By Wenrui Huang, Johns Hopkins University

Teaching Together is an initiative that combines tiered school instruction with home curricular supplements to enhance language skills among pre-k children at risk for later reading difficulties.

Researchers from the University of Texas Health Science Center and Florida Center for Reading Research examined the effects of Teaching Together, in a study published in Early Childhood Research Quarterly. This study included a sample of Head Start children demonstrating risk for later reading difficulties and eligible for Tier-2 services (targeted instruction for children with weak skills). By adopting an RCT-design, researchers randomized one control and three treatment groups:

(a) Control or business-as-usual (BAU) family engagement experiences (n=72)

(b) Tier 1 Family workshops and universal text messages (n=241)

(c) Tier 2 Basic Family, which added learning materials and targeted text messages to the workshops (n=29)

(d) Tier 2 Enhanced Family, which added parent coaching/individualized communication to…