Excerpts from the Apt Reports:
Descriptions of the Models
and
Summary of Results
Education as Experimentation:
A Planned Variation
Model
Geoffrey Bock, Linda Stebbins with Elizabeth C. Proper
Abt
Associates
April 15, 1977
Note from the editor: The
following excerpts from the final evaluation reports of Project Follow Through
include the description of each model and the summary of its results.
Volume IV-B: Effects of Follow Through Models
The
information [for the descriptions of the models] was taken from several sources
including personal communication with the sponsors or their
representatives...Each sponsor also had the opportunity to edit [the
descriptions]. Many sponsors have expended considerable effort in rephrasing our
materials to ensure their accuracy. We are grateful for their assistance and
have tried to abide by their perceptions. (page 4)
Responsive
Education Model
Far West Laboratory for Educational Research and
Development
The Model
The goals of the Responsive Education
Model are for learners to develop problem solving abilities, healthy
self-concepts, and culturally pluralistic attitudes and behaviors. Attainment of
these goals and program objectives requires that the learning environment
support productive child-centered learning and that the curriculum content and
skills be relevant to the children's experiences outside the
classroom.
The essence of this program has been described as follows:
The Responsive Program is based on beliefs in building a
pluralistic society and in strengthening children as individuals. Instead of
the deficit view of compensatory education that focuses on deficiencies of
low-income minority children, it adheres to a productive approach of enhancing
the values of cultural differences and responding to the strengths of children
as individuals...Schools should respond to children and their families rather
than vice versa. (Judd and Wood, 1973)
The Responsive Education
Model assumes that no single theory of learning can account for all the modes in
which children learn; therefore, it seeks to provide a variety of learning
experiences which build on the background, culture and lifestyle the child
brings into the classroom. The child in a responsive learning environment
engages in exploring, raising questions, planning, making choices and setting
goals. The child discovers individual self-strengths, preferences, and
liabilities. Each child develops a repertoire of abilities for building a broad
and varied experiential base as well as self-confidence. The child interacts
with all aspects of the educational environment, including other children.
Whether individually, or within a group, the child may take on the role of
leader, follower, or evaluator. These interactions can be curriculum oriented
and may also involve personal and social issues. As the child grows through
learning experiences, which address personal and social issues, inquiries are
made into the nature of problem solving and the child takes greater
responsibility for learning.
The teachers are integral and key
contributors in a responsive learning environment. They are skilled observers of
the learners in a manner that supports and contributes to the objectives and
principles of the Responsive Education Model. The teachers in this model
establish an educational climate, develop a curriculum, and facilitate the
learner's experiences.
The Responsive Education Model emphasizes the use
of parents in meeting the program's objectives. Parents are encouraged to share
in policy and curriculum decisions, to participate in the Parent Advisory
Council (PAC), and to become involved in the classroom. This program provides
specific training to help parents extend program objectives in the home. Parents
are taught to use games and toys checked out from a toy library (maintained to
provide parents with materials), to teach concepts contributing to program
objectives. Parents also meet in workshops where they are taught to make
learning aids. Through this training and through the volunteer classroom
activities, parents have the opportunity to learn those types of adult-child
interactions consistent with the objectives of the program.
The
Responsive Education Model as Realized in Follow Through
The Responsive
Education Model is evaluated in eleven sites: Berkeley, CA; Buffalo, NY; Duluth,
MN; Fresno, CA; Lebanon, NH; Salt Lake City, UT; St. Louis, MO; Tacoma, WA;
Goldsboro, NC; Sumter, SC; and Owensboro, KY.
Tucson Early Education
Model (TEEM)
Arizona Center for Early Education
The
Model
The Tucson Early Education Model (TEEM) is based on the concept
that each child has a unique growth pattern with individual rates and styles of
learning. Based on M. Hughes' idea that formal learning should begin with the
experiences young children bring to the classroom, and that the children's
understanding of words and their meanings depends on the children's experiences,
TEEM emphasizes a language-experience approach to cognitive development (Judd
and Wood, 1973). The classroom is designed to support the use of language in
relating experiences and learning how to learn.
