New research proves ABC Music & Me boosts early literacy skills for preschoolers:
During the 2012-2013 school year, SEG Measurement, an independent research firm, conducted a multi-state study to investigate the effectiveness of the use of the ABC Music & Me program with preschool students in the United States. The findings of the study show that the students who used ABC Music & Me as part of their preschool education showed significantly greater gains on the PALS (Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening) Pre-K Assessment than a comparable group of preschool students who did not use ABC Music & Me, indicating that the ABC Music & Me program shows proven success in boosting early literacy and other important school-readiness skills.
The study’s design allowed for comparison of ABC Music & Me students vs. a control group:
This study incorporated a pre-post treatment-control group design in which all participating students took the same pre and post test (PALS-PreK assessment) at the beginning and end of the school year. Students in the treatment group received ABC Music & Me instruction and activities as part of their preschool instruction during the school year. Students in the control group did not receive any ABC Music & Me instruction or activities. Students in the control and treatment groups attended the same or comparable schools and statistical analyses were conducted to ensure that the groups were comparable. Analysis of Covariance was used to compare the performance on the post-test between the treatment and control groups while controlling for any initial differences in ability.
About the PALS-PreK test:
PALS-PreK is a scientifically-based phonological awareness and literacy screening that measures preschoolers’ developing knowledge of important literacy fundamentals and offers guidance to teachers for tailoring instruction to children’s specific needs. The assessment reflects skills that are predictive of future reading success and measures name writing ability, upper-case and lower-case alphabet recognition, letter sound and beginning sound production, print and word awareness, rhyme awareness and nursery rhyme awareness.
Stay tuned for more information about the full research report!