Structured Abstract
Setting
This project will take place in working class communities in the Northwest and urban settings in the Mid-Atlantic.
Sample
Two groups of students are participating in this project: native English speakers from working class communities and English language learners from urban settings.
Intervention
The Read Aloud Curriculum consists of nine 2-week units on different animals, topics that are of high interest to first-grade students and also meet state content standards in science. Each unit pairs a narrative storybook and an expository book. Lessons include before, during, and after reading components, and emphasize setting a purpose for reading, building vocabulary knowledge, making text-to-text and text-to-life connections, and having children retell stories or information on a regular basis.
Research design and methods
Two groups of 12 teachers are randomly assigned to experimental and control conditions. Four successive student groups, nested within classroom, will participate in the experimental or control condition.
Control condition
Teachers in the control condition engage in their normal read aloud practices. They will be asked to engage in read aloud activities for the same amount of time as the experimental teachers.
Key measures
Both standardized and experimenter-developed measures are being used to assess (a) student comprehension and vocabulary knowledge, (b) student engagement during story read aloud, (c) implementation fidelity among teachers, and (d) teacher perceptions of the story read aloud time at general and specific levels.
Data analytic strategy
Multivariate analysis of variance techniques and hierarchical linear modeling will be used to test the effectiveness of the curriculum and the underlying factors that influence impact.
People and institutions involved
IES program contact(s)
Products and publications
ERIC Citations: Find available citations in ERIC for this award here.
WWC Review: Baker, S. K., Santoro, L. E., Chard, D. J., Fien, H., Park, Y., & Otterstedt, J. (2013). An Evaluation of an Explicit Read Aloud Intervention Taught in Whole-Classroom Formats in First Grade. The Elementary School Journal, 113(3), 331-358. [WWC Review]
Select Publications:
Journal articles Baker, S.K., Santoro, L., Chard, D.J., Fien, H., Park,Y., and Otterstedt, J. (2013). An Evaluation of an Explicit Read Aloud Intervention Taught in Whole-Classroom Formats in First Grade. The Elementary School Journal, 113(3): 331-358.
Fien, H., Santoro, L., Baker, S.K., Park, Y., Chard, D.J., Williams, S., and Haria, P. (2011). Enhancing Teacher Read Alouds With Small-Group Vocabulary Instruction for Students With Low Vocabulary in First-Grade Classrooms. School Psychology Review, 40(2): 307-318.
Santoro, L. E., Baker, S. K., Fien, H., Smith, J. L. M., & Chard, D. J. (2016). Using Read-Alouds to Help Struggling Readers Access and Comprehend Complex, Informational Text. TEACHING Exceptional Children, 48(6), 282-292.
Related projects
Supplemental information
Co-Principal Investigator(s): Santoro, Lana Edwards; Chard, David
Questions about this project?
To answer additional questions about this project or provide feedback, please contact the program officer.
