The purpose of this study was to determine whether commercially available software used with enhancement could improve discourse skills in Head Start students over improvements obtained without enhancement, and over improvements of ordinary classroom instruction. Head Start students (N = 93) in the software conditions received instruction over three months. Pretest/posttest scores on the Preschool Language Assessment Instrument of the seventy-eight students who completed the program were analyzed with a 3 × 2 repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA). No statistically significant differences were found for treatment. A significant difference was found for time. A 3 × 2 analysis of variance with the first factor treatment group and the second factor level of functioning (high/low) was also computed. There was no significant main effect for treatment. However, a significant main effect on the PLAI I score for low functioning students was found in both computer training conditions. Suggestions for future research are provided.
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