Author(s): |
N/A |
Source: |
What Works Clearinghouse |
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Pub Date: |
2013-03-00 |
Pub Type(s): |
Reports - Evaluative |
Peer Reviewed: |
Yes |
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Descriptors:
Reading Programs; Computer Assisted Instruction; Beginning Reading; Alphabets; Reading Fluency; Reading Comprehension; Elementary School Students; Kindergarten; Grade 1; Grade 2; Grade 3; Intervention; Educational Research; Foreign Countries
Abstract:
"Fast ForWord"[R] is a computer-based reading program intended to help students develop and strengthen the cognitive skills necessary for successful reading and learning. The program, which is designed to be used 30-100 minutes a day, 5 days a week, for 4-16 weeks, includes three series. The "Fast ForWord[R] Language" series and the "Fast ForWord[R] Literacy" series aim to build cognitive skills such as memory, attention, processing, and sequencing. They also strive to build language and reading skills, including listening accuracy, phonological awareness, and knowledge of language structures. The "Fast ForWord[R] to Reading" series (also known as the "Fast ForWord[R] Reading" series) aims to increase processing efficiency and further improve reading skills such as sound-letter associations, phonological awareness, word recognition, knowledge of English language conventions, vocabulary, and comprehension. The program is designed to adapt the nature and difficulty of the content based on individual student's responses. The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) identified 342 studies that investigated the effects of "Fast ForWord"[R] on the reading skills of beginning readers. The WWC reviewed 25 of those studies against group design evidence standards. Seven studies (Borman, Benson, & Overman, 2009; Scientific Learning Corporation, 2004, 2005a, 2005b, 2005c, 2006, 2007) are randomized controlled trials that meet WWC evidence standards without reservations, and two studies (Overbay & Baenen, 2003; Scientific Learning Corporation, 2008) are quasi-experimental designs that meet WWC evidence standards with reservations. Those nine studies are summarized in this report. Sixteen studies do not meet WWC evidence standards. The remaining 317 studies do not meet WWC eligibility screens for review in this topic area. Appended are: (1) Research details for Borman, Benson, & Overman, 2009; (2) Research details for Scientific Learning Corporation, 2004; (3) Research details for Scientific Learning Corporation, 2005a; (4) Research details for Scientific Learning Corporation, 2005b; (5) Research details for Scientific Learning Corporation, 2005c; (6) Research details for Scientific Learning Corporation, 2006; (7) Research details for Scientific Learning Corporation, 2007; (8) Research details for Overbay and Baenen, 2003; (9) Research details for Scientific Learning Corporation, 2008; (10) Outcome measures for each domain; (11) Findings included in the rating for the alphabetics domain; (12) Findings included in the rating for the reading fluency domain; (13) Findings included in the rating for the comprehension domain; (14) Description of subgroup findings for the alphabetics domain; and (15) Description of subgroup findings for the reading fluency domain. A glossary of terms is included. (Contains 14 tables and 23 endnotes.)
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Author(s): |
N/A |
Source: |
What Works Clearinghouse |
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Pub Date: |
2013-02-00 |
Pub Type(s): |
Reports - Evaluative |
Peer Reviewed: |
Yes |
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Descriptors:
Beginning Reading; Phonics; Spelling Instruction; Vocabulary Development; Intervention; Primary Education; Kindergarten; Grade 1; Grade 2; Grade 3; Instructional Effectiveness; Educational Research
Abstract:
"Words Their Way"[TM] is an approach to phonics, vocabulary, and spelling instruction for students in kindergarten through high school. The program can be implemented as a core or supplemental curriculum and aims to provide a practical way to study words with students. The purpose of word study (which involves examining, manipulating, comparing, and categorizing words) is to reveal logic and consistencies within written language and to help students achieve mastery in recognizing, spelling, and defining specific words. The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) identified 29 studies of "Words Their Way"[TM] for beginning readers that were published or released between 1983 and 2012. One study is within the scope of the Beginning Reading review protocol but does not meet WWC evidence standards. The study uses a quasi-experimental design but does not establish that the comparison group was comparable to the intervention group prior to the start of the intervention. Fifteen studies are out of the scope of the Beginning Reading review protocol because they have an ineligible study design. Eleven studies are literature reviews or meta-analyses. Four studies do not use a comparison group design, a regression discontinuity design, or a single-case design. Thirteen studies are out of the scope of the Beginning Reading review protocol for reasons other than study design. Eleven studies do not use a sample aligned with the protocol--the sample does not fall within the Beginning Reading grade range of K-3. Two studies include fewer than 50% general education students. A glossary of terms is included. (Contains 3 endnotes.)
