Description:

Co-Principal Investigator(s): Solari, Emily; Wilhoit, Brian

Purpose: In this project, researchers aimed to develop an empirically based vocabulary curriculum embedded with writing instruction and determine the role of vocabulary instruction in the development of language arts proficiencies in young students called Vocabulary Enrichment Project. These goals stemmed from national concerns regarding school readiness among young students and the vocabulary demands of comprehending written language that were present at the time of this study. The researchers focused on vocabulary as a central component of oral language development and writing as one manifestation of literate language during the acquisition of literacy in the early grades.

Project Activities: The researchers aimed to

1. develop a vocabulary curriculum for early primary grades that uses an empirical base for word selection and embeds opportunities for writing instruction into the curriculum approach
2. explore the potential effects of the developed curriculum on reading outcomes
3. examine how professional development, teacher knowledge, and quality of teaching moderate relations between curriculum implementation and literacy outcomes

Structured Abstract

THE FOLLOWING CONTENT DESCRIBES THE PROJECT AT THE TIME OF FUNDING

Setting: The schools are located in Texas.

Sample: Participants will include 400 kindergarten and first grade students from public schools serving low-income populations. This school districts student population consists of 30 percent African American, 57 percent Hispanic (any race), 9 percent European American, and less than 5 percent other. Eighty percent of students come from economically disadvantaged homes.

Intervention: The primary objectives of this project are to develop an empirically based vocabulary curriculum (the Vocabulary Enrichment Project) and to determine the role of vocabulary instruction in the development of language arts proficiencies in young students. Vocabulary curricula will be developed and piloted and then implemented in kindergarten and first grade classes. The intervention will

1. incorporate writing activities directly into the lessons to enhance transfer of decontextualized oral language to written language
2. increase the number of lessons (weeks) per year from 20 to 30, thereby increasing the number of instructed words from 300 to 450 per year
3. multiply the effect of instructed words on vocabulary learning by selecting root words that are rare in the basal reading programs but frequent in children's literature. When root words are known, the derivations and inflections are typically known as well, thereby multiplying the effect of teaching the root words
4. increase opportunity for incidental learning by providing challenging words related to the target words in a section of the curriculum lesson called "Scaffolding"

Research Design and Methods: During phase 1, the researchers will develop vocabulary curricula and pilot it with participation from teachers. In phase 2, they will implement the curriculum in 10 kindergarten and 10 grade 1 classes. In phase 3, an experimental group will implement the intervention using the basal language arts curriculum (Open Court Reading) plus the experimental vocabulary curriculum (the Vocabulary Enrichment Project). The researchers will randomly assign 20 kindergarten and 20 grade 1 classrooms to either the intervention or control condition, and 10 students randomly selected from each class will be assessed. Thus, 400 students from these 40 classrooms will be assessed for instructional effects.

Control Condition: A comparison group will implement the same basal language arts program (Open Court Reading) with professional development and support enhancing instruction in the existing vocabulary sections.

Key Measures: In kindergarten, listening comprehension will be measured with the understanding spoken paragraphs from the CELF-4. Phonological sensitivity will be measured with the Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing. Vocabulary will be measured using three different assessments: the Expressive Vocabulary Test, the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, and the word association test from the CELF-4. In first grade, word reading will be measured with WJIII Letter-Word Identification, and reading comprehension will be measured with WJ-III Passage Comprehension.

Data Analytic Strategy: Assessment of academic outcomes and growth will be based on within-year analyses from multilevel and multivariate perspectives.

Related IES Projects:?Development of Integrated Text Level Curricula for Kindergarten Through Second Grade Students (R305A100993)

Products AND Publications

ERIC Citations: Find available citations in ERIC for this award here.