Learning to Read: Theory, Research, and Practice

Calfee, Robert C.; Drum, Priscilla A.

doi:10.2307/1179533

Cited by 14 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…Fifty experimental and/or quasi-experimental studies reviewed from 1979 to 2000 revealed findings that repetition, multiple exposure, and active engagement by students were important procedures for successful vocabulary instruction to improve comprehension. This renewed focus was a far cry from the earlier labeling of vocabulary research as a "vanishing species" (Calfee & Drum, 1978). Students need to read to excel in school, and reading involves knowing words.…”

Section: Explore Importance Of the Problemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vocabulary Theatre: A Peer-teaching Approach for Academic Vocabulary Acquisition

Robb¹,

Sinatra²,

Eschenauer³

2013

Journal of Education and Training Studies

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This mixed methods counterbalanced study compared the gain score means of two different approaches to vocabulary acquisition -Vocabulary Theater (VT) and Teacher Directed Instruction (TDI) for 8 th grade students from three schools in New York. The purpose of the study was to explore the effects of a peer teaching approach on students' vocabulary development. Students in the VT condition were instructed to take ownership of their words by teaching them to their peers. They received both linguistic and non-linguistic representations of 30 Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) words over a three-week period, while the TDI condition students were instructed over the same three-week period to define the same 30 SAT words through the use of a dictionary and then use the words in sentences. The study's counterbalanced design ensured that all students received each vocabulary condition. Students were given a pre-and posttest to examine their level of vocabulary acquisition in each condition. A survey given to the students in the VT condition revealed that on average 43% of the students were totally unfamiliar with the words presented, 14% had an associative connection with the words presented and 13 % were very familiar with the words. Qualitative data were collected from all three schools in the form of group discussions, VT presentations, individual interviews, teacher interviews, and classroom observations. The quantitative analysis revealed that the gain scores of students in the Vocabulary Theatre were significantly greater than the gain scores of students in the TDI condition regardless of the presentation order.

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Section: Explore Importance Of the Problemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vocabulary Theatre: A Peer-teaching Approach for Academic Vocabulary Acquisition

Robb¹,

Sinatra²,

Eschenauer³

2013

Journal of Education and Training Studies

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“…The ebb and flow of concern for vocabulary has been noted before. For example, Calfee and Drum (1978) in an extensive review called vocabulary research a "vanishing species." A recovery in interest noted in Blachowicz and Fisher (2000a) already seems to have begun to flow slowly back out to sea.…”

Section: Vocabulary Instruction's Ebb and Flowmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rationale for Systematic Vocabulary Development: Antidote for State Mandates

Manzo

Thomas

2006

J Adolescent & Adult Lit

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The authors assert that vocabulary development is one of the most important things teachers can promote for students—cognitively, culturally, socially, and in preparation for standardized tests. A broad‐based review of the literature reveals solid reasons for using systematic vocabulary instruction, which is especially helpful with youngsters from second‐language or disenfranchised backgrounds. Yet, in U.S. schools, systematic instruction in vocabulary has been cyclical rather than sustained. The authors note that learners from Latin‐language backgrounds likely have an unappreciated advantage in learning difficult words. The specialized, Latin‐derivative terms that occur infrequently in common usage tend to occur frequently on standardized tests. Several research‐supported ways to improve vocabulary acquisition are highlighted, including one that uses a variation on signing. The authors offer a “community of language” approach and show how wide reading can be amplified by intentional, frequent, day‐to‐day use of specific terms by school faculty and staff.

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“…Not only is the pace of instruction likely to increase with track or grade level, but in most skill areas, different component processes may be emphasized. In reading, for example, letter-sound correspondences and decoding skills are the focus of instruction at the primary level, while comprehension skills receive increasing emphasis in the upper elementary grades (Calfee & Drum, 1978). Students whose skill levels match the instruction they receive are likely to show the largest gains, so that different ranges of pretest scores may be associated with maximum growth, depending on track and grade.…”

Section: Appropriate Teacher Comparison Groupsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Valid Use of Student Performance Measures for Teacher Evaluation

Haertel

1986

Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis

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Student achievement test scores appear promising as indicators of teacher performance, but their use carries significant risks. Inappropriate tests improperly used may encourage undesirable shifts in curricular focus or poor teaching practices, and may unfairly favor teachers of more able classes. It is often said that standardized achievement test batteries are unsuitable for teacher evaluation, but few systematic alternatives have been suggested. The purposes of this paper are to analyze some problems in using student test scores to evaluate teachers and to propose an achievement-based model for teacher evaluation that is effective, affordable, fair, legally defensible, and politically acceptable. The system is designed only for detecting and documenting poor teacher performance; rewarding excellence in teaching is viewed as a separate problem, and is not addressed in this paper. In addition to pretesting and statistical adjustments for student aptitude differences, the proposed system relies upon attendance data and portfolios of student work to distinguish alternative explanations for poor test scores. While no single set of procedures can eliminate all errors, the proposed system, if carefully implemented, could expose teaching to constructive scrutiny, organize objective information about teaching adequacy, and help to guide its improvement.

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Learning to Read: Theory, Research, and Practice

Cited by 14 publications

References 58 publications

Vocabulary Theatre: A Peer-teaching Approach for Academic Vocabulary Acquisition

Vocabulary Theatre: A Peer-teaching Approach for Academic Vocabulary Acquisition

Rationale for Systematic Vocabulary Development: Antidote for State Mandates

The Valid Use of Student Performance Measures for Teacher Evaluation

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