Supporting Knowledge and Language Acquisition of Secondary Emergent Bilinguals through Social Studies Instruction
Leticia R. Martinez; Sarah Fishstrom; Sharon Vaughn; Philip Capin; Coleen D. Carlson; Tim T. Andress; David J. Francis (2024). Reading Research Quarterly, v59 n3 p349-370 2024. Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1432501
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examining665Students, grades6-7
Single Study Review
Review Details
Reviewed: September 2024
- Single Study Review (findings for World Generation (WorldGen))
- Randomized Controlled Trial
- Meets WWC standards with reservations because it is a compromised cluster randomized controlled trial that provides evidence of effects on clusters by demonstrating the analytic sample of individuals is representative of the clusters and satisfying baseline equivalence of the clusters 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
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Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Show Supplemental Findings | |||||||||
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Think Like A Historian |
World Generation (WorldGen) vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Emergent Bilingual Students;
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5.10 |
4.81 |
No |
-- | ||
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Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
World History Content Knowledge |
World Generation (WorldGen) vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Full sample;
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0.57 |
0.48 |
No |
-- | ||
| Show Supplemental Findings | |||||||||
|
World History Content Knowledge |
World Generation (WorldGen) vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Emergent Bilingual Students;
|
0.55 |
0.47 |
Yes |
|
||
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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42% English language learners -
Female: 45%
Male: 48%
Other or unknown: 7% -
Suburban, Urban
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Massachusetts, Texas
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Race Asian 2% Black 1% Other or unknown 90% White 7% -
Ethnicity Hispanic 81% Other or unknown 19% -
Eligible for Free and Reduced Price Lunch Other or unknown 100%
Study Details
Setting
The study was conducted at three middle schools in two school districts located in Massachusetts and Texas. The student populations in both school districts were primarily Hispanic, Emergent Bilingual, and economically disadvantaged. One district was urban, and the other was suburban. The study included 33 world history classes taught by seven teachers across the three middle schools.
Study sample
A total of 665 students in grades 6–7 were included in the study. The 665 students in three middle schools were taught by seven teachers across 33 world history classes. Approximately 48% of students were male and 45% of students were female. Forty-two percent of students were classified as Emergent Bilinguals. Seven percent were White, 2% were Asian, 1% were Black, and 90% did not report race. Eighty-one percent were Hispanic or Latino, and 19% did not report ethnicity.
Intervention Group
World Generation (WorldGen) is a Tier 1 social studies instructional approach for students in grades 6–7. WorldGen includes four instructional units focused on four ancient civilizations: Egypt, Greece, Rome, and Pompeii. Each unit includes nine 50-minute sessions intended to be implemented over a two-week period. The units provide daily opportunities for purposeful language use, link historical content to contemporary issues, provide structured peer interactions through team-based learning, and allow students to engage in oral and written activities.
Comparison Group
Students in the comparison group received business-as-usual grade 6–7 world history instruction.
Support for implementation
Teachers received a one-day, eight-hour workshop before implementing the curriculum. They then received ongoing coaching throughout the study. The workshop provided an overview of the study, research on instruction for Emergent Bilingual students, the unit structure, and each component of WorldGen. The workshop also allowed teachers to practice with lessons and materials from the first unit. Coaching included two in-class coaching visits and ongoing support through phone or video calls.
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.
The WWC reviews studies for WWC products, Department of Education grant competitions, and IES performance measures.
The name and version of the document used to guide the review of the study.
The version of the WWC design standards used to guide the review of the study.
The result of the WWC assessment of the study. The rating is based on the strength of evidence of the effectiveness of the intervention. Studies are given a rating of Meets WWC Design Standards without Reservations, Meets WWC Design Standards with Reservations, or >Does Not Meet WWC Design Standards.
A related publication that was reviewed alongside the main study of interest.
Study findings for this report.
Based on the direction, magnitude, statistical significance, and sample size of the findings within a domain, the WWC assigns effectiveness ratings as one of the following: Tier 1 (strong evidence), Tier 2 (moderate evidence), Tier 3 (promising evidence), uncertain effects, and negative effects. For more detail, please see the WWC Handbook.
The WWC may review studies for multiple purposes, including different reports and re-reviews using updated standards. Each WWC review of this study is listed in the dropdown. Details on any review may be accessed by making a selection from the drop down list.
Tier 1 Strong indicates strong evidence of effectiveness,
Tier 2 Moderate indicates moderate evidence of effectiveness, and
Tier 3 Promising indicates promising evidence of effectiveness,
as defined in the
non-regulatory guidance for ESSA
and the regulations for ED discretionary grants (EDGAR Part 77).