Critical Instructional Components For Helping Students Learn

Introduction One of the identified critical instructional components for helping students learn to read is vocabulary. Since the National Reading Panel (2000) and the National Early Literacy Panel (2009) reported that strong early oral vocabulary knowledge is a predictor for later successful reading outcomes, an increased research and teaching focus in this area has arisen. The achievement gap that is a central concern in education and society today is associated to a â€Å"word gap† that begins early in life. Hart and Risley (1995) identified in their seminal study that by the age of four, children from low-income families hear 30 million less words than their peers from professional families. Although there are some researchers that†¦show more content†¦The guiding questions are: What are the characteristics of effective interventions that positively impact at-risk preschoolers’ vocabulary knowledge? How could preschool teachers potentially use these elements in their classrooms? Definitions At-Risk Children In their review of research, Snell et al. (2015) identify students â€Å"at-risk† as ones who are more likely to enter school behind in their language development. The intervention and control groups from the Roskos Burstein (2011) 12-week mixed methods study compared word learning of two groups of 36 (n=72) preschoolers who showed vocabulary â€Å"vulnerabilities,† which meant that the children were chosen due to low standardized vocabulary scores, low income, and/or special needs. At-risk participants (n=25) from the Loftus-Rattan, Mitchell, and Coyne (2016) one-week within-subjects design study were chosen specifically because of their attendance at an urban preschool in the northeast that had a large population of dual language learners (DLL; 88%), non-white (85%), and free or reduced-priced lunch (83%). Finally, Silverman, Crandell, and Carlis (2013) conducted their 12-weeks of research in 26 Head Start classrooms with a sample of 264 children (90% low socioeco nomic status, 79% DLL, 80% nonwhite) in order to compare the effects of vocabulary instructional