HEAD START: THE EFFECT OF HALF DAY AND EXTENDED DAYPRESCHOOL PROGRAMS ON LANGUAGE AND LITERACY DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

With the emphasis on academic achievement and literacy development, preschoolprograms are finding new and different ways to prepare students for kindergarten. Numerousstudies have identified the importance of preschool and its lasting effect on literacy andlanguage development. This study used Head Start preschool classrooms to see if differencesexisted in the language and literacy skill development between preschoolers attendingextended day programs and those attending half day programs. Seventy-one preschoolersfrom the extended day classrooms and 34 students from the half day classrooms were utilizedin the study. T-tests for dependent means were conducted to determine the differencesbetween the half day and extended day classrooms upon entry to the program. The resultsindicated students in the extended day program scored significantly higher in the area oflanguage than students in the half day program. Factorial Analyses of Variance (ANOVA)were conducted to determine the effect of length of preschool day on literacy and languagedevelopment as measured by the Learning Accomplishment Profile – 3rd Edition (LAP-3).The study focused on the areas of pre-writing and language scores from the LAP-3 as theseare the components that make up the early literacy development score. Students in the halfday program made significantly more gains in the area of language than students in theextended day program. Hispanic students and males made significantly more gains in theareas of language and pre-writing development. All students in half day and extended dayHead Start classrooms made gains in the areas of pre-writing and language development,emphasizing the importance of early childhood education in emergent literacy.