about frostig and art

8/10/2019 about frostig and art

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/about-frostig-and-art 1/8

A

Follow-Up

Evaluation

of

the

Fr

ostig

Visual-P

erceptual

Train

ing Progra

m

DURIN

G the 1965-66

school year

a

n evaluation

of

th

e Frostig Visual-Perc

eptual

progr

am was conducted.

S

ubjects

were in

prekinderga

rten,

k

indergarten,

and first

grade.

In gener

al,

it wa

s found that

children

taking the F

rostig

p

rogram did

better on th

e

Frosti

g Visual-Per

ceptual

Test than did con

trols. Lar

gest gains were

regis

tered by

first

grader

s. After initial differen

ces in Fros

tig

scores

were can

celled

out,

no si

gnificant d

if

fere

nces in

end-of-year

reading readiness

scores

were

found among

kin

dergarten

pu

pils

in Frostig

and non-Frostig

classes. Finally

,

subtest analyses were

made andrevealed

that

pr

actically all

the differen

ces

in Frosti

g total

test

sco

res noted abov

e

were

due

to

one

sub-

test; i.e., Form Co

nstancy.

Readers

who

are

not

acquainted

with the

Frostig

V

isual-Perceptua

l pro

gram or the in

strume

nt, are

referred to

the

original

study

or to

t

he Frostig

manual

.-

The

purpose

of

th

is study

is

to re

plicate

as much as possible

the forme

r study a

nd

to follow up the

children

in

the study t

o deter

mine th

e

pr

edictive v

alidity of the Frost

ig

tests as

well as to study

the cumulat

ive

James N Jacobs.

An

Evaluati

on of

the

Frostig Visual-

Perception Training Pr

ogram E

5 4): 33

2-40; January

196

8.

effects

of the Frostig

program

upon

future

re

ading achievement.

Specifically

, this study

is de

signed to

answer

the

follo

wing q

uestions:

1 Do

children

i

n p

rekindergarten,

kind

er

garten, and

grade one

who take th

e

Frost

ig pro

gram achieve

better tha

n controls

on the Frostig

Visual-P

erception Tes

ts? Is

the

b

enefit unifo

rm

among grades tested?

2. Do

kindergarte

n Frostig

children

achieve

high

er on

the

Metr

opolitan

Reading

Readiness Test

at

the

end of their

kindergarten

year

as compared to

controls?

3.

What

is

th

e predic

tive

validit

y of the

- M. Frostig, P.

Maslow, W.

LeFever,

an

d

J R

. B. Whitt

lesey. The M

alo

Alto, Cali

fornia: Consulting Psy

chologists Press,

1964.

(Stand

ardization.)

Errors

in

generalization

are

common

to

studies of this

type.

B

efore

practical de

cisions re

gardin

g

th

e

use

of the treatmen

t are made, replica

ti

on studies

should

be

made.

J

hio, a

169



Frostig test a

s comp

ared

t

o

the

Metropol

itan

Readin

g Readiness T

est?

4. Do Fro

stig trained

children achieve bet

ter on read

ing tests as

compared

to co

ntrols?

5.

Do childr

en

exposed

to two years

of

the

Frostig

p

rogram

achieve

better on rea

ding tests

as compa

red to one-year Frostig

ch

ildren and

controls?

That

is

is

there

a

cumulative

effect

due

to

F

rostig inv

olvement in reading

achieve

ment?

Th

e first two qu

estions

were pursued

in

the initial

study and are parti

ally

r

eplicated

in

this study. The

last two questions

had

to

be delayed

until

F

rostig pr

ogram chil

dren

last

year

ad

vanced in

grade.

The

pupils

used

in

this study

were

iden

tified as

ex

perimental

(Frostig)

or

control.

They

attended

five

dif

ferent schoo

ls

a

nd w

ere

in

intact

classes

. For most com

parisons,

con

t

rols were drawn from

the same

schools as

experimen

tal

cla

sses. Further

, the pupils

may be

co

nsidered

disadv

antaged since

they

attend schools

d

esignated as

primary t

arget

s

chools unde

r

the

Education

Act.

