University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

Effective reading instruction for English learners

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Effective reading instruction for English learners

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EFFECTIVE READING INSTRUCTION FOR ENGLISH LEARNERS

by

Mayra Lizette Perez

___________________________________________________________________

A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION

May 2008

Copyright 2008 Mayra Lizette Perez

DEDICATION
This dissertation is dedicated to Connie Rothstein, who insisted I return to
graduate school and kept nudging me whenever I seemed to lose sight of my goal. To my
mother, Doris Perez, who taught about the power of persistence and determination. To
my fiancé, Alberto Estrada, who was determined to get me to the finish line, so we could
move forward with our lives. To Claudia, a dear friend, who believed in me and
convinced me that I could indeed finish this goal I had set out to accomplish. To
Elizabeth, my cheerleader, who kept sending me inspirational messages and did whatever
she could to keep me motivated. This dedication is a small token of my appreciation for
the support, patience, and love I have received over the past few years especially during
the publication of this document.

ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to acknowledge my dissertation chair, Dr. Eugenia Mora-
Flores, who supported and helped me through this challenging adventure. I appreciated
the valuable feedback and encouraging words. Her understanding of my other
commitments and her gentle nudging kept me going when I was most exhausted.
I would also like to acknowledge my dissertation committee members, Dr. Gisele
Ragusa and Dr. May Cowen for taking the time to guide me throughout the process. I
appreciated all the feedback and encouragement you provided me along the way.

iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Dedication ii
Acknowledgements iii
List of Tables vii
List of Figures viii
Abstract ix
Chapter 1:
Introduction 1
Background of the Problem 1
Statement of the Problem 5
Purpose of the Study 7
Research Questions 8
Theoretical Framework 9
Significance of the Study 10
Definition of Terms 11
Limitations of the Study 13
Chapter 2: Literature Review 16
Introduction 16
The Reading Performance of English Language Learners 18
Theoretical Framework for Effective Reading Instruction 21
Reading Development and Reading Comprehension 23
Reading Comprehension of English Learners 30
Reading Comprehension Instruction for English Only Students 35
Reading Comprehension Instruction for English Learners 40
Vocabulary Instruction for English Only Students 52
Vocabulary Instruction for English Learners 55
Language Acquisition 55
Professional Development on Reading 62
Conclusion 64

Chapter 3: Research Design and Methodology 66
Introduction 66
Study Design 68
Sample and Population 69
Site Selection 69
Unit of Study 74
Teacher Interviews 75
Classroom Observations 76

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Document Analysis 78
Data Analysis Procedure 81
Ethical Considerations 82
Validation of Findings 82
Conclusion 83

Chapter 4: Narrative Analysis 85
Introduction 85
Section 1: Classroom Demographics 86
What are the Practices for Improving Reading Comprehension for EL Students? 89
Readers’ Workshop Structure 89
Reading Comprehension Strategies 95
Learning Environment 101
Modeling Reading 104
Active Participation and Discussion 106
Professional Development 108
Integration of Strategies for ELs 109
What are the Practices in Third and Fourth Grade for Improving the Vocabulary
Development of EL Students? 113
What are the Practices Being Used by Third Grade Teachers to Teach Reading
Comprehension? 117
Using Read Alouds to Model Reading 118
Students Practice Reading Aloud 119
Responding to Reading 122
Conferences 123
What are the Practices Used by Fourth Grade Teachers to Teach Reading
Comprehension? 124
Teachers Model Reading 125
Class Discussions 127
Small Group Instruction and One-on-One Conferences 129
Conclusion 135

Chapter 5: Conclusions, Recommendations, and Suggestions for Further Research 137
Introduction 137
Implications 138
Students Experience the Matthews Effects When it Comes to Reading 139
Proficient Readers Use a Variety of Strategies to Solve Comprehension
Problems to Deepen Understanding of Text 140
Voluntary Reading has Positive Outcomes for EL Students 140
Independent Reading Assists Students in Developing a Larger Vocabulary 140
Literacy Discussions Develop Oral Communication Skills and Comprehension
Skills 141
Professional Development Must Be Ongoing and Engaging 142
Assessing the Literacy Development of English Learners 142

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Focused Vocabulary Instruction Does Not Occur in K-12 Classrooms 144
School Reform Can Directly Impact Literacy Instruction 145
Recommendations for Professional Development on Reading 145
Recommendations for Independent Reading 146
Recommendations for Professional Development in the Area of Vocabulary 147
Future Research 148
Closing 148

References 151
Appendices
Appendix A 161
Appendix B 163
Appendix C 167
Appendix D 169
Appendix E 174

vi

List of Tables
Table 1: Profile of Teachers Participating in the Study 72
Table 2: Classroom Observation Dates and Topics of Instruction 77
Table 3: CELDT and CST Results for Third and Fourth Grade EL Students 79
Table 4: Results of Reading, Fluency, and Accuracy Test 80
Table 5: Demographic Information of Participating Classes 87
Table 6: CST Performance Levels of Third and Fourth Grade Intermediate EL
Students 88

Table 7: Reading Strategies Identified During the Study 98

Table 8: Number of Books in Classroom Libraries 101
Table 9: Strategies Being Used Most Frequently By Third Grade Teachers 118
Table 10: Percentage of Students Reading Aloud 121
Table 11: Strategies Most Frequently Used By Fourth Grade Teachers 124

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List of Figures
Figure1: Reading Comprehension Instruction 100
Figure 2: Classroom Diagram 175
Figure 3: Strategies to Support Successful EL Students 112
Figure 4: Comparison of the Findings in Third and Fourth Grade Classrooms 134
Figure 5: Significant Findings and Themes 136

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Abstract
This study explored the areas of reading comprehension and vocabulary
instruction of English Learners at the intermediate level (level 3) of English language
acquisition in third and fourth grade. The purpose of the study was to identify effective
practices in reading comprehension instruction in order to increase student achievement
for Hispanic English learners. The research was conducted at a select school in a small
district for a period of one month. Four teachers (2 third, 2 fourth) participated in this
study.
Teachers were interviewed for the purpose of gathering information about their
experience in working with EL students and training. Eight classroom observations, two
per class, were conducted during literacy instruction. Readers’ workshop was observed
in all four classrooms during the classroom observations. Students benefited from
working in small groups and one-on-one conferences with their teachers.
Teachers communicated having numerous challenges related to using state
adopted curriculum and District pacing plans in conjunction with readers’ workshop.
Teachers expressed a need to assess EL students in an authentic manner (running records,
one-on-one conferences, and reader’s notebook) to plan and modify instruction based on
student needs. The teachers had participated in ongoing and continuous professional
development in the implementation of readers’ workshop. Teacher level of understanding
of reading development was directly related to the length of experience working at the
school.

ix

x
Vocabulary instruction was identified during teacher interviews as critical to the
development of reading of English learners. However, the classroom observations did not
reveal a systematic approach for teaching vocabulary.
Results demonstrated that EL students benefit from free voluntary reading, a
variety of grouping for instruction, reading comprehension instruction and class
discussions about literature.

CHAPTER ONE
Overview of the Study
Introduction
Background of the Problem
The fastest growing student population in the United States (U.S.) is English
learners (EL) and these changing demographics are significantly impacting K-12 public
schools (Hadaway & Young, 2006). The Office of Bilingual Education and Minority
Language Affairs, U.S. Department of Education, reported that 3.9 million public school
students were identified as limited English proficient (LEP) in 2001. This figure has
nearly doubled what it was only a decade ago (Kindler, 2002). Seventy-five percent of
these students are concentrated in the following six states: California, Texas, Florida,
New York, Illinois, and Arizona. California is in the lead with 1,511,646 EL students
(Hadaway & Young, 2006). In addition, a dramatic shift in English learner enrollment
has occurred in many states between the years of 1997-1998 and 2000-2001 (Hadaway &
Young, 2006). Nine states demonstrated a growth in English learner enrollment of 50%
to 80%. The nine states include: Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Minnesota,
Missouri, New Hampshire, Oregon, and Virginia. The changing demographics of the
United States require that educators be knowledgeable about how best to meet the needs
of the English learner population.
According to Hadaway and Young (2006), over 400 languages are spoken in the
United States. Spanish (79%) is the predominant primary language of our English
learner student population. Other languages spoken by English learners are
Vietnamese (2%), Hmong (1%), Cantonese (1%), and Korean (1%). The

1

aforementioned languages are followed by Haitian, Creole, Arabic, Russian, Tagalog,
Navajo, Khmer, Mandarin, Portuguese, Urdu, Serbo-Croatian, Lao, and Japanese.
The U.S. Census Bureau (2004) has estimated that 88% of the national population
increase between 2000 and 2050 will be children of new immigrants. Because of this
prediction, it is essential for educators to concentrate on training in effective pedagogy
for English learners and on designing appropriate instruction for English learners. The
current data show that English learners are not performing well in school. When EL
students are compared to their fluent English speaking peers, they tend to receive lower
grades, score below average on standardized math and reading tests, and are perceived by
teachers to have weaker academic skills (Moss & Puma, 1995). The National Assessment
of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading test demonstrated that EL students score
between 22-29 percentage points lower than students living in homes where English was
always used (National Center for Education Statistics, 2003). From 1998 through 2002,
California used the Stanford Achievement Test, Version 9, a nationally norm-referenced
test, as the primary means to assess the achievement of California’s students (Gandera et
al., 2003). The test scores on this English only achievement test demonstrated a persistent
gap between EL students and their English speaking peers particularly in the area of
reading. EL students perform poorly throughout their academic careers in comparison to
their English speaking peers. English learners who enter schools identified as proficient
in English start off as comparable to their English speaking peers but fall behind by third
grade and they never seem to catch up (Gandera et. al., 2003). This large and
persistent gap in reading performance represents a challenge for all educators
working with EL students.

2

The California Standards Test (CST) reveals that the academic performance of
language minority students, particularly those not yet proficient in English, lags far
behind English only (EO) students (Gandera & Rumberger, 2006). Language minority
students who entered school already proficient scored consistently higher than EO
students at all grade levels. In comparison, students who were reclassified as fluent
English proficient (FEP) initially performed higher than EO students in the lower grades,
but by eighth grade, they scored at a lower level. Gandera et al. (2006) combined the
scores of current and former EL students and discovered that 23% of this population
scored at the proficient level in second grade with performance peaking in fourth grade.
By eleventh grade the EL students performing at the proficient level declined to 19%.
The achievement gap between EO and EL students remains unchanged.
Language minority students who do not read and write proficiently in English
cannot participate fully in school or society. The data indicate that 10 percent of the
students who spoke English at home failed to complete high school. In the United States,
the percentage of language minority students who spoke English and failed to complete
high school was three times as high (31%) and five times as high (51%) for language
minority students who spoke English with difficulty (National Center for Education
Statistics, 2004).
Tests measure both achievement and language ability for English learners.
Although ELs might master a concept they may be unable to demonstrate understanding
due to the difficulty of the test language (Hadaway & Young, 2006). The California
English Language Development Test (CELDT) is an assessment of language skills
being used by California educators to monitor the progress of ELs in English

3

acquisition (Mora, 2006). This measure is also used for both program placement and
reclassification to the status of English proficient. The CELDT was implemented in 2001
as a statewide assessment for EL students. This test provides educators with annual
language-assessment scores that can be compared from year to year for English learners
(Mora, 2006). The CELDT defines student abilities in English using a scale of 1 to 5,
with level 1 representing beginning level and 5 representing advanced, language
proficiency equivalent to those of a native English speaker. The CELDT data provides a
profile of a students’ growth on three subtests: listening/speaking, reading and writing.
The CELDT data gathered from 2001 through 2003 indicate that the process of acquiring
full proficiency in English takes an average of six years. Data indicate that acquiring
English proficiency quickly and easily through short-term intensive instruction has been
proven to be unrealistic (Hakuta, Butler, & Witt, 2000). The CELDT also has two major
limitations, it is time consuming to administer and the scores are not available in a timely
fashion to allow educators to use the information for program placement purposes
(Gandera et al., 2003).
The increasing number of English learners entering schools in the United States
poses a daily challenge for educators. These students are expected to learn to read, write,
and speak proficiently in English in a short period of time. State and federal mandates
expect all children regardless of their linguistic backgrounds to have equal access to all
areas of the curriculum but also to meet state and local standards. Teachers face the
challenge of how to teach linguistically diverse students to read and write in order to
acquire the skills necessary for them to participate fully in society. Some teachers

4

may have assumed that students learn to comprehend simply by reading. Although some
children will acquire these skills independently, many will not (Snow, 2002).
The National Panel on Language Minority Children and Youth found that EL
students are successful at decoding, word recognition, and spelling. These skills are
taught well enough to allow language minority students to attain levels of performance
comparable to those of native speakers of English. When it comes to text-level skills such
as reading comprehension and writing, language-minority students rarely approach the
same levels of proficiency as their English speaking peers. Effective reading
comprehension and vocabulary instruction are the keys to the success of EL students
because a reader’s vocabulary is the best single predictor of how well a reader can
comprehend text (Anderson & Freebody, 1981). The focus of this study is to identify
effective practices in the areas of reading comprehension and vocabulary instruction
because it is an area of academic need that impacts our growing population of EL
students.
Statement of the Problem
Livingston Elementary School, a pseudonym for the school, is located east of Los
Angeles in the West San Gabriel Valley. The total school enrollment is 445 with 85% of
the students eligible to receive free or reduced price lunch. Livingston Elementary School
has seen large gains in its school wide Academic Performance Index (API) over the last
six years. While Livingston is experiencing success, a significant achievement gap still
exists for Latino students at the school. Although the school has demonstrated an
increase in test scores, the API for the Hispanic subgroup is 664, a difference of 48
points from the school base API of 712. Hispanics make up 65% of the total student

5

population while Asians comprise 26%. Currently, 79.5% of all Hispanics are not
meeting standards in Language Arts as defined by the California Standards Test (CST).
The largest percent of the Hispanic students fall in the basic (38%) and the below basic
(37%) bands of the CST. Additionally, the Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) criterion
established by the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation was not met for this group.
English learners make up 67% of the total student population at Livingston, and many are
also of Hispanic descent. The data indicate that 76.4% of the English learners did not
meet the standards in English Language Arts on the CST. Therefore, the achievement of
Hispanic English learners represents a pressing need at Livingston. The increase in test
scores of the Hispanic EL students at Livingston has been minimal. This same
phenomenon is occurring at the state level and requires the attention of all educators. The
achievement gap which exists between Hispanic and English only students remains
relatively unchanged (California Department of Education, 2007).
Further analysis of the data indicates that, particular grade levels are experiencing
more success than others. The 2005 CST results for fourth grade indicate that 32% of the
students scored at the proficient or advanced levels as compared to 16% of the students in
third grade. The 2006 results demonstrate that 22% of the third grade students scored at
the proficient or advanced levels while 47% of the fourth grade students scored proficient
or advanced. Although both grade levels are experiencing progress, fourth grade scores
are increasing more significantly. This study will focus on examining classroom practices
which may be contributing to the increase in test scores. My goal is to identify best
practices in the area of literacy instruction at third and fourth grade for EL students.

6

Purpose of the Study
Teaching English learners to read and write well in English is an urgent challenge
for all schools. Literacy is essential to achievement in all academic subjects and leads to
educational and economic opportunities (August & Shanahan, 2006). Students who
cannot read and write proficiently in English are faced with limited job opportunities and
earning power, and a poor quality of life.
The National Literacy Panel (2006) found that word-level skills in literacy such
as, decoding, word recognition, and spelling are often taught well (August & Shanahan,
2006). Language minority students are able to attain similar levels of performance equal
to their English speaking peers. However, this is not the case in the areas of reading
comprehension and writing. Language minority students rarely reach the levels of
performance achieved by Native English speakers in these areas. For this reason,
additional research is needed in the area of reading comprehension and this study is
relevant and important work
The purpose of this study is to identify effective practices, in the area of reading
instruction, and to increase student achievement for Hispanic English learners who attend
Livingston Elementary School. The focus is on teaching reading comprehension and
vocabulary to third and fourth grade English learners at the intermediate level (level 3) of
English language acquisition. Teachers are provided with pacing plans and grade level
benchmark tests for accountability and instructional purposes. The pacing plans inform
teachers what standards are to be taught and when they should be taught. The
benchmark tests in the area of language arts indicate that EL students are performing
below grade level standards. The readability of the benchmark tests is above grade

7

level and the topics are unfamiliar to EL students. These measures do not assist the
teachers is determining how an EL student is progressing. The National Literacy Panel
(2006) found that most assessments do a poor job of gauging the individual strengths and
weaknesses of language minority students (August & Shanahan, 2006). The district
measures do not provide teachers with information to guide instruction and teachers
struggle to administer authentic assessments because of the extensive focus placed on
district assessments. Authentic assessments may include running records and the use of
portfolios in writing. A running record is an assessment in which a teacher listens to a
students read an unfamiliar text. The teacher takes notes on the reading strategies
employed by the student and comprehension questions follow the oral reading portion of
the test (Garcia, 1994). Writing portfolios contain a collection of written work collected
over time (Atwell, 1987; Routman, 1988).
This study attempts to identify if the tools provided by the District are useful for
teachers when assessing the progress of EL students. The most effective strategies for
reading instruction were also investigated. Teachers were interviewed about resources
and strategies for EL instruction. The researcher wants to support and improve practice
in the area of literacy instruction for EL students.
Research Questions
This qualitative study aims to explore effective instruction in the areas of reading
comprehension and vocabulary development. The primary question guiding this research
is: What are the practices for improving reading comprehension for EL students? In
addition, the following sub-questions will also be addressed to further guide the
research:

8

1. What are the practices in third grade for improving vocabulary development
of EL students?
2. What are the practices in fourth grade for improving vocabulary development
of EL students?
3. What are the practices being used by third grade teachers to teach reading
comprehension?
4. What are the practices being used by fourth grade teachers to teach reading
comprehension?
Theoretical Framework
This study utilizes a reader-oriented theoretical framework to describe and
provide a rationale for providing EL students with free voluntary reading in school.
Krashen (1993) found free voluntary reading as one of the most powerful tools in
language education. Research in the area of free voluntary reading in schools provides
strong evidence that these programs are consistently effective. In 38 of 41 comparisons
readers do as well or better than students who were engaged in traditional language
programs. Traditional reading programs are described to emphasize reading from the
basal reader and direct instruction in grammar, vocabulary, reading comprehension, and
spelling ( Krashen, 1993).
Independent reading leads to high levels of practice and fluency which are
necessary for the development of comprehension and the enjoyment of reading to occur.
Students who are good readers become better readers because they read more and
also read more challenging texts (Stanovich, 1986).

9

A second theoretical perspective for this study is a reader response framework
(Rosenblatt, 2003). This perspective is explained as, the readers’ involvement in the
process of making meaning of text. Students who demonstrate good comprehension skills
use strategies in reading to learn new concepts, get deeply involved in what they are
reading, critically evaluate what they read, and apply their new knowledge to solve
practical and intellectual problems (Snow , 2002).
Significance of the Study
Effective instruction in the areas of reading comprehension and vocabulary
development is necessary in order to increase student achievement for English learners.
Language minority students rarely approach the same level of proficiency in text-level
skills (reading comprehension and writing) achieved by native English speakers. The
grade levels selected for this study are critical because EL students face challenges when
pushed to read beyond second-and third-grade English texts. Children from economically
disadvantaged families score significantly lower than children from advantaged families
at all ages tested and the gap becomes greater with increasing age (Chall et al., 1990).
Teachers often report that a fourth grade slump in literacy development occurs
particularly for low income children.
Chall et al. (2003) reported that low-income children in their study experienced great
difficulty defining more abstract, academic, literary, and less common words as
compared to the normative population on the word meaning test of the Diagnostic
Assessments of Reading (DRA). Therefore the selection of third grade and fourth for
this study was critical. When this research is completed, effective practices in reading
comprehension and vocabulary development will be identified and defined for

10

practitioners. It is my goal that educators have a variety of effective instructional
strategies at their fingertips to implement on a daily basis.
In California, 42.3% of the population reported speaking a language other than
English in the home (U.S. Census Bureau, 2004). The percentage of LEP students in
California is currently reported at 24.9% and this number continues to grow each year.
Then state and national data indicate that there is a large and persistent gap in the area of
reading performance of English learners. It is my goal that this study will support
educators in narrowing this gap.
Definition of Terms
Several terms will be used throughout this study to discuss concepts associated
with English learners. The terms and definitions pertinent to this study may be found
below.
English learner- refers to students who are less than proficient in English as defined
by Rivera (1994).

Limited English Proficient- a student who is not yet proficient in English (Rivera,
2004).

Language Acquisition- a series of stages a person undergoes in order to acquire a
language (Cummins, 1994).

English only- a term that will be used to discuss students whose primary
language is English.

11

California English Language Development Test (CELDT)- a comprehensive test
implemented in California in 2001 that assesses the language subskills and overall
fluency of English learners The CELDT is used for the purpose of program placement
and monitoring of student progress in English language acquisition (Mora, 2006).

Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills (BICS)-conversational language skills
that English learners acquire in about two years (Cummins, 1981)

Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP)-academic language skills that
English learners must acquire to be successful in school. It takes about five to seven
years for EL students to acquire CALP.
Reading comprehension- requires the reader to interact with the text, using
background knowledge and cognitive abilities to make sense of what is being read
(Roit, 2006).

Vocabulary instruction- refers to providing students with direct instruction in the
area of word knowledge in order to strengthen comprehension skills (Feldman &
Kinsella, 2005).

Phonics Instruction- a bottom-up approach to reading instruction. Students
participate in sound-symbol correspondences and extensive drill in sounding out
English words (Chamot & O’Malley, 1994).

12

Whole language- a top-down instructional approach and philosophy in which
listening, reading, speaking and writing are integrated into the language arts
curriculum (Chamot & O’Malley, 1994).
Language Experience Approach (LEA)- an approach in which students dictate their
experiences or stories to the teacher or scribe. This text is then used as reading
material for the author and other students in the class (Chamot & O’Malley, 1994).

Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach (CALLA)-a content-
embedded approach that incorporates the use of high-priority content taken from the
grade level curriculum and identified by or in conjunction with content teachers
(Chamot & O’Malley, 1994).
Limitations of the Study
This case study was conducted at a selected school in a small district for a short
period of time. The district and school factors may have affected the applicability of this
study to other school sites. In addition, the study focused on third and fourth grade
students identified as intermediate English learners and the sample may not allow for
generalizations to other dissimilar schools and districts.
My professional experiences in the classroom may have impacted this study.
During my tenure in the classroom, I worked almost exclusively with Latino EL students
and special education Latino students from immigrant families. The materials
provided to teachers for the purpose of literacy instruction frustrated the EL students
and the teachers. My experience with struggling students and mandated packaged

13

programs may have influenced how I conducted my investigation. I attempted to remain
open minded as I gathered data in order to prevent my bias from overlooking pertinent
information. In low-performing schools it is not uncommon for teachers to experience
top-down decisions and mandates when it comes to providing reading instruction. My
focus was to look beyond the pre-packaged program in order to find what worked best for
EL students.
Chapter One provides an introduction and explanation of the problem which was
explored. ELs are the fastest growing student population impacting K-12 public schools
and these students performance lags behind that of EO students according to standardized
test scores. CELDT scores reveal that it takes an average of six years for EL students to
acquire full proficiency in English. The purpose of the study is described and the research
questions are identified. The significance of the study is explored and terms being used
throughout the study are defined in this chapter.
Chapter Two provides a comprehensive literature review on research in the area
of reading comprehension and vocabulary instruction. This chapter describes how
English learners (EL) have performed in reading comprehension and what effective
practices are being implemented to improve their performance. Chapter Three gives
detailed information about the research design and methodology which was incorporated
in this study. The process of data collection and data analysis will be defined for the
reader. Chapter Four reports the data which was gathered and how it was analyzed. The
themes which emerged during the study are organized and described in detail.
Chapter Five explains the implications and findings of the study as it relates to the

14

instruction of EL students. Recommendations and suggestions for further study are
presented.

