Improving Elementary School Students' Vocabulary Skills and Reading Comprehension Through a Word Learning Strategies Program

• In Event: Moscone Center North Roundtable Session 13
  In Roundtable Session: Strategies to Support Student Vocabulary Learning

Abstract

This study focuses on a supplementary curriculum designed to develop upper-elementary students’ vocabulary acquisition skills in order to improve reading comprehension. The study used a true, group-randomized, experimental design, which randomly assigned 154 4th grade classrooms from 20 districts to a treatment or control group. The use of PROGRAM led to increases in teachers’ awareness of strategies to support their students’ vocabulary and reading comprehension. Teachers were able to teach all of the PROGRAM components with a moderate to high degree of fidelity, display adequate subject-matter knowledge, and keep students engaged. The results also indicate that the program was positively associated with gains in students’ vocabulary learning, after accounting for differences in baseline test scores.

Authors

• Linlin Li, WestEd

• Kylie Flynn, WestEd

• Cathy Ringstaff, WestEd