Educati

on

A

ct servic

es,

which

may bias result

s, are con

sid

ered

to

be

present in eq

ual force with

experimental

and

control children. Thus,

no

systemat

ic bias

is

exp

ected.

In

answering

the

fi

rst two

questions, the

Fro

stig tests and

the Metrop

olitan Readi

ng

Readin

ess Test were

admi

nistered

to

expe

ri

mental

a

nd

co

ntrol children in

May onl

y.

The

initial s

tudy

inclu

ded

beginning-of-y

ear

Frostig testin

g as well as end

-of-year

testing.

T

his

feature cou

ld

not

be

repli

cated

this past

year. The

analysis

consisted simpl

y

of

a two

way

analysis

of var

iance of gra

de by

treat

men

t

u

sing t

otal Frostig test

score

as

the

crite

rion. For

reading readines

s comparisons

only

kinderga

rten

childre

n were teste

d. Thu

s,

a one-way

analysis of variance

was applied.

All

ex

perimental children

in this phase of the

study took

the Frostig program

one year

only.

The

last

three

qu

estions were

studied

by

administering the

Gates-Ma

cGinitie test

to

first-grade children

in May and the

Stanford

Primary

I at the en

d

of g

rade two.

Since

th

e

Gates

produces two su

btest scores, i.e.,

vo

cabula

ry and comp

rehension,

separate analy

ses on

these two

tests were

made.

The firs

t

gr

ade experim

ental children tested

with the

Gat

es we

re

su

bdivided into two

groups:

on

g

roup having

ta

ken the Frostig

program

dur

ing the first

grade only;

and the second gro

u

who

had taken the Frostig

program

during

their kindergarten

year

as well

as

during th

first grade. Thes

e two

groups were in

turn

compared

with

co

ntrol

children who

did no

have the Frostig pro

gram

either

year.

T

he

qu

estion of

the effects of th

e Frosti

program

on rea

ding achievem

ent was studie

in anot

her

context.

Second-

grade childre

n

i

1966 6

7 who

were in

volved

i

n

th

e initia

l ex

perimen

t

as

first graders in

1965-66 wer

iden

tified and com

pared with

respect

to

end

of-year (M

ay) reading achieve

ment using

th

Stanford Primary

I

battery. The

pupils use

in this

phase had taken

the Frostig pr

ogram

only

during the first grade

last year as

com

p

ared

to

c

ontrols who

did

not have the Frosti

progra

m.

summ

ary

of th

Frostig

test results

is

seen in

Table

1

Th

children in

the exper

imental group took th

Frostig progra

m only

for

the

given ye

ar .

Results of the analysi

s of

varianc

sh o

wed

sig

nificant

differences be

tween trea

m

ents and a

mong grades,

but no

si

gnifican

inte

raction

betw

een

treat

ments

a

nd grade

Thu

s, we observe an

average differen

ce o

2.73 in

favor

of

experimen

tal pupils

o

n th

Fr

ostig test. In

the

ab

sence of

interaction w

conclude

further that th

e benefits ac

cruin

from the Frostig

program

on

the Frostig te

score are

eq

ual

to prekinderga

rten, kinde

garten,

and firs

t

grade

pupils.

These

results

bear

out the initi

al

stud

with

one exception:

significant

interact

io

was

noted

in the i

nitial study, with

first-grad

pupils show

ing

sig

nificantly mor

e gain th

a

prekinder

garten

or

k

indergarten childre

This

same

result

o

ccurred but la

cked stati

st

cal signi

ficance. Most

important,

howeve

r,

dete

rmination th

at

the

Frostig program

doe



ro

du

ce

hig

he

r

Fro

sti

g s

cor

es

in

c

om

par

iso

n

o

co

ntr

ols

.