15

CHAPTER TWO
Literature Review
Introduction
The purpose of this literature review is to investigate how ELs are performing in
the area of reading comprehension and what effective instructional practices are being
implemented to teach these students. In 2000, the National Reading Panel identified
many studies that demonstrated that reading ability and the size of one’s vocabulary are
related and for this reason, literature on vocabulary development shall also be reviewed in
this chapter. Seven key areas that will be discussed in this literature review are as
follows:
1. The reading performance of EL students on standardized tests.
2. Reading development and reading comprehension
3. Reading comprehension of English Learners
4. Reading comprehension instruction for English Only (EO) students.
5. Reading comprehension instruction for EL students.
6. Vocabulary instruction for EO students.
7. Vocabulary instruction for EL students.
This chapter begins by defining how EL students are performing in the area of reading.
Their school performance provides insight about the need for research in the area of
reading comprehension and vocabulary development. Is it also important to understand
how the development of reading and comprehension differs for EO and

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EL students. The relationship of vocabulary to reading comprehension is important to
understand in order for educators to provide a strong literacy program for EL students.
English learners are students who are not yet proficient in English but do
communicate effectively in their primary language. Prior to the term EL, these students
were also referred to as limited English proficient and language minority students
(Rivera, 1994). The achievement data on English learners in California reveals a
persistent achievement gap in the area of reading comprehension (Gandera et al., 2003).
English learners are falling behind their native English speaking peers.
According to Gandera et al. (2003), in the United States (U.S.) English learners
represented 10% of the student population in 2000-2001. In California public schools,
25% of the students are identified as EL. The majority of the EL students in both the U.S.
(79%) and California (83%) speak Spanish as their primary language (Gandera et al.,
2003). California currently has the largest EL student population in the U.S., with 33% of
the students having a primary language other than English (Abedi et. al., 2004). Although
one out of every four students in California is an EL student, the question on how to best
meet their needs continues to be a complex and controversial topic. The national data
reveal that a large gap exists between the reading performance of English learners and
English only students.
Researchers have found that EL students are not receiving the curriculum they
require. Berman (1992) discovered that many schools have not implemented the kinds of
programs that are effective for struggling EL students. He reported that these students
are placed in a passive role. Their classes are organized as age-based groups in which
the students are tracked and the curriculum is abstract and driven by standardized

17

tests. Goldenberg (1996) investigated the needs of language minority students and found
that students were given whole-class instruction and seat work with limited opportunities
to talk, ask and answer questions.
In many schools basal readers are used to provide reading instruction for EL
students. Vocabulary in these reading passages is controlled. The focus of basal programs
is on developing specific word-analysis skills and sight vocabulary. These materials
should be used selectively with EL students. The strategies used to develop basal readers
in order to make learning how to read easier may make it more difficult for the EL
student (Allen, 1994).
The National Clearinghouse for Comprehensive School Reform reported on a
forum of EL and bilingual educators from different regions around the country. The
consensus of these experts was that the core policies and practices in public education
have not changed to serve and adapt to the needs of culturally and diverse students
(Houseman & Martinez, 2002). The curriculum for most English learners lacked
academic rigor and many of the students are placed in low tracks.
The Reading Performance of English Language Learners
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading test shows a
22-29 point advantage for students living in homes where English is the only language
spoken as compared to students from homes where a language other than English was
always used (National Center for Education Statistics, 2003). These reading tests are
administered in English to students not yet proficient in English and therefore, these
achievement scores have their limitations (Gandera, 2003). It is also important to
remember that EL students may take five to seven years to master the academic

18

language required to do well on reading achievement tests (Hadaway& Young, 2006).
Throughout their educational careers, ELs perform poorly in comparison to their English
speaking peers. English learners who enter schools identified as proficient in English start
off as comparable to their English speaking peers but fall behind by third grade and they
never seem to catch up (Gandera et al., 2003). Gandera et al. (2003) reports that the
achievement gap between EL students and EO students can be attributed to in part to the
inequitable conditions that affect their opportunity to learn. Seven primary areas in which
EL students receive an inferior educational experience are: inequitable access to
appropriately trained teachers, inadequate professional development to help teachers
address the instructional needs of EL students, inequitable access to appropriate
assessment to measure achievement, inadequate instructional time to accomplish learning
goals, inequitable access to instructional materials and curriculum, inequitable access to
adequate facilities, and intense segregation into schools and classrooms that place them at
particularly high risk for failure (Gandera et al., 2003).
As EL students progress through the grades, they face challenging vocabulary and
complex linguistic and discourse structure that they have not yet mastered (Snow, 2002).
The greater cognitive demand required when reading may discourage ELs from engaging
in reading practice that they need to become proficient.
Students who enter school as English learners and are reclassified as fluent
English proficient (R-FEP) start off comparable to EO students but by fifth grade fall
behind English only students in test scores and by 7
th
grade fall substantially below
English only students. The achievement gap for EL students is of great concern to all

19

practioners in the field and it is imperative that we seek best practices in reading
instruction to meet the needs of this growing population.
The reading achievement gap for EL students may be caused by a variety of
factors and the Matthew Effects (the rich get richer and the poor get poorer) can
definitely be a contributor. Students who read frequently become better readers and those
who do not, will struggle with reading. According to Stanovich (1986), students
experience the Matthew Effect when it comes to reading development. There is plenty of
evidence that indicates that students who experience a slow start in learning to read find it
increasingly difficult to catch up or even master the process. Children with a good
understanding of phonemic awareness are able to successfully make sense of the
alphabetic system and become good readers (Stanovich, 1986). These skills allow the
development of independent reading which leads to high levels of practice and fluency
which are critical for comprehension to occur and for the enjoyment of reading to
develop. The more a child reads the more proficient a reader he will become (Stanovich,
1986).
In-school free reading programs provide strong evidence that students who are
given opportunities to practice reading at school will become better readers. Krashen
(1993) identified two types of in-school free reading programs: silent sustained reading
and self-selected reading. In sustained silent reading both the student and teacher engage
in free reading each day for five to fifteen minutes. In self-selected reading, free reading
is a part of the language arts block with the teacher holding regular conferences with
students to discuss what was read and to develop reading goals. Traditional language
arts programs emphasize reading from the assigned basal reader and direct instruction

20

in grammar, vocabulary, reading comprehension, and spelling. Krashen (1993) found
that in-school free reading programs consistently yield better results than traditional
language arts programs. In 38 of 41 studies, students participating in free voluntary
reading did better in reading comprehension tests than students given traditional skill-
based reading instruction (Krashen, 1993). The majority of the studies which Krashen
reviewed included second language learners. All students benefit from in-school free
reading and this strategy has been linked to an increase in reading comprehension test
scores
(Krashen, 1993).
Theoretical Framework for Effective Reading Instruction
Literary theory emerged in 1980 as a field of academic specialization. The
common finding among the different researchers was that the reader becomes involved in
the process of making meaning of a text. This theory was identified as reader response
(Rosenblatt, 2003). One group of theorists labeled the role and responses of the reader as
reader-oriented. Another grouping derives from emphasis on formal analysis and was
labeled text-oriented. The final group focuses on the interrelationship between the reader
and the text.
Reader-oriented theories focus on the reader with a passive text. The reader's
mode of adaptation and defense shape the interpretation of a text (Rosenblatt, 2003).
Although the constraint of the text is recognized, attention is placed mainly on the
reader's response as a means of discovering the reader's identity. Text-oriented
theories focused on the underlying codes, rules, and conventions found within a piece
of text. The personal moral and emotional response of the reader was devalued. The

21

reader-plus-text-oriented theories valued the importance of both the reader and the text.
Grouped under the label of reception theory, in 1978 the theorist Iser (Rosenblatt, 2003)
maintained an awareness of the roles of both the reader and the text in his description of
the reading process. The text is seen as setting particular requirements for the reader but
also having gaps for the reader to fill in.
In 1938, Rosenblatt (Rosenblatt, 2003) introduces transactional theory which
defines reading as an interaction between the reader and the text. The reader and the text
are separate completely defined entities acting on one another, a spiral reciprocal
relationship in which each conditions the other. The text and the reader affect the
emerging meaning. Cultural or social context is and important feature of transactional
theory. Each reader draws on a personal supply of linguistic and life experiences.
During the 1960's theorists began to hypothesize that a learner does not passively
receive new knowledge but that they actively participate in the learning process.
Cognitive theorists suggest that the mind actively attempts to make sense of the new
information by applying to existing knowledge. This period of time was known as the
cognitive revolution (Garner, 1985). One of the theories that were developed during this
period was schema theory. Schema theory was developed by Rumelhart (1980) who
reported that knowledge is organized in structures called schemata. Schemata are the
background knowledge a learner uses to make sense of new learning. Schema theory is a
main component of cognitive theory. Cognitive theory suggests that the mind accesses
knowledge and applies it to new information being learned.
In 1978, Vygotsky claimed that a learner uses her/his language and personal
interactions in addition to her/his mind to develop new knowledge. Learning begins at

22

a social level through language and is then internalized. As a person learns they have a
sphere of actual and potential learning. The distance between the two spheres, the area of
most effective learning is called the zone of proximal development (ZPD). The ZPD is a
useful concept in the development of reading lessons for students. The students who
receive instruction in their ZPD by the guiding adult, the learner will actively interact
with the new information to make sense of the learning.
Reader response theory and schema theory describe the learner as personally
involved in the process of learning. Therefore, a student learning to read is actively
processing the information being learned in order to make sense of it and to connect it to
prior knowledge.
Reading Development and Reading Comprehension
As students complete their elementary school years, they have learned to read
words by using a variety of information about letter-sound patterns, cluster of letters, and
syllables (Lapp & Flood, 2006). Once children can identify words automatically and
with little effort, they can then focus on comprehension. According to Ehri (1998) and
Stahl and Murray (1994), students pass through a predictable series of stages as they
learn to read and identify words: pre-alphabetic, phonic cue reading, and full alphabetic.
The pre-alphabetic stage is described as the stage in which students recognize
words holistically and begin to control language. It begins during pre-school and lasts
until the child is about six years old. By the time children begin kindergarten they should
have some print knowledge and a vocabulary of 6,000 words. At this stage it is
common for students to read words incorrectly because they are not paying close
attention to each letter in the words. Phonic-cue reading is the second stage of word

23

identification development. During this stage the student develops phonological
awareness. They begin to use partial sound information in words such as, initial and final
sounds to decode words. As students learn more words, is becomes evident that they need
more strategies than phonic cue reading to comprehend text. Students in the full
alphabetic stage of word identification are able to use all letters and sounds to make
meaning of what they are reading. During this stage is when students benefit from
phonics instruction (Ehri, el al., 2001; Powell & Hornsby, 1995). Phonics instruction is
the teaching of sound-symbol correspondences and extensive drill in sounding out words
(Chamot & O'Malley, 1994). These stages have been taken into consideration in
developing instructional materials and in designing instruction for beginning readers. The
phonics and phonemic awareness have been traditionally used to teach native English
only students to read have also been frequently used with EL students with little
modification and this could be contributing to their poor performance in reading (Chamot
& O’Malley, 1994).
Students who understand letter-sound patterns and can identify word
automatically and with little effort can then focus on comprehension. Once a student
successfully passes through pre-alphabetic, phonic cue reading, and full alphabetic
additional reading practice will lead to proficiency in reading. Proficient readers know
what they comprehend and what they do not comprehend. They are effective in
identifying a purpose for reading and what strategies they will need to utilize in order to
comprehend a piece of text. Proficient readers use a variety of strategies to solve
comprehension problems or to deepen their understanding of a text (Keene, 2002).

24

Keene (2002) identified the following metacognitive comprehension strategies used by
proficient readers:
• Activates prior knowledge (schema) before, during, and after reading text.
Proficient readers use their prior experiences to make sense and to make
personal interpretations of text. They store new information with other
related memories.
• Determines important ideas and themes within a text. Proficient readers
identify what is important in the text in order to focus their reading and to
exclude unimportant details from memory.
• Asks questions of him- or herself, the authors, and the texts. Proficient
readers use their questions to clarify and to focus their reading.
• Creates visual, auditory, and other sensory images from text during and
after reading. Proficient readers use sensory images to deepen their
understanding of the text.
• Drawing inferences from text. Proficient readers use prior knowledge and
information from the text to critique and make interpretations from text.
Inferences include forming conclusions, making predictions, and
developing new ideas.
• Synthesizes what he or she has read. Proficient readers combine different
information from different sources to create restatements of central
messages or information from the text.
• Uses a variety of fix-up strategies to repair comprehension when it
breaks down. Proficient readers select appropriate fix-up strategies

25

from one of the six language systems to solve a comprehension problem.
The language systems are pragmatic, schematic, syntactic, lexical, and
graphophonic (Keene, 2002).
Reading is an essential skill that is required to succeed in society. As is evidenced
by NAEP, reading scores indicate that many students are not performing well on
standardized tests. As a result, the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services (1989) asked the National Academy of
Sciences to establish a committee to examine the prevention of reading difficulties
(Snow, 1989). The committee was asked to conduct a study on effective interventions for
young children who are at risk of having problems learning to read. The goals of the
project were:
1. To comprehend a rich but diverse research base;
2. to translate the research findings into advice and guidance for parents,
educators, publishers, and others involved in the care and instruction of the
young; and
3. to convey this advice to the targeted audiences through a variety of
publications, conferences, and other outreach activities (Snow, 1998)
The committee reviewed research on normal reading development and instruction; on
risk factors to be used in identifying groups and individuals at risk of reading failure; and
in prevention, intervention, and instructional approaches to ensure optimal reading
outcomes. The committee found little evidence that children experiencing difficulties
reading needed different support than children at low risk. Children experiencing
difficulty with reading and children with learning disabilities may need more

26

intensive support. Children who are struggling with reading do not require qualitatively
different instruction from children who are learning to read easily. They are in need of the
application of the same principals by someone who can apply them expertly to individual
children who are having difficulty for one reason or another. Excellent instruction is the
best intervention for children who struggle in learning to read.
The Committee on the Prevention of Reading Difficulties in Young Children
recommends attention in primary classrooms to the following areas: The alphabetic
principal, reading sight words, reading words by mapping speech sounds to parts of
words, achieving fluency, and comprehension. The committee also recommends that first
through third grade reading curricula include independent reading, reading aloud, reading
in pairs or groups, summarizing the main idea, predicting events and outcomes in
upcoming text, drawing inferences, monitoring for coherence and misunderstandings.
The committee found that initial reading instruction requires students to use
reading to obtain meaning from print, have numerous and intensive opportunities to read,
be exposed to consistent, regular spelling-sound relationships, and learn about the nature
of the alphabetic writing system, and understand the structure of spoken words. To
progress beyond initial reading in English, students must have a working understanding
of how sounds are represented alphabetically, sufficient practice to achieve fluency with
different types of texts, sufficient background knowledge and vocabulary to comprehend
written texts meaningfully, to monitor comprehension and repair misunderstandings, and
continued interest and motivation to read for a variety of purposes. Reading skills are
acquired in a predictable way by children who have normal and above-average
language skills. In order for children to acquire reading skills, they must have had

27

experiences in early childhood that support motivation for reading and be provided
exposure to literacy in action. Children must comprehend information about how print
works and understand the contrasting nature of spoken and written language. Students
who attend schools that provide effective reading instruction which include the strategies
listed above and are provided with opportunities to read will certainly acquire the skills
necessary to become a proficient reader.
The Stahl el al. (1997) study investigated the effects of the reorganization of a
reading program. Stahl et al. (1997) designed a reading intervention program in 14
second-grade classrooms with the purpose to accelerate reading development. The
intervention program was implemented in mixed- to lower income districts. The children
were tested in October of second grade and they ranged from nonreaders to students
reading at the 4
th
grade level. Of the 230 students participating in the intervention
program, 120 were reading at or above grade level. The teachers in the 14 classrooms
introduced a new basal selection by reading it aloud. The discussion that followed
included teacher- and student-generated questions and vocabulary work. The selection
was also explored analytically by using story maps, plot charts, and Venn diagrams.
Students that needed extra help were pulled aside for echo reading. Echo reading is
defined as the teacher reading each paragraph first followed by the students in the group.
The selection was read in the evening at home by the child aloud to the parent.
The next day, students paired up to and took turns reading each page or paragraph
to one another. This was strategy was defined as partner reading. Partner reading
helped the students to remain engaged and on task. The teacher monitored progress
and performance by moving around the classroom. Students' also increased the

28

amount practice of oral reading in class. On occasion students were asked to practice
reading one part of the selection for performance.
Students still having difficulty were asked to reread the selection at least one more
time at home. In addition, each selection was reviewed by completing a journal in pairs
or as a class. In this study students were not only asked to read a basal selection but also
to read books of their own choice both at home and at school for 15 to 20 minutes each
day. The program was developed to promote comprehension growth while encouraging a
large amount of reading and rereading for building reading fluency.
Oral reading growth was evaluated by asking a subsample of 89 students to read
aloud both familiar and unfamiliar excerpts from their basal reader in November,
January, and May. Reading growth was most pronounced for children who have been
reading at or above the primer level at the beginning of the school year. The most growth
was documented in November and January. The students who started off below the
primer level never caught up. Their reading of the basal selection continued to be slow
and prone to errors (Stahl et al., 1997).
Free voluntary reading in and outside of school can have a powerful effect on
reading comprehension and vocabulary development. People, who report that they read
more, tend to read better and exhibit a more mature writing style (Krashen, 1993).
Anderson, Wilson, and Fielding (1988) asked fifth grade students to report what activities
they participated in outside of school. They found children who spent time reading books
performed better on several reading achievement tests (reading comprehension,
vocabulary, and reading speed) including gains in reading comprehension between

29

second and fifth grade. This study supports the notion that children need to be provided
with numerous opportunities to read (Snow, 1989).
Reading Comprehension of English Learners
August & Shanahan (2006) reviewed studies that compared the word-level skills
and the text-level skills of language minority students with those of their monolingual
peers. The review of the studies found that the two groups perform at similar levels on
measures of phonological processing and word reading. These studies were primarily
conducted primarily with children in the elementary school years. Studies which
examined spelling performance of second-language learners found it to be similar to
monolingual children. The meta-analysis was based on the data gathered from nine
studies indicated that first and second-language speakers were equivalent in spelling
ability (August & Shanahan, 2006).
The few studies conducted in the area of reading comprehension that compared
language minority students to monolingual students reveal consistent results indicating
that the reading comprehension of language minority students fall well below that of the
native-speaking peers (August & Shanahan, 2006).
English learners face many challenges and frustrations as they begin to learn to
read in English. A second language learner learning to read for the first time in English or
trying to transfer reading skills learned in a primary language will come across a large
amount of unfamiliar words. Instructional strategies used with English speaking students
have been commonly used to teach ELs with little to no modifications (Chamot &
O’Malley, 1994). EL students may manage to decode unknown words but may not
comprehend the meaning of the words.

30

As teachers develop reading lessons for EL students the following principles must
be kept in mind (Farnan, 1994):
• Literacy in a second language develops as it does in the primary language.
• Second-language acquisition happens best within a risk-free environment
where students’ experiences and contributions are valued.
• Language is best learned when it is used for real and meaningful purposes.
• Students construct meaning from reading and writing, using prior
knowledge and a variety of strategies that support comprehension.
The Committee on the Prevention of Reading Difficulties in Young Children
recognized the challenges and responsibilities schools have in accommodating the
linguistic needs of EL students (Snow, 1989). This is particularly challenging because
students’ abilities and needs vary greatly. The committee recommended the following
guidelines for decision making in planning instructional programs for EL students:
• Language minority children who arrive in schools with limited proficiency
in English but who speak a language for which instructional materials are
available, should be taught in their native language while the are acquiring
proficiency in English.
• Language minority children who are not proficient in English and for
which no instructional materials or resources are available, the
instructional priority should be the development of English proficiency.
Print materials may be used to develop the understanding of English
sounds, vocabulary, and, syntax, but the postponement of formal

31

reading instruction is appropriate until an adequate level of proficiency in
spoken English has been achieved (Snow, 1998).
Although it is recommended that English learners receive instruction in their native
language and postpone formal reading instruction until they acquire an adequate level of
proficiency in English this is not what is happening in school. Survey data gathered in
2003 indicates that there has been a significant decrease in the number of English
language learners receiving extensive services. ELs receiving instruction in Spanish has
decreased from 40.1% to 20.4%.
Research has overwhelmingly has found that one or two years may be sufficient
for the acquisition of conversational fluency in English but at least five or more years are
required for students to bridge the gap in academic English between them and their
native English speaking peers (Cummins, 1981). These findings are important to consider
in planning reading instruction for English learners.
Second-language learners can easily learn phonological awareness and decoding
skills when these are explicitly taught in the primary grades and they catch up rapidly to
grade level norms in academic skills. In spite of their initial success, students who acquire
discrete language skills in the early grades experience the grade 4 slump. This is defined
as a sudden drop in reading achievement between grades 4-6 among low-income students
who appear to be making good progress in the primary grades (Chall et al., 1990). The
change in reading tasks in fourth grade from a focus on decoding to one of
comprehension of harder text that use more difficult, abstract and specialized and
technical words is challenging for EL students. EL students require five or more years

32

to develop the academic language required to comprehend this type of challenging text.
Cummins (2002) described three elements of language proficiency as
conversational fluency, discrete language skills, and academic language proficiency.
These elements are not totally independent of each other and they develop concurrently.
Different experiences and instruction can promote these elements. Conversational fluency
is the ability to carry on a face-to-face conversation. This is the kind of language
proficiency which most EO students have developed by the time they enter school at the
age of five. These students can easily use high- frequency words and simple grammatical
sentences. EL students develop fluency in conversational aspects of English within one or
two years of exposure to language in or out of school.
Discrete language skills (Cummins, 2002) are associated to phonological, literacy,
and grammatical knowledge that students acquire as a result of direct instruction and
practice. This element includes letter knowledge, the sounds represented by individual
letters and combinations of letters and decoding. EL students can learn these language
skills at a relatively early stage of language acquisition as they acquire conversational
proficiency.
Academic language proficiency (Cummins, 2002) is knowledge of uncommon
English vocabulary and the ability to understand and create increasingly difficult written
and oral language. As student progress academically they come across low-frequency
words, complex syntax and expressions rarely heard in everyday conversations. As
students enter higher grade levels, they are expected to comprehend complex
language, read challenging text, use academic language to in their own writing. This
element requires five to seven years to acquire fluency. Language acquisition is a

33

complex process that requires time and instruction in all three elements of language
proficiency.
Free voluntary reading has positive reading outcomes for both English only and
EL students. Elley and Mangubhai (1983) found that free reading had a dramatic effect
on second language learners. Fourth and fifth grade students of English as a foreign
language in the Fiji Islands were divided into three groups for their 30-minute daily
English class. The three groups received different instructional programs which included:
a traditional audio-lingual method, free reading, and a shared book experience. The
shared book experience is a program originated by Don Holdaway in which books of
interest were read to a class and discussed with students (Krashen, 1993). After two years
of participating in the free reading group and the shared book experience group,
participants in these two groups scored better in reading comprehension, writing, and
grammar compared to the students in the traditional group.
Elley (1991) continued to study the impact of free reading in Singapore on second
language learners. Elley (1991) conducted three studies which included 3,000 children,
ages six through nine, and lasting from one to three years, who participated in the
“Reading and English Acquisition Program”. The program included a combination of
shared book experience, language experience approach (LEA), and free reading. These
participants outperformed traditionally taught children on tests of reading comprehension,
vocabulary, oral language, grammar, listening, comprehension, and writing. The
relationship between free reading and literacy development is not always large but it
is consistent. The studies examined demonstrate that a correlation exists even when
different tests, methods, and definitions of free reading are used.

