The Impact of Word Knowledge Instruction on Literacy Outcomes in Grade 5. REL 2021-083
Foorman, Barbara R.; Herrera, Sarah; Dombek, Jennifer L.; Wood, Carla; Gaughn, Linda; Dougherty-Underwood, Lynn (2021). Regional Educational Laboratory Southeast. Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED611683
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examining2,208Students, grade5
Single Study Review
Review Details
Reviewed: February 2024
- Single Study Review (findings for Word Knowledge Instruction (WKI))
- Randomized Controlled Trial
- Meets WWC standards with reservations because it is a cluster randomized controlled trial with high individual-level non-response, but provides evidence of effects on individuals by satisfying the baseline equivalence requirement for the individuals in the analytic intervention and comparison groups.
This review may not reflect the full body of research evidence for this intervention.
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Findings
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Real-Word Decomposition (researcher developed) |
Word Knowledge Instruction (WKI) vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Full sample;
|
12.76 |
11.71 |
Yes |
|
|
|
|
Nonword Derivation (researcher developed) |
Word Knowledge Instruction (WKI) vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Full sample;
|
9.62 |
8.81 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Inferencing of Word Meaning (researcher developed) |
Word Knowledge Instruction (WKI) vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Full sample;
|
7.74 |
7.79 |
No |
-- | ||
| Show Supplemental Findings | |||||||||
|
Real-Word Decomposition (researcher developed) |
Word Knowledge Instruction (WKI) vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
English Language Learners;
|
12.51 |
11.23 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Inferencing of Word Meaning (researcher developed) |
Word Knowledge Instruction (WKI) vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
English Language Learners;
|
7.57 |
7.57 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Nonword Derivation (researcher developed) |
Word Knowledge Instruction (WKI) vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
English Language Learners;
|
8.42 |
8.40 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Florida Standards Assessment English Language Arts (FSA-ELA) |
Word Knowledge Instruction (WKI) vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Full sample;
|
317.32 |
316.88 |
No |
-- | ||
| Show Supplemental Findings | |||||||||
|
Florida Standards Assessment English Language Arts (FSA-ELA) |
Word Knowledge Instruction (WKI) vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
English Language Learners;
|
316.10 |
315.43 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
i-Ready Vocabulary |
Word Knowledge Instruction (WKI) vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Full sample;
|
566.21 |
566.92 |
No |
-- | ||
| Show Supplemental Findings | |||||||||
|
i-Ready Vocabulary |
Word Knowledge Instruction (WKI) vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
English Language Learners;
|
560.61 |
559.57 |
No |
-- | ||
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Sample Characteristics
Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.
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20% English language learners -
Other or unknown: 100% -
Urban
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Florida
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Race Asian 2% Black 21% Other or unknown 59% White 18% -
Ethnicity Hispanic 54% Not Hispanic or Latino 46% -
Eligible for Free and Reduced Price Lunch Free or reduced price lunch (FRPL) 85% No FRPL 15%
Study Details
Setting
This study was conducted in a large urban school district in central Florida. Elementary schools were eligible to participate in the study if at least 60 percent of students in the school were eligible for free or reduced-price lunch and the school had at least two grade 5 English language arts teachers.
Study sample
Over half (54%) of the sample was Hispanic, with 18 percent reporting their race as White, non-Hispanic, 21 percent African American, and 2 percent Asian. Twenty percent were English language learners, and 85 percent were eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.
Intervention Group
Word Knowledge Instruction (WKI) is a curriculum designed to improve fifth-grade students' reading achievement by enhancing word knowledge through increased morphological awareness, or understanding of the minimal units of meaning in multisyllabic words. WKI includes strategies to improve students' understanding of the complex informational science and social studies text taught in the grade 5 English language arts curriculum and to help students infer the meaning of new words and expand their vocabulary in the upper elementary and middle school grades. WKI includes 15-minute lessons taught 4 days a week for 20 weeks. Each week the lesson focuses on a single affix (prefix or suffix). Morphological awareness is taught by deconstructing and constructing words, composing sentences, defining words, contrasting base words with new words derived by adding affixes; and creating family trees by adding affixes to base and root words.
Comparison Group
Students in the comparison condition received the school district's state-adopted English language arts curriculum and core reading program materials (Journeys) taught to all fifth-grade students. The curriculum includes instruction on affixes, including 16 affixes that also appear in WKI lessons.
Support for implementation
Intervention teachers attended a 2.5-day training during the summer prior to implementation provided by the WKI developers. Teachers also received ongoing support throughout the 20-week intervention period.
An indicator of the effect of the intervention, the improvement index can be interpreted as the expected change in percentile rank for an average comparison group student if that student had received the intervention.
For more, please see the WWC Glossary entry for improvement index.
An outcome is the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are attained as a result of an activity. An outcome measures is an instrument, device, or method that provides data on the outcome.
A finding that is included in the effectiveness rating. Excluded findings may include subgroups and subscales.
The sample on which the analysis was conducted.
The group to which the intervention group is compared, which may include a different intervention, business as usual, or no services.
The timing of the post-intervention outcome measure.
The number of students included in the analysis.
The mean score of students in the intervention group.
The mean score of students in the comparison group.
The WWC considers a finding to be statistically significant if the likelihood that the finding is due to chance alone, rather than a real difference, is less than five percent.
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Study findings for this report.
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as defined in the
non-regulatory guidance for ESSA
and the regulations for ED discretionary grants (EDGAR Part 77).