학술논문

Time to Transfer: Long-Term Effects of a Sustained and Spiraled Content Literacy Intervention in the Elementary Grades. EdWorkingPaper No. 23-769
Document Type
Reports - Research
Source
Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University. 2023.
Subject
Elementary School Students
Grade 1
Grade 2
Grade 3
Literacy Education
Intervention
Transfer of Training
Reading Comprehension
Content Area Reading
Science Education
Vocabulary Development
Mathematics Achievement
Academic Achievement
Knowledge Level
Language
English
Abstract
We investigated the effectiveness of a sustained and spiraled content literacy intervention that emphasizes building domain and topic knowledge schemas and vocabulary for elementary-grade students. The Model of Reading Engagement (MORE) intervention underscores thematic lessons that provide an intellectual structure for helping students connect new learning to a general schema in Grade 1 (animal survival), Grade 2 (scientific investigation of past events like dinosaur mass extinctions), and Grade 3 (scientific investigation of living systems). A total of 30 elementary schools (N = 2,870 students) were randomized to a treatment or control condition. In the treatment condition (i.e., full spiral curriculum), students participated in content literacy lessons from Grades 1 to 3 during the school year and wide reading of thematically related informational texts in the summer following Grades 1 and 2. In the control condition (i.e., partial spiral curriculum), students participated in lessons in only Grade 3. The Grade 3 lessons for both conditions were implemented online during the COVID-19 pandemic school year. Results reveal that treatment students outperformed control students on science vocabulary knowledge across all three grades. Furthermore, intent-to-treat analyses revealed positive transfer effects on Grade 3 science reading (ES = 0.14), domain-general reading comprehension (ES = 0.11), and mathematics achievement (ES = 0.12). Treatment impacts were sustained at 14-month follow-up on Grade 4 reading comprehension (ES = 0.12) and mathematics achievement (ES = 0.16). Findings indicate that a content literacy intervention that spirals topics and vocabulary across grades can improve students' long-term academic achievement outcomes.