Using Recognition & Response (R&R) to improve children's language and literacy skills: Findings from two studies

Two studies evaluated Recognition & Response (R&R)-an instructional system consisting of formative assessment, foundational instruction, and targeted small-group lessons designed for use with pre-kindergarteners. Study 1 involved 174 four-year-old children (83 target and 91 comparison) from 24 classrooms in community-based programs, and Study 2 involved 213 four-year-old children (106 target and 107 comparison) from 24 classrooms in one large school district. In both studies, teachers administered a brief, standardized language and literacy assessment to select the four lowest-scoring children within each classroom (Recognition), and then provided small-group lessons to these target children using a curriculum focused on language and literacy skills (Response). Across both studies, the results indicated that target children who received the small-group lessons showed larger gains on some language and literacy skills than a comparison group consisting of classmates who had lower than average scores at baseline and did not receive the small-group lessons. Target children made greater gains than the comparison group in print knowledge in Study 1 and in vocabulary and phonological awareness in Study 2. Both studies found high levels of implementation fidelity and treatment acceptability among the teachers who implemented the intervention. (c) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.