Project Activities
Grade Span: Prekindergarten through Grade 3
School Partners: Hamilton School District, Worthington School District (Ohio), Lee's Summit R–7, School District (Missouri), Kyrene Elementary School District (Arizona), Gilbert Public Schools (Arizona), Mesa Unified School District (Arizona), Lincoln Public Schools (Nebraska)
Basic cognitive studies
The explicit contributions of lower and higher level language skills during early and middle childhood to individual differences in development and achievement of listening and reading comprehension will be studied. A geographically diverse sample of 1,279 prekindergarten through third grade children will complete a comprehensive battery of measures each year of the study. A cohort of 286 English language learners in prekindergarten will also be followed longitudinally. Measures of language skills, listening and reading comprehension, working memory and cognitive processes, phonological awareness and decoding, behavior regulation, motivation, and home and classroom environmental attributes will be analyzed using multivariate, multilevel, latent variable analysis. Analyses will be conducted to identify malleable factors to inform the development of interventions.
Key Personnel: Stephen Petrill (OSU), Hugh Catts (KU), Kate Cain (UL), Tiffany Hogan (UNL), James Bovaird (UNL), Richard Lomax (OSU), Jill Pentimonti (OSU)
Intervention developed
Using a design experiment approach, the interventions will be developed and subjected to five phases of revision during the first 3 years of the project. Measures of fidelity of implementation will be developed for use in the iterative refinement as well as future efficacy studies.
Key Personnel: Laura Justice (OSU), Shayne Piasta (OSU), Shelley Gray (ASU), Adelaida Restrepo (ASU), Diane Nielson (KU), Tiffany Hogan (UNL), Mindy Bridges (KU)
Efficacy studies
The efficacy of the interventions will be tested in a design in which teachers within schools are randomly assigned to use the new interventions. Teachers will be randomly assigned within each grade level within each of the four sites to participate in one of three study conditions: the comprehensive instantiation, the light instantiation, or a business-as-usual condition. Teacher and child data on major outcomes of interest will be collected in the fall and spring. Classroom observations, teacher surveys, and teacher logs will be utilized to provide information on the quantity and quality of classroom language and reading instruction. Multi-level models will be used to determine the impact of the comprehension interventions relative to the comparison condition. Interaction terms will be included to examine teacher and child factors that may influence intervention effects.
Key Personnel: Laura Justice (OSU), Shayne Piasta (OSU), Shelley Gray (ASU), Adelaida Restrepo (ASU), Diane Nielson (KU), Ann O'Connell (OSU), Mindy Bridges (KU)
Structured Abstract
Findings from the basic cognitive studies will inform the iterative development of a set of classroom-based language interventions intended to increase children's lower and higher level language skills. The design of the intervention package (one for each grade level) will address eight elements: instructional context; scope and sequence; instructional techniques; book selection and materials; lesson format; intensity and duration; curriculum-based assessment; and professional development. Each intervention package will be developed in two instantiations: the comprehensive instantiation, in which grade-specific scripted lesson plans encompass five different types of lessons; or the light instantiation, in which grade-specific scripted lesson plans encompass five different types with increased opportunities for practice. Similar interventions for English language learner students will be developed for use in bilingual instruction in prekindergarten.
People and institutions involved
IES program contact(s)
Project contributors
Products and publications
Project website:
Publications:
Alonzo, C., Yeomans-Maldonado, G., Murphy, K., Bevens, B., and Language and Reading Research Consortium (LARRC). (In Press) Predicting Second Grade Listening Comprehension Using Pre-Kindergarten Measures. Topics In Language Disorders.
Language and Reading Research Consortium (2015). Learning to Read: Should We Keep Things Simple? Reading Research Quarterly 50, 151-169.
Language and Reading Research Consortium (2015). The Dimensionality of Spanish in Young Spanish-English Dual-Language Learners. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 58: 754-66. doi:10.1044/2015_JSLHR-L-13-0266. ERIC Number: EJ1067954
Language and Reading Research Consortium (2016). Use of the Curriculum Research Framework (CRF) for Developing a Reading-Comprehension Curricular Supplement for the Primary Grades. Elementary School Journal, 116(3), 43-70.
Language and Reading Research Consortium (2015). The Dimensionality of Language Ability in Young Children. Child Development, 86: 1948-1965. doi: 10.1111/cdev.12450
Language and Reading Research Consortium (LARRC). (in press). Oral Language and Listening Comprehension: Same or Different Constructs? Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research.
Language and Reading Research Consortium Arthur, A.M., & Davis, D.L. (2016). A Pilot Study of the Impact of Double-Dose Robust Vocabulary Instruction on Children's Vocabulary Growth. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 9(2),173-196. DOI: 10.1080/19345747.2015.1126875
Language and Reading Research Consortium, Farquharson, K., & Murphy, K. (2016). Ten Steps to Conducting a Large, Multi-site Longitudinal Investigation of Language and Reading in Young Children. Frontiers in Developmental Psychology, 30 March 2016. http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00419
Language and Reading Research Consortium, Johanson, M., & Arthur, A. (2015). Improving the Language Skills of Pre-Kindergarten Students: Preliminary Impacts of the Let's Know! Experimental Curriculum. Child and Youth Care Forum. doi: 10.1007/s10566-015-9332-z
Language and Reading Research Consortium (LARRC) and Logan, J.. (in press). Pressure Points in Reading Comprehension: A Quantile Multiple Regression Analysis. Journal of Educational Psychology.
Language and Reading Research Consortium, Pratt, A. & Logan, J. (2014) Improving Language-Focused Comprehension Instruction in Primary-Grade Classrooms: Impacts of the Let's Know! Experimental Curriculum. Educational Psychology Review, 26, 357-377 doi: 10.1007/s10648-014-9271-5. ERIC Number: EJ1040795
McIlraith, A. and Language and Reading research Consortium (in press). Predicting Word Reading Ability. A Quantile Regression Study. Journal of Research in Reading.
Questions about this project?
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