The

d

iffe

re

nce

no

te

d in

int

era

c

ion

pro

ba

bly

is

th

e res

ul

t

o

f

the

fac

t t

hat

a

ov

aria

nc

e a

nal

ysi

s w

as

a

pp

lied

in

the

in

itia

l

t

udy

u

sin

g

Fr

os

tig p

re-

tes

t s

cor

es as

a

con

l me

asu

re

w

hi

le t

his

c

ou

ld no

t be

d

one

in

hi

s

inv

est

iga

tio

n. S

in

ce

th

ere

is

litt

le re

as

on

o

believe

that

the

experimental

pupils began

e

y

ea

r at

a hig

he

r p

re-

tes

t l

eve

l th

an

co

n

rol

s, w

e m

ay

int

erp

re

t

t

he

hig

he

r

po

st-t

est

ore

s

a

s

r

esp

on

din

g to

the

Fro

sti

g

pro

gra

m.

M

ost

of th

e c

hil

dre

n

at

th

e k

ind

erg

ar

ten

lev

el

w

ho

se

F

ro

stig

sco

res

a

re

rep

ort

ed in

T

ab

le

also

took

the

Metropolitan Reading Readiness

T

est

at

th

e

en

d of

t

he sc

ho

ol

ye

ar.

T

he

m

ea

n

r

aw

sc

ore

m

ade

on

the

re

adi

ng

re

adi

nes

s

t

est

for

ex

pe

rim

en

tal

pu

pil

s

wa

s

3

7.2

2 an

d

a

s

tan

da

rd

d

ev

iati

on

of

14.

4.

Kin

de

rga

rte

n

c

on

tro

l pu

pils

ha

d a

m

ea

n

r

aw s

co

re

o

f

29

.9

0

o

n

the

rea

din

g

rea

din

es

s an

d

a sta

nd

ard

de

v

iat

ion

o

f

15

2

Th

e di

ffer

en

ce of

7.

32

fav

or

in

g

th

e ex

per

im

ent

al

p

upi

ls w

as

fo

un

d to

be

sig

nif

ica

nt

t=

2.

63,

d

f.

112

).

Es

sen

tia

lly

t

he

sam

e

co

m

par

iso

n w

as

made

in the

initial

study.

The

results

showed

the

exp

er

ime

nt

al

g

rou

p to

be

h

ig

her

tha

n

co

n

tr

ol

bu

t d

id

n

ot

re

ach

a

st

ati

stic

all

y

sig

ni

fi

ca

nt

d

iffe

ren

ce

. In

vie

w of

thi

s

rep

lic

ati

on,

it

see

ms

saf

e to

say

th

at

k

ind

er

gar

ten

p

up

ils

w

ho

ta

ke

the

F

ros

tig

pro

gra

m

gen

era

lly

wi

ll

sho

w hi

gh

er

M

etro

po

lita

n R

ea

din

g

R

ead

ine

ss

sco

res

.

S

inc

e

pu

pils

w

ho

tak

e t

he F

ro

stig

pr

o

gra

m

ac

hie

ve hi

gh

er o

n

b

oth

th

e F

ro

stig

test

a

nd

o

n

the

M

etr

opo

lita

n

Re

adi

ng

R

ea

din

ess

T

es

t

in co

mp

ari

son

to

c

on

tro

l, it

see

ms

r

ea

s

on

abl

e

to

c

on

clu

de

tha

t th

ere

i

s a

cor

rel

ati

on

between

the

two

tests. The correlation

co

eff

ici

ent

o

bt

ain

ed

bet

we

en

t

he

Fro

sti

g

te

st

s

cor

e

and

the

M

e

tro

pol

itan

R

ea

din

g

R

ea

di

n

es

s

raw

sco

re w

as

.55

6

a

mo

ng

t

he e

xp

eri

m

en

ta

l

pu

pils

a

nd

.65

9

am

ong

c

ont

rol

s.

T

hes

e

c

orr

ela

tion

s a

re

n

ot s

ign

ific

an

tly

dif

f

ere

nt

a

nd

r

efl

ect

a

m

o

der

ate

d

eg

ree

of

r

ela

t

ion

shi

p b

etw

ee

n t

he

tw

o

tes

ts.

ha

t i

s t

h

e

fir

st-g

rad

e pu

pil

s u

se

d

in

th

e

init

ial

stu

dy

we

re

in

the

sec

ond

gra

de

in 19

66-

67

.

