WWC review of this study

A Multisite Randomized Controlled Trial of the Effectiveness of "Descubriendo la Lectura"

Borman, Geoffrey D.; Borman, Trisha H.; Park, So Jung; Houghton, Scott (2020). American Educational Research Journal, v57 n5 p1995-2020 Oct 2020. Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1267754

  • Randomized Controlled Trial
     examining 
    176
     Students
    , grade
    1

Reviewed: March 2023

At least one finding shows promising evidence of effectiveness
At least one statistically significant positive finding
Meets WWC standards without reservations
Proficiency in a Language Other Than English outcomes—Statistically significant positive effect found for the domain
Outcome
measure
Comparison Period Sample Intervention
mean
Comparison
mean
Significant? Improvement
    index
Evidence
tier

Instrumento de Observación (IDO) - Text reading

Descubriendo La Lectura (DLL) vs. Business as usual

0 Days

Full sample;
176 students

0.58

-0.66

Yes

 
 
39
 

Instrumento de Observación (IDO) - Writing Vocabulary

Descubriendo La Lectura (DLL) vs. Business as usual

0 Days

Full sample;
176 students

0.50

-0.57

Yes

 
 
36
 

Instrumento de Observación (IDO) - Concepts About Print

Descubriendo La Lectura (DLL) vs. Business as usual

0 Days

Full sample;
176 students

0.43

-0.50

Yes

 
 
32
 

Instrumento de Observación (IDO) - Letter Identification

Descubriendo La Lectura (DLL) vs. Business as usual

0 Days

Full sample;
176 students

0.23

-0.26

Yes

 
 
19
 

Instrumento de Observación (IDO) - Ohio Word Test

Descubriendo La Lectura (DLL) vs. Business as usual

0 Days

Full sample;
176 students

0.24

-0.27

Yes

 
 
19
 

Logramos - Vocabulary subtest

Descubriendo La Lectura (DLL) vs. Business as usual

0 Days

Full sample;
110 students

0.26

-0.22

Yes

 
 
18
 

Instrumento de Observación (IDO) - Sounds in Words

Descubriendo La Lectura (DLL) vs. Business as usual

0 Days

Full sample;
176 students

0.22

-0.25

Yes

 
 
18
 

Logramos - Reading subtest

Descubriendo La Lectura (DLL) vs. Business as usual

0 Days

Full sample;
110 students

0.22

-0.19

Yes

 
 
15
 

Logramos - Word Analysis subtest

Descubriendo La Lectura (DLL) vs. Business as usual

0 Days

Full sample;
110 students

0.19

-0.17

Yes

 
 
14
 


Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.

Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.


  • 79% English language learners

  • Female: 37%
    Male: 63%

  • Urban
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    West
  • Race
    Other or unknown
    80%
    Two or more races
    20%
  • Ethnicity
    Hispanic    
    100%
  • Eligible for Free and Reduced Price Lunch
    Free or reduced price lunch (FRPL)    
    99%
    No FRPL    
    1%

Setting

The study took place in 15 elementary schools in two urban school districts, one in the Southwest and one in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States. All participating schools offered transitional bilingual programs.

Study sample

The researchers randomly assigned 98 students to the intervention group and 89 students to the comparison group. A total of 176 students in grade 1 were included in the study. The 176 students were in 15 elementary schools. All students were Spanish-speaking, most (79%) were English learners, and all identified as needing additional support in reading. Approximately 63% of the students were male, almost all (99%) were eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, and 6% were receiving special education services. All students were Hispanic or Latino (and 20% identified as two or more races).

Intervention Group

Descubriendo la Lectura (DLL) is a one-on-one tutoring program implemented in Spanish by trained bilingual teachers to Spanish-speaking students in grade 1 who are identified as needing additional support in reading. Students in the intervention group received DLL in addition to their regular bilingual instruction. Bilingual teachers implemented DLL for 30 minutes each day during the fall semester. Lessons are tailored to the student’s specific literacy needs and are oriented around reading books, writing stories, and working with letters or words. Teachers complete daily monitoring tools that inform how to adapt the lessons to a student’s individual needs and determine the focus of the next day’s lesson. Students progressed through the program at their own pace, typically over 12–20 weeks. The individualized support that DLL teachers provided was supplemental to students’ regular literacy instruction in class. As such, in this study, DLL services were offered at times that did not interrupt students’ core academic instruction, such as during recess or physical education.

Comparison Group

Students in the comparison group continued their regular bilingual instruction but did not receive one-on-one tutoring through the DLL program in the fall semester. Teachers monitored their academic progress and often provided small group, supplemental reading instruction or, in rare cases, special education services. Once the study concluded, these students were eligible to receive DLL.

Support for implementation

Teachers offering DLL must hold state-required certification, have at least 3 years of overall teaching experience, and have demonstrated successful bilingual teaching. Teachers additionally completed a 1-year master’s level Reading Recovery class followed by a second year of training in DLL offered by teacher leaders and university-based trainers. While implementing DLL, teachers regularly consulted with teacher leaders about students’ progress and participated in ongoing one-on-one coaching and a minimum of four professional development sessions annually. They also received at least one classroom visit annually from a teacher leader experienced in DLL.

 

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