Interventions to Improve Outcomes for English Language Learners

1
Interventions to Improve Outcomes for English
Language Learners

• Principal Investigator Jorge Gonzalez
• Co-Principal Investigators
• Sharolyn D. Pollard-Durodola
• Deborah Simmons
• Texas AM University

Texas AM University, Department of Educational
PsychologyInstitute of Education Sciences 2008
Research Conference, Washington, DC, June 10-12,
2008
2
Acknowledgements
Leslie Simmons, Project Coordinator Kim Williams,
Project Specialist Graduate Students Morgan
Sowell Matt Davis Sophia Tani-Prado Vivina
Rivera Alicia Darensbourg
3
Education Problem

• A meta-analysis of vocabulary instruction shows a
  strong effect (ES .97) for taught vocabulary
  (Stahl Fairbanks, 2006)
• Providing rich instruction of vocabulary
  positively impacts comprehension of texts
  containing taught words, especially for ELL
  (Pressley Fingeret, 2007).
• Vocabulary is one of the best predictors of
  reading comprehension for English ELL (Proctor
  et al., 2005).
• Despite improvements there remains a significant
  vocabulary gap between children whose primary
  language is English and children who are English
  language learners (NAEP, 2007).

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Summary of Vocabulary Research with ELLs

• August Snow (2007) identified only 7
  experimental and quasi-experimental studies
  targeting vocabulary involving ELLs at the
  elementary level.
• Majority of interventions focused on teaching
  vocabulary in the context of book reading.
• None involved preschool children.

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Research Questions

• 1) What is the effect of the WORLD preschool
  shared-book reading program on standardized
  measures of receptive and expressive vocabulary?
• 2) What is the effect of the WORLD preschool
  shared-reading program on researcher-developed
  measures of receptive and expressive vocabulary?

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Design Principles to Accelerate Vocabulary and
Concept Development

1. Big Ideas Identify critical concepts based on
   state and national standards.
2. Teach High priority vocabulary directly.
3. Strategic Integration Combine inside the book
   and outside the book opportunities.
4. Range of Examples Communicate critical
   attributes of concepts.
5. Cumulative Review Teach words in instructional
   cycles for entire theme.
6. Scaffolding Task difficulty in priority skills
   result in high levels of success.

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Intervention Building Blocks
8
Participants
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Measures

• Pre-testing (August, 2006)
• Post-testing (December, 2006).
• Standardized
• Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test III
• Expressive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test
• Researcher-Developed Vocabulary Measures
• Receptive Vocabulary Test (RDRVT)
• Expressive Picture Vocabulary Test (RDEPVT)

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Procedures

• Treatment Group
• Treatment teachers used the shared-book reading
  intervention for 12 weeks, 15-20 minutes per day,
  5 days per week in groups of 8-10 preschoolers.
• Comparison Group
• Comparison teachers engaged in practice-as-usual
  classroom activities around books.

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Data Analysis ANCOVA Model Pretest and
Demographic Covariates

• Level-1 (student-level) model
• Posttestij ß0j ß1j Pretestij ß2j Genderij
  ß3j Ageij ß4j English language Learner Statusij
  ß5j African_Americanij ß6j Asianij ß7j
  Hispanicij ß8j Special_Edij eij
• Level-2 (group-level) model
• ß0j ?00 ?01 Interventionj ?02 School
  District Aj ?03 School District Bj ?04
  Years_of_Experiencej U0j

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Results
Note RDRPVT- Researcher Developed Receptive
Picture Vocabulary Test, RDEPVT- R. D. Expressive
Picture Vocabulary Test
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Effect Size (dT)
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Adjusted Mean MANCOVA
P.895
15
Bar Graphs

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Results

• No significant effect for standardized receptive
  and expressive vocabulary after controlling
  pre-test, demographic, school and years
  teaching.
• Significant effect for researcher developed
  measures of receptive and expressive vocabulary.
• No interaction effect between treatment and other
  variables (e.g., entry level vocabulary,
  ethnicity, ELL status) on standardized or
  researcher developed measures.

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Discussion

• Moderate to strong positive effects on researcher
  developed measures of vocabulary.
• No statistically significant effects detected on
  standardized measures of vocabulary.
• No interaction effect, intervention effective
  regardless of ethnicity, ELL, SPED and entry
  level vocabulary
• On average, all children benefited from the
  theme-based vocabulary intervention (target words
  integrated with high priority science content)
  without differential effect based on student
  characteristics.

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Implications

• Thematically organized shared book reading with
  explicit vocabulary instruction and practice can
  significantly enhance growth on curriculum
  specific vocabulary.
• Future research is needed to provide clearer
  guidance on the effectiveness of specific
  instructional components of the shared book
  reading practice.