Early Literacy Skills Builder (ELSB) is an ideal curriculum for students with significant developmental disabilities, autism, or who use a variety of communication methods. ELSB supports students to develop the foundations of literacy (conventions of print, phonemic awareness, letter-sound correspondence, and sight word vocabulary), and covers all National Reading Panel components.
ELSB is based upon the principles of systematic and direct instruction and is aligned to standards. It incorporates least-prompt strategies, teachable objectives, built-in lesson repetition, and ongoing assessments. The eight ELSB levels contain five structured lessons each. Instruction may be done in small groups or one-on-one for two, 30-minute daily lessons.
Research Details: ELSB research was conducted through Project RAISE and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Dr. Diane Browder, principal author of ELSB, directed an analysis of 128 studies on teaching reading to students with cognitive disabilities. Her research indicated the effectiveness of using systematic instruction techniques to teach sight words. Five years of research have been completed. Sixty students with moderate-to-severe disabilities received daily instruction in the ELSB curriculum. These students were compared with a control group using a sight-word-only approach. ELSB students earned significantly higher scores on the posttest for ELSB as well as the Nonverbal Literacy Assessment and receptive language measures.
Data from the first 3 years of classroom research showed that the ELSB group had higher gain scores (posttest minus pretest) than the control group on all four variables. Accordingly, the funding agency, Institute of Education Sciences, approved the discontinuation of the Edmark control group so that those students could transition to the ELSB curriculum lessons.
The Curriculum includes: Implementation Guide, 6 Teacher’s Guides, 6 Student Response Books, 6 Assessment Manuals, All About Moe story and Oh My, Apple Pie! story book, Moe the Frog Puppet, videos for staff training, sight word flashcards, magnetic dry-erase board, Post-it flags, and My Book About Me consumable Student Workbook packaged in two storage boxes.
The Curriculum Plus includes: The Curriculum plus a total of 10 My Book About Me consumable Student Workbooks, ELSB software for one device, and the entire set of workbook pages as accessible GoWorksheets (iPad only), and samples of communication overlays. The GoWorksheets can be used with the free GoWorksheet app or the full GoWorksheet Plus app available on the App Store.
ELSB Authors
As a supplemental resource, see Early Literacy Communication Package — a GoTalk 4+ and the Early Literacy Communication Overlays book featuring 50 tear out pages of overlays to complement the ELSB program.
Need more information? Have questions or comments about ELSB? Contact our expert at [email protected].
Supporting Research Articles:
Browder, D. M., Ahlgrim-Delzell, L., Courtade, G., Gibbs, S. L., & Flowers, C. (2008). Evaluation of the effectiveness of an early literacy program for students with significant developmental disabilities. Exceptional Children, 75, 33-52.
Randomized Control Trial Research:
Browder, D. M., Ahlgrim-Delzell, L., Flowers, C., & Baker, J. (2012). An Evaluation of a Multicomponent Early Literacy Program for Students with Severe Developmental Disabilities. Remedial and Special Education, 33 (4).
Browder, D. M., Ahlgrim-Delzell, L., Spooner F., Lee, A., & Hicks, C. (2011). Early Literacy Research for Students with Severe Developmental Disabilities University of North Carolina Project RAISE. Verona, Wisconsin: Attainment Company, Inc.
Hunt, P., Kozleski, E., Jaehoon, J., Mortier, K., Fleming, D., Hicks, T., Balasubramanian, L., Leu, G., Bross, L., Munandar, V., Dunlap, K., Stepaniuk, I., Aramburo, C., & Oh, Y. (2019). Implementing comprehensive literacy instruction for students with significant disabilities in general education classrooms. Exceptional Children, 86 (3), 330-347.
Related Research Articles:
| Subject | English Language Arts, Literacy |
|---|---|
| Age Group | Elementary |
| Author | Diane Browder; Susan Gibbs; Lynn Ahlgrim-Delzell; Ginevra Courtade; Angel Lee |
| Format | App, Print, Software |