34

Reading Comprehension Instruction for English Only Students
Reading comprehension involves the process of extracting and constructing
meaning through interaction with written language. It consists of three elements: the
reader, the text, and the activity or purpose for reading. The reader brings his/her skills,
cognitive abilities, and experiences to the act of reading (Snow, 2002). Teachers must
teach comprehension explicitly beginning in the primary grades and through high school
in order to improve reading comprehension and to prevent reading difficulties in children.
Research has demonstrated that student outcomes are related to the quality of instruction
they receive (Snow, 2002).
Comprehension of text is essential to reading and learning. The development of
theories in the area of reading comprehension occurred in 1970. Comprehension was
described as a receptive process in which the reader became engaged. Durkin (1993)
defined reading as intentional thinking during which meaning is constructed through
interactions between text and reader. In this section of the literature review, research in
the area of reading comprehension will be discussed.
One of the most complex challenges teachers face today is that many of their
students enter their classrooms without the skills or knowledge necessary to read the
materials placed before them. In an effort to inform the U.S. Department of Education’s
Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI) on how to improve the quality
of educational research and development, RAND convened 14 experts in the field of
reading. The RAND Reading Study Group was asked to propose strategic guidelines
for a long-term research and development program for supporting the improvement of
reading comprehension. The RAND Group proposed that research in the area of

35

reading comprehension focus on three specific domains: instruction, teacher preparation,
and assessment (Snow, 2002).The factors which motivated this study were:
• High school graduates were facing an increased need for a high degree of
literacy including the ability to comprehend complex text but
comprehension outcomes were not improving

• Students in the United Stated were performing poorly in comparison to
students in other countries as they enter later years of schooling
• Unacceptable gaps in reading performance persist between children in
different demographic groups despite efforts to close those gaps
• Little attention devoted to assisting teachers to develop skills they need to
teach reading comprehension
• Policies and programs intended to improve reading comprehension are
regularly adopted, but their impact remains unknown.
The RAND Reading Study Group described what is already known about
comprehension within each of the identified domains as follows:
1. Instruction that is designed to enhance reading fluency leads to fairly
significant gains in word recognition and fluency and to moderate gains in
comprehension.
2. Instruction can be effective in providing students with a repertoire of
strategies that promote comprehension monitoring and foster
comprehension.

36

3. The explicitness with which teachers teach comprehension strategies
makes a difference in learner outcomes, especially for low-achieving
students.
4. There are a number of working hypotheses about the role of instruction in
explaining and addressing the problems students who comprehend poorly.
5. The role of vocabulary instruction in enhancing comprehension is
complex.
6. Teachers who provide comprehension strategy instruction that is deeply
connected within the context of subject matter learning, such as history
and science, foster comprehension development.
7. Using various genres of text (i.e. narrative and informational text)
diversifies instructional opportunities, as assessed by teacher and student
discourse.
8. Teachers who give students choices, challenging tasks and collaborative
learning structures increase their motivation to read and to comprehend
text.
9. Effective teachers enact a wide range of instructional practices that they
use thoughtfully and dynamically.
10. Despite the well-developed knowledge base supporting the value of
instruction designed to enhance comprehension, comprehension
instruction continues to receive inadequate time and attention in
typical classroom instruction across primary and upper elementary
grades.

37

In addition to the findings on comprehension, the RAND Reading Study Group (RRSG)
proposed the development of a research program that would actually improve
comprehension (Snow, 2002). The RRSG recommended such a research program would
require an improved infrastructure. It would require substantial and long-term funding.
The program must also be isolated from political influence and sustainable. The program
would also require a cadre of investigators well trained to do research. Research
solicitations must be thoughtful, scholarly and responsive to the needs within the
community. The RRSG recommended that the rigor and quality of the research must be
increased and require training of the reviewers. Research in the area of reading
comprehension is still needed in order for reading outcomes to improve.
The NRP defined comprehension as a cognitive process that integrates complex
skills and cannot be understood without examining the role of vocabulary learning (NRP,
2000). Text comprehension is further described as intentional thinking during which
meaning is constructed through the interaction between the reader and text. The NPR
reported finding eight strategies that appear to be effective for classroom instruction. The
strategies are as follows:
1. Comprehension monitoring- the reader learns how to be aware of her thinking
during reading and has strategies to deal with problems that may arise as she
reads a text.
2. Cooperative learning- readers works collaboratively to learn strategies in a
complex text.
3. Graphic and semantic organizers- the reader can represent meaning and
relationships of ideas graphically.

38

4. Story structure- the reader learns to ask and answer who, what, where, what, and
why questions about a text.
5. Questioning answering- the reader answers questions pose by the teacher and
feedback is provided on correctness.
6. Question generation- the reader asks questions who, what, when, where, and
why, and how questions.
7. Summarization- the reader attempts to identify and write the most important
details of a text.
8. Multiple-strategy teaching- the reader uses several strategies to mentioned to
comprehend text (NRP, 2000).
According to Durkin (1979), reading instruction in fourth grade revealed that
teachers dedicated little time on comprehension instruction. This observational study
found that teachers only provided 20 minutes of comprehension in 4,469 minutes of
reading instruction. Teachers were observed assigning activities, monitoring students, and
providing corrective feedback. The teachers did not teach or model strategies that
students could use to in reading to comprehend what they read and to be successful in
learning information from text.
The development of reading comprehension and word-level skills is dependent on
effective instruction (August & Shanahan, 2006). Goodman (1996) reported that native
English speakers and ELs become proficient readers by constructing meaning from text.
He demonstrated that proficient readers do this by using background knowledge, and
cues from three linguistic systems: graphophonics, syntax, and semantics. A
competent reader uses the following strategies as they read: sampling, predicting,

39

inferring, confirming or disconfirming, and integrating. Effective comprehension
instruction for EO students also benefits EL students.
Reading Comprehension Instruction for English Learners
In this section of the paper, a number of instructional strategies for teaching
English learners will be examined. The approaches that will be discussed include:
phonics instruction, language experience approach, whole language approach and
cognitive academic language learning approach (CALLA).
Phonics-based approach has been called the bottom-up approach to reading and it
is comprised of grounding in sound-symbol correspondences and extensive drill in
sounding out words (Chamot & O’Malley, 1994). The problem with this approach is that
even when a child can sound out the word, it may not be recognized because it is not a
part of the student’s oral vocabulary. EL students also rely on their native language to
pronounce words and when there is an error, the teacher may correct the pronunciation.
When this occurs the reading lesson becomes a pronunciation lesson and comprehension
may be neglected. Second language learners are often placed in classes that do not build
the academic concepts and language EL students they lack. Garcia (2000) discovered that
students who struggle are given basic skills and repetitive drill rather than activities that
build content knowledge, language, and comprehension skills that they need.
Language experience approach (LEA) is another method used to instruct second
language learners in the area of reading (Chamot & O’Malley, 1994).It is most frequently
recommended for beginning EL readers (Dixon & Nessel, 1983; Tinajero &
Calderon, 1988). The student dictates his/her experiences or stories to the teacher or
scribe. This text is then used as reading material for the author and other students in

40

the class. Language experience reading is tailored to the learner’s own interests,
background knowledge, and language proficiency. With this method, no student is asked
to read text that is unfamiliar to him/her or outside his/her experience and language
knowledge. This method is not meant to be used in isolation because students also need
to learn how to read texts written by other authors.
Whole language is a philosophy of reading instruction based on the belief that
language should not be fragmented but should be learned as a whole system of
communication (Chamot & O’Malley, 1994). Listening, reading, speaking, and writing
are integrated into the language arts curriculum rather than being separated into isolated
skills such as phonics, spelling, decoding, and writing. The whole language response to
phonics grew out of Chomsky's (Goodman, 1967) work in the conception of linguistic
development. Chomsky believed that humans have a natural language capacity to
communicate through words. According to Goodman, the three cueing systems
(graphophonemic, semantic, and syntactic) regulate literacy development. The cueing
systems overlap and work in tandem to help readers guess appropriately. Goodman
(1967) found that children who read words in connected context did better than children
who read words individually. For students whose first language is not English, whole
language is an essential approach for instruction (Freeman & Freeman, 1992). The
principles of LEA are incorporated into whole language instruction. Authentic text and
children’s literature are used in whole language classrooms. Whole language teachers are
more likely to use real literature than to use basal programs and they prefer to engage
students in authentic activities rather than drilling them on worksheets (Freeman &
Freeman, 1992). Basal reader series are textbooks which include grade reading

41

selections, workbooks, tests, and teacher's manuals (Allen, 1994). Whole language
teachers generally avoid the direct teaching of skills as a prerequisite for reading and
writing. The typical types of literacy activities that occur in a whole language classroom
include read aloud, journal writing, independent reading, conferencing with the teacher,
and guided reading. Read aloud is defined as a strategy teachers use to expose students to
literature which is above their reading level( Hadaway& Young,2006). Students listen to
their teacher read and are asked comprehension questions about the text. Journal writing
allows students to write personal stories or respond to their reading in a notebook (
Hadaway& Young, 2006). The teacher can use the journal as an assessment tool to
determine how a child's writing is progressing. Independent reading is a scheduled time
period in which students are allowed to read a self-selected book at their reading level
during the language arts block (Atwell, 1987). Conferencing with a teacher refers to a
time set aside during language arts for an individual student to meet with his teacher to
discuss reading goals, be assessed in reading, or receive reading instruction based on his
needs (Garcia, 1994). Guided reading refers to small group instruction utilizing leveled
reading material (Cappellini, 2006). Whole language is based on the following
principles:
1. Learning proceeds from whole to part. Students need to see the big picture
first and understand general ideas before learning specific details.
2. Lessons should be learner centered because learning is the active construction
of knowledge by the student. They begin with what the student knows and
activities build on student interests.

42

3. Lessons should have meaningful purpose for students now. Students learn
skills they see as meeting a present need.
4. Lessons should engage groups of students in social interaction. When students
share ideas in social settings, individual skills and concepts are developed.
5. Lessons should develop both oral and written language. EL students must be
involved in reading and writing right from the beginning because it is essential
for developing academic competence.
6. Learning should take place in the first language to build concepts and
facilitate the acquisition of English. Teachers can build on the strengths of EL
students by helping the students develop concepts in their primary language.
7. Lessons that show faith in the learner expand the students’ potential.
Teachers who have high expectations for their students plan activities that
show faith in the learner and engages them is meaningful way (Freeman &
Freeman, 1992).
Whole language is a philosophy used to develop literacy skills of all students and it is
particularly beneficial for EL students (Freeman & Freeman, 1992). When whole
language is implemented correctly and includes real reading, students in these classes
perform better on reading comprehension tests and no different on skills tests (Krashen,
2002). Whole language is beneficial for EL students because language is not fragmented
into component parts. Listening, speaking, reading, and writing are integrated into the
reading and language arts curriculum which provides for a deeper understanding of
how the language works (Chamot & O'Malley, 1994).

43

The cognitive academic language learning approach (CALLA) is a strategy that
integrates content and language acquisition (Chamot & O’Malley, 1994). CALLA is
derived from a cognitive model of learning and it includes content and language
activities. It is based on the belief that EL students are mentally active and consistently
aware of their own learning processes. CALLA uses grade level content to identify high
priority content. Activities that support vocabulary development, oral skills, reading, and
writing skills are incorporated into the CALLA approach. CALLA also provides explicit
instruction in learning strategies that support comprehension, storage, and recall of
information and skills related to content and language. The observable learning strategies
include note-taking and outlining. Other non-observable strategies are monitoring
comprehension, activating prior knowledge, or making inferences. Reading instruction is
based on the premise that comprehension involves the interaction between the reader’s
purpose, prior knowledge, and text characteristics. The reading strategies taught in
CALLA are as follows (Chamot & O’Malley, 1994):
1. Elaboration, or active use of prior knowledge. Students work in groups or
individually to list their knowledge about a topic before reading.
2. Planning, or setting a purpose for reading. The students will decide why they will
read a story or informational text. Planning assists students in making decisions
about how they will approach the text.
3. Monitoring comprehension by asking oneself questions such as: Am I
understanding this? Does this make sense? When comprehension breaks
down, a reader needs to take action to remedy the situation. A reader can use

44

strategies like making inferences or questioning for clarifying the meaning of a
text.
4. Self-evaluation or assessing how well one has achieved the purpose set for
reading. Self-evaluation can include discussions in cooperative groups, oral or
written summaries, retelling, self-ratings and learning logs.

Reading skills must be practiced in an integrated manner rather than as separate
components or skills. It is necessary for the reader to experience the text in its entirety
first and then work on skills that are needed for comprehension (Chamot & O’Malley,
1994).
Reading instruction for EL students is complex and challenging for teachers.
Reading teachers must understand language acquisition and reading development in order
to provide a balanced literacy program for English learners. Teachers must effectively
activate prior knowledge, read daily to students, teach and model reading strategies,
emphasize comprehension rather than pronunciation, teach writing at the same time as
reading, and use authentic assessment to monitor student progress (Chamot & O’Malley,
1994).
Reyes (1994) conducted a three-year study on eight native Spanish-speaking
elementary school students, ages 9-11. These subjects were identified as successful
English learners by their teachers. The study focused on how these students learned,
accepted support and at times resisted their class work. Reyes paid particular attention to
describing the school literacy program in both English and Spanish. Data was
gathered through classroom observations and in interviews and conversations with

45

students, parents, teachers, and staff. The researcher found the literacy program to be
inconsistent and incoherent. The curriculum was based on basal readers and students
spent the majority of their instructional time practicing skills in workbooks rather than
reading. The professional development provided for teachers was met with resistance or
indifference by most participants. By the end of the study, two of the original eight
students were no longer considered to be successful. Reyes attributed poor student
performance to the weak literacy program being provided at the school.
Calderon, Hertz-Lazarowitz, & Slavin (1998) evaluated a cooperative learning
program named Bilingual Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition (BCIRC). It
is an upper grade program based on the principles of cooperative learning. BCIRC was
designed to meet the needs of English learners in bilingual programs who are
transitioning from Spanish to English reading. Students work in four-member
heterogeneous teams. The teacher provides an introductory lesson and then students
engage in a series of activities related to the story they are reading. The activities include
partner reading and team activities focused on vocabulary, story grammar,
summarization, reading comprehension, creative writing, and language arts. BCIRC also
includes transitional readers and ESL strategies to assist students in the transfer of skills
from Spanish to English reading. The transitional readers used in this study were
Macmillan’s Campanitas de Oro and Transitional Reading Program. The ESL strategies
incorporated in this study included: total physical response, use of realia, and appropriate
use of cognates. Teachers in the control

46

group used the same transitional reader programs and received training in generic
cooperative learning strategies. None of the control teachers used the cooperative
learning strategies consistently.
The BCIRC study included 222 Hispanic children in the Ysleta Independent
School District in El Paso, Texas. Seven high-poverty schools participated in the study.
Three of the schools were assigned to the experimental group and four schools were
assigned to the control group; these groups were matched demographically. Two cohort
groups were assessed. One cohort group was a second grade involved in the study for one
year and the other was involved for two years (grades 2-3). The researchers found that
Bilingual Syntax Measures (BSM) scores were higher for students in BCIRC classes in
both cohorts. The BSM is an assessment for EL students which determines their oral
English proficiency.
Thomas and Collier (1997) conducted a series of investigations on effective
schooling of language minority students in five large urban school systems, in various
regions of the United States, during the years 1982-1996. The study included over
700,000 language minority student records collected by the participating schools and over
150 different home languages were represented in the student sample.
Three key predictors of academic success were found to be the most important
variables in the success of language minority students. The first predictor of success was
that only groups of language minority students who have received strong cognitive and
academic development through their first language for a minimum of 7 years, as well
through the second language, English, perform well academically as they reach the
end of their high school years (Thomas & Collier, 1997). Instruction must include

47

cognitively complex on-grade-level academic instruction through the child’s first
language and cognitively complex on-grade-level academic instruction through the
second language (English) for part of the school day.
The second predictor of long-term success is the use of current approaches to
teaching academic curriculum through two languages. Cooperative learning, the use of
thematic units, and discovery learning can be used to provide grade level instruction that
is cognitively complex (Thomas & Collier, 1997). The curriculum reflects the diversity of
students’ life experiences across socio-cultural contexts both in and outside the United
States. The academic tasks should directly relate to personal experiences and to the world
outside of school. The third predictor of success is a transformed socio-cultural context
for language minority students’ schooling. The goal is to provide EL students with a
supportive socio-cultural context for learning in two languages, an additive bilingual
context for learning. Thomas and Collier (1997) found that English learners who did not
have the opportunity to develop their primary language in conjunction with English
would find themselves at a disadvantage academically.
English learners are educated in a variety if settings. Development Associates
conducted a national survey to provide information on program types for EL students
(August & Shanahan, 2006). The survey data indicated that 11.7% of EL students
received no services, 36.4% received some special language services, and 52% received
extensive services. The services which EL students received included pull-out English as
a second language (ESL) for less than ten hours per week or having an aide who
speaks the student's native language present on the classroom. Extensive language
services were defined as ten hours of ESL and at least one subject taught is a specially

48

designed curriculum and approach. Since this last survey in 1993, there has been a
significant decrease in the number of EL students receiving extensive services in their
native language and a significant increase in students receiving extensive services in all
English. EL students receiving all-English instruction has increased from 37.2% to
59.6%. EL students receiving Spanish instruction decreased from 40.1% to 20.4%.
Although research findings recommend that language minority students should be taught
how to read in their native language if resources are available (Thomas & Collier, 1997;
Snow et al., 1989) only 20.4% of EL students were receiving such services in 2003.
Developing literacy in second language learners is a challenge in our nation since
a large and growing number of students come from homes where English is not the
primary language. Survey data gathered in 2003 (August & Shanahan, 2006) indicated a
19.7% reduction Spanish instruction in a ten year period. In 1979, there were 6 million
language minority students in our schools and this number more than doubled to 14
million by 1999. The U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences
created the National Literacy Panel on Language-Minority Children and Youth to
identify, assess, and synthesize the research on the education of language minority
children and youth with regard to literacy attainment (August et al., 2006). The panel of
13 experts began their work over four years ago in the spring of 2002. They identified
five research topics to investigate:
• Development of literacy in language minority children and youth
• Cross-linguistic relationships

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• Socio-cultural contexts and literacy development
• Instruction and professional development
• Student assessment
The major findings of the panel revealed that substantial coverage in the key
components of reading; phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and text
comprehension have clear benefits for language-minority students. Although approaches
to literacy instruction used with native-language populations are effective, the research
suggests that some adjustments are needed to maximize the benefit for English learners.
For example, Spanish-speaking students learning to read in English might make better
progress when given more work with particular phonemes in English that do not exist in
their home language. Extensive oral English development must also be incorporated into
successful literacy instruction.
Another finding of the panel is that oral proficiency in English is critical to the
success of English learners and student performance suggests that it is often overlooked
in instruction (August et al., 2006). In addition, oral proficiency in the primary language
of language-minority children can be utilized to facilitate literacy development in
English. However, English literacy can be acquired in English-only classrooms as well.
The panel found research that suggests that word-level skills such as decoding,
word recognition, and spelling are often taught well enough for ELs to attain a level of
performance comparable to those of English only students (August et al., 2006). The
same is not true for text-level skills which include reading comprehension and
writing. EL students rarely approach the same levels of proficiency in text-level skills
achieved by native speakers of English. The research suggests that the reason there is

50

a disparity between word- and text-level skills among second language learners is oral
English proficiency.
The National Literacy Panel on Language-Minority Children and Youth examined
the research on acquiring literacy in a second language. This process informed the panel
about what is known and what is still not known about learning to read in a second
language. The research reviewed by the Panel produced a number of conclusions about
second language reading. The reading comprehension performance of language minority
students falls well below that of native speakers and the research reviewed was limited
largely to students in the elementary and middle grades. Research demonstrated that the
development of English literacy involves cumulative hierarchical processes for all
language-minority students. EL students can achieve performance equivalent to
monolingual students through bilingual instruction or instruction exclusively in a target
language. Students must acquire precursor skills prior to developing certain components
of literacy. For example, a student must have good decoding skills, orthographic or
spelling, skills to develop efficient word recognition skills. The same societal, familial,
and individual factors that predict good literacy for monolingual students do so for
second-language readers as well. A supportive community, stable economics, effective
schools, high educational standards, high teacher expectations for students and good
instruction were identified as societal factors that result in high performing EL students.
Parental education and literacy levels and home support for literacy development were
familial predictors of EL success. School readiness, phonological processing skills,
oral language proficiency, and effective use of comprehension strategies were
individual factors associated with EL success in reading performance. The Panel also

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found that a lack of assessments exists in the area of reading comprehension for English
learners. Finally, the concept of transfer from the primary language to the second
language must be taken into consideration when discussing language learning (August &
Shanahan, 2006).
The report provided researchers with a guide to determine the areas in which
research is still needed. The National Literacy Panel identified the areas listed below as
gaps in the research of literacy development in second language learners:
1. School readiness emergent literacy skills and the optimal design of preschool
programs for EL.
2. Vocabulary development, oral language proficiency, comprehension of
challenging text, instruction for dealing with academic text structures, interactions
between reading comprehension and content area learning for middle school and
secondary EL students
3. Age differences in second-language learning and the related impact of varying
levels of first-language literacy
4. First language attrition and the limits of bilingualism under different educational
and societal conditions
5. The reading process of monolingual readers in other languages (August &
Shanahan, 2006).
Vocabulary Instruction for English Only Students
The National Reading Panel (2000) found that several studies identified a
causal connection between reading ability and vocabulary size. In addition, it has
been well documented that a strong reciprocal relationship exists between vocabulary

52

knowledge and reading comprehension (Stahl & Fairbanks, 1986; Beck et al., 2002,
Graves, 2000; Baker et al., 1995). The greater the vocabulary knowledge of a child the
easier comprehension will be and independent reading generates a larger vocabulary.
Therefore, investigations in the area of vocabulary development will be discussed.
Vocabulary knowledge is essential to reading comprehension and a reader cannot
understand text without knowing what most of the words mean in a text. The proportion
of difficult words found in a text is the most powerful predictor of text difficulty and a
reader's vocabulary is the best predictor of how well a reader can understand a text
(Anderson & Freebody, 1981).
Research in the area of vocabulary indicates that school children's vocabularies
grow at the rate of 3,000 new words annually (Miller & Gildea, 1987; Nagy & Herman,
1987). Children learn words from a number of sources such as, parents, siblings, peers,
from lectures and discussions, from television and from reading ( Nagy, 2006). After
third grade, the single most influential factor in vocabulary development is reading.
Fielding et al. (1986) found that the amount of free reading a child engaged in was the
best predictor of vocabulary growth between grades two and five. Nagy (2006) reported
that intensive instruction of every unfamiliar word in a text is unnecessary because
reading provides for incidental learning of vocabulary.
Effective vocabulary instruction must provide definitions and illustrations of how
words are used in natural context. Nagy (2006) defined the common properties or
principles of effective vocabulary instruction as: integration, repetition, and
meaningful use. Integration is based in schema theory. Vocabulary knowledge is
based on relationships and new words are understood by relating them to prior

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knowledge or learned information, tying new words to familiar concepts and experiences.
Repetition is defined as sufficient practice with a new word to make its' meaning
quick and easily accessible when reading text ( Nagy, 2006). Repetition in word
knowledge is associated with the verbal efficiency hypothesis (Perfetti & Lesgold, 1979).
The premise of verbal efficiency is that a reader has limited processing capacity available
for tasks that require conscious attention. For example, if a child can decode well and
recognizes all the words in a text, identifying words in a text can occur more naturally
and automatically. As a result, the reader can focus her or his attention on
comprehension.
Effective vocabulary instruction results in the reader using new words in a
meaningful way (Nagy, 2006). The reader is able to say what the word means and be able
to use it correctly. Students learn more when they are actively involved. Vocabulary
instruction that requires students to think about the meaning of a word and demands that
they do meaningful processing will be more effective in helping the student to remember
the word.
Nagy et al. (1985) conducted read and test studies using elementary school
students and textbooks as texts. The researchers concluded from the data that when
unfamiliar words were seen in print, a small but statistically reliable increase of word
knowledge occurred. They discovered that the chance of a reader acquiring a word from
one exposure was between 5 and 20 percent, depending on the testing method used. This
study once again affirms the need for students to read regularly to increase
vocabulary as well as to strengthen comprehension.