Th

e

Fro

sti

g

sc

ore

s o

f

the

se

pu

pil

s

ob

tai

ned

i

n

S

ep

tem

be

r

o

f

th

e f

irs

t g

ra

de a

nd

aga

in

in

M

ay

of

t

he

fir

st g

rad

e we

re

b

oth

co

rre

lat

ed a

gai

nst

St

an

for

d

Pri

ma

ry

I r

ead

in

g

su

bte

sts

.

T

he

M

etro

po

lita

n

Re

adi

ng

Re

adi

nes

s

Te

st

sc

ore

s,

ob

tain

ed

by

ess

en

tia

lly

the

sa

me

pup

ils

at

th

e

end

of

t

he k

in

der

ga

rten

ye

ar, w

er

e al

so

co

r

r

ela

ted

w

ith

the

S

ta

nfo

rd re

ad

ing

su

bte

sts

.

The

results

of

these correlations

are seen in

Ta

ble

2

se

e

p

age

1

72

).

It

s

ho

uld

be

bo

rne

i

n

m

in

d th

at

bo

th

Fr

ost

ig

t

est

s w

ere

gi

ven

o

n

da

tes

c

o

th

e adm

in

ist

rat

ion

of

th

e

cr

iter

ion

re

ad

ing

tes

ts th

an

w

as

th

e M

etro

po

lita

n

R

ead

in

g

4

3 1 5

4 0

42



high

est

gro

up of correlations

was between

the Metropolitan

Reading Readin

ess

Test and

the re

ading test within the

control group, one

may con

clude that the Metrop

olitan tests

seem

to

be better predictors

of reading

ach

ievement

th

an the Fro

stig tests.

This

question was pursued by studyi

ng the

av

erage reading

scores of

th

e

same

pupils

on

whom the

co

rrelations in

Table 2 were

based.

It

should be bo

rne

in mind

that

these

reading

tests were

given

at the end of gra

de

two

while

the

experimental

pup

ils we

re

defined

as

pupils

having

one y

ear

of

the Frostig pro

gram

in the

f s compared to con

trols who did not

take

the

Frostig program

in

the

first grade.

Summary

of

the results

is

shown in Table

3

The

data

shown in

Table 3

bear

out

what was

learned previously, i.e., th

at there

is

little relationsh

ip

betwe

en Frostig

scores

and readin

g

achievem

ent. Thus we n

ote that,

while

the

Frosti

g sco

res of

the experimental

gro

up exceed

those

of the

controls by 3.55,

ne

vertheless the

reading subtest

scores

are

consistently

in

f

avor of the control

group.

Two of the three

subtests

show

sig

nificant

differences favoring the control

group.

In

all

probab

ility the reading d

ifferences favoring

co

ntrols

are

due to

initial

ly

h

igher levels

of

ach

ievement by

the control grou

p.

Thus

it

is apparent that

high

Frostig

test

per

form

ance is no

guarantee

of higher

reading

achievem

ent.

irs

t-grade

Frostig childre

n

in

1966-67

were

divided

into

two

groups, one group wh

o had taken the

Frostig program

as

kindergarteners

and a

second group

who were

be

ginning the

Frostig

progr

am for the first time in

the first grade.

End of

first-grade Frostig scores were

com

pared

between

t

he two-year an

d one-year

Fr

ostig pupils as well

as

against

controls. In

additio

n, this first-grade group

was given

the

Gates-M

acGinitie test at

the

end o

f

their first

grade, thus

per

mitting compariso

n of reading

achievement

of two-year Frostig

pupils, one-

year

Frostig program pup

ils, and

controls.

These results are sh

own

in

Table 4

Inspection

of Table 4 reve

als immedi

ately

that

the

two-year Frostig gr

oup, i.e.,

pupils w

ho took the Frostig program

in kin

dergarten a

n grade

one perform

ed higher

on

the

Frostig test

51.57)

than did

pupils

who

took

the Frosti

g

prog

ram in grade one

onl

y 48.68). Both

of

the

Frostig groups in

turn scored hig

her

on

the

Frostig

test

tha

n

did

the

control pupils

who had

a

mean Frostig

score of 44.06. Thus,

it

is apparent

that the

Frostig program does

have cumulative effect

s

o

n

the

Frost

ig test s ore the longer a pupil

is

in the program, th

e higher is his

Frostig

test score.

