Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Date

2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Leadership & Policy Studies

Committee Chair

Joseph Hafer

Committee Member

Denise Winsor

Committee Member

Loretta Rudd

Committee Member

Sharon Wrobel

Abstract

The Equity to Prosperity (E2P) Preschool Program was designed as an integrated early-childhood intervention that combines structured, developmentally informed instruction with family economic supports to improve the kindergarten readiness of 2-year-old children in Memphis, Tennessee. This study investigated whether the key design and implementation features of the E2P program contribute to its effectiveness and whether these features can inform revisions to early childhood education policy. Using a design-focused case study approach, the analysis drew upon Barzelay’s (2019) mechanism-intent analysis framework to examine how conceptual and embodiment design choices shaped implementation, instructional practice, and child outcomes. For the child cohort represented in this study, data sources included developmental assessments administered to 17 to 22 of the program’s maximum 25 enrolled children, along with classroom observations, curriculum artifacts, and parent survey data. Findings indicate that E2P’s coordinated use of integrated sensory-based reading instruction, high-frequency verbal interaction, and mechanisms to strengthen parents’ economic stability created an environment that accelerated skill acquisition for 2-year-old children over time. The analysis further underscored how the program’s mechanisms for determining child readiness, generating and interpreting performance feedback, and providing varying opportunities for children to become engaged, operated in practice to produce a consistent pattern of learning progression as aligned with the Tennessee Early Learning Development Standards and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Developmental Milestones. According to the BRIGANCE posttest, 72.7% of the E2P children scored better than their previous normative score on the pretest. The Language Development Domain results of the BRIGANCE posttest displayed the most significant gains, with the mean equivalent age of the cohort increasing by 13 months over the program period. The implications indicate that E2P provides an adaptable design model for improving early childhood readiness in communities of low economic mobility, where instructional quality and family stability are intentionally designed as reciprocally enabling mechanisms.

Comments

Data is provided by the student.”

Library Comment

Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to ProQuest/Clarivate.

Notes

Open Access

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