Washington Research Institute

The goal of this project is to study the efficacy of a supplemental reading intervention for English language learners (ELLs) in kindergarten called Early Vocabulary Connections (Connections). This intervention is designed to coordinate the development of beginning decoding skills, spelling, and vocabulary knowledge in English. In addition to immediate effects on word reading and vocabulary, participation in Connections is hypothesized to improve learning of new vocabulary and general compre...

The ability to understand written text is highly dependent on knowing the meaning of individual words. The well-established positive relation between vocabulary and comprehension suggests that high quality vocabulary instruction should benefit comprehension. In this efficacy study, the research team will test the efficacy of rich vocabulary (RVOC) instruction compared to typical (i.e., business-as-usual) vocabulary instruction for students in fourth and fifth grade. RVOC instruction is i...

In this project, the researchers proposed to test the efficacy of the Quick Reads fluency program as a supplementary or remedial intervention to improve student outcomes. The researchers aimed to provide evidence on whether Quick Reads could be used effectively by paraprofessionals with groups of two or four students. At the time of this project, paraprofessional tutors were often assigned to work with students with poor reading comprehension, but they often lack access to research-based pro...

One of the greatest challenges facing U.S. public schools today is to ensure that increasingly large numbers of English language learners become proficient readers. English language learners are the fastest growing population in U.S. schools, increasing 65 percent since 1994. In urban schools, English language learners account for 21 percent of students. To date, little research has been conducted to rigorously evaluate the effects of curricula intended to improve reading instruction for stu...