Final Report: Implementation and Pilot Study
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Pilot Study Summary The PKOMW evaluation consists of four key phases. Each phase of the study has its own set of goals and seeks to answer a specific set of evaluation questions. Findings presented in this report focus on the pilot study. The pilot study's main goal was to generate critical information that will enhance the likelihood of finding a significant positive effect in a large-scale impact study, the fourth phase of this the overall evaluation. The initial pilot study was a small-scale test of the methods and procedures that we plan to use in Phase 4 of the evaluation, the impact study, and was guided by three primary research questions: • Are there differences in measures of school readiness between students in PKOMW classrooms and those in the comparison group? • Does the curriculum work better for certain groups of students (e.g., dual language learners (DLLs)?)
• Which measures demonstrated the biggest differences between groups?
To answer the research questions of interest, students instructed by PKOMW, and comparison teachers were assessed.
Sample The pilot study was conducted within a school district located in a western U.S. state. This district, referred to as School District A, is a public institution catering to a diverse student populace in a blend of urban and suburban settings. The district administers a range of schools — elementary, middle, and high — accommodating students across grade levels. With 29 schools, School District A educates approximately 25,000 students. The demographics of the students include: 2.8% White, 8.3% Black, 1% Asian or Asian/Pacific Islander, 86.1% Hispanic/Latino, 0.2% American Indian or Alaska Native, 0.4% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and 1.2% with two or more races. Furthermore, 59.1% of students qualify for federal free and reduced-price meals, and 28.9% are English language learners. All teachers in School District A are licensed, with 88.9% having three or more years of experience. The student-to-teacher ratio is 24:1, surpassing the state average. Six classrooms from schools in School District A in a state in the west coast of the U.S. participated in the PKOMW pilot study. Due to recruitment challenges and the participating district preferences, district administrators chose which teachers would implement the PKOMW curriculum, and which ones would serve as the comparison group. We were unable to determine how administrators made decisions about which teachers to assign to each group. Four classrooms implemented the PKOMW curriculum, and two classrooms participated as comparison classrooms and did not use the PKOMW curriculum. Two PKOMW preschool teachers shared that they had been teaching at their schools for 2 years or less, with 4 years of overall experience. The third PKOMW teacher had been at their current school for 4 years but had 13 years of overall experience. The fourth PKOMW teacher declined to share their level of experience. Of the two teachers in the
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