The Impact of Word Knowledge Instruction on Literacy Outcomes in Grade 5

Why this study?

Florida school district leaders wanted to examine the efficacy of a new instructional program designed to enhance the word knowledge of grade 5 students and improve their reading achievement, especially for English learner students. The grade 5 English language arts (ELA) curriculum includes complex text with social studies content. District leaders wanted strategies for deepening students’ knowledge of multisyllabic words in informational text, such as in science and social studies. Additionally, the district wanted the strategies to better address the research findings and the state standards on teaching morphological awareness—knowledge of Greek and Latin roots, base words, prefixes, and suffixes—to help students in the upper elementary and middle school grades infer the meaning of new words and expand their vocabulary.