C. Patrick Proctor

Scaffolding English Language Learners and Struggling Readers in a Universal Literacy Environment with Embedded Strategy Instruction and Vocabulary Support

As interest and concern rise in U.S. educational circles around the reading achievement of English language learners (ELLs) and struggling readers, researchers and practitioners alike are calling for the increased use of technology as a means to decrease achievement gaps in reading (Jiménez, 2003; Strangman & Dalton, 2005). In this article, we report results from a 4-week study of the English reading comprehension of struggling readers, including Spanish-speaking ELLs. Thirty 4th-grade students read several narrative and informational hypertexts that provided embedded vocabulary and comprehension strategy supports, along with text-to-speech read-aloud functionality. Correlation analyses of pre-post standardized reading vocabulary gain scores revealed that vocabulary gain was associated, although not significantly, with the frequency of access of hyperlinked glossary items throughout the intervention, and that lower pretest vocabulary knowledge was associated with positive vocabulary gains. A similar pattern was detected for comprehension gains, which were significantly associated with the frequency of access of coaching avatars that provided support around the productive use of reading comprehension strategies. The results reported here suggest that struggling readers and Spanish-speaking ELLs made use of the digitally embedded features in such a way as to promote both learning novel lexical items and effectively applying reading comprehension strategies.

Teacher Expectations: A Model for School Improvement

The Elementary School Journal Volume 84, Number 4 ? 1984 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved. 0013-5984/84/8404-0006

Teachers’ Perceptions of a Response to Intervention (RTI) Reform Effort in an Urban Elementary School: A Consensual Qualitative Analysis

01.00 Over the past decade, research on classroom and school effects has presented considerable evidence of a positive link between teacher expectations and student achievement. Drawing from this research base, the model employed by the Connecticut Department of Education to help schools improve their effectiveness acknowledges high expectations as one of the principal characteristics that differentiate more effective from less effective schools

Designing for Diversity: The Role of Reading Strategies and Interactive Vocabulary in a Digital Reading Environment for Fifth-Grade Monolingual English and Bilingual Students.

Federal policies to increase student achievement and improve teacher quality underlie this study. After the first year of implementation, eight elementary teachers were interviewed about how they viewed a Response to Intervention (RTI) reform effort. RTI is a federal policy intended to reform instruction by using a tiered, school-wide system. The following question drove our research: After the first year of implementation, how do educators view the RTI change process? Data were analyzed using a consensual qualitative methodology. Results indicated that teachers positively viewed the reform effort. However, many teachers expressed concerns about the implementation of RTI. The majority of teachers associated the following positive outcomes with the first year of reform: using data to inform instructional planning, using progress monitoring to measure the effectiveness of the instruction, and better knowing “when” to refer English language learners for special education services. Teachers identified the culture of the school as “positively mixed,” meaning positive shifts are taking place and teachers are working along a continuum of understanding and adoption practices. Key concerns of implementation are also presented as implications for effective adoption of the model at the elementary school level.

The Interdependence Continuum: A Perspective on the Nature of Spanish–English Bilingual Reading Comprehension

This study examined the relative contribution of reading comprehension strategies and interactive vocabulary in Improving Comprehension Online (ICON), a universally designed web-based scaffolded text environment designed to improve fifth-grade monolingual English and bilingual students’ reading achievement. Seventy-five monolingual English and 31 bilingual students from six classrooms were assigned to one of three ICON conditions: reading comprehension strategies, vocabulary, or a combined version of comprehension strategies and vocabulary. Students read eight multimedia folktales and informational texts within their respective ICON condition and completed embedded activities, researcher measures of comprehension and vocabulary, and pre- and postintervention standardized reading achievement tests. ANCOVA results indicated that after controlling for initial reading achievement, there was a main effect for condition on the researcher measure of vocabulary, with the combination group and vocabulary groups both significantly outperforming the strategy group. There was also an interaction effect, with differences between monolingual and bilingual Spanish-speaking students greatest in the strategy group. There was no effect of condition on comprehension, nor was there an effect of language status on narrative comprehension. However, there was a main effect of language status on expository text comprehension and standardized vocabulary achievement, with monolingual students performing more strongly than bilingual Spanish-speaking students. The results add to a growing body of research on the design and use of scaffolded digital text for diverse learners.

