Latino students is growing, but limited. Many have questioned the developmental appropriateness of formalized reading routines and assessments for young children, but a few researchers (Clay, 1979, 1993; Ferreiro & Teberosky, 1982; Paris & Paris, 2003) have shown the value of measuring students' early reading conceptualizations in unconventional ways. For this reason, both the English and Spanish versions of Clay's CAP assessment (Clay, 1993; Escamilla, Andrade, Basurto, Ruiz & Clay, 1996) were selected as measurement tools for the present study.

Methodology

The present study was part of a larger study exploring Latino students' emergent literacy development and is descriptive and experimental in nature. Based on the research questions, the present study employed a nonrandomized control-group pretest-posttest design (Issac & Michael, 1995). A total of 138 kindergartners, enrolled in one of the elementary school's kindergarten classrooms during the 2002/2003 or 2003/2004 school years, acted as the study's subjects. Data obtained from the Los Angeles Unified School District showed that 98 percent of students attending the school qualified for free lunches, as their families had incomes below federal poverty guidelines. In addition, Spanish was identified as the primary language of communication in nearly all of the households (91 percent). The independent variable of the present study chosen was the absence/presence of the classroom libraries in the kindergarten classrooms. Six of the school's 13 kindergarten classrooms were selected for the study. Classroom libraries, while present in these classrooms during the 2002/2003 school year, consisted of 25-85 heavily used books in English. Over 1000 new and slightly used books in English and Spanish were added to each classroom's library during the 2003/2004 school year. It should be noted that one teacher decided to leave the school, so only five teachers participated in the second year of the study.

To determine the effect, if any, of the intervention on children's early reading conceptualizations (the dependent variable), both the English and Spanish versions of Clay's CAP test were utilized, based on students' stated language of preference. In the English version, students are individually asked 24 questions while reading the book Sand or Stones with an examiner. A Spanish version of the book known as Las Piedras was created that consists of 25 questions in Spanish (the extra concept examines students' knowledge of the Spanish accent mark). The CAP pretest and posttest was administered to 77 kindergartners (control group) in October and May of the 2002/2003 school year, respectively. During the following school year (2003/2004), five classes consisting of 61 kindergartners (experimental group) were administered CAP pretests and posttests in September and April, respectively. Almost all students requested to perform the CAP pretest in Spanish, while many opted to take the CAP posttest in English. Students' scores were only included if they were present for the pre- and posttest. Descriptive data was calculated and analyzed. To determine if students' exposure to the classroom libraries had any impact on their early reading conceptualization test scores from pretest to posttest, a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed. The level of significance selected was p < .05.

Results/Findings

The present study utilized data from a control group (students enrolled in one of the six kindergarten classrooms during the 2002/2003 school year) and an experimental group (students enrolled in one of five kindergarten classrooms during the 2003/2004 school year) that were already intact and not randomly assigned. Students in the control group improved their CAP scores from a pretest mean of 5.9090 to a posttest mean of 12.9350, a difference of 7.0260. The students in the experimental group improved their CAP scores from a pretest mean of 6.3770 to a posttest mean of 15.0163, a difference of 8.6392.

To test for the effect of the independent variable (exposure to classroom libraries) on the dependent variable (difference in scores from CAP pretest to posttest), an analysis of variance (ANOVA) was utilized to determine the difference between students' pretest and posttest scores. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that there was a significant difference (.000) in students' test scores from pretest to posttest in both groups. Additionally, an ANOVA was utilized to determine the difference between the control group's and experimental group's posttest scores. A significant difference was found between the two groups' posttest scores.

There was one final finding that will be more closely examined in future analyses of the larger study. All 138 kindergartners were allowed to choose to be administered the CAP test in Spanish or English. On the CAP pretest, 74 control group students chose to be tested in Spanish, while only 3 students chose the English version. Among experimental group students, 54 chose to be administered the Spanish CAP pretest compared to 7 who chose the English version. Interestingly, both groups had large numbers of students request to be administered the CAP posttest in English. Among control group students: 50 chose the Spanish posttest, and 27 chose the English posttest. Similarly, 40 experimental group students asked to be tested in Spanish while 21 students requested to be tested in English.

Conclusions/Recommendations

The present study was primarily concerned with determining the effects of greatly enhanced classroom libraries on young Latino students' early reading conceptualizations, as measured by Clay's Concepts About Print assessment (1979, 1993). One factor, in particular, made it difficult to conclusively determine if the addition of 1000 books to each kindergarten classroom's library affected the children's early print and language awareness. Observations of teachers were not conducted during the first year of the study (although teachers were observed at least twice a month during the second year of the study), and it is possible that the lack of observations in the first year affected teachers' urgency to promote the classroom libraries. As the present study is part of a larger study, it is possible that further analysis of additional collected data will more clearly show the impact the classroom libraries had on the kindergartners' early reading conceptualizations. While inferences should be drawn cautiously based on the present study's data, the findings of the present study should be taken as a catalyst for future research into Latino students' early reading conceptualizations.

A growing number of researchers have examined how increased access to books affects Latino students' reading (see Madrigal, Cubillas, Yaden, Tam, & Brassell, 1999; Yaden & Brassell, 2002; and reviews in Dowhower & Beagle, 1998; Neuman, 1999). The present study offers data substantiating the positive impact classroom libraries have on low-SES Latino kindergarten students' conceptualizations of reading. Evaluations conducted in Spanish in the present study provided great insight into how second-language learners can improve their early conceptualizations of reading with encouragement and resources in their primary language.

While the present study focused specifically on how well-stocked classroom library caches affected kindergartners' early reading conceptualizations, further analysis is required to examine how these books affected students' first and second language development. It is hoped that further analysis of data that has been collected will better reveal the difference in check-out rates among Spanish and English books and how these books are utilized in the classroom and at home.

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Danny Brassell, California State University-Dominguez Hills

Danny Brassell, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Teacher Education Department.