TY - JOUR

T1 - Improving language-focused comprehension instruction in primary-grade classrooms

T2 - impacts of the Let’s Know! experimental curriculum

AU - Language and Reading Research Consortium

AU - Pratt, Amy

AU - Logan, Jessica

AU - Cain, Kate

N1 - The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10648-014-9275-1

PY - 2014/9

Y1 - 2014/9

N2 - This quasi-experimental study was designed to test the impacts of a curriculum supplement, Let’s Know! on the quantity and quality of language-focused comprehension instruction in pre-Kindergarten to third grade classrooms. Sixty classrooms (12 per each of pre-K to grade 3) were enrolled in the study, with 40 teachers assigned to implement one of two versions of the experimental Let’s Know! curriculum and 20 assigned to a control condition, in which they maintained their typical language-arts curriculum. Classroom observations, 90 minutes in duration, were collected near the end of the first unit’s completion, about four to five weeks into the academic year. These observations were coded to examine impacts of Let’s Know! instruction on two outcomes: (a) teachers’ use of 18 language-focused comprehension supports, and (b) general classroom quality. Study results using quantile regression showed that Let’s Know! teachers used a significantly higher number of language-focused comprehension supports during Let’s Know! instruction compared to the control teachers during language-arts instruction; the same finding was also true for general classroom quality. Quantile regression results showed the greatest differentiation in instructional quality, when comparing experimental and control teachers, for teachers in the middle of the distribution of general classroom quality. Study findings highlight the value of language-focused curricula for heightening comprehension-specific supports in pre-K to grade 3 settings.

AB - This quasi-experimental study was designed to test the impacts of a curriculum supplement, Let’s Know! on the quantity and quality of language-focused comprehension instruction in pre-Kindergarten to third grade classrooms. Sixty classrooms (12 per each of pre-K to grade 3) were enrolled in the study, with 40 teachers assigned to implement one of two versions of the experimental Let’s Know! curriculum and 20 assigned to a control condition, in which they maintained their typical language-arts curriculum. Classroom observations, 90 minutes in duration, were collected near the end of the first unit’s completion, about four to five weeks into the academic year. These observations were coded to examine impacts of Let’s Know! instruction on two outcomes: (a) teachers’ use of 18 language-focused comprehension supports, and (b) general classroom quality. Study results using quantile regression showed that Let’s Know! teachers used a significantly higher number of language-focused comprehension supports during Let’s Know! instruction compared to the control teachers during language-arts instruction; the same finding was also true for general classroom quality. Quantile regression results showed the greatest differentiation in instructional quality, when comparing experimental and control teachers, for teachers in the middle of the distribution of general classroom quality. Study findings highlight the value of language-focused curricula for heightening comprehension-specific supports in pre-K to grade 3 settings.

KW - Language intervention

KW - Reading comprehension

KW - Classroom processes

U2 - 10.1007/s10648-014-9275-1

DO - 10.1007/s10648-014-9275-1

M3 - Journal article

VL - 26

SP - 357

EP - 377

JO - Educational Psychology Review

JF - Educational Psychology Review

SN - 1040-726X

IS - 3

ER -