EHE News
New study to examine effective approaches to teaching preschool children
Shayne Piasta
When new PhD Shayne Piasta decided to submit a grant request for federal stimulus funds, the odds were against her.
With excellent training as a doctoral student at the Florida Center for Reading Research at Florida State University, she had just been recruited this past autumn by Professor Laura Justice, Teaching and Learning, and Professor Steve Petrill, Human Development and Family Science, as a postdoctoral fellow in Justice's Preschool Language and Literacy Laboratory.
Working against Piasta, however, was the fact that the federal funds available were limited, the timeline for application was short, this was her first time submitting a federal grant proposal, and she had about 20,000 competitors.
Despite these odds, she received an award totaling $856,710 for two years. Her project goal is to evaluate various approaches to instruction in the preschool classroom as supported by sustained professional development efforts. Ultimately, she hopes to identify whether changes in teachers' classroom practices affect preschoolers' development of important concepts and essential skills, or "core knowledge."
Piasta, who grew up in a small town in central Massachusetts, says that for years, the field of education has studied effective teaching methods for children in K-12. "We now know that learning starts much earlier, so it's time to think of preschool as part of traditional education and understand what approaches are most effective for helping preschool children learn."
Laura Justice
Steve Petrill
For the particular approaches Piasta is examining, she says, "This is the first, large-scale study to investigate impacts on teachers' classroom teaching practices and links between these practices and children's core knowledge development."
The study will enroll 80 teachers and a selection of children in their preschool classrooms. All teachers will receive five months of intensive professional development at the start of the project. "Geographically, we are trying to recruit teachers in the greater Columbus area," says Piasta. "It allows us to offer this opportunity, and the incentives that go with it, to the community."
After the professional development, Piasta and her team will study how well the children acquire core knowledge, which refers to skills considered important precursors for successful learning. The core knowledge components to be studied include:
- Language and literacy (e.g., alphabet letter knowledge, ability to identify and produce rhyming words, oral vocabulary)
- Math (e.g., recognizing numbers, understanding one-to-one correspondence, pattern recognition)
- Science (e.g., understanding of plants and animal, understanding of forms and basic properties of matter, basic reasoning skills)
- Socioemotional development (e.g., social skills, self regulation, communication skills)
- Cultural literacy (e.g., visual arts, music, basic world knowledge that we all share)
Piasta became a visiting assistant professor in anticipation of being named the principal investigator on the grant. "I came to Ohio State and just love it," she says. "It's a wonderful opportunity to work with Dr. Justice as a research scientist in her lab. She and Dr. Petrill are so supportive. My belief is, if we can show how beneficial high-quality preschool programs are, we can garner more support for offering them to all children."
If you are interested in learning more about this project, contact Dr. Shayne Piasta at piasta.1@osu.edu or (614) 688-4454.
How you can help
Donors to the Dean's Fund made the hire of this remarkable new PhD possible in a time of economic recession. To make a gift to the Dean's Fund, or to discuss a gift option in a program area of your choice, contact Tracy Kirby, senior director of development, College of Education and Human Ecology, at trkirby@ehe.osu.edu or (614) 292-5538.
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