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Classroom research reveals that little focused vocabulary instruction actually
occurs in the typical K-12 classroom. Durkin (1979) found that upper-elementary
teachers spent less than 1% of their overall reading instruction focused on vocabulary.
Scott and Nagy (1997) studied vocabulary instruction in 23 ethnically diverse upper-
elementary classrooms and reported that only 6% of school time was devoted to
vocabulary with only 1.4% allotted to content area vocabulary. Since research indicates
that there is a strong reciprocal relationship between vocabulary knowledge and reading
comprehension (Stahl & Fairbanks, 1986), it is necessary for teachers of English learners
to provide direct explicit instruction of vocabulary for English learners.
According to Beck (2007), there is a vast difference between the vocabulary
knowledge among students from different ability or socioeconomic (SES) groups, from
toddlers through high school. Several studies found that first grade students from a higher
SES background knew twice as many words as lower SES students (Graves, Brunetti, &
Slater, 1982; White, Graves, & Slater, 1990). Once the differences in vocabulary
knowledge are established, they remain the same throughout the academic career of the
students. (Biemiller, 2001; Hart& Risley, 1995; Juel, Biancarosa, Coker, & Deffes,
2003). In spite of these findings, evidence indicates that there is little emphasis placed in
the acquisition of vocabulary in school curricula (Biemiller, 2001; Juel et al,, 2003; Scott,
Jamieson-Noel, & Asselin, 2003; Watts, 1995).
Vocabulary Instruction for English Learners
Language Acquisition
According to Cummins (1984), it is essential to distinguish between two types
of language proficiency, conversational and academic language. Basic interpersonal

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communicative skills (BICS), conversational language, is cognitively undemanding and
context embedded. For a second language learner to become proficient in BICS takes an
average of about two years (Cummins, 1984). BICS often develop quickly because this
form of communication is supported by interpersonal and contextual cues and make
relatively cognitive demands on the EL student. Cognitive academic language
proficiency (CALP) is cognitively demanding

and requires an average of five to seven years for a student to gain proficiency
(Cummins, 1984). Students not yet proficient in CALP may struggle as they learn to read
in English.
According to research conducted on school age second language learners,
vocabulary knowledge is the single best predictor of their academic achievement across
different academic domains (Saville-Troike, 1984). EL students who struggle with
vocabulary development are less able to comprehend grade level text than their English
only peers. These students also run the risk of being diagnosed as learning disabled due to
their limited English vocabulary and poor comprehension skills. According to a report
published by the U.S. Department of Education (2005), teachers in large urban school
districts often struggle with distinguishing a learning disability from a delay in English
language acquisition (August, 2005). EL students rely more heavily on direct instruction
of vocabulary than native speakers because typically they need to make up more ground
quickly to learn English (Stahl, 1999).
Receptive vocabulary is defined as the vocabulary presented in text or listened
to orally that we comprehend (National Reading Panel, 2000). Umbel et al. (1992)

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compared the receptive vocabulary of bilingual children ages six to eight years old that
were exposed to both Spanish and English at home. The receptive vocabulary of 105
bilingual Hispanic first grade children in Miami was tested in both English and Spanish.
The socioeconomic status and languages spoken in the home (English and Spanish, or
Spanish only) of these children varied. The group of students from the bilingual homes
scored more that one standard deviation higher in English than the Spanish only group,
both groups scored significantly below the norming sample in English. English learners
with a higher socioeconomic status also scored significantly below the norming group.
Socioeconomic status did not impact the receptive vocabulary of Hispanic first grade
students. Administration of the assessment in one language would have led to an
underestimation of the vocabulary knowledge of these bilingual children (Umbel et al.,
1992).
The breadth of vocabulary was assessed on a group of fourth-grade Spanish-
speaking and EO students in four schools in Virginia, Massachusetts, and California. The
results indicated that ELs have limited breadth of vocabulary and they lack depth of
vocabulary knowledge (McLaughlin, et al., 2000). The data repeatedly indicate that ELs
know fewer English vocabulary words than English only students and also know less
about the meaning of these words. Vocabulary development is related to reading
comprehension and my goal is to discover the most effective strategies for improving
reading comprehension and vocabulary instruction. It is evident from the research that the
most effective way to improve reading comprehension is to gather information about
effective practices in the area of vocabulary development.

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In 2000, Dressler studied the cognate awareness of a group of fifth-grade Spanish-
speaking EL students. EL students who had been taught to search for cognates were more
successful in inferring the meanings of unfamiliar vocabulary words than a control group.
Jimenez and colleagues (1996) found that sixth- and seventh-grade Latino bilingual
students who were proficient English readers frequently and successfully used their
knowledge of Spanish in inferring meaning
from English cognates. These studies support the notion that the knowledge of cognate
relationships that exist between Spanish and English can provide positive transfer in
facilitating English reading comprehension.
There is research evidence that suggests that extensive reading for meaning is a
major contributor to vocabulary acquisition in primary and second language acquisition
but this process is slow and unpredictable (Nagy, Herman, and Anderson, 1985; Krashen,
1989; Elley, 1991). Wesche and Paribakhi conducted an experiment in which a specific
selection of vocabulary exercises were used to teach new vocabulary words to young
adult intermediate EL students in a university setting. The researchers reviewed EL
vocabulary textbooks to analyze and categorize vocabulary exercises. The categories
established by Wesche and Paribakhi were:
1. selective attention to specific words through visual signaling;
2. recognition of target words and their meanings;
3. grammatical and morphological manipulation of words and word
elements in context;
4. interpretation of word meanings in relation to other words or
discourse functions; and

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5. production of the target word in appropriate contexts.
This hierarchy of vocabulary activities was tested in an English as a Second Language
(ESL) classroom by comparing the vocabulary gains of students in a thematic reading
program with those in which some readings were replaced by vocabulary enhancement
activities. The results indicated that both groups experienced gains in word knowledge.
The students who participated in vocabulary enhancement techniques along with reading
activities learned more words and achieved greater depth in their knowledge of these
words than those students exposed to extensive reading alone (Wesche & Paribakhi,
1994).
A limited amount of quasiexperimental or experimental studies have been
conducted in the area of vocabulary instruction for elementary-school ELs. The National
Reading Panel discovered over 45 experimental studies that focused on vocabulary for
monolingual English speakers (NRP, 2000). In 1981, Perez conducted a study of the
vocabulary learning of 75 language- minority Mexican American third-graders. The
students received 20-minutes of daily oral instruction in word meanings, synonyms,
antonyms, and multiple meanings of words for three months. One group focused on
instruction of word pronunciation and memorization of word meanings for three months.
A second group received instruction on how to make semantic maps with a list of
vocabulary words and making predictions of word meanings. A third group of children
constructed a matrix demonstrating relationship among the words and predicted word
meanings. A fourth group completed the same chart as group three and also
completed cloze sentences. The group that completed relationship maps and cloze
sentences outperformed the group that worked on pronunciation and memorization of

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definitions. The study demonstrates that students must actively process word meanings to
improve recall. Since this study was limited to only three months, the long-term
implications of these instructional practices cannot be assessed.
Word knowledge is connected to reading comprehension. When a reader comes
across a word that is unfamiliar, comprehension is blocked (Carlo et al., 2004). Carlo et
al. (2004) developed and implemented an intervention program targeted at building the
breadth and depth of word knowledge and reading comprehension in 254 bilingual and
monolingual students from nine fifth-grade classrooms in four schools in California,
Virginia, and Massachusetts. The purpose of this three-year study was aimed at
investigating and improving the vocabulary and reading comprehension of fourth and
fifth grade English learners. The program included 15 weeks of instruction delivered for
30-45 minutes, 4 days a week. The program was organized around the topic of
immigration and included a variety of genres (newspaper articles, diaries, first hand
documents of the immigrant experience, historical accounts and fiction). Every fifth week
of the program was dedicated to reviewing the vocabulary introduced during the prior
weeks. The teachers were trained by researchers on how to implement and deliver
lessons. EL students who received the intervention were found to be closing the gap
between themselves and the EO students participating in the study. The study found that
words are best learned when presented within rich semantic contexts, such as brief
engaging reading passages (Carlo et al., 2004).
Vocabulary development is critically important to reading comprehension and
a gap exists in reading ability between the EL students and their EO peers. There has
been limited experimental research that studies the development of vocabulary in

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language minority students acquiring English. Additional research is needed in this area
to determine how to best meet the needs of our EL students and close the existing gap.
Vaughn et al. (2002) conducted a series of studies aimed at providing
interventions for ELs to build and extend the knowledge of text comprehension by
focusing on vocabulary, fluency, and reading comprehension strategies. The researcher’s
intent was to identify the most effective strategies for teaching comprehension to ELs
with learning disabilities in the general education setting. This multi-year implementation
study was carried out in two districts and included students and teachers in grades three
through six. The following four strategies were taught to the students: semantic mapping,
repeated partner reading, and reading comprehension strategies (before, during and after
reading), and collaborative strategic reading. Vaughn found that EL students who were
struggling with reading did not produce statistically significant results between the
experimental and comparison groups. Further research is needed to identify effective
strategies and interventions for struggling ELs who have reading disabilities and are
struggling readers.
The purpose of this section was to describe the effects of vocabulary on reading
comprehension. The importance of vocabulary in reading achievement has been
recognized for more than half a century (NRP, 2000). Research has documented that a
strong reciprocal relationship exists between vocabulary knowledge and reading
comprehension (Stahl & Fairbanks, 1986; Beck et al., 2002, Graves, 2000; Baker et al.,
1995). A reader's vocabulary is the best predictor of how well a reader can understand
a text (Anderson & Freebody, 1981).

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Professional Development on Reading
Professional Development has traditionally been implemented in two ways
(Vaughn & Coleman, 2004). One style is considered a top-down model in which
professional development is delivered to teachers through traditional in-service
presentation. The bottom-up approach or interactive model is professional development
which evolves through teacher-researcher study groups and ongoing interactions. Recent
studies on professional development suggest that the bottom-up approach is more likely
to change teaching practices (Ball, 1996; Darling-Hammond, 1995, 1996).
A meta-analysis of more than 200 research studies and a review of literature on
staff development indicate the following:
1. What teachers think about teaching should be taken into consideration
because it determines what teachers do when teaching;
2. New strategies should be demonstrated and practiced, and feedback given
to teachers about their implementation; and
3. Coaching from an expert peer should be provided, through the precise role
and effectiveness of coaching has not been determined (Gersten, Morvant,
& Brengelman, 1995; Showers et al., 1987).
The Literacy Specialist Project (LSP) is a statewide professional development
initiative which began in August 2000 by the Ohio Department of Education in the
United States (Kinnucan-Welsch & Grogan, 2006). The main goal of the project was to
disseminate information on literacy pedagogy to K-3 classroom teachers and to build
capacity within districts to sustain high- quality professional development. Teaching
Reading and Writing: Core Curriculum for Educators was used as a curriculum

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model. This curriculum is organized into four domains of practice: knowing, planning,
teaching and assessing. The course is delivered to teachers over a period of 15 sessions
throughout the academic school year. Each session provides teachers with opportunities
to apply concepts to everyday practice. Field faculty from the university and literacy
experts (or coaches) met monthly with teachers to guide the study of the content and the
coaching of teachers. In-classroom coaching was also part of the professional
development.
LSP reviewed literature in order to identify the characteristics of effective
professional development in literacy. The six principles of high-quality professional
development based on the literature review are (Kinnucan-Welsch & Grogan, 2006):
• Design Principle 1: High-quality professional development directly
connects to student learning goals that are clear and accepted by all. The
content must be aligned to what students need to know and be able to do.
• Design Principle 2: Professional development involves active learning for
teachers. Teachers connect their learning to classroom practice and apply
what they are learning to novel situations.
• Design Principle 3: Professional development is embedded in the context
of work in schools and classrooms. Teachers should, with support from
principals, coaches, and mentor teachers, be collaboratively and
collectively designing and implementing professional development that
focuses on teaching that supports student learning.
• Design Principle 4: Professional development is continuous and
ongoing.

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• Design Principle 5: Professional development is based on an ongoing and
focused inquiry related to teacher learning, student learning, and what we
know about good instruction. It should encourage teachers to become
more reflective and metacognitive in their instruction.
• Design Principle 6: Coherence is evident in all aspects of the professional
development system. Teachers implement the skills gained at the
classroom level (Kinnucan-Welsch & Grogan, 2006)
Conclusion
As our population of English learners continues to grow, we have an urgent need
to identify the best strategies to meet their needs within our classrooms. The national data
demonstrate a persistent gap between EL and English only students in the area of reading.
The NAEP reading test reveals a 22-29 point advantage for students living in homes
where only English is spoken. Educators must identify instructional strategies in reading
and vocabulary development to close the gap that exists for language minority students.
Literacy approaches that have been identified to support EL readers: phonics
instruction, LEA, whole language, and CALLA. A review of the literature indicates that
EL students are able to keep up with their EO peers in the area of word-level skills but
when it comes to text-level skills (reading and writing); they rarely reach the same level
of proficiency. The research in the area of reading comprehension leaves us with many
unanswered questions. Educators need more information on effective ways to teach
strategies for instruction in text comprehension. Further study is needed to determine
if certain strategies are more appropriate for certain ages and abilities. Teachers need

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to know what strategies are most effective in improving the comprehension of EL
students.
The National Reading Panel found a causal connection between reading ability
and vocabulary size. EL students who struggle with vocabulary are less likely to
comprehend grade level text. The research findings indicate that vocabulary instruction
must be explicit.
In addition, more research is needed on how to best evaluate vocabulary size, use,
acquisition, and retention. Vocabulary can be learned through formal instruction and
through indirect ways. The research presented in this review points out that vocabulary
instruction is effective when the teacher provides explicit instruction on specific
vocabulary words. The impact of indirect vocabulary learning is not known and has not
been measured. There are also gaps in the research on how to best integrate vocabulary
into comprehension instruction to best benefit the student.
This study will investigate some of the unanswered questions in order to add to
the current literature. As a result of the literature, the groundwork has been laid for this
particular study in the area of reading comprehension and vocabulary development as it
relates to English learners.

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CHAPTER THREE
Research Design and Methodology
Introduction
In Chapter One the rapidly increasing numbers of EL students in the United States
and in California were discussed in terms of a need to identify effective teaching
practices which would meet the language and literacy needs of this large student
population. California has 1,511,646 EL students enrolled in its schools and Spanish is
the predominant primary language of these students (Hadaway & Young, 2006). Data
indicate that this large number of EL students is scoring below English speaking peers in
reading comprehension.
The NAEP reading test demonstrates that EL students score between 22-29
percentage points lower than students living in homes where English was always used
(National Center for Education Statistics, 2003). The test scores on English only
standardized tests demonstrate a persistent gap between EL students and their English
speaking peers particularly in the area of reading. EL students who enter school identified
as proficient in English start off as comparable to their English speaking
peers but fall behind by third grade and they never seem to catch up (Gandera et.al.,
2003).This persistent gap poses a challenge for educators working with EL students.
The purpose of this study was to identify effective practices in the area of reading
instruction in order to increase student achievement for Hispanic EL students who attend
Livingston Elementary School, a pseudonym for the school in which the study was
conducted. The focus of the study was on the teaching of reading comprehension and

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vocabulary to third and fourth grade EL students at the intermediate level (levels 3 and 4)
of English language acquisition.
The Hispanic subgroup has not met standards in Language Arts as defined by the
California Standards Test. The largest percent of Hispanic students falls in the basic
(38%) and the below basic (37%) bands on the CST. Additionally, the AYP criterion
established by the NCLB legislation was not met for this group. The Hispanic subgroup
is of special interest to the researcher because of its poor performance on the CST.
This chapter describes the methodological design, sample, population,
instrumentation, data collection and data analysis process of the proposed study. The
primary question which guided this study was: What are the practices for improving
reading comprehension for EL students?
In addition, three additional sub-questions were also addressed to further guide the
research:
1. What are the practices in third grade used for improving vocabulary
development of EL students?
2. What are the practices in fourth grade used for improving vocabulary
development of EL students?
3. What are the practices being used by third grade teachers to teach reading
comprehension?
4. What are the practices being used by fourth grade teachers to teach reading
comprehension?
In the next section of this chapter, the study design and samples are described.
An in depth review of the instrumentation will also be defined and described.

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Study Design
This study employed in depth multiple case studies, focusing on third and fourth
grade EL students and their teachers. Four classroom teachers and their classes
participated in the study. Practices employed when teaching reading comprehension and
vocabulary were studied. A comparative case study was an appropriate design for this
study because the researcher was allowed to explore a program in depth (Creswell, 2003).
Teachers were interviewed in order to gather information about their experiences
working with EL students and their training in reading instruction. Interviews assisted the
researcher in understanding the participating teachers’ philosophies about reading
instruction and EL students.
A case study has been defined as a research strategy which investigates a
phenomenon within a real-life context and relies on multiple sources of evidence.
Multiple case studies allowed the researcher to study a single case of special interest
(Patton, 2002). This study investigated the actions and instructional strategies of teachers
within the classroom setting. In this instance, the topic was effective instructional
practices in reading comprehension and vocabulary for EL students. The researcher
observed reading instruction on eight occasions in classrooms for periods of 45 minutes
to an hour. The observations informed the researcher about which strategies were used by
teachers in providing reading instruction for EL students. This study tried to determine
how students progressed as a result of specific structured instruction in reading
comprehension and vocabulary development. A detailed collection of information
using a variety of data collection procedures took place.

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Livingston has two fourth grade classes with a total of 62 students where 47% of
the students are classified as EL students. There are four third grade classes with 73
students enrolled of these 81% are identified as EL students. These percentages do not
include EL students who have been reclassified as fluent speakers of English. This study
included classroom observations, interviews with teachers, and document analysis. A
qualitative approach allowed the researcher to enter classrooms and gather data on how
teachers of EL students delivered reading comprehension lessons. The qualitative method
allowed inquiry on selected issues in great depth and require the researcher to pay close
attention to detail, context, and nuance (Patton, 2002).
Sample and Population
Site Selection
The purpose of this study was to take an in depth look at instructional practices in
the area of reading and identify which of these worked best with EL students. Purposeful
sampling was employed to select information-rich cases to study in order to answer the
questions posed by this study. The study focused on Livingston Elementary School
because this school has undergone an intensive reform of its literacy program over the
past six years. The implementation of the America’s Choice School Design (ACSD)
began in September of 2000.
ACSD is a rigorous reform program that supports schools in reforming their
literacy and mathematics programs. At Livingston, the leadership team decided to focus
exclusively on the implementation of strategies directly related to literacy instruction.
The ACSD implementation was designed to take place over a three year period. The
school leadership team and the staff made a commitment to implementing a two to

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two and a half hour literacy block. One hour was dedicated to writers’ workshop and the
other to readers’ workshop. In schools that implement writers’ workshop, students write
throughout the day. The teacher models writing and students are provided with an ample
work period to write on self-selected topics. Lessons on the craft and mechanics of
writing are provided by the teacher. Readers’ workshop includes voluntary reading of
self-selected books at the instructional level of the student. The teacher models reading
and teaches skills during whole group lessons. She also teaches small groups and confers
with students about their reading. An additional 30 minutes is devoted to skills lessons
such as, spelling and word work. A full time literacy coach provided teachers with job
embedded staff development in the area of literacy. The Livingston staff has participated
in summer training and ongoing professional development in reading comprehension and
readers’ workshop throughout the school year since August of 2000. Livingston’s work
with ACSD has been continued for a period of seven years. The school has continued to
work with a consultant who assisted in providing professional development and coaching
for the teachers and principal.
Seventy-five percent of the teachers selected for the study have been employed at
Livingston during the entire period in which ACSD was implemented. These teachers
have experienced the transition the school has undergone during the reform process. They
were able to provide rich information for the study. The teachers were selected for this
study because student outcome data demonstrated that their students were making good
and steady gains on state and district multiple measure assessments (MMA).
The MMAs are District measures tied to the District adopted curriculum for
language arts. These assessments include a reading comprehension test in which

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students read leveled reading passages, complete a retell, and answer comprehension
questions to determine the instructional level at which each child is performing. The
reading theme tests, also a part of the MMA, involve whole class testing. The students
read grade level passages and answer open-ended questions as well as multiple choice
questions to demonstrate comprehension of grade level material. Another measure
utilized by Livingston teachers to assess student reading ability is a running record. A
running record is an assessment which studies reading behavior and is administered
individually to a child to determine the instructional reading level of a child. The child is
given an unfamiliar leveled text to read orally to the teacher. After the child reads the
passage, the teacher asks a series of comprehension test questions to determine the
reading level of the student.
One of the fourth grade teachers participating in this study has taught for eleven
years and will be referred to as Teacher 4A for the purpose of this study. Teacher 4A
worked with EL students for a period of two years in a part-time assignment providing
extra support to students performing below grade level. She then taught kindergarten, and
after five years in this position, requested to teach third grade. After three years teaching
third grade she requested to teach fourth grade just last year. Teacher 4A has had
consistently strong student outcomes on District MMAs and on standardized tests. In
trimester one of 2005, only 32% of her students were meeting grade level standards on
the District MMA. By the third trimester of the 2005-2006 school year, 80% of these
students were performing on or above grade level as measured by the District MMA
reading assessments. Running records also indicated that all students were reading on
or above grade level after working with Teacher 4A for one year. Teacher 4A was

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selected to participate in this study because she has had success throughout her career in
raising student achievement.
The second teacher, Teacher 4B began working at Livingston in September of
2006. Although he was a new teacher at Livingston, he has had nine years of experience
teaching in public schools. Teacher 4B taught in grades second through fifth grade at
least one year at each grade level. After nine years in the classroom, he accepted a
position as a site coordinator of EL programs. He was a coordinator for four years and
was his first year back in the classroom. Table 5 below presents a profile of the teachers
participating in the study.
Table 1: Profile of Teachers Participating in the Study
Teacher Grade Years at
Livingston
Years working
with EL
Students
Literacy
Program
4A 4 11 12 Readers’
Workshop
4B 4 1 9 Houghton
Mifflin &
Readers’
Workshop
3C 3 5 5 Houghton
Mifflin &
Reader’s
Workshop
3D 3 6 6 Readers’
Workshop

The third grade staff participating in this study was comprised of two teachers
with a variety of experiences. Teacher 3C has worked at Livingston for five years and has