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Pub Date: |
2011-10-00 |
Pub Type(s): |
Journal Articles; Reports - Research |
Peer Reviewed: |
Yes |
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Descriptors:
Evidence; Childrens Literature; Scientific Principles; Young Children; Kindergarten; Grade 3; Grade 2; Grade 1; Researchers; Science Instruction; Teaching Methods; Educational Research
Abstract:
Though research has shown that students do not have adequate understandings of nature of science (NOS) by the time they exit high school, there is also evidence that they have not received NOS instruction that would enable them to develop such understandings. How early is "too early" to teach and learn NOS? Are students, particularly young students, not capable of learning NOS due to developmental unreadiness? Or would young children be capable of learning about NOS through appropriate instruction? Young children (Kindergarten through third grade) were interviewed and taught about NOS in a variety of contexts (informal, suburban, and urban) using similar teaching strategies that have been found effective at teaching about NOS with older students. These teaching strategies included explicit decontextualized and contextualized NOS instruction, through the use of children's literature, debriefings of science lessons, embedded written NOS assessments, and guided inquiries. In each context the researchers interviewed students prior to and after instruction, videotaped science instruction and maintained researcher logs and field notes, collected lesson plans, and copies of student work. The researchers found that in each setting young children did improve their understandings of NOS. Across contexts there were similar understandings of NOS aspects prior to instruction, as well as after instruction. There were also several differences evident across contexts, and across grade levels. However, it is clear that students as young as kindergarten are developmentally capable of conceptualizing NOS when it is taught to them. The authors make recommendations for teaching NOS to young children, and for future studies that explore learning progressions of NOS aspects as students proceed through school.
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Author(s): |
Dubin, Jennifer |
Source: |
American Educator, v36 n3 p34-40 Fall 2012 |
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Pub Date: |
2012-00-00 |
Pub Type(s): |
Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive |
Peer Reviewed: |
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Descriptors:
Reading Instruction; Reading Programs; Reading; Kindergarten; Phonics; Decoding (Reading); Oral Language; Grade 2; Grade 3; Grade 1; Reading Comprehension; Elementary School Students; Vocabulary; Reading Aloud to Others
Abstract:
Five years ago, as a way to ensure that students not only learn to decode but also understand what they decode, the Core Knowledge Foundation, the nonprofit that publishes the Core Knowledge curriculum, created a language arts program for kindergarten through second grade. The program includes two 60-minute strands: (1) a "Skills Strand," in which students learn decoding, encoding (writing), spelling, and grammar; and (2) a "Listening and Learning Strand," in which they engage with a wide variety of fiction and nonfiction texts so as to build oral language, knowledge, and vocabulary--the real keys to comprehension. While the conventional wisdom has long held that students first learn to read and then, around the end of third grade, switch to reading to learn, Core Knowledge shows that students in kindergarten through second grade are fully capable of--and benefit from--acquiring both decoding skills and content knowledge at the same time. The program's Skills Strand, although high quality, is not what makes this program unique. Other early-grades reading programs also do a good job of helping children make the all-important speech-to-print connection through research-based phonics instruction. This article explores what makes this program stand out--the content knowledge delivered through the Listening and Learning Strand. (Contains 9 footnotes and 19 endnotes.)
