Book Description

The "Vocabulary Improvement Program for English Language Learners and Their Classmates" ("VIP") is a vocabulary development curriculum for English language learners and native English speakers (grades 4-6). The 15-week program includes 30-45 minute whole class and small group activities, which aim to increase students' understanding of target vocabulary words included in a weekly reading assignment. One study of "VIP" met the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) evidence standards with reservations. It included 142 English language learner students in the fifth grade in 16 classrooms in California, Virginia, and Massachusetts. In this study, 17 classrooms from three states were randomly assigned, within each state, to the intervention (n=10) or comparison group (n=7), but one comparison group teacher withdrew from the study prior to the start of the intervention. The 16 classrooms included both fluent English speakers and English language learners. The study author reported findings for the full sample, but provided the WWC with data on the English language learner subsample that is the focus of this WWC report. The 16 classrooms included 142 fifth grade English language learner students (94 in the intervention group and 48 in the comparison group). Students in the comparison group received their regular classroom instruction. The study took place over two years. The intervention had potentially positive effects in reading achievement and no discernible effects on English language development. (Contains 9 footnotes.) [This publication was produced by the What Works Clearinghouse. The following study is reviewed in this intervention report: Carlo, M. S., August, D., McLaughlin, B., Snow, C. E., Dressler, C., Lippman, D. N., Lively, T. J., & White, C. E. (2004). Closing the gap: Addressing the vocabulary needs of English-language learners in bilingual and mainstream classrooms. "Reading Research Quarterly," 39, 188-215.].