Head Start Family Education Specialist Teacher Deb Holmes said, the program was developed as an early literacy intervention program. The goals of the program are to support and increase language development, develop and increase phonological awareness, develop and increase print awareness, develop and increase early writing and develop and increase alphabet knowledge.

Holmes said that the children participating in the Words Work! project this year will be followed through their third grade year to see what kinds of long term gains might be achieved and maintained. The children were also assessed at the beginning of the year to determine what literacy skills they brought with them when they entered the classroom. They will be reassessed in the spring to determine the extent of literacy gains made through participating in the Words Work! experience.

According to the study in Ramsey County, just 39 percent of the students who first participated in the program scored at or above average on the standardized tests before using Words Work!, by comparison the national average was 77 percent. Six years after participating in the program, that number jumped to 86 percent for the same students who were at or above average in reading, and 88 percent of students who were at or above average in math. By comparison, the national average was 77 percent.

In addition to Ramsey County, Words Works has been expanded to Carver, Scott, and Dakota Counties over the years. Through the Department of Education funding, this year the program has been expanded to Rice, Goodhue, Wabasha, McLeod, Renville, Meeker, Kandiyohi, Pope, Stevens, Douglas, Grant, and Traverse Counties. However, Holmes said the grant awarded to these counties was  part of a one-year study and may not be funded through the same source next year.

What is Words Work!

There are four main principles to the Words Work! program.

The first is surrounding children with literacy. This is done by building learning into every part of the day by using writing centers, reading aloud, labels, rhyming, in addition to surrounding children with books and writing materials in the classroom.

The second principle is respecting home language and culture. The idea is that parents are the first and in many cases most influential teachers for children and students.

The third principle is teaching the teachers by involving them in various learning groups, training, and mentoring, concentrating on preschool aged students and bridging the gap between the home and school.

The final principle is using assessment for continual improvement and using the information and data on hand to help teachers implement strategies to meet students needs.

In addition to supporting the intentional implementation of a variety of literacy experiences and activities through intensive staff training and mentoring, Head Start was also given two new computers and keyboards as part of the grant. The computers give children a chance to play interactive games to help them learn.

Overall, the program is meant to surround the children with literacy by a variety of interactive activities and show the children that learning truly can be fun.

Upcoming years

While the study is funded just through this year, the students will be watched through third grade year to see what lasting effects were learned from the program.

Students in the West Central Minnesota Head Start, including the counties of Pope, Douglas, Grant, Stevens, and Traverse, are participating in the program. The data collected from the students could be used in future study’s to see what long lasting affect intervention of this sort has on students using this program.