Is Use of Literacy-Focused Curricula Associated with Children’s Literacy Gains and Are Associations Moderated by Risk Status, Receipt of Intervention, or Preschool Setting?

Abstract

Integrating literacy-focused curricula in preschool settings may help support children’s literacy learning. In this study, we explored the use of literacy-focused curricula and how it was associated with preschool children’s literacy gains (i.e., print and letter knowledge, phonological awareness, language and comprehension, and emergent writing) relative to non-literacy-focused curricula. We estimated multilevel structural equation models using data from an intervention study that included a sample of 571 children nested within 98 preschool classrooms. Because early disparities in emergent literacy are associated with later reading and writing difficulties, we examined how such associations might be moderated by child risk status, receipt of emergent literacy intervention, and program settings. We found that literacy-focused curricula were not often used by teachers in preschool classrooms, but teachers’ use of such curricula was positively associated with children’s phonological awareness gains. Risk status did not moderate the association between use of literacy-focused curricula and children’s emergent writing gains. Additionally, emergent literacy intervention and program settings did not moderate the associations. However, we found that teachers’ use of literacy-focused curricula was positively associated with print and letter knowledge, phonological awareness, and language and comprehension for children identified as at risk for later reading difficulties compared to those who were not at risk. As such, our findings suggest that integrating or supplementing existing classroom instruction with literacy-focused curricula could yield meaningful benefits for children identified as at risk for later reading difficulties.