ABRACADABRA! (ABRA) is a multimedia software program that helps early childhood teachers reinforce foundation literacy skills among emerging learners. Designed by the Centre for the Study of Learning and Performance at Concordia University in Canada, ABRA is based on the best knowledge available on the science of learning acquisition, brain development and foundations of literacy in early childhood.
After proving successful in improving literacy skills for early learners in Canada, ABRACADABRA! is now being trialled in Northern Territory Schools by the School for Social and Policy Research with support from the Telstra Foundation. In mid-2008, it was used by students in three schools - Tennant Creek, Ludmilla and Milikapiti - for a 10-week period and drew teacher enthusiasm and considerable student engagement. But most significantly, the 100 ABRACADABRA! students across all schools improved their literacy skills (refer to graphs below).
Further trials will take place throughout 2009, and if they continue to show positive results, mirroring the Canadian achievements, we hope to study the program using a randomised experiment (which will include control groups for comparison) with a number of schools in the Northern Territory.
ABRACADABRA!, and the associated research, is an innovative addition to the field of Indigenous education where historically programs have been conducted on the basis of advocacy, intuition and funding opportunism rather than concrete evidence.
Promising student gains
Students’ literacy skills were assessed prior to and after the 2008 pilot study. The literacy assessment instruments used were the internationally validated (Waterman, 2003; Fugate, 2003) GRADE assessment; and LLANS, developed by the Australian Council for Education Research (Meiers, Khoo, Stephanou, Anderson & Nolan, 2006).
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GRADE: the largest gains on the GRADE instruments were in early literacy skills and sound recognition. Figure 1. Average pre-test and post-test comparisons for students (n=31) tested with the GRADE P. |
LLANS: Similar to the GRADE, the biggest gains on the LLANS instruments were in sound recognition and print concepts. Figure 2. Average pre-test and post-test comparisons for students (n=77) tested with the LLANS level 1. |
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For further information about student progress, our research plan, answers for teachers, and program implementation, read the ABRACADABRA! fact sheet. |
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Project timeline
2008: pilot unmodified version of ABRA in three schools
2009: trial 'Australianised' version of ABRA in six schools
2010: large scale randomised control trial
Project leader
Research partners
Northern Territory Department of Education and Training
Concordia University, Montreal, Canada
Menzies School of Health Research
ABRACADABRA! in Australia is made possible by the tremendous support of the Telstra Foundation, who have committed $750,000 over a three year period to 2010.
