Learning Enrichment Activities Program

For this longitudinal study of LEAP, a variety of tests are administered to children at the beginning of the school year, August/September, and at the conclusion of the school year, April/May. Random samples of students who receive instruction in English are given the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test - 3 (PPVT-3), Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals-Preschool (CELF-P), and the test of Visual Motor Integration (VMI-4). Students who are identified as Spanish dominant and received instruction primarily in Spanish are given the Spanish version of the DIAL-3 and the PLS- Spanish. Doctoral level psychology and speech-language-pathology students, who are given very limited information about the purpose of the study, administer tests.

Teachers at the local public elementary school previously administered the ITBS. In 2000, the Dallas ISD changed assessment instruments and now uses the Stanford 9 to access the children's progress. Tests are scored electronically and the data reported through the Dallas Independent School District.

For tables, graphs, and charts of the data please see specific studies. The Cone Center study is the model Head Start program in Dallas. The ITBS and Stanford 9 scores are for the DISD neighborhood public elementary school near the Cone Center. The TEA study reports testing from a pilot project in four sites in Texas implemented in 1999-2000. The data from the Spanish-speaking and LEAP children will be available in June of 2002.