Understanding Depth of Vocabulary Online With Bilingual and Monolingual Children

The purpose of the current study is to elaborate on the statistical nature of the linguistic interdependence hypothesis (Cummins, 1979). It is argued that reading skills across the languages of bilingual learners are differentially robust to interdependence, falling along a continuum mediated by the commonalities between Spanish and English. Reading data were collected from a sample of 91 Spanish–English bilingual fourth-grade students, and structural equation modeling was used to test a path model of the interdependence continuum. The model assumed that Spanish–English interdependence would be strong for alphabetic knowledge, moderate for reading comprehension, and mild for the link between Spanish oral language and English reading comprehension. The model fit the data well, providing some initial evidence for an interdependence continuum that varies as a function of language typology.

Confounds in Assessing the Associations Between Biliteracy and English Language Proficiency

The sheer quantity of words known (breadth) is strongly predictive of reading comprehension, yet little is understood about how quality of word knowledge (depth) affects comprehension. A group of 35 bilingual and monolingual 5th-grade students worked on developing depth of knowledge of 8 words, culminating in an activity in which the students produced captions for images related to each word. The captions were scored using a 4-point depth scale, and similarities and differences between bilingual and monolingual students were assessed. Results indicated a significant effect of depth of word knowledge in predicting reading comprehension, particularly for students with average to strong oral language skills.

Fifth-Grade Students' Digital Retellings and the Common Core: Modal Use and Design Intentionality.

It has long been theorized, if not exhaustively researched, that bilingualism and biliteracy are beneficial in promoting linguistic and academic gains; but the operationalization of these constructs is confounding. In the current study, the authors worked with 118 Spanish–English bilingual Latina/o students and investigated whether Spanish–English biliteracy (vs. English monoliteracy) was associated with stronger performance on three English metalinguistic measures. Results indicated an effect of biliteracy on these measures; however, English predictors were confounded with the biliteracy indicator, making results difficult to interpret. The authors argue that new measures that tap bilingualism and biliteracy as a single construct are necessary to move the field forward.

Is the Whole Greater Than the Sum of Its Parts? Modeling the Contributions of Language Comprehension Skills to Reading Comprehension in the Upper Elementary Grades

Multimodal composing is part of the Common Core vision of the twenty-first-century student. Two descriptive studies were conducted of fifth-grade students’ digital folktale retellings. Study 1 analyzed 83 retellings in relation to the types and frequencies of modal use, such as image, sound, movement, and written text, as well as their retelling accuracy. Students composed within a scaffolded digital composing environment which comprised the PowerPoint authoring/presentation tool and a researcher-developed story frame. All students’ retellings included writing and visual design, 80% included animation, and 70% included sound. Retelling accuracy scores averaged 54%. Study 2 was conducted with a new group of 14 fifth-grade students who had previous digital retelling experience. The retellings included the same types of modal use, but at a higher level of frequency. In their retrospective design interviews, students expressed design intentionality and a metamodal awareness of how modes work together to create an appealing story.

The Relationship between Language Skills and Writing Outcomes for Linguistically Diverse Students in Upper Elementary School.

ABSTRACT Language comprehension is crucial to reading. However, theoretical models and recent research raise questions about what constitutes this multifaceted domain. We present two related studies examining the dimensionality of language comprehension and relations to reading comprehension in the upper elementary grades. Studies 1 (Grade 6; N = 148) and 2 (Grade 3–5; N = 311) contrasted factor models of language comprehension using item level indicators of morphological awareness and vocabulary (Studies 1 and 2) and syntactic awareness (Study 2). In both studies, a bifactor model—including general language comprehension and specific factors for each language component—best fit the data, and general language comprehension was the strongest predictor of reading comprehension. In Study 2, the morphology-specific factor also uniquely predicted reading comprehension above and beyond general language comprehension. Results suggest the value of modeling the common proficiency underlying performance on tasks designed to tap theoretically distinct language comprehension skills.