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 A&M University Texas A&M 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).

4. 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.

5. 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?

6. Design Principles to Accelerate Vocabulary and Concept Development Big Ideas: Identify critical concepts based on state and national standards. Teach: High priority vocabulary directly. Strategic Integration: Combine inside the book and outside the book opportunities. Range of Examples: Communicate critical attributes of concepts. Cumulative Review: Teach words in instructional cycles for entire theme. Scaffolding: Task difficulty in priority skills result in high levels of success.

7. Lexical Sets liquid, frozen, snow, garden, plant, leaf cal Sets Vocabulary Sequencing Retell Associations Comprehension What air can do How plants help people Where animals live Concepts Informational Narrative Books Water Light Air Seasons Plants Animals Our Body Topics Nature Living Things Themes Pre-K Guidelines: Science, Vocabulary, Listening Comprehension Standards Intervention Building Blocks

8. Participants

9. 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 VocabularyTest (RDEPVT)

10. 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.

11. Data Analysis: ANCOVA Model Pretest and Demographic Covariates Level-1 (student-level) model: Posttestij= β0j + β1j Pretestij + β2j Genderij + β3j Ageij + β4j English language Learner Statusij + β5j African_Americanij + β6j Asianij + β7j Hispanicij + β8j Special_Edij + eij Level-2 (group-level) model: β0j = γ00 + γ01Interventionj + γ02 School District Aj + γ03School District Bj + γ04Years_of_Experiencej + U0j

12. Results Note: RDRPVT- Researcher Developed Receptive Picture Vocabulary Test, RDEPVT- R. D. Expressive Picture Vocabulary Test

13. Effect Size (δT)

14. Adjusted Mean MANCOVA P=.895

15. Bar Graphs

16. Results • No significant effect for standardized receptive and expressive vocabulary after controlling pre-test, demographic, school and year’s 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.

17. 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.

18. 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.