Teachers work with
children in groups of three to six. These groups are deliberately heterogeneous
so that children will learn from peers. Interest centers are provided in the
classroom to stimulate discovery and learning. Some classroom activities are
selected and structured by the teacher; others are chosen by the children. Both
types of activities are based on student need and interest. Even in this
open-ended context the learning experiences of the children are carefully
structured through teacher planning and direction. Various publisher's materials
(e.g. , Language Experience in Reading by R. V. Allen and R. Stauffer; Sounds of
Language by W. Marting; Math by the Nuffield Foundation), as well as materials
prepared by the teachers and the children, are available in the classroom. Field
trips and walks extend the pupils' experiences. Teachers work with school
psychologists to define and analyze educational problems and plan carefully
defined individual solutions consistent with the TEEM approach.
The major
goals for children are attended to by the teachers through a process called
"orchestration." In this process, the child learns language, intellectual
skills, attitudes, and societal arts and skills in a single activity. The
teachers are trained to use imitation and modeling techniques as a means for
developing all goal areas.
TEEM has specific goals regarding parents,
including encouraging their frequent contact with school and inviting them to
observe and participate in the classroom. Recently, more specified methods and
approaches for implementing these goals have been developed by the sponsor.
TEEM as Realized in Follow Through
TEEM is evaluated in twelve
sites: Chicasha, OK; Des Moines, IA; Lakewood, NJ; Newark, NJ; Lincoln, NB;
Wichita, KS; Baltimore, MD; Vermilion Parish, LA; Durham, NC; Fort Worth, TX;
Walker County, GA; and Pike County, KY.
Bank Street
Model
The Model
The Bank Street Model has the immediate goal of
stimulating children's cognitive and affective development, and the long range
goal of effecting community change. It emphasizes personal growth of children,
parents and teachers. Academic skills and emotional social development are
viewed as complementary processes; both are emphasized equally. The classroom is
designed to provide a stable, organized environment. Within it, children
participate actively, supported by adults who help to expand their world and
sensitize them to the meaning of their experiences within it. Academic skills
are acquired within the broad context of direct experiences planned to provide
appropriate ways of organizing and extending the children's expressed interests.
Math, reading, and language are taught as tools to carry out an investigation of
these interests. Children plan their learning tasks with teachers and make
autonomous choices when appropriate. A wide variety of Bank Street and
commercial materials are available, such as the Bank Street readers and language
stimulation materials. Children write creative stories, write their own books,
read for pleasure, engage in dramatic plan, music, and art. Social studies are
also emphasized in the Bank Street approach.
The teachers play a vital
role in this model, using diagnostic tools to analyze child behavior,
child-adult interaction, and the social and physical milieu of the classroom.
The staff development program aims at developing a repertoire of teaching
strategies from which to choose and insights into how to enhance children's
capacity to probe, reason, solve problems, and express their feelings freely and
constructively. Since the teaching is based on study of the child's strengths
and learning style, there is strong emphasis on individual
follow-up.
The Bank Street Model as Realized in Follow
Through
The Bank Street Model is evaluated in eight sites: New York, NY;
Philadelphia, PA; Brattleboro, VT; Fall River, MA; New Haven, CT; Rochester, NY;
Wilmington, DE; and Macon County, AL.
Direct Instruction
Model
University of Oregon College of Education
The
Model
The Direct Instruction Model is a behaviorally oriented educational
program. It utilizes a tightly controlled instructional methodology and highly
structured teaching materials. Its aim is to accelerate the learning of
disadvantaged children in reading, language, and arithmetic. Although the
instruction is programmed, the emphasis is placed on the children's learning
intelligent behavior rather than specific pieces of information by rote
memorization. The Direct Instruction approach uses a fast moving series of
programmed questions and answers. Teachers present specified questions to elicit
a verbal child response. Proper responses are reinforced and wrong answer
corrected according to specified procedures. These questions, answers, and
correction procedures are contained in the Direct Instructional System in
Arithmetic and Reading (Distar) materials published by Science Research
Associates (SRA). Noncore subjects are generally introduced after mastery of
basic skills.
Direct Instruction teachers are trained in the use of
Distar programs. Teachers use these programmed materials with small homogenous
groups of children for set periods of time. The groups rotate by schedule. The
children follow this group instruction with self-directed practice in workbooks.
Planned home practice or new skills are also coordinated with the classroom
lesson. The Direct Instruction goal for teachers is that they become proficient
practitioners of the model's techniques. Criterion-referenced tests are
administered to children at frequent and regular intervals to provide
information to the teachers on student progress. Supervisors use video taping
and observations to allow teachers to evaluate their own performances in the
classroom.