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Author(s): |
N/A |
Source: |
What Works Clearinghouse |
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Pub Date: |
2012-05-00 |
Pub Type(s): |
Reports - Evaluative |
Peer Reviewed: |
Yes |
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Descriptors:
Peer Teaching; Tutoring; Reading Instruction; Literacy; Learning Strategies; Beginning Reading; Kindergarten; Grade 1; Elementary School Students; Reading Fluency; Reading Comprehension; Phonological Awareness; Phonemic Awareness; Phonics; Instructional Effectiveness; Educational Research
Abstract:
"Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies" and a similar program known as "Peer-Assisted Literacy Strategies" are peer-tutoring programs that supplement the primary reading curriculum (Fuchs, Fuchs, Kazdan, & Allen, 1999; Mathes & Babyak, 2001). This review uses the acronym "PALS" to encompass both programs and their respective full names when referring to a specific program. Students in "PALS" classrooms work in pairs on reading activities intended to improve reading accuracy, fluency, and comprehension. Students in the pairs--who alternately take on the role of tutor and tutee--read aloud, listen to their partner read, and provide feedback during various structured activities. Teachers train students to use the following learning strategies: passage reading with partners, paragraph "shrinking" (or describing the main idea), and prediction relay (predicting what is likely to happen next in the passage). "PALS" includes separate versions for kindergarten and grade 1. "Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies" also includes versions for grades 2-3 (which are part of a larger set produced for grades 2-6). Forty-five studies reviewed by the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) investigated the effects of "PALS" on beginning readers. Two studies (McMaster, Fuchs, Fuchs, & Compton, 2005; Stein, Berends, Fuchs, McMaster, Saenz, Yen, & Compton, 2008) are randomized controlled trials that meet WWC evidence standards. One study (Mathes & Babyak, 2001) is a randomized controlled trial that meets WWC evidence standards with reservations. These three studies are summarized in this report. The remaining 42 studies do not meet either WWC eligibility screens or evidence standards. Appended are: (1) Research details for McMaster et al. (2005); (2) Research details for Stein et al. (2008); (3) Research details for Mathes & Babyak (2001); (4) Outcome measures for each domain; (5) Findings included in the rating for the alphabetics domain; (6) Findings included in the rating for the fluency domain; (7) Findings included in the rating for the comprehension domain; and (8) Single-case design studies reviewed for this intervention. A glossary of terms is included. (Contains 8 tables and 11 endnotes.)
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Full Text (374K)
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Pub Date: |
2012-07-00 |
Pub Type(s): |
Journal Articles; Reports - Research |
Peer Reviewed: |
Yes |
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Descriptors:
Evidence; Reading Comprehension; Literacy Education; Spelling; Metalinguistics; Morphology (Languages); Phonemic Awareness; Word Recognition; Learning Processes; Emergent Literacy; Grade 2; Grade 3; Language Processing; Receptive Language; Vocabulary; Reading Instruction; Prediction
Abstract:
Minimal research has been conducted on the simultaneous influence of multiple metalinguistic, linguistic, and processing skills that may impact literacy development in children who are in the process of learning to read and write. In this study, we assessed the phonemic awareness, morphological awareness, orthographic awareness, receptive vocabulary, and rapid naming abilities of second and third grade students (N = 56) and determined how these abilities predicted the children's reading and spelling skills. Regression analyses revealed that morphological awareness was the sole unique contributor to spelling and, together with orthographic awareness, uniquely contributed to word recognition. Morphological awareness also was significantly related to reading comprehension. The results add to a growing literature base providing evidence that early literacy development is influenced by morphological awareness, an ability that has received considerably less educational attention. Additionally, the findings point to the importance of tapping into multiple sources of metalinguistic knowledge when providing instruction in reading and spelling.
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Pub Date: |
2012-00-00 |
Pub Type(s): |
Journal Articles; Reports - Research |
Peer Reviewed: |
Yes |
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Descriptors:
Elementary School Students; Grade 1; Grade 3; Primary Education; Writing Attitudes; Attitude Measures; Factor Analysis; Reading Attitudes; Beginning Reading; Beginning Writing; Reading Writing Relationship; Evaluation Criteria; Evidence; Females; Males; Gender Differences
Abstract:
This study examined whether attitude toward writing is a unique and separable construct from attitude toward reading for young beginning writers. Participants were 128 first-grade children (70 girls and 58 boys) and 113 third-grade students (57 girls and 56 boys). We individually administered to each child a 24-item attitude measure that contained 12 items assessing attitude toward writing and 12 parallel items for reading. Students also wrote a narrative about a personal event in their life. A factor analysis of the 24-item attitude measure provided evidence that generally supported the contention that writing and reading attitudes are separable constructs for young beginning writers, as it yielded 3 factors: a writing attitude factor with 9 items, a reading attitude factor with 9 parallel items, and an attitude about literacy interactions with others factor containing 4 items (2 items in writing and 2 parallel items in reading). We obtained further validation that attitude toward writing is a separable construct from attitude toward reading at the third-grade level, where writing attitude made a unique and significant contribution beyond the other 2 attitude measures to the prediction of 3 measures of writing: quality, length, and longest correct word sequence. At the first-grade level, none of the 3 attitude measures predicted students' writing performance. Finally, girls had more positive attitudes concerning reading and writing than boys. (Contains 2 tables.)
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