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been assigned to third grade for her entire career. Teacher 3D has been assigned to
Livingston for the past six years. She taught fourth grade for five years and is currently
teaching third grade.
Written approval for the study was obtained from the District superintendent. An
initial meeting was held with the superintendent to provide an overview of the study and
to obtain consent. The teachers were then contacted personally to be informed about the
study and to alleviate any concerns they had about participating.
Livingston Elementary is a Title I school which serves approximately 425
students including a Hispanic population of 65%, and an Asian population of 26%. The
EL population makes up 63% of the student population. Livingston is a high poverty
school, 87% of the students receive free and reduced price lunch. Extended day tutoring
in reading is offered to 28% of the student population. EL students stay an additional 45
minutes on Monday through Friday to participate in an English language development
program designed by the literacy coach. Students study different versions of fairy tales
and folk tales for a period of one month. The students learn songs, poems, chants and
raps related to the stories being studied.
Twenty-four fully credentialed teachers with an average of five years of teaching
experience work at this school. For a period of three years (1997-2000), 95% of the staff
transferred out of the school to work in other schools in the district and in neighboring
districts. A literacy coach was hired seven years ago in order to provide job embedded
professional development for teachers in the areas of reading and writing. The role of
the literacy coach was to provide demonstration lessons, facilitate teachers’ meetings,
and lead staff development. The decision to hire a literacy coach was based on the

73

school’s need to improve student achievement as reflected in increased standardized test
scores.
At Livingston, the teachers have implemented readers’ workshop as it’s method
for teaching reading to students. The readers’ workshop structure is as follows: 10-20
minute mini-lesson, 30-40 minutes of independent reading time, and 10 minutes for a
closing meeting. The mini-lesson is taught to the whole class and includes teacher
modeling of various comprehension strategies for students. Students practice the new
learned skill or strategy during the independent reading period. During the independent
reading block, the teacher meets with small groups of students and also confers one-on-
one with students about their reading. Small group instruction is centered on a piece of
literature which is at the instructional level of the students in the small group. Students
not working with the teacher read independently from self-selected leveled reading
materials. The teachers meet with individual students for reading conferences about once
every two weeks. During these conferences, the teacher listens to students read, assesses
student reading and provides short lessons based on the needs of the individual child.
Unit of Study
Patton (2002) reports that the unit of study is often people, clients, or students.
This signifies that data collection is focused on an individual in a setting. The focus of
this study was to examine what strategies the third and fourth grade teachers are using to
provide reading comprehension and vocabulary instruction to EL students. The unit of
analysis of this study was two third grade and two fourth grade classrooms with EL
students performing at the intermediate level of English proficiency. Four classroom
teachers and their EL students were participants of this multiple case study. Data for

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this study was collected through interviews, classroom observations, and the analysis of
student records.
Teacher Interviews
The participants received the information sheet found in Appendix B prior to
being interviewed. All four teachers gave consent to participate in the study. Semi-
structured face-to-face interviews were conducted with two third grade teachers and two
fourth grade teachers working with the student participants. The interviews allowed the
researcher to gather historical data and to control the line of questioning (Creswell,
2003). The researcher gathered data about the experience and training of the teachers
participating in the study. Teachers shared information about the challenges of working at
Livingston with EL students and what was taken into consideration in designing lessons
to meet their needs. They also expressed concerns about District mandates and the
mismatch with student learning. The teachers must follow District pacing plans and use
state adopted materials for reading instruction. The Houghton Mifflin Literacy Program is
the District adopted reading program. The interviews were completed during the second
trimester of the 2006-2007 school year. Each interview lasted approximately thirty
minutes and was conducted at a convenient time and in the principal’s office. Teachers
communicated their perceptions about the successes and challenges faced when teaching
reading comprehension and vocabulary to English learners within their mandated reading
and language arts curriculum. Information was provided on how they plan and develop
reading comprehension and vocabulary lessons for EL students. Conducting the
interviews prior to observing in classrooms assisted the researcher in establishing
teacher priorities with regards to EL students. The researcher knew what strategies

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and challenges were most significant to the teachers and this information helped to create
a focus for the classroom observations.
An interview protocol was used to conduct teacher interviews. The questions were
developed by the researcher based on the information she deemed critical prior to
observing in the classrooms. Participating teachers were asked the 12 questions found in
Appendix C entitled, “Teacher Interview Questions”. Teachers were asked about their
teaching experiences, their work with EL students, their literacy programs, and about the
challenges they face when working with EL students. All interviews were recorded and
transcribed verbatim for analytical purposes. All participants were free to decline
recorded interviews.
Classroom Observations
Eight classroom observations, two per class, were conducted during literacy
instruction and each observation lasted a period of 30 to 45 minutes. The focus of the
observations was on lesson presentations in the area of reading comprehension and
vocabulary instruction. Observations took place twice a week on Mondays, Tuesdays,
and Fridays for a period of three weeks. These observations provided data on room
environment, resources used, instructional setting, instructional strategies, teacher
behavior, and elements addressed. The elements addressed refer to the different
components of reading which are phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency,
vocabulary/word recognition and comprehension. Table 2 indicates the duration and date
of the classroom observations. In addition, Table 2 identifies the topic of the whole
class mini-lesson and the element of reading instruction which was covered.

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Systematic vocabulary instruction was not observed during the study. Vocabulary was
discussed informally during read alouds.

Table 2: Classroom Observation Dates and Topics of Instruction
Teacher Grade Date of
Observation
Mini-Lesson
Topic
Length of
Observation
Minutes
Element
Addressed
4A 4 3-9-07 Author’s
style and
tone
45 Comprehension
4A 4 3-12-07 Non-Fiction
Text
55 Comprehension
4B 4 3-16-07 Graphic
features of
text
40 Comprehension
4B 4 3-20-07 Figurative
language
35 Comprehension
3C 3 2-27-07 Character
traits
60 Comprehension
3C 3 3-2-07 Comparing
characters
45 Comprehension
3D 3 3-5-07 Character
trait
60 Comprehension
3D 3 3-6-07 Character
trait
55 Comprehension

A classroom observation protocol found in Appendix D was developed incorporating the
strategies presented in the article Teaching Diverse Learners Reading_ Grades 4-6 by
LAB at Brown. The strategies identified in the article are the following:
1. Teacher models reading
2. Students practice reading
3. Students share what they have learned
4. Teacher models comprehension strategies

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5. Teaching text structure
6. Variety of reading materials
7. Systematic, explicit instruction of vocabulary
8. Assessment informs instruction
The reason why the strategies were selected and incorporated as part of the observation
protocol was because the article identified these strategies as most effective when
teaching EL students who are performing at the intermediate level of English language
acquisition. The researcher was interested in learning how teachers are supporting and
teaching reading to intermediate EL students. The identified strategies allow EL students
to hear and practice the English language. The teacher also models reading and reading
comprehension for the students.
All of the data gathered during the classroom observations were analyzed using a
modified reading protocol from the Arkansas Reading First project. The reading protocol
was used to gather information about how reading was being taught in the classrooms of
participating teachers. This protocol provided data on room environment, resources used,
instructional setting, instructional strategies, teacher behavior, and reading elements
addressed in the lesson. The protocol was designed with the objective of determining how
readers’ workshop was being implemented in the observed classrooms.
Document Analysis
Document analysis was a secondary source of data. Analyses of student records
were reviewed throughout the period of the study for progress in reading
achievement. Standardized test results such as, the CELDT and CST results were
reviewed in order to determine how a particular class was doing as a whole. At no

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time were test results used to compare the performance of one student to another. The
classroom teachers coded all student identities. The CELDT is a state language
proficiency assessment used in California to monitor the progress of EL students and also
to place students in English language development (ELD) programs. The CST is a
mandated state assessment administered to all students attending California schools in
grades 2 through 12 to monitor mastery of the state standards. Because both of these
exams are administered only once a year, with results available at the school years end,
and data collection took place during the months of September to March, these
assessment results were only used as background information on the student population
involved in the study. Table 3 indicates the results of the CELDT and CST for only the
EL students participating in the study.
Table 3: CELDT and CST Results for Third and Fourth Grade EL Students

Teacher Grade %
CELDT
Level
1-2

%
CELDT
Level
3-4

%
CST
Far
Below
Basic

%
CST
Below
Basic

%
CST
Basic
%
CST
Proficient
%
CST
Advanced
4A 4 66 25 50 38 12 0 0
4B 4 4 96 13 49 30 8 0
3C 3 38 13 0 38 50 12 0
3D 3 67 33 0 0 33 33 0
A district reading comprehension assessment, the Houghton-Mifflin Reading
Comprehension Thematic Test, administered twice each trimester was also reviewed.
The thematic test is comprised of reading passages based on a particular theme from

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the Houghton Mifflin program such as gardening. Students must read the grade level
passage independently and then answer five or six comprehension questions. Teacher
assessments and anecdotal records of reading comprehension performance on the test
were also analyzed throughout the study. The teachers also used running records and
conference notes to determine the progress their students had made in reading. Table 4
presents the percentages of students reading above, on, and below grade level by class.
Table 4: Results of Reading, Fluency, and Accuracy Test
Teacher Percent
Reading
Above Grade
Level
Percent Reading
On Grade Level
Percent
Reading
Below Grade
Level
4A 13 13 75
4B 26 22 52
3C 0 63 37
3D 26 22 52

The teacher interviews provided information about how the curriculum was useful
in developing comprehension and vocabulary lessons. Teachers were given the
opportunity to share the challenges and successes of working with EL students. The focus
of classroom observations was the identification of instructional strategies and analysis of
teacher behavior as they related to comprehension and vocabulary instruction. Student
records were analyzed in order to determine whether or not students were demonstrating
satisfactory progress in the areas of reading comprehension and vocabulary. The data
collected and analyzed assisted the researcher in identifying which strategies were

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being used successfully in reading comprehension and vocabulary development with
English learners.
Data Analysis Procedures
The following steps were taken to evaluate the data used in this study (Creswell,
2003). First, interview data was prepared for analysis by transcribing the interviews. The
content of the transcriptions was reviewed for general ideas and common themes that
emerged from the interviews. The themes which emerged throughout this study included
modeling of reading and comprehension by the teacher, active participation of students in
lessons, reading and comprehension practice by students, and discussion of learned
strategies. The teacher interviews served to gather data about how these four teachers
developed lessons to meet the needs of their EL students and to identify strategies they
perceived as effective. The research questions guided the data coding process. Focusing
on the research questions helped the researcher to be specific about the information
gathered during interviews and observations. Although many different activities were
observed during reading instruction, the research questions focused the observations on
instruction in the area of reading comprehension. Both a deductive and inductive
approach was used to analyze the data gathered during the study. The deductive approach
allowed for the analysis of data through the use of predetermined categories. The
inductive method allowed the researcher to create categories based on the themes which
emerged from the data. The research questions were board in nature and the data led to
specific details about instructional strategies which were organized by themes. The
combined use of deductive and inductive allowed for better analysis of the data
(Patton, 2002). Student CST scores, CELDT scores, and MMA scores were used to

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monitor the progress of the student participants in the area of reading comprehension and
vocabulary development during the time of the study. Classroom observations of reading
comprehension and vocabulary lessons were described and analyzed to identify
strategies. Two observation protocols were used: one to identify the strategies being used
by teachers during reading and the other to determine the structure being implemented.
The protocols were selected because they were pre-established and provided validity and
reliability to the study. Narratives were used to communicate the findings of the
analysis. The data was analyzed, lessons learned were discussed, and new questions for
further research were suggested.
Ethical Considerations
The Institutional Review Board (IRB) rules, regulations, and procedures were
followed to obtain the highest ethical standards possible for this study. All participants
received an information sheet about the study (Appendix B). The information form
ensured that all participants were informed of the overall nature and purpose of the study
and understood that participation was on a volunteer basis and in no way would affect
their employment. The information form included information about the dangers and
obligations of the study.
Validation of Findings
Creswell identifies eight strategies to validate accuracy of findings. The strategies
are as follows: triangulation, member checking, rich, thick description, clarify the bias,
negative and discrepant information, and peer debriefing. These strategies were
incorporated to validate the findings of this study.

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Triangulation - Data was examined and organized into themes. A variety of data
including teacher interviews, classroom observations, and student records were
used in order provide triangulation. Creswell (2002) suggests that in triangulation
of data sources, comparing interviews with observations and student performance,
allows the researcher to understand what effective EL instructional practices
being implemented in classrooms.
Rich thick descriptions- This strategy was completed throughout the interview
and observation process, and during the analysis of data.
Clarifying the bias- The researcher underwent self-reflection to identify any
biases that were present as a result of engaging in the study. The following biases
were identified: the researcher has a bias against pre-packaged reading
instructional programs; the researcher chose a familiar school site where certain
instructional practices were being implemented. The researcher used this
information throughout the analysis process to be sure that biases did not
influence the results of the study.
Negative and discrepant information- Any negative and discrepant information
was determined and reported in the findings chapter.
Peer debriefing- A peer debriefer was included to review the findings and ask
questions about the study to offer an additional perspective.
Conclusion
This chapter describes in detail the research procedures incorporated in
this study. The area of investigation, unit of analysis, research design, study
population, and data collection processes of this study are discussed in detail.

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The process used to validate the findings of the study was described. The next
chapter will provide a detailed description of the findings of the study.

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CHAPTER FOUR
Introduction
Livingston Elementary School has experienced a significant gain in test scores
over the last six years. The school wide API of 712 indicates an increase of 190 points
since the year 1999. Although the school has demonstrated a rise in test scores, the API
for the Hispanic subgroup is 664, a difference of 48 points from the school base API of
712. Currently, 79.5% of all Hispanic students are not meeting standards in Language
Arts as defined by the CST. In addition, the Hispanic students attending Livingston have
not met the AYP criterion set by the NCLB legislation. The test scores continue to rise
but the growth targets for the Hispanic subgroup are not being met. The AYP growth
target requires that 24.4% of any statistically significant subgroup (100 or more students)
score within the proficient or advanced bands on the CST. Currently, only 22% of the
Hispanic students at Livingston are scoring within the required bands. English learners
make up a total of 67% of the total student population at Livingston and the majority of
these students are of Hispanic descent. The researcher is interested in identifying
effective practices in the area of reading instruction in order to improve achievement for
Hispanic EL students who attend Livingston.
In this chapter the data gathered during the study will be shared and analyzed for
content. The interviews and classroom observations are described in depth using narrative
format and the research questions are used as a guide to organize the chapter.
The narrative analysis will be presented in two sections. The first section will
be a description of the demographics of the classes which were observed. The second
section of the chapter will be devoted to the major themes that emerged during the

85

interviews and classroom interviews with the four classroom teachers participating in this
study in relation to reading instruction for EL students. The performance of EL students
placed in these classrooms was also reviewed.
Section I
Classroom Demographics
Four teachers participated in this study and each class had a group of EL students
assigned to it. The students of interest in this study were identified as performing at the
intermediate levels of language acquisition.
At Livingston Elementary School students were clustered in classes according to
their CELDT levels and by teacher recommendation. The guidelines for class placement
were provided by the District Director of Bilingual Education. The rationale for this
organization was to allow teachers to provide effective standards-based instruction for EL
students at similar language levels. The classroom teachers were responsible for teaching
the ELD standards to their respective groups. Each class had small clusters which the
teacher grouped for instruction. In the following section, a brief description of the
composition of each class is provided.
Teacher 3C has worked at Livingston for five years and all of her experience is at
the third grade level. Her class is comprised of 18 students with 15 of the students
identified as EL. The other 3 of the students are identified as English only students and
EL students who are classified as fluent speakers of English. Teacher 3D has taught
fourth grade for five years at Livingston School. This is her first year working with
third grade students. Her class has 17 students with nine designated as English only
and six of the students are EL students.

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Teacher 4A has 11 years of teaching experience and has worked at Livingston for
her entire career. Her class is comprised of thirty students, EO (10) and EL students (15).
Teacher 4B joined the staff this year. Prior to working at Livingston, he taught in a large
neighboring district for nine years. His class has thirty students with twenty-six EL and
four English only students. Teacher 4B shared with the researcher that he was not
familiar with readers’ workshop. The school literacy coach began working with Teacher
4B on the implementation of readers’ workshop during the month of February 2007. The
support for this teacher did not begin until the second trimester because of the large
number of new teachers assigned to Livingston this year. Table 5 indicates the
composition of each of the classes which was observed.
Table 5: Demographic Information of Participating Classes
Teacher Grade # of
Students
% of EL
Students
% of FEP
Students
% of EO
Students
4A 4 30 52 14 34
4B 4 30 87 0 13
3C 3 18 83 1 16
3D 3 17 35 12 53

The teachers participating in this study provided the researcher with coded test scores for
42 intermediate EL students in their classes. The test data collected by the teachers
included CELDT scores, CST scores, and the results from the Houghton Mifflin Reading
Fluency and Accuracy Test.
CELDT scores from October 2005 and October 2006 were reviewed. On the
CELDT exam only 30% of the students demonstrated a growth of one level. The

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remainder of the students did not show progress. This may be due to the fact that the
CELDT exam is challenging and different at each level. The CELDT did not provide
information that would assist the teachers in guiding and planning instruction.
The CST scores from August of 2006 revealed that the intermediate EL students are
scoring at various levels including far below basic, below basic, basic and proficient. The
Table 6 below presents the percentage of third and fourth grade intermediate students
performing at the different bands of the CST test. The CST results were also not a good
indicator of the true ability of the EL students and did help to inform instruction.
Standardized reading tests in lower grades (K-2) evaluate student’s reading performance
by totaling their scores on a variety of subtests which focus on isolated skills (Garcia,
1992).
Table 6: CST Performance Levels of Third and Fourth Grade Intermediate
EL Students

CST Performance Level 3
rd
Grade
Percentage
4
th
grade
Percentage
Proficient 9 6
Basic 55 26
Below Basic 27 45
Far Below Basic 0 23

The Houghton Mifflin Reading Fluency and Accuracy test is administered each
trimester by the classroom teacher. Each student was assessed individually by
reading an unfamiliar reading passage. After reading the passage, the students retold
the story and answered comprehension questions asked by the teacher. The results of

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this reading test demonstrated that the majority of the students had made gains in their
reading levels. Three students identified as special education did not show progress from
trimester one to trimester two. Table 10 presents the percentages of students reading
above, on, and below grade level by class.
What are the Practices for Improving Reading Comprehension for EL Students?
This research question looked for effective instructional practices in reading. The
researcher wanted to gain insight on how teachers develop comprehension lessons for EL
students which were meaningful and increased achievement in reading. Teachers were
asked to identify the strategies they taught and what they believed were important factors
to consider when working with EL students. The themes which emerged during the
interviews and observations were the structure of readers’ workshop, reading
comprehension strategies, the learning environment, the modeling of reading
comprehension strategies by the teacher, active participation and discussion by students
of what they had learned, ongoing professional conversations about reading, and
integration of effective EL strategies.
Readers’ Workshop Structure
Four Livingston teachers were interviewed for approximately 30 minutes each
over a one month period. The teachers were asked eleven questions that focused on their
teaching experiences, their literacy programs, and strategies for teaching EL students.
The questions were generated by the researcher in order to gather information about the
background experiences of the teachers, knowledge of EL students, challenges they
face when working EL students, and resources they use to develop reading
comprehension and vocabulary lessons. It was evident by the participants’ answers

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that the leadership team at Livingston has established a focus on literacy instruction that
is communicated by all the teachers participating in the interviews. All participating
teachers communicated a similar structure and organization when describing their literacy
programs. These teachers taught reading for an hour during the same time period
(9:00a.m.to 10:00a.m.) on Monday through Friday.
All of the teachers who were interviewed were implementing readers’ workshop
during Livingston’s literacy block. The teacher who was new to Livingston was in the
beginning stages of implementation and was receiving coaching on the workshop model.
The readers’ workshop schedule was as follows: a mini-lesson taught to the whole class,
an independent reading period, and a closing meeting. A reading strategy which
established the focus for the independent reading block was taught during the mini-
lesson. Students were provided with a purpose for reading, which was found by the
Committee on the Prevention of Reading Difficulties in Young Children as a necessary
component in reading instruction (Snow, 1989). During the reading block the teacher
worked with small groups and individual students teaching reading skills and strategies
based on student needs. The teachers felt that the workshop model provided many
opportunities for the individualized instruction of EL students and capitalized on the
interest of these students. One third grade teacher reported:
My EL students get exposed to a lot of different types of literature and books. These
books interest them and they also get a chance to write their own stories. Writing daily
really helps the students to learn language because they are using it and they are seeing it.
We have to make sure the classrooms have lots of words and charts because I think it
helps to expose students to new vocabulary. The only way EL students will improve their
skills is by using and seeing language and being surrounded by it.

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EL students benefit from being exposed to print-rich environments and literature because
this helps them make sense of the written language system (Allen, 1994). All EL students
need a strong print environment in English if they are to master the written language.
Children's literature can provide EL students with rich cohesive language which is made
comprehensible by patterned language, predictable text, and supportive illustrations.
All participants communicated the following readers’ workshop structure: 10-20
minute mini-lesson, 30-40 minutes of independent reading time, and 10 minutes for a
closing meeting. The mini-lesson was taught to the whole class and included teacher
modeling of various comprehension strategies for students. Students then practiced the
new skill or strategy during the work period. A sample of a readers’ workshop schedule is
as follows:
9:00a.m.-9:15 a.m. Mini-Lesson on Making Connections
9:15a.m.-9:50a.m. Independent Reading Block
9:15a.m.-9:35a.m. Teacher meets with Red Group
9:35a.m.-9:45a.m. Teacher meets with one student for a conference
9:50a.m.-10:00a.m. Closing Meeting
The mini-lessons were developed using the following resources: state standards,
performance standards, District pacing plans, and individual student conference notes.
During the independent reading block, teachers met with small groups of students and
also conferred with students one-on-one. Small group instruction was centered on a piece
of literature at the instructional level of the students in the small group. Students not
working with the teachers read independently from leveled reading materials which
they had selected (“just right” books). Free voluntary reading in and outside of school

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has been reported to have a powerful effect on reading comprehension and vocabulary
development (Krashen, 1993). The research also indicates that teachers who provide
students with choices, challenging tasks, and collaborative learning structures increase
their motivation to read and to comprehend text (Snow, 2002).
Teachers met with individual students for reading conferences about once every
two weeks. During these conferences, the teachers listened to students read, assessed
student reading, and provided short lessons based on the needs of the individual child.
For example, if a student is struggling with a particular book, the teacher provided the
child guidelines on how to select a book at an appropriate instructional level. If the
student made five mistakes decoding words on a single page of a book, the teachers told
the child to select a different book. Teachers reported that one-on-one time with students
allowed them to determine the needs of their students and to provide individual goals for
them. Teacher 3C conferred with a student who was having difficulty selecting books to
read and she said the following:
Let me see your reading log. Pick a book from your book box to read out loud to
me. Do you think this book is just right for you? Let’s try another book.

Teacher 3C had the student read three books until both agreed mutually what book was
just right. She provides the students with samples of other titles which would be just
right. Individual conferences between students and teachers provide an opportunity to set
goals and check student progress in reading (Atwell, 1987; Routman, 1988). This
information was also being used for planning future reading lessons. At the closing
meeting which was about 10 minutes in length, students shared what they had learned
during independent reading. At one closing meeting a student shared:

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Spike is jealous of the girl because she us a magician. He is trying to get her fired.
I mad a book to book connection to another book I have read called Top Dog. I
also made a text to world connection because my brother is like Spike.

Students promoted books and shared successes with comprehension strategies at this
time. Students selected by the teacher on a rotating basis, shared what they had learned
during readers’ workshop. Teachers communicated a very precise reading schedule but
also admitted to struggling with implementing all of the components of readers’
workshop. Teacher 3C reported:
The District expects us to teach reading using the Houghton/Mifflin Program.
This program does not lend itself to be used with the readers’ workshop. It
contains many skill lessons and worksheets that do work well with the readers’
workshop structure. The literature used in this series is good but poses challenges
for students acquiring English.