Parents participate in the program in several capacities: some
are employed in each classroom on a permanent basis as teacher aides (one or two
per classroom) and assistants; others are employed as needed and trained to
administer the criterion-referenced pupil progress tests and operate the video
tape equipment to film the teacher at work in the classroom; still others are
employed as family workers. In this latter capacity they acquaint parents with
the Direct Instruction program, provide specially developed materials which
parents can use at home to supplement classroom instruction, make available to
those parents who so desire, a sponsor-developed programmed course in child
management, encourage participation in PAC meetings, and assist in training the
classroom aides and assistants. Finally, parent workers provide parents not
directly involved in the school program with information about their child's
progress and organize parents experiencing difficulties into problem-solving
groups.
The Direct Instruction Model as Realized in Follow
Through
The Direct Instruction Model is evaluated in ten sites: New York,
NY; Grand Rapids, MI; West Iron County, MI; Flint, MI; Providence, RI; East St.
Louis, IL; Racine, WI; Dayton, OH; Tupelo, MS; and Williamsburg,
SC.
Behavior Analysis Model
Support and Development Center for
Follow Throughp;University of Kansas
The Model
The
Behavior Analysis Model (BA) recommends a highly structured yet flexible
approach. Its primary objective is the children's mastery of reading,
arithmetic, handwriting, and spelling skills. The program includes aspects of
team teaching, non-graded classrooms, programmed instruction, individualized
teaching, and a token reinforcement system. The result is an education system
which unites professional educators, para-professionals, and parents in the
teaching process.
As an instructional system, BA follows a standard but
flexible pattern. The BA program gives primary emphasis to the basic academic
skills of reading, arithmetic and language arts in the primary grades. This
emphasis does not imply that music, science, art, and social studies are
unimportant. It only asserts the primary importance of the core subjects as a
necessary foundation for success and achievement throughout school.
The
BA model is operationalized by establishing a "token economy" or "contracting
arrangement" within each classroom. Teachers award tokens for improved social
and academic performance. The children can use these tokens during an exchange
period to purchase activities of their choosing, such as games, toys, and books.
Tokens and praise are distributed according to individual rather than group
performance. The sponsor deems this instructional approach appropriate for all
children regardless of their socioeconomic and/or educational
status.
Teachers may choose among sponsor-developed and commercial
learning materials, but are encouraged to select those which can be adapted to
the model. Using a machine-readable data form, teachers prepare continuous
progress reports on each child. The data is then computer-analyzed and an
individual progress prescription is returned within a day. Teachers are trained
in the use of systematic, positive reinforcement. The sponsor supports the
elimination of punitive and coercive teacher behavior and encourages teachers to
set specific academic objectives for the child.
To provide the necessary
amount of individual attention, BA classrooms are staffed by three or four
adults. The lead teacher heads the team and generally takes special
responsibility for the reading instruction. A full-time aide usually takes
special responsibility for the small math groups, and the parent aide(s)
concentrates on handwriting and spelling lessons and individual tutoring. At the
end of eight weeks the teaching parents may continue or not as they choose.
Although many parents serve only for an eight week session and teach in only one
curriculum area, some teach a full year in as many as three curriculum areas.
Many eventually become permanent teacher aides.
The BA Model as
Realized in Follow Through
The BA Model is evaluated in eight sites: New
York, NY; Philadelphia, PA; Portageville, MO; Trenton, NJ; Kansas City, MO;
Louisville, KY; Waukegan, IL; and Meridan, IL.
Cognitively Oriented
Curriculum Model
High/Scope Educational Research Foundation
The
Model
The Cognitive Curriculum Model is a developmental model, based in
part on development theory and cognitive structure as defined by Piaget. The
focus is on developing children's ability to reason. Goals for the individual
children include development of skills in initiating and sustaining independent
activity, defining and solving problems, articulating thoughts through language,
assuming responsibility for decisions and actions, and working cooperatively
with others to make decisions. The approach is designed to provide experiences
through which children can develop their conceptual and reasoning processes, as
well as their competencies in academic areas. The model provides a framework for
structuring the classroom and for arranging and sequencing equipment and
material in learning centers. These centers focus on math, science, reading,
social studies, art and on interests such as housekeeping, construction, or
puzzles. Dion reading, Nuffield and Cusinaire math, American Association for the
Advancement of Science (AAAS) and Science Curriculum Improvement Study (SCIS)
and science material are used. Children choose their activities and work with
teachers in small groups.
