Word Generation Randomized Trial: Discussion Mediates the Impact of Program Treatment on Academic Word Learning

Item

Title

Word Generation Randomized Trial: Discussion Mediates the Impact of Program Treatment on Academic Word Learning

Abstract/Description

Classroom discussion, despite its association with good academic outcomes, is exceedingly rare in U.S. schools. The Word Generation intervention involves the provision of texts and activities to be implemented across content area class, organized around engaging and discussable dilemmas. The program was evaluated with 1,554 middle grade students in 28 schools randomly assigned to treatment or control conditions. There were large effects on classroom discussion quality across all content areas, especially in math and science (Cohen’s d  = 0.38-1.13). The program also produced significant, though small, effects on taught vocabulary (effect size = .25, p  < .01) but no effects on a standardized assessment of general vocabulary. Quality of classroom discussion mediated 14% of the treatment effect on vocabulary outcomes.

Author/creator

Lawrence, Joshua F.

Crosson, Amy C.

Paré-Blagoev, E. Juliana

Snow, Catherine E.

Date

2015

In publication

American Educational Research Journal

Volume

52

Issue

4

Pages

750-786

Resource type

en Research/Scholarly Media

Resource status/form

en Published Text

Scholarship genre

en Empirical

Language

en

Open access/full-text available

en Yes

Peer reviewed

en Yes

ISSN

0002-8312

DOI

10.3102/0002831215579485

URL

Official Publisher's Webpage (SAGE Journals)

Full-text PDF Shared by Author (ResearchGate)

Citation

Lawrence, J. F., Crosson, A. C., Paré-Blagoev, E. J., & Snow, C. E. (2015). Word Generation Randomized Trial: Discussion Mediates the Impact of Program Treatment on Academic Word Learning. American Educational Research Journal, 52(4), 750–786. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831215579485

Item sets

Ob Citations - Research–Practice Partnerships in Education Within the United States

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