TY - JOUR
T1 - Capturing the complexity
T2 - Content, type, and amount of instruction and quality of the classroom learning environment synergistically predict third graders' vocabulary and reading comprehension outcomes
AU - Connor, Carol McDonald
AU - Spencer, Mercedes
AU - Day, Stephanie L.
AU - Giuliani, Sarah
AU - Ingebrand, Sarah W.
AU - McLean, Leigh
AU - Morrison, Frederick J.
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was funded by U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences Grants R305H04013 and R305B070074, 'Child by Instruction Interactions: Effects of Individualizing Instruction,' and by Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Grants R01HD48539, R21HD062834, and P50 HD052120. The opinions expressed are ours and do not represent views of the funding agencies. We thank Elizabeth Crowe, Stephanie Day, Jennifer Dombek, and the ISI Project team members for their hard work providing professional development, collecting data, and coding video. We thank the children, parents, teachers, and school administrators without whom this research would not have been possible.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2014 American Psychological Association.
PY - 2014/2/24
Y1 - 2014/2/24
N2 - We examined classrooms as complex systems that affect students' literacy learning through interacting effects of content and amount of time individual students spent in literacy instruction along with the global quality of the classroom learning environment. We observed 27 3rd-grade classrooms serving 315 target students using 2 different observation systems. The first assessed instruction at a more micro level, specifically, the amount of time individual students spent in literacy instruction defined by the type of instruction, role of the teacher, and content. The second assessed the quality of the classroom learning environment at a more macro level, focusing on classroom organization, teacher responsiveness, and support for vocabulary and language. Results revealed that both global quality of the classroom learning environment and time individual students spent in specific types of literacy instruction covering specific content interacted to predict students' comprehension and vocabulary gains, whereas neither system alone did. These findings support a dynamic systems model of how individual children learn in the context of classroom literacy instruction and the classroom learning environment, which can help to improve observations systems, advance research, elevate teacher evaluation and professional development, and enhance student achievement.
AB - We examined classrooms as complex systems that affect students' literacy learning through interacting effects of content and amount of time individual students spent in literacy instruction along with the global quality of the classroom learning environment. We observed 27 3rd-grade classrooms serving 315 target students using 2 different observation systems. The first assessed instruction at a more micro level, specifically, the amount of time individual students spent in literacy instruction defined by the type of instruction, role of the teacher, and content. The second assessed the quality of the classroom learning environment at a more macro level, focusing on classroom organization, teacher responsiveness, and support for vocabulary and language. Results revealed that both global quality of the classroom learning environment and time individual students spent in specific types of literacy instruction covering specific content interacted to predict students' comprehension and vocabulary gains, whereas neither system alone did. These findings support a dynamic systems model of how individual children learn in the context of classroom literacy instruction and the classroom learning environment, which can help to improve observations systems, advance research, elevate teacher evaluation and professional development, and enhance student achievement.
KW - Child individual differences
KW - Classroom observation
KW - Differentiated instruction
KW - Intervention
KW - Language
KW - Reading
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U2 - 10.1037/a0035921
DO - 10.1037/a0035921
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84894255514
SN - 0022-0663
VL - 106
SP - 762
EP - 778
JO - Journal of Educational Psychology
JF - Journal of Educational Psychology
IS - 3
ER -