Staff development is an essential component of
this sponsor's model. Teachers are taught to be catalysts and motivators of
children's learning, rather than skill trainers or information providers. This
objective is pursued through intensive training courses which occur three times
a year. These courses are designed to sensitize the teachers to the way children
think and behave at different stages of development, and to supplement the
sponsor-provided teacher's manual. Training and developing logical thinking
skills in four major cognitive area (classification, seriation, spatial
relations, and temporal relations) are a part of the teacher training program.
Central to this sponsor's model is the focus on parent involvement as an
essential component of the success of the child's education. The goals for
parent participation include the development of a sense of community between the
school's and parents' objectives for children, and building the support for
improving the fundamental parent-child relationship. Although the home visiting
programs vary from community to community, the sponsor's intent is that either
the teacher or a home visitor, knowledgeable in the curriculum, will bring the
essential features of this curriculum into the home. In this way, the child's
learning at home can be reinforced by the parents through use of materials found
in the home. Various other kinds of parent activities are also found in these
communities. These activities include neighborhood meetings centered on topics
such as home management, nutrition, selling and employment; providing an
information network to inform parents about jobs; establishing a parent store
where foods and other homemade goods can be sold or exchanged; and holding PAC
meetings and various other committee meetings. This sponsor encourages parent
activities that are responsive to the needs and interests of the
community.
The Cognitive Model as Realized in Follow
Through
The Cognitive Curriculum Model is evaluated in six sites: New
York, NY; Okaloosa County, FL; Greeley, CO; Seattle, WA; Chicago, IL; and
Leflore County, MS.
Florida Parent Education Model
University of
Florida
The Model
The Parent Education Model focuses on
motivating parents to be primary educators of their children. For each class,
two parents serve as teaching aides in the classroom and also visit the parents
of all the children in the class, teaching them to teach their children. These
parents also assist other parents with personal needs and problems.
Basic
to this model is the belief that parents, since they are uniquely qualified to
guide their children's emotional and intellectual development, play a critical
role in their children's education. Accordingly, this sponsor seeks to motivate
parents to participate directly in their child's education both in the classroom
and at home. The Parent Education Model does not enunciate specific achievement
goals for children, nor does it recommend a particular classroom curriculum or
teaching strategy; this model focuses exclusively on involving parents as equal
partners in the educational process.
The Parent Education Model uses a
Parent Educator, a specially trained home worker who teaches parents to teach
their children at home. (Parent Educators are themselves Follow Through
Parents.) Two Parent Educators are assigned to each classroom and spend half
their time as instructional teaching assistants in the classroom and half in
visiting parents. Every child's home is visited bimonthly by a Parent Educator.
During this home visit, the Parent Educator teaches the parent to work with the
child in completing specially developed, individually assigned learning tasks
before the next visit. These learning tasks are crucial to this model and are
developed by teachers and Parent Educators with appropriate assistance from the
sponsor. Learning tasks are assigned by the teacher to meet the individual
child's learning needs and enrich classroom instruction. A conscientious effort
is made to construct tasks using materials commonly found in the home or easily
obtainable. (When necessary, materials are provided by the Parent Educator.)
Tasks are often Piagetian in nature. The Parent Educator ensures that the parent
thoroughly understands the task and how to use it with the child before leaving
the home. During the next visit, the Parent Educator ascertains the child's
response to the task and discusses the most appropriate "next step." Thus the
parent becomes involved as a guiding force in the child's education. Following
the home visit, the Parent Educator provides feedback to the teacher; and the
two then jointly plan for the next home visit.
This partnership between
home and school is reinforced by the assistance the Parent Educator provides
with personal parent needs and problems. The Parent Educator is trained to make
referrals for parents regarding medical, psychological, and social services and
employment matters. The Parent Educator also encourages parents to join PAC and
participate in other school and community activities (including classroom
volunteering).
The Parent Education Model as Realized in Follow
Through
The Parent Education Model is evaluated in these nine sites:
Philadelphia, PA; Richmond, VA; Yakima, WA; Houston, TX; Lawrenceburg, IN;
Jacksonville, FL; Jonesboro, AR; Chattanooga, TN; and Hillsborough,
FL.
EDC Open Education Follow Through Program
Education Development
Center
The Model
The EDC Open Education approach seeks to
stimulate learning by providing children with a great variety of materials and
experience within a supportive emotional environment. The sponsor believes
children learn at individual rates and in individual ways, and teachers should
adapt approaches to encourage individual progress and responsibility in
learning.