The Livingston staff communicated a need to observe a coach conducting conferences
with students. The third grade teachers recently established a goal to hold closing
meetings at least three times a week. Although these teachers have received professional
development in all of the components of readers’ workshop, they remain uncertain about
what effective implementation look like. The District assessments negatively influenced
instructional delivery. Teachers communicated that they stopped readers’ and writers’
workshops in order to prepare students for the District tests. The District tests were taken
from the Houghton Mifflin program. The performance of EL students on these tests was
adversely affected because of vocabulary, topical knowledge, and skills presented in the
reading series (Garcia, 1994).

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The teachers have all shared the importance of implementing readers’ workshop,
but they have also communicated the challenges of incorporating the District curriculum
within the workshop model. Teacher 3D reported:
At our school we have Houghton Mifflin which is from the district but we also
have the reader’s workshop model. It doesn’t go really together with Houghton
Mifflin, so we’ve been trying to use a lot of supplemental reading materials which
work better with readers’ workshop.

Difficulty with implementing the workshop model and also finding the time to teach the
lessons being required by the District pacing plans and Multiple Measure Assessments
was a source of frustration as reported by teachers.
Despite the challenge of working with District mandates, during all four
observations the teachers taught mini-lessons to the whole class. The lessons which were
about 15 to 20 minutes in length, determined the focus for the independent reading block.
The third grade teachers were following District pacing plans, therefore all of the lessons
observed were related to character traits. All teachers were implementing the structure of
readers’ workshop.
According to NAEP, only 15 to 25% of students learn well with a traditional
teacher-centered approach. Retention rate research (Ryan, 1990) identified two of the
best teaching methods available to students are teaching others and students immediately
using their learning. Practice by doing is a third method followed by discussion groups.
The components and goals of Readers’ Workshop are closely aligned with the findings of
retention rate learning. Readers’ Workshop includes five components: mini-lessons,
status of the class, self-selected reading and response, sharing time (Reutzel &
Cooter, 1991). Students practice mini-lessons during periods of self-selected reading.

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Discussion groups are a part of the reader’s workshop structure. Students are able to work
with their peers to share and practice reading strategies.
One of the main goals of Readers’ Workshop is to get students reading. Atwell
(1987) identified four criteria that needed to be considered for organizing an effective
reading program. The criteria are as follows:
1. Student should be given choices in how they spend their time.
2. Activities need to promote the importance of reading as the primary
activity integrated with writing, listening, and speaking.

3. The teacher needs to model the importance of reading by example.

4. Opportunities to use and share reading strategies through writing,
speaking, and assessment of individual progress must be abundant.

Establishing these criteria and maintaining the standards set at the state and district can be
overwhelming for teachers (Wills, 1995). Livingston has implemented the four criteria of
an effective reading program.
Reading Comprehension Strategies
During the teacher interviews, participants confidently named all the reading
comprehension strategies they taught. Literature was used to model and teach the
comprehension strategies identified by the participants. The teachers in this study were
using the book Strategies that Work by Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis as a
resource to design comprehension lessons. Comprehension strategies listed within

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this book were being taught by all participants on a schedule established annually by each
grade level team. When asked which strategies they emphasized, the following were
mentioned: making connections, questioning, visualizing, inferring, determining
importance, and synthesizing. All teachers identified activating prior knowledge, making
connections, and making inferences as the top three comprehension strategies for EL
students. The Livingston teachers were observed teaching the metacognitive
comprehension strategies used by proficient readers to solve comprehension problems or
to deepen their understanding of a text (Keene, 2002). They reported that EL students
relied on prior knowledge in order to comprehend difficult text. Background experience
and prior knowledge combined with interest helped EL students with personal
interpretation of the text. The teachers stated that making connections allowed students to
connect with characters and to understand complex text. Making inferences was also
identified as an important strategy because EL students need to understand the author’s
message. Teacher 3B said:
Making inferences is an important strategy because the students need to know
that not all of the answers to the questions they ask will be in the story.
Sometimes the reader has to put together the clues to really understand what the
author is trying to say.

Making inferences assists the reader in forming conclusions, in making predictions and in
developing new ideas about text. The participants also communicated the importance of
story elements to students acquiring English. One fourth grade teacher shared the
following:
I teach text comprehension by identifying and discussing the plot of a story.
The students and I define the problem and some possible solutions within the
story to help them understand the chain of events. I want them to understand
how the story elements are arranged in the story.

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Reading comprehension was seen as complex and important in the instruction of EL
students. The teachers communicated providing EL students with many opportunities for
practicing comprehension strategies. They saw the importance of tapping into prior
experiences and interests of EL students to support them in making sense of a text and
making personal interpretations of text (Keene, 2002).
The principal investigator found evidence that comprehension was being taught.
The classroom displays included charts which reflect numerous comprehension lessons
which had been taught during the school year. For example, charts on making
connections, making inferences, and asking questions were posted throughout the
classrooms. These charts continue to serve as reference tools for students. The
comprehension charts displayed in all classrooms included the following: making
connections, making inferences, asking questions, and summarizing. Table 7 lists the
reading strategies identified by the teachers during interviews and the strategies charted
for students during lessons. The X in a column signifies if the strategy was identified
during the teacher interviews or observed during classroom instruction.

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Table 7: Reading Strategies Identified During the Study
Reading Strategy Interviews Observations
Making Connections X X
Questioning X X
Visualizing X X
Inferences X X
Determining Importance X
Synthesizing X
Prior Knowledge X X
Predictions X
Summarizing X

Participating teachers communicated a strong understanding of the
comprehension strategies which proficient readers use to deepen understanding of text.
They articulated an adequate comfort level in teaching these strategies. Teacher 3D
reports:
I teach the seven reading strategies. I teach them as a whole within Reader’s
Workshop and I also review them in individual reading groups. Usually I model
the strategy for students and then they practice it on their own. They share it out
and we discuss whether it met my expectations or not.

The teachers utilized a variety of materials provided by the District and school to
design reading comprehension lessons. Although these teachers possessed materials
and experience to teach reading comprehension, the District assessments and pacing
plans negatively impacted the lessons being provided. Teachers stopped

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implementation of readers’ workshop to prepare students for these assessments. Teachers
reported losing approximately two weeks of instruction each trimester to prepare students
for District assessments. The results of these assessments did not assist teachers in
determining the needs of their students. The District MMAs for reading are taken from
the basal reading program being used for reading instruction. Basal reading tests are
similar to standardized tests. These tests reflect the skills and knowledge covered in the
reading series. The tests do not provide information about how well students comprehend
text (Garcia, 1992). Foertsch and Pearson (1987) conducted a content analysis of basal
reading tests across grades 1-6. The analysis revealed that only 30-50% of the test items
deal with aspects of reading comprehension.
Reading comprehension strategies must be modeled for all students. Retention
rate research identifies the best teaching methods for student as practicing strategies and
providing opportunities to discuss what was learned. Self-selected reading allows EL
students to choose reading materials of interest and at an appropriate reading level.
Reading workshop employs teaching methods to accomplish the goals of having self-
disciplined readers who read and write by choice, who are motivated to read and write
because of genuine interest and who learn and write by doing (Wills, 1995). Figure 1
displays the challenges and resources that influence reading comprehension instruction.

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Figure 1: Reading Comprehension Instruction

District
Pacing Plans
Basal
Readers

Reading
Comprehension
Children's
Literature
Classrooms
Displays on
Reading
Strategies
Strategies That
Work
By Harvey &
Goudis
Resources
Challenges
District
MMA

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Learning Environment
All of the teachers have created a print rich environment for their students. These
teachers have designated a rug area for whole class instruction and use round tables for
small group instruction.
The four classrooms had leveled classroom libraries for student use with books
organized by genre and level. A colored dot on the cover of the books informs the
potential reader of the lexile level of the selected book. The recommended numbers of
books per student in a classroom library are seven books (IRA, 2000). All participating
classrooms in the study exceeded the number recommended by the International Reading
Association (IRA). Table 8 provides information on the classroom libraries found in
each on these classrooms.
Table 8: Number of Books in Classroom Library
Teacher Number of
Books
Picture Books Chapter Books Books Per
Student
4A 370 75 295 12
4B 305 60 245 10
3C 300 200 100 16
3D 600 400 200 35

Both third grade classroom libraries displayed a chart titled “Choosing Just Right
Books”. The chart listed ideas to assist students in selecting correctly leveled books.
The following information was listed on these charts:
1. Is this book new to you?

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2. Do you understand most of the book?
3. Are there a few words per page that you do not recognize or know the meaning
the instantly? Remember to use the five finger test.
4. Can someone help you with the books if you hit a tough spot?
Book boxes are kept at each student’s desk contained four leveled books, a reading
binder with personalized goals and reading logs, and a reader’s notebook.
The third grade classrooms were similarly arranged in order to allow for small
and whole group instruction. The desks clustered in groups of four, encouraged
collaboration and discussion among students. A print rich classroom environment
contained a variety of charts reflecting reading comprehension strategies were observed
in both classrooms. A classroom chart on reading strategies had the following
information listed:
Making connections- The reader's uses prior knowledge to understand what they
are reading.
Visualizing- The reader creates a visual image in their minds based on the words
read in the text.
Asking questions- The reader asks questions to better understand what they are
reading.
Drawing inferences- Gathering clues from the text to understand and make
predictions about what is to come in a story.
Determining importance- The reader differentiates between what is less
important and what is a key idea in the story.
Synthesizing information- The reader combines new information with existing
knowledge to develop a new idea about the text.
Repairing understanding- The reader stops reading to clarify their
understanding.

Both classroom libraries are organized in a similar manner with convenient access to
leveled reading materials. Teacher 3C and Teacher 3D follow the readers’ workshop
schedule.

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In the fourth grade classrooms, the student desks were arranged in small clusters.
A group of five or six students sat at a group of desks in order to facilitate small group
discussion. In one of the fourth grade classrooms, the teacher had created a rug area
where students sat during mini lessons and closing meetings. Each student had a book
box which contained leveled reading materials specifically selected by the child. The
classroom libraries were leveled and contained a variety of genres for self-selected
reading materials. Both fourth grade rooms contained charts listing reading
comprehension strategies displayed around the room. The strategies included on the
charts were making inferences, asking thick questions, making predictions, making
connections, visualizing, and summarizing. All four learning environments shared some
commonalities, a direct influence of the implementation of the America’s Choice School
Design.
An analysis of the classroom environment supported the participants’ beliefs that
EL student must have access to a variety of leveled text. Students had book boxes where
they keep books of personal interest at their reading level. The libraries were organized in
a manner in which student could select books at their reading levels and charts provided
students with tips on selecting books which are “just right”. The print-rich classrooms
allowed students to use the information provided on charts to practice reading skills and
comprehension strategies. The Livingston teachers were incorporating many of the
principals on which whole language was based (Freeman & Freeman, 1992). An
organized learning environment facilitated social interaction among students with
lessons and activities based on student interest. Students were encouraged to select

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books of personal interest to them. Figure 2 which can be found in Appendix E is a
diagram of the learning environments observed at Livingston School.
Modeling Reading
Classroom observations revealed that teachers modeled reading for students. Teacher 3C
read aloud When the Circus Came to Town by Laurence Yep. The teacher discussed
identifying a character trait and finding the proof within the text to strengthen a response.
She modeled what students would be practicing during their independent reading period.
Students learned that they must identify the reason why a character acts in a particular
way. At the conclusion of Teacher 3C’s lesson, students responded in their readers’
notebooks. This notebook provided a place where students practiced reading skills and
comprehension strategies in written form.
The responses modeled by Teacher 3C included all of the criteria she had
highlighted during the mini-lesson. Teacher 3C used a read aloud to model reading which
allowed students to observe strategies proficient readers use to comprehend a text. In
addition, the students working with Teacher 3C had additional opportunities to practice
their reading skills. The charts created by the Teacher 3C were read aloud by students.
Six students read aloud the response written by Teacher 3C.
Teacher 3D used a Greek myth to teach character traits. During her retelling of a
myth, students orally shared predictions and identified character traits for the different
gods. During the lesson, she created a chart which listed criteria to be included in student
responses. At the conclusion of the lesson, students responded in their readers’
notebooks, using the strategies they had learned. The readers’ notebook becomes a

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dialog between students and the teacher about books the students are reading. These
notebooks
provide the teacher with information about how students are analyzing and
comprehending what they read and it serves as a form of authentic assessment (Garcia,
1994).
Teacher 3D appeared to be using a challenging text on Greek myths. She was
unable to read the text to her students due to its high level of complexity and was forced
to retell the myth. She paused unnaturally on numerous occasions to read ahead. Teacher
3D apparently did not read the text prior to retelling it to her students. Examples of
responses were not modeled and as a result, students were unable to write responses that
met expectations.
Although both teachers communicated using readers’ workshop, the observations
revealed differences in the implementation of the reading workshop. Similar time
schedules were followed but the lessons designed by Teacher 3C included more
opportunities for students to practice reading and to share what they have learned.
Teacher 3C also modeled reading and comprehension strategies for students. Based on
these classroom observations, it seems possible that the EL students assigned to Teacher
3C are experiencing more success in reading than those working with Teacher 3D.
Teacher 3C understood the importance of modeling reading comprehension and of the
need for frequent practice of modeled skills. Guided reading, which is one of the
components of readers’ workshop, was not observed during any of the four
observations which were conducted.

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Teacher 4A began both lessons by reading aloud to her students. On one occasion,
Teacher 4A was facilitating an author study by reading a short section of Abel’s Island by
William Steig. Students were instructed to listen for the author’s style and tone. The
teacher paused to discuss words and ask questions about the text. Students willingly
participated in a lively discussion about the read aloud. The students not only identified
character traits but also located the evidence within the text. Teacher 4A provided the
message to students about the importance of purposeful reading. There consistent
evidence that reading to children builds language and literacy competence (Elley, 1989;
Trelease, 1995; Bus, Ijzendoorn, & Pelligini, 1995). On the second observation Teacher
4A also read a section of a book to her students. A non-fiction text was read aloud and
the text features of this type of genre were identified. The lesson was reviewed and
techniques were modeled once again. Students were able to practice the skill which the
teacher had modeled for them. Reading stories aloud help students in the acquisition of
grammar and vocabulary of printed English (Krashen, 1996).
Active Participation and Discussion
English learners need to be members of language-rich classrooms (Chen & Mora-
Flores, 2006). A language-rich classroom provides EL students with many opportunities
to participate in oral communication. The classroom observations described below fit the
definition of language-rich classrooms.
The third grade students were given opportunities to participate actively in the
mini-lessons and the closing meetings. Students in Teacher 3C’s class practiced
reading aloud at the beginning and at the end of readers’ workshop. During the
closing meeting, students from both classes met in a group to share responses from

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their reading notebooks. Teacher 3C selected five students to read their work at the
closing meeting. She appeared to be happy with the responses written by her students. In
order for EL students to successfully develop oral language, teachers must provide
opportunities for dialogue (Gibbons, 2002). Teacher 3D also had students share their
work and provided them with limited feedback on what they read to the group. The
feedback was similar for all students. The students were asked to go further with their
thinking and to add to their responses. On the following day, Teacher 3D informed
students that she would model the type of response she desired but this was done in oral
rather than in written form. The students were not provided with examples to follow as a
model. Teacher 3D did not model responses and the students continued to experience
difficulties in meeting expectations in their written responses. Lessons have not changed
based on the results of the student work she is receiving.
Although Teacher 4B discussed the importance of student discussion during his
interview classroom observations revealed a different practice. Teacher 4B taught a 15
minute lesson on the graphic features which are found in some books. He used Eragon by
Christopher Paolini as an example because it contained a fictional map. Teacher 4B
explained that the author had created this map to serve as a tool to assist the reader in
comprehending the book. Information on graphic features was provided but
comprehension was not directly addressed. Students were not engaged in discussion and
did not have opportunities to practice skills or strategies. The lesson was entirely teacher
directed and students did not participate in conversation. Strategies that support EL
students were not evidenced during his mini-lesson. At the conclusion of the lesson
students returned to their seats to begin independent reading.

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Teacher 3 has experienced student success in the area of reading. Sixty-three
percent of her students are reading in grade level. Based on classroom observations, she
provides her students with choice on how to spend their time, reading is a primary
activity which integrated with writing, listening, and speaking. She models reading
strategies for students and provides time for students to share what they have learned.
Reading conferences with students are utilized to assess the individual reading progress
of students. Atwell (1987) describes these practices to be qualities of an effective reading
program. Readers’ Workshop is an effective instructional practice assists in helping all
students be successful readers.
Professional Development
The Livingston staff has participated in professional development for the past
eight years. The focus of the staff development has been literacy instruction. A full-time
literacy coach was employed to facilitate training and to provide demonstration lessons
for teachers. The experienced teachers all communicated a common philosophy about
reading instruction. A meta-analysis (Gersten, Morvant, & Bregelman, 1995; Showerset
al., 1987) on staff development found that teachers should observe demonstration lessons
and practice the strategies presented. The practice must include feedback from a coach
for teaching practices to change (Gersten, Morvant, & Brengelman, 1995; Showers et al.,
1987) Evidence demonstrates that the Livingston leadership team has taken into
consideration research findings in the planning of professional development.
Each summer the Livingston staff has gathered together to discuss literacy
instruction at the school. Teachers discuss what worked and what has not worked for
them. Teacher interviews revealed that the book Strategies That Work by Stephanie

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and Anne Goudvis was purchased for all teachers three years ago. The professional
development connected to this book included reading and review of literature used to
teach comprehension strategies. In addition, grade level teams were provided with
planning time to develop an annual reading plan. A professional development plan
revealed that Livingston teachers spent time discussing best practices and sharing ideas
being implemented in classrooms. The participating teachers had a common philosophy
on reading instruction. Readers’ Workshop was described as an effective model for
reading instruction by the experienced teachers. Research on professional development
revealed that a bottom–up approach or interactive model was more likely to change
teaching practices (Ball, 1996; Darling-Hammond, 1995, 1996).
Classroom observations demonstrated that teachers were knowledgeable about the
structure of the readers’ workshop. The workshop model was clearly being implemented
school wide. All students had book boxes and access to leveled reading materials in every
classroom. These classroom libraries were leveled and students had been taught how
to select books at their reading levels. The influence of ongoing and continuous
professional development on Readers’ Workshop was evident in classrooms. The literacy
coach provided embedded professional development which has been found to be a
principle of effective professional development in literacy (Kinnucan-Welch & Grogan,
2006).
Integration of Strategies for ELs
The final interview question asked the participating teachers to share reasons
for the success of their EL students in the area of reading comprehension. The
teachers communicated the importance of repetition and targeted instruction for all

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students. All teachers stated a belief that EL students were successful if they were
interested in the books they were reading, if they were surrounded by print, if they had
the opportunity to write daily about their experiences, and if they received individual
attention through one-on-one conferences. Teacher 4A said:
I am tough on my EL students. I provide a lot of repetition on a new subject
throughout the day. I refer them back to something we learned during readers’
workshop. I work on developing higher knowledge skills and hold them
accountable for their learning. I also pair off my more fluent readers with my
struggling students to provide them with role models.

Teacher 3 D communicated the importance of having EL students share what they learn.
She reported the following:
El students who are involved in their learning are successful. I think that modeling
for them is important. Conferences provide for individual attention. Sharing what
we do for Writers’ Workshop and Readers’ Workshop provides modeling and
guides which enhance their learning.

Livingston teachers communicate the importance of thinking aloud for students. Thinking
aloud makes public what a reader does to make sense of text (Roit, 2006). Individual
conferences allow the teacher to assess how a student is progressing and to set goals with
the student (Garcia, 1994). Teacher 3D stressed the importance of meeting individually
with students to monitor progress in reading. The research showed that students who free
read books of interest improve in reading comprehension, writing style, vocabulary
development, spelling and grammatical competence (Krashen, 1993). Participants also
stressed the importance of modeling reading comprehension strategies for students.
Teachers modeled comprehension when reading aloud from books and communicated
a similar philosophy about reading instruction. They supported the readers’ workshop

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design for providing reading instruction. The teachers mutually agreed that the Houghton
Mifflin materials were not appropriate for EL students because they were developed for
native speakers of English. Basal readers were developed for children whose first
language is English. The controlled vocabulary and focus on high frequency words make
the reading materials more difficult for EL students to read and comprehend (Allen,
1994). Leveled reading materials were found to be necessary for EL students for
developing and enhancing reading comprehension strategies. The teachers felt conflicted
about following District mandates which were perceived as inappropriate for EL students.
Figure 3 provides a list of criteria necessary to assist EL students in becoming successful.
These criteria were observed during classroom observations and identified by participants
during teacher interviews.

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Figure 3: Strategies to Support Successful EL Students

Modeling
Readers'
Workshop
Repetition
Voluntary
Reading
Print-rich
Learning
Environment
Targeted
Instruction
Interest in
Reading
Daily Writing
Experiences
Strategies to Support
Successful
English
Learner
One-on-one
Conference
Student
Choice

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What are the Practices in Third and Fourth Grade for Improving the Vocabulary
Development of EL Students?
The focus of this research question was to extract information about vocabulary
instruction directed at EL students. Since a strong causal reciprocal relationship exists
between reading ability and vocabulary size (NRP, 2000), the researcher investigated
what Livingston teachers were doing to design lessons for EL students. Since one of the
goals of the Livingston staff was to improve reading ability and comprehension, it was
anticipated that vocabulary instruction would be an important element of literacy
instruction at Livingston. The researcher interviewed teachers about their thoughts on
vocabulary instruction and specific practices used in vocabulary instruction. Classroom
observation protocols included a section on vocabulary instruction which enabled the
researcher to tally and describe this information. The researcher documented two
instances of informal vocabulary instruction but no specific method of delivery of
instruction was observed. During a read aloud, Teacher 4A had students respond orally to
questions about unfamiliar words which appeared in the text she was reading. Teacher 3D
asked students to tell her what they thought a word meant or she provided a meaning for
them. No evidence was found that Livingston teachers were providing students with any
direct, systematic, explicit, instruction in the area of vocabulary. The research indicated
that there was little emphasis placed on the acquisition of vocabulary in school curricula
(Biemiller, 2001; Juel et al., 2003; Scott, Jamieson-Noel, & Asselin, 2003; Watts, 1995).
According to Scott et al. (2003), teachers discussed and assigned vocabulary but did
little teaching of new vocabulary.

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All of the teachers participating in this study communicated that insufficient
vocabulary created a challenge for EL students. Although direct vocabulary instruction
was not observed, incidental vocabulary development through reading was practiced
daily during readers’ workshop. The teachers used literature to enhance student
vocabulary. Students were encouraged to read a variety of genres to increase word
knowledge (Nagy et al., 1985). All teachers agreed that vocabulary taught within the
context of a story was more easily understood than words taught in isolation. One third
grade teacher reported the following in response to vocabulary instruction:
I think the best way to teach vocabulary would be through a story that we’ve been
reading where the new word is already there. If it is just plucked out from a text, it
doesn’t really have much of an effect as if it is in a story already. I then use the
story to explain what it means and how it is connected to the story.

Teachers identified vocabulary development as challenging for EL students. EL students
at the intermediate level of language acquisition have limited academic vocabulary. One
reason why EL students lag behind in reading is their lack of word knowledge (Carlo et
al, 2006). All participants expressed the importance of teaching words in context rather
than giving students lists of words to learn. According to Carlo et al. (2004), words are
best learned when presented within rich semantic contexts, such as brief engaging
reading passages. McKeown (1985) found that less skilled fifth grade readers were less
able to use context clues to derive the meaning of words. Therefore, it is important that
students read books at their instructional level. One of the teachers stated that EL students
need to hear new vocabulary several times and use it in writing or in speaking in
order to master it.

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Teachers shared that they used technology, realia, literature, picture books, charts,
dictionaries, and word structure to teach new words to EL students. One of the fourth grade teachers
stated the following:
We define words that are unfamiliar to students. I show them pictures and realia. I
teach the structure of words like root words, prefixes, suffixes, and word families.

