The Poor Get Richer: Heterogeneity in the Efficacy of a School-Level Intervention for Academic Language

Y

27

R305A090555

Intervention; Academic Discourse; Control Groups; Experimental Groups; Comparative Analysis; Pretests Posttests; Vocabulary Development; Middle School Students; Urban Schools; Instructional Effectiveness; Reading Comprehension; Hierarchical Linear Modeling; Reading Tests; Scores; Word Frequency; Program Evaluation

10.1080/19345747.2016.1237596

1934-5747

We investigate the impact of a relatively brief cross-curricular intervention, Word Generation, on middle school students' development of taught academic vocabulary. Students (n = 8382) in forty-four middle schools in three urban districts were randomly assigned to treatment or control conditions. Treatment teachers implemented the program with minimal support and varying levels of commitment. Students in treatment schools scored almost a point higher on the curriculum-based vocabulary posttests than those in control schools (Hedges's g = 0.094, p < 0.05). Though there was no main treatment effect on the standardized measures of students' general vocabulary knowledge or reading comprehension, baseline-by-treatment interactions at the school and student level acted to attenuate the Matthew Effect in reading and vocabulary growth.

As Provided

47

2017

EJ1159795