The EDC Model is predicated on the notion that learning,
particularly cognitive learning, occurs best when children are offered a wide
range of materials and problems to investigate within an open, supportive
environment. According to this sponsor, a child's ability to learn depends in
part on the opportunities and experiences provided by the educational setting.
The sponsor believes that the EDC approach, derived from practices of British
infant and primary schools and Piagetian research, is appropriate for all
children, regardless of their socioeconomic or educational status. The EDC
approach is operationalized by sponsor advisory teams who work with parents,
teachers, and school administrators in each site to help realize the EDC
open-education philosophy. This advisory team assists in setting up classrooms
and selecting a variety of books and materials from which local educators can
choose.
The sponsor believes that there is no uniform way to teach
reading, writing, or arithmetic skills, and no uniform timetable for all
children to follow. Children are not compared with other children and do not
receive standardized tests. Consequently, EDC classrooms and teachers vary
greatly. Teachers often divide classrooms into interest areas where children may
work part or all of the day. Traditional subjects important in the open
classroom may be combined with these interest groups. The teacher may work with
the entire class, small groups, or individuals. Parents sometimes serve as
classroom aides and assist in curriculum planning. In sum, the EDC Model is more
a philosophy than a technique.
Since the sponsor does not prescribe a
detailed instructional program and feels that the open classroom philosophy is
appropriate for all voluntary teachers, this model demands a highly creative and
resourceful teacher and is perhaps the most teacher-dependent of the Follow
Through models. Teachers must diagnose each child's strengths, potential, and
interests and then strive to provide instructional units reflecting that
information. They are trained to provide a "hidden structure," to act as guides
and resources, to make suggestions and to give encouragement, as the primary
methods of extending their pupils' learning activities. Within this environment
the pupils are encouraged to work at their own pace, learn from one another, and
make choices about their own work.
The parents in this model are
encouraged to become involved. Their primary involvement is through their work
on the advisory teams and in the PAC organizations. This model's goal for
parents is to help them "grow" and understand the concepts of open education.
Its general approach is cognitive, with an almost equally heavy socioemotional
emphasis. Although there is some stress on specific academic skills, the foci of
this model are learning how to learn, developing an appreciation for learning,
and encouraging children to take responsibility for their own
learning.
The EDC Model as Realized in Follow Through
The EDC
Model is evaluated in the eight sites: Philadelphia, PA; Burlington, VT;
Lackawanna County, PA; Morgan Community School in Washington, DC; Patterson, NJ;
Chicago, IL; Laurel, DE; and Johnston County, NC.
Volume IV-A: An Evaluation of Follow Through
The Follow Through models place varying degrees of emphasis on the
acquisition of basic skills, cognitive conceptual skills, and affective
development. Although all sponsors expected to demonstrate effectiveness in all
domains by the end of third grade, we can expect the models to produce various
time sequences of progress in achieving this goal. We have divided the progress
of these children during the course of the program into two parts: progress
during kindergarten and first grade (early) and progress during second and third
grade (late). A study of the progress of FT children during these two intervals
shows that most programs produce substantial progress early on math measures.
However, only a few of the programs are able to maintain these early benefits in
math during the later period of the program.
The reading area appears to
be much less tractable. Direct Instruction, Behavior Analysis, and Bank Street
models produce predominately non-negative effects, that is, progress in reading
which is either greater than or equal to the progress of comparison children.
Only the children associated with the Direct Instruction Model appear to perform
above the expectation determined by the progress of the non-Follow Through
children. Moreover, the Direct Instruction children are the only group which
appears to make more progress in reading, both early and late. In general, most
models appear to be more effective during kindergarten and first grade than
during second and third grade. The Direct Instruction Model is the only program
which consistently produces substantial progress.
Abt Associates' Final Follow Through Reports
Volume IV-A: An Evaluation of Follow Through (Office of Education Series Vol.
II-A)
Stebbins, L. B., St. Pierre, R. G., Proper, E. C., Anderson,
R. B., & Cerva, T. R. Abt Associates Report No. AAI-76-196A under USOE
Contract No. 300-75-0134. April 15, 1977.
Contains a
description of the study, the educational approaches examined, a discussion of
the analytic strategies and methods of presenting results, along with a summary
of the results.
Volume IV-B: Effects of Follow Through Models (Office
of Education Vol. II-B)
Bock, G., & Stebbins, L. B., with E. C. Proper. Abt Associates
Report No. AAI-76-196B under USOE Contract No. 300-75-0134. April 15,
1977.
Contains a comprehensive discussion of the
results.
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