TY - JOUR
T1 - Improving reading comprehension in the primary grades
T2 - Mediated effects of a language-focused classroom intervention
AU - Language And Reading Research Consortium (Larrc)
AU - Jiang, Hui
AU - Logan, Jessica
AU - Justice, Laura M.
AU - Lomax, Richard
AU - O’Connell, Ann
AU - Pentimonti, Jill
AU - Petrill, Stephen A.
AU - Piasta, Shayne B.
AU - Gray, Shelley
AU - Restrepo, Maria Adelaida
AU - Cain, Kate
AU - Catts, Hugh
AU - Bridges, Mindy
AU - Nielsen, Diane
AU - Hogan, Tiffany
AU - Bovaird, Jim
AU - Nelson, J. Ron
N1 - Funding Information:
This article was prepared by a task force of the Language and Reading Research Consortium (LARRC) consisting of Laura Justice (convener), Mindy Bridges, Hui Jiang, and Jessica Logan. LARRC project sites and investigators are the following: Ohio State University (Columbus, OH): Laura M. Justice (site principal investigator [PI]), Richard Lomax, Ann O’Connell, Jill Pentimonti, Stephen A. Petrill (an LARRC co-investigator from 2010 to 2013), Shayne B. Piasta. Arizona State University (Tempe, AZ): Shelley Gray (site PI), Maria Adelaida Restrepo. Lancaster University (Lancaster, United Kingdom): Kate Cain (site PI). University of Kansas (Lawrence, KS): Hugh Catts (site PI; now at Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL), Mindy Bridges (now at the University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas, KS), Diane Nielsen. University of Nebraska–Lincoln (Lincoln, NE): Tiffany Hogan (site PI; now at MGH Institute of Health Professions, Boston, MA), Jim Bovaird, J. Ron Nelson (was an LARRC co-investigator from 2010 to 2012). This work was supported by Grant R305F100002 of the Institute of Education Sciences’ Reading for Understanding Initiative. We are deeply grateful to the numerous staff, research associates, school administrators, teachers, children, and families who participated. The views presented in this work do not represent those of the federal government nor do they endorse any products or findings presented herein.
PY - 2019/8
Y1 - 2019/8
N2 - Purpose: This article includes results from a multistate randomized controlled trial designed to investigate the impacts of a language-focused classroom intervention on primary grade students’ proximal language skills and distal reading comprehension skills. Method: The sample included 938 children from 160 classrooms in 4 geographic regions in the United States; each classroom was randomly assigned to 1 of 2 experimental conditions (2 variations of a language-focused intervention) or business-as-usual control. For this study, the 2 experimental conditions were collapsed, as they represented minor differences in the language-focused intervention. All children completed assessments at multiple time points during the academic year. Proximal measures (curriculumaligned measures of vocabulary, comprehension monitoring, and understanding narrative and expository text) were administered throughout the school year. Distal measures of reading comprehension were administered at the beginning and the end of the school year. Results: Multilevel multivariate regression was conducted with results showing that students receiving the languagefocused intervention significantly outperformed those in the control group in comprehension monitoring and vocabulary, with effect sizes ranging from 0.55 to 1.98. A small effect in understanding text (narrative) was found in 3rd grade only. Multilevel path analyses were then conducted to examine if the intervention had a positive impact on reading comprehension through the influence of proximal language outcomes. In all 3 grades, instruction impacted reading comprehension via the mediation of vocabulary, with sizable effects (1.89-2.26); no other indirect pathways were significant. Conclusions: This study provides evidence that a languagefocused intervention can positively impact students’ performance on language measures that are closely aligned with the intervention, with indirect, large effects on distal reading comprehension measures. Theoretically, this study provides causally interpretable support for the language bases of reading comprehension.
AB - Purpose: This article includes results from a multistate randomized controlled trial designed to investigate the impacts of a language-focused classroom intervention on primary grade students’ proximal language skills and distal reading comprehension skills. Method: The sample included 938 children from 160 classrooms in 4 geographic regions in the United States; each classroom was randomly assigned to 1 of 2 experimental conditions (2 variations of a language-focused intervention) or business-as-usual control. For this study, the 2 experimental conditions were collapsed, as they represented minor differences in the language-focused intervention. All children completed assessments at multiple time points during the academic year. Proximal measures (curriculumaligned measures of vocabulary, comprehension monitoring, and understanding narrative and expository text) were administered throughout the school year. Distal measures of reading comprehension were administered at the beginning and the end of the school year. Results: Multilevel multivariate regression was conducted with results showing that students receiving the languagefocused intervention significantly outperformed those in the control group in comprehension monitoring and vocabulary, with effect sizes ranging from 0.55 to 1.98. A small effect in understanding text (narrative) was found in 3rd grade only. Multilevel path analyses were then conducted to examine if the intervention had a positive impact on reading comprehension through the influence of proximal language outcomes. In all 3 grades, instruction impacted reading comprehension via the mediation of vocabulary, with sizable effects (1.89-2.26); no other indirect pathways were significant. Conclusions: This study provides evidence that a languagefocused intervention can positively impact students’ performance on language measures that are closely aligned with the intervention, with indirect, large effects on distal reading comprehension measures. Theoretically, this study provides causally interpretable support for the language bases of reading comprehension.
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U2 - 10.1044/2019_JSLHR-L-19-0015
DO - 10.1044/2019_JSLHR-L-19-0015
M3 - Article
C2 - 31390289
AN - SCOPUS:85071351803
VL - 62
SP - 2812
EP - 2828
JO - Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research
JF - Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research
SN - 1092-4388
IS - 8
ER -