Although one teacher communicated a specific plan for vocabulary instruction, direct
instruction of vocabulary was not observed. Participants shared the resources they used
to assist students in comprehending new words. The Livingston staff received training in
the area of reading comprehension but has not reviewed any research or had inservice on
the delivery of vocabulary instruction. These teachers demonstrated some pre-teaching
strategies but were not able to articulate a plan for vocabulary instruction. Classroom
research reveals that little focused vocabulary instruction occurs in a typical K-12
classroom (Durkin, 1979).
The classroom observations confirmed the information provided by the teacher
interviews. Although teachers expressed the importance of teaching vocabulary to EL
students, no systematic, explicit instruction of vocabulary was observed in either
classroom. During the observations, Teacher 3D discussed the words avoid, embrace,
throb, subside, and reject while retelling Greek myths. The discussion went like this:
What does avoid mean? Can you say avoid again? How would you spell it? Remember
embrace? Hug. I assume you know what the word weaving means because no one is
raising their hand.

The expectation of this teacher was that students would raise their hands if they heard
an unfamiliar word. This triggered a discussion in which the teacher or other students

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provided a synonym for the unknown word. It is possible that the investigator observed
on days in which vocabulary was not taught. Vocabulary instruction appeared to be
incidental and there was no evidence in these classrooms of systematic vocabulary
instruction. Vocabulary knowledge across different academic domains is the single best
predictor of academic achievement of second language learners (Saville-Troike, 1984).
The lack of vocabulary instruction in this area may be contributing to the low
standardized test scores in the area of English Language Arts. Professional staff
development in vocabulary instruction for EL students may be the next step for the
Livingston staff.
A systematic program of formal vocabulary instruction was also not observed in
the fourth grade classrooms. The findings in the fourth grade classrooms supported the
classroom research that little focused vocabulary instruction actually occurred in a typical
K-12 classroom (Durkin, 1979). Vocabulary was discussed briefly as part of an author
study Teacher 4A was implementing. During a read aloud of Abel’s Island by William
Steig, Teacher 4A paused to discuss the following words: marooned, overcast, sunless,
and caviar. The teacher defined three of the words for students. For the word marooned,
the teacher paused and slowly read the sentence that contained the word. A student
defined what the word meant based on the context of the story. Read alouds with direct
explanation of word meanings as the story is read were shown to be effective for
acquiring vocabulary (Biemiller, 2004; Elley, 1989; Penno et al., 2002). Although
teachers communicated the importance of vocabulary for EL students, little formal
instruction was observed in these classrooms.

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The National Reading Panel (2000) found several studies which identified a
causal connection between reading ability and vocabulary size. It was also discovered
that there is a reciprocal relationship between vocabulary knowledge and reading
comprehension. Therefore, the students at Livingston could be at a disadvantage because
they were not receiving formal instruction in vocabulary. EL students have limited
vocabularies as they acquire English and this limitation will continue to impact their
reading ability and comprehension.
What are the Practices Being Used by Third Grade Teachers to Teach Reading
Comprehension?
The focus of this research question was to identify different strategies used by the
third grade teachers to teach reading comprehension to their EL students. The researcher
was interested in finding similarities or differences occurring in reading comprehension
instruction within the third and fourth grades. An observation protocol was used to tally
the strategies being implemented by the third and fourth grade teachers. Table 9 is a
frequency table which demonstrates the strategies being used most frequently by the third
grade teachers during classroom observations.

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Table 9: Strategies Being Used Most Frequently By Third Grade Teachers
Observed Practice F(x) %
Students practice reading 17 32
Students share what they have learned 26 48
Teacher models comprehension strategies 8 15

Based on the frequency of the observed practices, the following themes emerged: using
read alouds to model reading, students practice reading, responding to reading, and one-
on-one conferences.
Using Read Alouds to Model Reading
Teacher 3C began each of her mini lessons by modeling reading for her students.
A chapter book titled When the Circus Came to Town by Laurence Yep was used as the
vehicle for teaching character traits to her students. As the book was read aloud, she
paused to identify character traits and the evidence found in the book which supported
her decision. Teacher 3C modeled on a chart the way in which students were to respond
in their readers’ notebooks. She wrote a brief summary about the main events of the
chapter, identified traits of one character, and provided evidence from the text on those
character traits. The model provided numerous opportunities for students to practice
reading what the teacher had written. The readers’ notebook was a tool used for students
to record their responses to what they read and teachers learned about each student’s
comprehension abilities (Garcia, 1994).
Teacher 3D also attempted to use literature to teach her mini lessons. Greek
myths were used to teach a lesson on character traits. Rather than reading aloud to

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students, Teacher 3D retold the myth. It appeared that the text was difficult for students
to comprehend and the teacher chose to retell the myth using simple vocabulary. This
created some awkward pauses during the lesson.
The third grade teachers communicated during their interviews that in reviewing
the CST release questions from 2005, they discovered that the literature found in the test
was primarily composed of folk tales, fairy tales, and myths. The teachers studied the
literature found in the H/M Literacy Program and found a mismatch. The program had
only one folktale in the third grade anthology. It was decided that they would facilitate a
genre study on fairy tales and folk tales in all third grade classes. The teachers were
adamant that students needed to know the qualities of this genre and in order to do well
on the CST in the spring.
In the section, Modeling Reading, a detailed description of read alouds is
provided. The two of the teachers who were observed began their lessons with read
alouds. Read alouds provided an opportunity for the students to observe what the teacher
did in order to comprehend the text she was reading. Reading to children builds language
and literacy competence (Elley,1989; Trelease, 1995; Bus, Ijzendoorn, & Pelligini, 1995).
Students Practice Reading Aloud
The researcher found that during classroom observations, some teachers provided
students with several opportunities to practice reading aloud. For example, Teacher 3C
selected six students to read aloud during one 15 minute mini lesson. The teacher wrote a
sample readers’ notebook entry on chart paper. The entry served as a model for
students and, in addition, it also became reading material for them. Individual
students were selected to read the sample entry aloud. Choral reading was also a part

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of this lesson. After whole group instruction, Teacher 3C met with individual students for
reading conferences. These students read aloud while the teacher took notes on what she
heard. The teacher assisted individual students in appropriately leveled book selection
after listening to them read. During the closing meeting three students were selected to
read aloud from their readers’ notebook. In this classroom, 61% (11) of the students
were provided with reading practice during one 58 minute observation period.
The second observation in Teacher 3C‘s classroom was similar to the first.
Students were given the chance to practice reading aloud. Seven students were chosen to
read text written by the teacher. One student participated in a reading conference which
included reading aloud from a leveled text. On this occasion, 44% of the students were
given the chance to read aloud. The lower percentage may be due to the fact that the
observation only lasted 45 minutes.
Teacher 3D was also found to be providing students with reading practice but it
occurred in a different context. Small groups of students met with the teacher. After six
of the students had read aloud the teacher asked for a retelling of the important details of
the story. At the end of readers’ workshop, during closing meeting, six students shared
their readers’ notebook entries. The percentage of students provided with the opportunity
to practice reading was 71%. The duration of the observation was 60 minutes.
The second observation revealed that seven (41%) students read aloud during
readers’ workshop. Three students read aloud to the teacher during the time in which she
was working with a small group. At the time of the closing meeting, four students
read their readers’ notebook entries aloud. Table 10 lists the length of the
observations and the percentage of students who read aloud during that time period.

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Table 10: Percentage of Students Reading Aloud
Duration of Observation % of Students
Reading Aloud
58 61
45 44
60 71
60 41

During interviews, the third grade teachers repeatedly communicated the need EL
students have for practicing reading and writing. Teacher 3C realized the importance of
exposing her students to different types of literature and genres. She believed that EL
students would benefit from print-rich learning environments. She reports:
Making sure you have a classroom that has a lot of words and charts helps to
expose EL students to language. The only way I think they will improve is if they
can see it and are using it and seeing it all the time.

Teacher D had her students share with peers at the conclusion of readers’ workshop. She
believed that her EL students have been successful because they learn from one another
when they share responses to their reading. Both third grade teachers state a belief in
providing students with many opportunities to practice what they learn through reading
aloud. This belief has been put into practice as demonstrated during classroom
observations. Listening and discussing stories promotes reading at every age. There is
also much evidence that reading aloud positively impacts vocabulary growth and
comprehension (Routman, 1988).

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Responding to Reading
The third grade teachers have implemented readers’ notebooks in their
classrooms. The students use these notebooks to respond to independent reading or to
practice strategies taught during the whole class mini lesson. All students are expected to
respond in their readers’ notebooks five times a week. Student responses are shared with
the whole class at a closing meeting at the end of readers’ workshop. Teacher 3C asked
eight (44%) students to volunteer to read responses written in their reader’s notebooks at
the closing meeting. Students compared two characters from two different books. They
wrote about how the characters they selected were similar and different and about what
connections they made with these characters. The second observation revealed that only
three students were able to share their responses written in their reader’s notebooks. The
readers’ notebook can be used as a form of authentic assessment to analyze the
comprehension abilities of students (Garcia, 1994).
Teacher 3D was also observed using readers’ notebooks for practicing
comprehension strategies. Both observations revealed that students were identifying and
analyzing character traits. The students were limited to writing about mythological
characters discussed during the mini lesson. Responses were shared at the closing
meeting and the teacher provided each child with feedback about how to improve
responses.
The third grade team developed specific goals on the use of the readers’
notebooks. Although implementation of this strategy has been in place for two years
at Livingston, this team has struggled with consistent implementation. This is the first
year in which all third grade teachers have required students to respond daily in the

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readers’ notebooks. The teachers have found that the notebooks have assisted in
determining how well students comprehend text. This form of authentic assessment
provided the teacher with information about how students were synthesizing and
interpreting information from their reading (Garcia, 1992).
Conferences
The 25 minute independent reading block was implemented differently in these
two classrooms. Teacher 3C met one-on-one with four students during the reading work
period. Meetings were held at a student desk located in the front of the classroom. The
students selected books from their book boxes and read orally for the teacher. Students
retold important details of stories and answered several comprehension questions.
Teachers 3C took notes on these conferences and in one case she recommended a student
select a just right book for independent reading. This student read another book from his
book box to determine if it was a just right book for him. The students working with
Teacher 3C had opportunities to practice reading using text at appropriate instructional
levels. Individual conferences with students provided an opportunity for teachers to
discuss progress in reading and to set goals (Atwell, 1987; Routman, 1988).
Immediately following the mini-lesson on character traits, Teacher 3D met with a
small group of students at a kidney shaped table located in the back of the classroom. The
students began reading a book from the Cam Jansen series. Evidently these students were
reading the same text. As the students read silently, the teacher conducted five
conferences with students. The conferences focused on the following skills and
strategies: chunking, reading punctuation, and decoding using beginning and ending
consonants. Toward the end of the reading work period the teacher lead a discussion

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with the small group on summarizing the important events of the chapter. The students
shared their ideas orally and were then directed to write their own summaries in their
readers’ notebooks. The teacher did not model how a summary should look like or what
it should contain.
What are the Practices Being Used by Fourth Grade Teachers to Teach Reading
Comprehension?
The purpose of this research question was to determine the similarities and
differences between third and fourth grade teachers in the teaching of reading
comprehension. An observation protocol was used to tally the strategies being used by
the fourth grade teachers. Table 11 demonstrates the strategies most frequently
incorporated in lessons observed in fourth grade classrooms. The strategies observed
included, read alouds, incidental vocabulary instruction, small group instruction, class
discussions and one-on-one conferences.
Table 11: Strategies Most Frequently Used By Fourth Grade Teachers
Observed Practice F(x) %
Teacher models reading 3 3
Students practice reading 23 23
Students share what they have learned 56 57

As demonstrated by Table 10, the students in the 4
th
grade classrooms had numerous
opportunities to share what they had learned in current and past lessons. The teachers
encouraged students to talk and share their ideas during class discussions. Listening
to and discussing stories promotes reading at all ages. Encouraging students to

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discuss literature allows them to hear and value other's insight and understanding
(Routman, 1996). Research indicates that there is a positive connection between
extensive reading and improved reading comprehension. Students become active
participants in reading lessons when involved in discussions that make meaning from
written text and this has proven to help students' reading skills to grow (Routman, 1996).
Although Table 8 does not reveal a high frequency in all but one area, the reported totals
are the strategies which were observed most frequently.
Teachers Model Reading
All four observations began with whole class mini-lessons. Teacher 4A began
with a read aloud, Abel’s Island by William Steig. This book was part of an author study
in which the class had participated. Students were directed to listen for clues about the
author’s tone and style. This lesson provided a purpose for listening to the read aloud. As
the teacher read to the class, she paused to discuss the words marooned, overcast, sunless,
and caviar. Students discussed what the words might mean. This is being defined as
incidental vocabulary instruction by the researcher. Following the read aloud, students
discussed the characters, what they were like and why. Students described these
characters and provided proof from the text about different character traits. The mini-
lesson concluded at 9:15a.m. and class began reading independently. Trade books beyond
the independent reading level of the students that were read aloud can be an excellent
resource for vocabulary development (Beck & McKeown, 2007).
Teacher 4A modeled reading for students and paused to discuss important
words which were difficult to understand. Students were comfortable sharing their
ideas and were engaged and interested in the conversation about Abel’s Island.

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Second language best occurs within a risk-free environment where students’ experiences
and contributions are valued (Farnan, 1994). Teacher A provided a positive learning
environment for EL students.
The second observation took place the following week. Teacher 4A taught a
lesson using a non-fiction leveled book titled, Beaver Engineers. Students were first
asked to recall the features found in non-fiction books and took turns volunteering
answers. Evidently, non-fiction text features had been a prior mini-lesson for this class.
The teacher also reviewed the components of the K-W-L chart with students. The K
represented what a student already knew about the topic, W was what a student desired to
learn, and the L is what they learned at the conclusion of a lesson or unit of study.
Students shared all they knew about beavers for the K portion of the chart and what they
wanted to learn for the W portion of the chart. A K-W-L chart was modeled on the board
in front of the class. Student answers and questions were written by the teacher. The
teacher then read a section of Beaver Engineers to the class. She paused as she read to
point out text features in the book and to verify facts students shared about beavers. At
the conclusion of the read aloud, Teacher A asked students what they had learned. These
responses were added to the K-W-L chart in the L column. Teacher 4A informed the
class that they would be creating their own K-W-L charts with partners using another
non-fiction book. Students were allowed to select books from a set of animal books
provided by the teacher. Work was begun on their charts and the teacher walked around
the classroom to provide assistance and to monitor students as they worked. The
observation was concluded during this independent work period. The K-W-L chart is
a strategy designed to link prior knowledge to new concepts and ideas (Ogle, 1986).

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The W, what I want to find out, helps student establish a purpose for reading and guides
the reading (Schifini, 1994).
Teacher 4A began both of her whole class lessons by reading aloud and modeling
reading for her students. She clearly communicated the goals and purposes for the read
alouds. Students knew what information they needed to identify during the read aloud.
Teacher 4A also provided students with informal instruction on challenging words
encountered while reading to students.
Teacher 4A provides her students with strategy lessons which will support
students when they read independently. The K-W-L chart demonstrates for student how
to activate prior knowledge which will assist them in comprehending a text.
Class Discussions
Teacher 4A began by incorporating prior knowledge to support comprehension
(Farnan, 1994). The teacher showed the students a picture of a beaver on the front cover
of a book she will read during the lesson. Students shared what they already knew about
beavers. The teacher provided a shared book experience for students; a book of interest
was read and discussed with the class. Students must have access to books and the books
must be of interest (Krashen, 1993). Teacher 4A read and discussed a book on beavers.
Many opportunities were provided for sharing what had been learned during the shared
book experience. Students shared with the class what they already knew about beavers
and their responses were written on a chart. The K-W-L chart observed during this lesson
has been described in EL research as effective in increasing student achievement in
reading comprehension. This procedure provides the EL student with the opportunity

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to immediately relate class discussion and his or her thinking to the text and to extend
ideas beyond the text (Schifini, 1994).
Another observation in Teacher 4B’s classroom took place the following week.
The class was seated in the rug area on the floor for the mini-lesson. Teacher 4B asked
for a student volunteer to read the topic of the lesson which was listed on a chart. Another
volunteer read a sentence provided as an example of figurative language. The sample
sentence was: The ground is thirsty and hungry. Five students were provided with the
opportunity to discuss why the ground can or cannot be alive. The lesson concluded after
fifteen minutes of discussion and students returned to their seats for independent reading.
This lesson may have assisted students in understanding figurative language but it was
brief and only one example was provided. Valuable time was spent on discussing if the
ground was alive or not. The focus of the lesson should have been about what a proficient
reader can do when he/she comes across figurative language. Students could have looked
for examples of figurative language during independent reading and shared them with the
class. These could have been shared with the class which would have allowed
opportunity for feedback and guidance by the teacher and students (Wills, 1995).
Although the objective of this lesson was clear, the implementation did support the
objective.
The teachers provide their EL students with discussion practice of informational
text. Informational trade books such as, Beaver Engineers, is an ideal resource for
teaching expository text because of the clear organization and the student friendly
way in which it is written (Moss, 2006). Teacher 4A models for students how to read
a nonfiction text by activating prior knowledge in order to facilitate comprehension.

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Small Group Instruction and One-on-One Conferences
Guided reading is the critical link to independence and teachers provide guidance
on the use of reading strategies when incorporating this instructional approach. All
students in a small group take on the responsibility to read a new text on their own with
the support of the teacher guiding the lesson (Cappellini, 2006).
Teacher 4A sat at one of the round tables and called a small group of four students
to work with her. The students all had copies of the book, Children of the Lamp by P. D.
Kerr. The students were invited to share which character they were most like and why. In
order to respond, students needed to have possession of the talking stick. The teacher
passed the talking stick to the students to allow them to share the connections they had
made with characters. Teacher 4A shared with the researcher that she had recently begun
to implement literature circles. Lapp et al. (1997) found that literature discussions were
significant and meaningful to reading programs. The discussions strengthened the
student’s understanding of the text; they provided opportunity to talk about the text, and
increased student oral language development and use. The objective of this small group
lesson was unclear to the observer. The teacher shared with the students that they needed
to provide details of the story in their answers because she had not read the book they
were discussing. It appeared that Teacher 4A may not have been prepared to teach this
lesson.
After a whole class lesson on graphic features in text, Teacher 4B continued his
workshop by meeting with a small group of six students who had completed reading
Helen Keller by Margaret Davidson and Wendy Watson. The teacher began the
discussion by asking students what the author was saying. Students were asked to find

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important statements and to read them aloud to the group. The discussion continued for
20 minutes and students returned to their seats. Teacher 4B conducted a one-on-one
conference with a student for 15 minutes. The observer left the classroom during this
time period. During small group instruction and the student conference, EL students were
given the chance to practice reading aloud. Students participated in a discussion about a
novel which they have read and their contributions were valued. The discussion on the
book about Helen Keller had students identify important ideas and themes within the text,
a strategy used by proficient readers to deepen their understanding of a text (Keene,
2002). During the small group lessons Teacher 4B successfully provided opportunities
for EL students to practice reading comprehension strategies.
Teacher 4B then met with a student to discuss her reading goals. After reviewing
her reading log, the teacher informed the student that she needed to finish reading her
books. He then took her to the classroom library and reviewed with her how to choose
books at her reading level. Conferences are a valuable strategy for teachers to monitor
student progress and set reading goals with students (Garcia, 1994).
The fourth grade classroom observations had few similarities. The teachers
followed the same schedule and the students had access to similar materials. Both
teachers met with the whole class, small groups, and individually with students. In the
classroom of Teacher 4A, students were expected to respond to their reading in their
readers’ notebooks. The lessons taught by Teacher 4A were taken directly from the state
standards and the tasks which she expected students to complete were modeled.
Expectations for student performance were clear in Teacher 4A’s classroom. Students

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practiced the skills they were taught and were successful when working independently.
Teacher 4B left out some critical aspects of his lessons. He did model the skill he
was teaching but students did not have much opportunity to practice the new skill. It was
not clear if students working with Teacher 4B had to respond in a notebook or if they
would be sharing information during their closing meeting. Teacher 4B did not appear to
have a plan for determining what students had learned from the lesson or from their
independent reading. The lessons and resources used to plan the lessons were not part of
the District curriculum or state standards. Teacher 4B taught fifteen minute lessons based
on the data gathered during one-on-one conferences with students but modeling was not
included in either lesson. Modeling the thinking aloud a reader uses when applying a
strategy is a powerful instructional strategy. Think-alouds make public what readers do
unconsciously when they apply strategies (Roit, 2006). A teacher who neglects to include
modeling in a reading lesson may jeopardize the comprehension of his or her students.
The next section of this chapter provides a summary of the commonalities and
differences found within the third and fourth grade classrooms during the observations.
The similarities found in both the third and fourth grade classes were: the readers'
workshop structure, reading comprehension strategies, learning environment, and
modeling of reading. Two practices which were observed more consistently in third
grade were read alouds by students and responding to reading in notebooks. Class
discussions and small group instruction were more frequently observed in the fourth
grade classrooms.
The third and fourth grade classes which were observed implemented the
readers' workshop model. The workshop period includes the following five

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components: sharing time, mini-lesson, status of the class, self-selected reading and
response, and sharing time (Reutzel & Cooter, 1991). All five components were observed
during the study. The mini-lesson determined the reading focus for the day and students
practiced the skill taught during the self-selected reading portion of the workshop.
The third and fourth grade teachers modeled reading for their students. They
achieved this by thinking aloud while reading aloud to students. Think-alouds make
public what readers do unconsciously when they apply reading strategies. Students are
also encouraged to share their own thinking during the closing meeting at the end of the
readers' workshop. This gives students the chance to receive feedback from the teacher
and from their peers.
All of the classrooms were similarly organized. The classroom libraries were
leveled and contained a variety of genres. Each classroom had a meeting area for both
whole class and for small group instruction. Reading comprehension charts are displayed
throughout the classrooms. These charts were created with students during whole group
mini-lessons.
Read alouds were observed in three of the classrooms. Teachers read literature to
the students during the mini-lesson. Children must be introduced to different genres,
authors and writing styles. Listening to and discussing stories promotes reading at every
age. The students in third grade were provided with numerous opportunities to read
aloud. Reading aloud positively impacts vocabulary growth and comprehension
(Routman, 1988).
Third and fourth grade students participated in discussions about their reading.
At the closing meeting they shared their reading responses and received feedback

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from their teacher. Providing students with opportunities to discuss what they have read
assists them to become active participants in making meaning from text and in improving
the development of reading skills (Routman, 1988).
The third grade teacher assigned students to respond in writing to their reading on
a daily basis. The response notebooks are used to record their responses to what they read
and teachers reply to those responses. Students are encouraged to react personally to what
they read. Response notebooks provide teachers with information about how students are
synthesizing and interpreting the information they have read (Garcia, 1996).
Reading conferences were observed in three of the observed classrooms and more
frequently in the third grade classes. This time is used to provide individual students with
explicit instruction based on their needs. Teachers set goals and monitor the progress of
students (Garcia, 1996). A personal conversation with students about their work gives the
teacher the opportunity to find out about the student's attitude toward and interest in
reading. Small group instruction which was observed in three classrooms also provided
the opportunity for explicit instruction. During small group instruction students took on
the role of the reader. The students read the new text on their own with the support and
guidance of the teacher. This strategy allows EL students to receive practice with the skill
and language patterns they are learning (Cappellini, 2006). Figure 4 highlight the
differences and commonalities found within the third and fourth grade classrooms.