C

omparison of

the Gates readi

ng

score

s

shows

a

picture

favorable to the Frostig

groups.

In b

oth

the voca

bulary and com

prehension subtests

b

oth

Fro

stig

g

roups

scored higher than

did

the

control

s.

One-

y

ear

and

two-year Frostig

progr

am

p

upils

te

nd to

score similarly on

both

vocabulary

and com

prehension

while both

score

com-



pa

ratively

higher than

controls.

For

both

subtests howeve

r

an

alysis of

varian

ce

showed no signifi

cant difference among the

th

ree

groups

on

either the vocabulary

or the

comprehension subtests.

The lack of signifi

cant

difference revealed by the analysis of

variance was a result of

lar

ge variation

within each

of

the

three

groups.

I

n view of the comparati

ve achievement

of Frostig and control

pupils

on

reading

tests

at

the

end of grade

tw

o

re

ported earlier),

one

is inclined to

accept

th

e

analysis

of vari

ance at face value and

conclude

that

there

is no signi

ficant difference in the achieve

ment of

Frostig

pro

gram pupils

and

controls

on

reading tests

at

the end of

grade

one.

The results of

this

study

may

be

sum

marized briefly

as

follows:

1

Pupils who take the Frostig

program in

prekindergarten kindergarten or first grade

tend to show

higher

le

vels

of

visual-perceptual

performance on the Frost

ig

test

in comparison

to control

pup

ils.

2.

There is a moderate degree of corre

la

tion between Frostig scores and

the Metropolitan

Reading Readiness

sco

res resulting

in

the

fact

that

higher scoring Frostig pupils tend

to

be

higher

sco

ring pupils in terms of reading readi

ness

te

sts.

3. The predictiv

e

validit

y of

both

the

Fros

tig

test

and

the Metropolita

n Reading

Readiness

Test s

quite

low using standardized

reading tes

ts

as

criteria.

4. Pupils who take the

Frostig program

seem

to

have no particular

adva

ntage

as far as

future

reading achievement is concerned as

compared to pupils who do not take

the Frostig

program.

5. Pupils who take the Frostig program

fo

two con

secutive years

achieve

higher on the

F

rostig test compared to pupils who take

the

Frostig

program

for one

year

who

in turn

achiev

e

better

th

an

pupils who do

not

take

the

Frostig

program in

either

grade.

One other finding not discussed in

the

body of

this

report relates

to

subtest

analy

ses. In the original

study

the only

subtes

which show

ed

a

significant difference favor

in

g Frostig pupils

was

the Form Constancy

subtest. This

finding

was disturbing

in tha

we could

not explain

why

this should

happen

In the present

study however

we found

tha

experimental pupils in general performed

higher

on a f the five

subtests

than

did the

controls.

The differences favoring the exp

eri

mental

Frostig group

on

each test were as

fol

lows: Eye-Motor

Coordination

+.81;

Figure

Ground + .61;

Form

Cons

tancy

+.62

Position

in Space

+.8

2;

Spatial Relations

.35 . These

results are much

mor

e reason

able and highlight the

im

portance of rep

lica

tion

in

studies of

this

type.

O

ne could argue that the

differences in

mental ability of

the comparison groups coul

account for

any

observed

differences in

cri

terion

mea

sures. In this regard

it

is inter

es

ting

to

note

that

the mean

IQ's

as measure

by

the

Pintner Cunningham

Mental

Abilit

Tests

of

the groups shown in Table 4 wer

92

for the

two-year

Frostig

g

roup 91 for th

one-year Frostig group

and 88

for the con

trol group. Since the

se

ment

al tests wer

gi

ven at the

end

of the year or at

the sam

time

tha

t the criterion tests were

adminis

tered one might argue that

the difference

in

IQ were a respons

e

to

the Frostig program

One could als

o

argue that

these difference

in

mental

ability while small may

accoun

7

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