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Figure 4: Comparison of the Findings in Third and Fourth Grade Classrooms

3
rd
Grade
• Students
Practice
Reading Aloud
• Responding to
Reading in
Notebooks
• Conferences
• Class
Discussions
• Small Group
Instruction
• Readers'
Workshop
• Learning
Environment
• Modeling
Reading
4
th
Grade

Similarities were found in how third and fourth grade teachers implemented readers'
workshop. The learning environments were organized for small and large group
instruction and students had leveled libraries from which they were able to borrow books.
All participating teachers modeled reading and the use of reading strategies for their
students. Think-alouds make public what readers do unconsciously when they apply
reading strategies (Roit, 2006). Think-alouds make an abstract process more concrete for
students.

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Third grade student are observed practicing reading aloud and responding to
reading in notebooks. Teacher can listen to students and determine what additional
instruction is needed. Notebooks serve as a tool to verify how well students are
comprehending text. Conferences are another strategy that allows the teacher to monitor
the process of students. Teachers set goals and observe the progress of students (Garcia,
1996).
Fourth grade students participate in discussions and in small group instruction.
Discussions allow students to share their ideas and thinking strategies. Students benefit
from hearing the thought processes of their peers. Providing students with opportunities
to discuss what they have read assists them to become active participants in making
meaning from text and in improving the development of reading skills (Routman, 1996).
Conclusion
This chapter has provided an analysis of the significant findings and the themes
that emerged during teacher interviews and classroom observations. Figure 5 lists the
themes which emerged most frequently as a result of this study. The outer circles
demonstrate the connectedness of EL characteristics to teacher characteristics. The inner
circle lists effective reading strategies for EL identified during the study. In Chapter 5
further analyses of the themes will be discussed and recommendations for future research
and practice will be presented.

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Figure 5: Significant Findings and Themes

Professional Development
EL Characteristics
Grade Level Planning
Preservice
- Whole Class
- Small Group
- Individual

Grouping
- Mini-Lessons
- Guided Reading
- Independent Reading
- Responding to Reading
- Conferences
- Students Practice Reading
- Closing Meeting
EL
Strategies Reader’s Workshop Structure
Instructional Strategies
- Read Aloud
- Modeling Reading Strategies
- Active Participation
- Discussion
- Small Group Instruction
- Conferences

Reading
Comprehension
Strategies
Limited Vocabulary
Repetition
Teacher Characteristics
Practice Reading

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CHAPTER FIVE
Conclusions, Recommendations, and Suggestions for Further Research
Introduction
The purpose of this chapter is to present common themes and ideas about
effective reading comprehension and vocabulary instruction for EL student during the
teacher interview process and classroom observations at Livingston Elementary School.
Rich information was gathered concerning the use of a common language when
discussing reading instruction for EL students. Reading comprehension strategies were
well articulated by experienced Livingston teachers. Classroom observations yielded
evidence of collaboration among teachers, grade level planning, and print rich classroom
environments. All teachers followed the same schedule for reading instruction. The
learning environments were similarly organized for the purpose of small and whole group
instruction.
Three of the four participating teachers communicated a good understanding of
the rituals and routines of readers’ workshop. They adhered to the schedule and benefited
from working with small groups and one-on-one with students. Teacher B was new to
Livingston and did not understand the readers’ workshop model. Experienced teachers
articulated knowledge of their student abilities and needs in teaching reading
comprehension. Individual conferences assisted in planning lessons based on student
needs. Conferences with students enabled teachers to monitor progress in reading and to
set goals (Atwell, 1987; Routman, 1988). Challenges related to using state adopted
curriculum and District pacing plans in conjunction with readers’ workshop were
expressed by staff. In many instances, the literature in Houghton Mifflin was above

137

the instructional reading level of intermediate EL students. These basal reading materials
were designed to be used by native speakers of English. Selecting literature from a
reading series for EL students must be done carefully, taking into consideration the prior
knowledge required to understand the reading selection (Allen, 1994).
Vocabulary instruction was identified during the teacher interviews as critical for
EL students. However, the classroom observations did not reveal a systematic approach
for teaching vocabulary. Classroom research revealed that little vocabulary instruction
occurs in typical K-12 classrooms (Durkin, 1979, Scott & Nagy, 1997). The observations
may not have occurred when a vocabulary lessons were taught.
It was evident that the Livingston staff had received training in the
implementation of readers’ workshop. Professional development was ongoing and
continuous at Livingston (Kinnucan-Welsch & Grogan, 2006). The focus for the year was
established in August when teachers returned for literacy training. A full time literacy
coach provided demonstration lessons and feedback on observed lessons. Teacher level
of understanding was directly related to the length of experience in the school. EL
students have benefited from working with highly-qualified experienced teachers
(Gandera, 2006).
Implications
The next portion of this chapter will explain the implications and findings of this
study as they relate to the instruction of EL students. The state CST results revealed a
persistent gap between EL students and their English speaking peers particularly in
the area of reading. EL students have performed poorly throughout their academic

138

careers (Gandera et al., 2003). It is imperative to identify practices which will close this
gap.
The purpose of this study was to identify the practices used by teachers in
enhancing reading comprehension as reflected by increased student achievement for
Hispanic students. The researcher also attempted to investigate how vocabulary was
taught to EL students. The data gathered was compared to student reading performance in
the following measures: District MMA, CELDT, and CST scores. The themes and
practices described below are those that emerged with the highest degree of frequency
throughout the study.
Students Experience the Matthew Effects When it Comes to Reading
Independent reading leads to high levels of practice and fluency which are critical for
comprehension to occur and for the enjoyment of reading to develop. Students who are
good readers become better readers because they read more and also read more
challenging texts (Stanovich, 1986). All of the four participating teachers allocated time
for independent reading during the literacy block. Students self-selected reading materials
at appropriate instructional levels. The students also had book boxes in which they kept
leveled books for independent reading. The participating teachers communicated that
student instructional reading levels improved as a result of reading in school and at home.
The research literature demonstrated that free reading results in improved reading
comprehension, writing style, vocabulary development, spelling and grammatical
competence. Students must have access to books of personal interest (Krashen, 1993).

139

Proficient Readers Use a Variety of Strategies to Solve Comprehension Problems to
Deepen Understanding of Text
The participating teachers taught the following comprehension strategies: making
inferences, questioning, making connections, determining importance and synthesizing.
Classroom charts, displayed prominently, validated the fact that these comprehension
strategies were taught regularly. Students reinforced these strategies by practicing in
reading notebooks. Keene (2002) identified these strategies as metacognitive
comprehension strategies used by proficient readers. Reading notebooks a form of
authentic assessment, were used to monitor student comprehension of text (Garcia, 1994).
Voluntary Reading has Positive Reading Outcomes for EL Students
Livingston students were encouraged to read self-selected books at school and at
home. These books were listed on personal reading logs. Elley and Mangubhai (1983)
found that free reading had a dramatic effect on second language learners; students in the
free reading groups scored better in reading comprehension, writing, and grammar
compared to students in traditional groups.
Independent Reading Assists Students in Developing a Larger Vocabulary
Greater vocabulary knowledge leads to enhanced reading comprehension.
Independent reading has been found to assist in developing increased vocabulary. A
positive reciprocal relationship exists between vocabulary knowledge and comprehension
(Stahl & Fairbanks, 1987; Beck et al., 2002; Graves, 2000; Baker et al., 1995).
Livingston students participated in independent reading on a daily basis during
readers’ workshop. Homework included 20 to 30 minutes of independent reading at
home. As the EL students become more fluent in English and develop their academic

140

vocabulary, reading comprehension becomes easier. The EL students performing at
CELDT level four were found to be reading books closer to grade level.
Literacy Discussions Develop Oral Communication Skills and
Comprehension Skills
Livingston teachers identified discussions about text as a necessary strategy for the
success of EL students. Oral communication skills develop in EL language-rich
environments. In order for EL students to become proficient in English, teachers must
provide many opportunities for dialogue (Gibbons, 2002). Observations demonstrated the
importance of classroom discussions in the area of reading. Reading materials were
discussed with individual students, small groups, and the whole class. Third grade
students wrote about character traits and shared responses with their peers.
In one fourth grade classroom small groups discussed important messages the author
conveyed. In another fourth grade classroom the teacher questioned students about the
subject to determine prior knowledge.
Literature circles were also implemented to facilitate conversations on self-selected
books. One fourth grade teacher shared that she was beginning implementation and found
that discussing a novel helped the students comprehend the text. Lapp et al. (1997) found
three important reasons why literature discussions are important and meaningful in
effective reading programs. Literature discussions
strengthen student understanding of the text, increase student oral language development
and use, and assist students in developing interpersonal skills and shaping how they
learn and think.

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Professional Development Must be Ongoing and Engaging
The Livingston staff has participated in ongoing professional development in the area
of literacy for the past seven years. The influence of this professional development was
observed during the period of the study. Staff members learned about and discussed
readers’ workshop. Resources which supported readers’ workshop were purchased for
teachers. The resources included leveled books, book boxes, professional books, reading
assessment kits, and furniture that facilitated small group instruction.
Experienced teachers communicated similar messages about reading instruction and
reading comprehension. The book Strategies That Work by Stephanie Harvey and Anne
Gouvis was consistently used as a tool for developing reading comprehension lessons.
This book had been purchased for the staff in order to strengthen teacher knowledge
about the teaching of reading comprehension. A two hour literacy block was in place in
all classrooms and daily schedules were identical in each room. Readers’ workshop was
implemented in all classrooms and the rituals and routines were well established. All
classrooms had book boxes and leveled libraries. The readers’ workshop schedule was
followed in all rooms.
Assessing the Literacy Development of English Learners
Livingston teachers participated in regular District grade level meetings. Each teacher
received a MMA binder which contained a pacing plan, a copy of the California
standards, practice writing prompts, and a MMA test schedule. The pacing plan described
in detail when a standard must be taught, when it would be assessed, and the
resources available within the textbook to teach the standard. The participating
teachers repeatedly reported that the District MMAs did not provide information

142

about reading comprehension. The performance of English learners was affected by these
measures because they require knowledge of specific vocabulary, topical knowledge, and
skills presented in the reading series (Garcia, 1994).
The CST was a standardized administered to Livingston students in grades 2 through
5 each spring. The students took a series of multiple-choice subtests based on the results
of these tests, each student was given a numeric score which placed them in one of the
following bands: far below basic, below basic, basic, proficient, and advanced. According
to Valencia and Pearson (1987), student’s test scores represent performance on a variety
of sub skills related to reading and provide little information about reading
comprehension. Teachers need additional information to plan instruction and to group
students.
The CELDT, an English language proficiency test, was administered to EL
Livingston students in October 2006. The CELDT was used to monitor language
acquisition and to assist in the placement of EL students. Although this measure provided
some information, it did not provide adequate information about specific reading
comprehension skills of students. In addition, test results were provided five months after
the administration of the test. The CELDT results informed teachers about past student
performance. In order to assist teachers in planning instruction,
receiving test results in a timely manner would be helpful. A breakdown according to the
subtests of the CELDT would help teachers understand the strengths and weaknesses of a
student.
Assessing the literacy levels of English learners was necessary for teachers to
plan and modify instruction based on student needs. Authentic assessment has been

143

defined as classroom assessment of students by teachers (Garcia, 1994). At Livingston,
the following tools assessed and monitored student progress in reading:
• Running Records- A student reads aloud and the teacher takes note of reading
behaviors including, repetitions, substitutions, insertions, omissions, or self-
corrections (Garcia, 1994).
• Conference- A student meets with the teacher to discuss progress in reading and
to set goals (Atwell, 1987; Routman, 1988).
• Reader’s Notebook- A student records responses to reading (Atwell, 1987;
Routman, 1988).
Because formal assessment of literacy skills only provided a sampling of student
performance, teachers administered additional assessments to monitor student progress
and to determine instructional needs.
Focused Vocabulary Instruction Does Not Occur in K-12 Classrooms
Four observations were conducted over a three week period. No systematic
instruction was observed in the area of vocabulary development during observations.
Durkin (1979) found that upper-elementary teachers spent less than 1% of their overall
reading instruction focused on vocabulary. Scott and Nagy (1997) studied vocabulary
instruction in 23 ethnically diverse upper-elementary classrooms and reported that only
6% of school time was allotted to content area vocabulary. The findings on vocabulary
instruction at Livingston supported the research data of earlier studies.
Since no systematic vocabulary instruction was observed during the time of the
study further investigation is needed. Vocabulary development may be incidental and
this may be impacting CST results. Limited attention to vocabulary development may

144

be influencing how Livingston EL students are performing in reading comprehension.
Work in the area of vocabulary instruction may strengthen the literacy program at the
school.
School Reform Can Directly Impact Literacy Instruction
The Livingston staff has undergone school reform due to the poor performance of
students on standardized tests. In 1999, the API was 522 and this caused the District to
examine practices creating obstacles to student achievement. The staff with the assistance
of consultants and external evaluators conducted an in depth investigation to identify
what was causing poor student performance. The reform efforts included modification of
the school schedule to maximize instructional minutes for literacy instruction. The
following changes were made at the school:
• A literacy focus was established at the school
• Faculty meetings were restructured to allow for professional development
• The school schedule was adjusted to provide 2 ½ hours of literacy instruction
• The America's Choice School Design was implemented in order to improve
literacy instruction
• A literacy coach was hired to provide job-embedded professional
development.
School reform has positively impacted student achievement at Livingston.
Recommendations for Professional Development on Reading
Active participation of staff is critical in the planning of professional
development. A well developed professional development plan which implements
identified student needs must be articulated by school leadership. High quality

145

professional development will be connected to student achievement with content aligned
to the specific identified needs of the target population. Active involvement of the staff is
essential in mastering new materials and in implementing strategies in the classroom.
Teachers must reflect on how lessons were taught, practice what they learned, should
share experiences openly. Professional development must be embedded throughout the
school year and teachers must receive support from principals, mentors, and coaches
(Kinnucan-Weksch & Grogan, 2006). At Livingston professional development was a
priority and the school schedule was modified to create time for collaboration and
learning among teachers. Students benefited from the collaboration and common
knowledge which teachers shared.
Recommendations for Independent Reading
Free voluntary reading had positive reading outcomes for both English only and
EL students. Elley and Mangubhai (1983) found that the group of fourth and fifth grade
students of English as a foreign language who participated in a free reading program,
scored significantly better in reading comprehension, writing and grammar compared to
students in traditional reading groups. In-school free reading programs have also been
found to be effective in improving vocabulary development, writing, and oral language
ability (Krashen, 1993). The National Reading Panel (2000) reviewed several studies
which identified a causal relationship between reading ability and vocabulary size. It has
been well documented that a strong reciprocal relationship exists between vocabulary
knowledge and reading comprehension (Stahl & Fairbanks, 1987; Beck et al., 2002,
Graves, 2000; Baker et al., 1995). In addition, we know that students experience the
Matthew Effects with reading development. The more opportunity a child has to

146

practice reading, the better his/her skills will become. Students with a good understanding
of phonemic awareness were able to make sense of the alphabetic system (Stanovich,
1986). Independent reading leads to high levels of practice and fluency which are critical
for comprehension to occur and for the enjoyment of reading to develop. Livingston
students had the opportunity to read independently each day during readers’ workshop,
had book boxes where self-selected reading material, and were engaged during
independent reading. They also shared new knowledge during closing meetings. Since
the data indicate that all students who participated in the study demonstrated growth on
the Houghton Mifflin Reading and Accuracy Test, it is possible that these gains may be
attributed to independent reading.
Recommendations for Professional Development in the Area of Vocabulary
According to Durkin (1979), little focused vocabulary instruction actually occurs
in typical K-12 classrooms. He found that upper elementary teachers spend less than 1%
of their overall reading instruction focused in vocabulary. Scott and Nagy (1997) studied
vocabulary instruction in 23 ethnically diverse upper grade elementary classrooms and
reported that only 6% of school time was devoted to vocabulary, only 1.4% allotted to
content vocabulary. Since such a strong reciprocal relationship exists between vocabulary
knowledge and reading comprehension, it is necessary for vocabulary instruction to be an
area of focus for English learners. Direct explicit instruction of vocabulary must be
provided for English learners (Stahl & Fairbanks, 1987). The findings at Livingston
supported research on vocabulary instruction. At no time did teachers articulate an
explicit plan for vocabulary instruction and systematic formal vocabulary instruction
was not observed in the classrooms. Extensive reading for meaning is a major

147

contributor to vocabulary acquisition in primary and second language acquisition but this
process is slow and unpredictable (Nagy, Herman, & Anderson, 1985; Krashen, 1989;
Elley, 1991). Independent reading was not enough to develop and strengthen the
vocabulary of EL students. The Livingston staff needs to explore research on vocabulary
development and formulate a plan for the delivery of vocabulary instruction to EL
students.
Future Research
This study has raised questions about professional development in the area of
literacy. At Livingston, teachers shared a common philosophy and language about
literacy. The leadership team at Livingston has made literacy a focus. It would be
beneficial to determine if this focus on literacy could be contributing to the increase in
student achievement. This research project may be expanded to include a large sample at
the school to determine if the commonalities of the literacy program are a result of a
school wide effort. Investigating literacy instruction in the primary grades may provide
information about effective practices for younger EL students. A longitudinal study
comparing the different grade levels may serve to identify additional strategies.
Analyzing teacher interviews from different grade levels may assist educators in
identifying additional needs in professional development in literacy. Expanding the study
to include other school sites experiencing success with ELs would provide rich data to
support educators in closing the achievement gap.
Closing
English learners constitute the fastest growing student population in the
United States and these changing demographics are impacting our schools (Hadaway

148

& Young, 2006). The changing demographics require teachers to be knowledgeable
about the specific needs of English learners. The NAEP indicates that EL students are
scoring 22-29 percentage points lower than English only students. The test scores on
English only achievement tests demonstrate a persistent gap between EL students and
their English speaking peers particularly in the area of reading.
Educators must be knowledgeable about research related to EL students and
professional development must be ongoing. Modified schedules must be created to
provide time for collaboration among teachers. A school wide focus on literacy with a
common philosophy shared among staff that is willing to reflect on lessons and share
what is and is not working is of critical importance. Student work must be brought to the
table to facilitate planning and develop lessons based on student needs. Student progress
should be closely monitored using authentic assessment tools. Teaching the content
standards is simply not enough; teachers must identify the learning gaps of their students
and close gaps which exist between EL and EO populations.
Assessment tools used to evaluate EL students are not helpful for teachers. The
CST is an English only assessment tool which was developed to measure the mastery of
grade level content standards. The CELDT data gathered from 2001 through 2003
indicate that the process of acquiring full proficiency in English takes an average of six
years (Hakuta, Butler, & Witt, 2000). Therefore, if an EL student enrolls as a
kindergartener, he/she will not begin to perform well on the CST until approximately
fifth grade. The CELDT was implemented in California in 2001 as a statewide
assessment tool for English learners. This tool was developed to monitor progress and
to assist in the placement of EL students. The CELDT is given in October and the

149

results are provided to schools in March. This information is not useful in assisting
teachers in planning instruction for students. For this reason, it is imperative for teachers
to assess students using authentic assessment tools and to analyze student work samples.
It is my hope that the findings presented in this study will assist educators in the
task of closing the achievement gap that exists between our EL and EO students. The
challenge of providing a strong literacy program for English learners is of paramount
importance in our society. It is my hope that this dissertation will add to the research that
exists for educators facing the challenge of providing a strong literacy program for
English learners.

150

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160

Appendix A
Invitation Letter

161

Mayra Perez
1520 N. Rose Street
Burbank, CA 91505

October 2, 2006

Dear

My name is Mayra Perez. I am the principal of Roosevelt Elementary School in San
Gabriel Unified School District and I am a doctoral student at the University of Southern
California. I am writing to you because I have chosen to study reading comprehension
and vocabulary development for English Learners (EL).

My interest lies in identifying practices and strategies that help EL students improve their
comprehension skills and develop academic vocabulary. It is my hope that this study will
assist educators in increasing the student achievement of EL students.

Sincerely,

Mayra Perez

162

Appendix B
Information Sheet

163

Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
INFORMATION SHEET FOR NON-MEDICAL RESEARCH

************************************************************************

CONSENT TO PARTICIPATE IN RESEARCH
Effective Reading Instruction for English Learners
Teacher Consent Form

You are asked to participate in a research study conducted by Mayra L. Perez, MSEd.,
under the supervision of Eugenia Mora-Flores, Ed.D. from the Rossier School of
Education at the University of Southern California because you are a third or fourth grade
teacher assigned to work with English Language Learners. The results of this study will
be contributed to Mayra Perez’s dissertation. You were selected as a possible participant
in this study because you are a third or fourth grade teacher at Roosevelt Elementary
School. A total of six subjects will be selected from the third and fourth grade team to
participate. Your participation is voluntary. You should read the information below, and
ask questions about anything you do not understand, before deciding whether or not to
participate.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The purpose of this study is to identify effective practices in the area of reading
instruction in order to increase the student achievement for Hispanic EL students who
attend Roosevelt Elementary School. The focus will be on the teaching of reading
comprehension and vocabulary to fourth and third grade EL students at the intermediate
level (level 3) of English language acquisition.

PROCEDURES
If you volunteer to participate in this study, we would ask you to do the following things:
1. Participate in one semi-structured face-to-face interview which will last
approximately 60-minutes and will be conducted at a time and place convenient to
the interviewer and interviewee. These interviews will be audio-taped and
transcribed. If you prefer not to be audio-taped you will still be able to participate
in the study and only written notes will be taken during the interview.

164

2. Participate in two classroom observations which will involve the principal
investigator observing in your room during reading instruction for a period of 30
to 45 minutes.

This research will take place over a period of three months. The observations will
take place on Tuesdays and Wednesdays for a period of four weeks.

POTENTIAL RISKS AND DISCOMFORTS
The information gathered for this study will in no way be used to evaluate your job
performance nor will it impact your employment status. All data gathered will be kept
completely confidential and will be kept in the home of the investigator.

POTENTIAL BENEFITS TO SUBJECTS AND/OR TO SOCIETY
You will not benefit personally from this research study. Educators will benefit from
learning about effective reading comprehension and vocabulary strategies for English
Learners.

PAYMENT/COMPENSATION FOR PARTICIPATION
You will not receive payment for your participation.

CONFIDENTIALITY
Any information that is obtained in connection with this study and that can be identified
with you will remain confidential and will be disclosed only with your permission or as
required by law.

Only members of the research team will have access to the data associated with this
study. The data will be stored in the investigator’s office in a locked file
cabinet/password protected computer. The data will be stored for three years after the
study has been completed and then destroyed. Your interview will be audio taped and
transcribed for the purpose of the study. The tapes will be kept for four months until the
transcription is completed.

When the results of the research are published or discussed in conferences, no
information will be included that would reveal your identity. If audio-taped recordings of
you will be used for educational purposes, your identity will be protected or disguised.
You have the right to review your audio tape if you so wish to.

PARTICIPATION AND WITHDRAWAL
You can choose whether to be in this study or not. If you volunteer to be in this study,
you may withdraw at any time without consequences of any kind. You may also refuse
to answer any questions you don’t want to answer and still remain in the study.
Refusal to participate in this study will not impact your employment status. The
investigator may withdraw you from this research if circumstances arise which
warrant doing so.

165

ALTERNATIVE TO PARTICIPATION
The alternative to taking part in this research study is to not participate.

RIGHTS OF RESEARCH SUBJECTS
You may withdraw your consent at any time and discontinue participation without
penalty. You are not waiving any legal claims, rights or remedies because of your
participation in this research study. If you have questions regarding your rights as a
research subject, contact the University Park IRB, Office of the Vice Provost for
Research Advancement, Grace Ford Salvatori Hall, Room 306, Los Angeles, CA 90089-
1695, (213) 821-5272 or upirb@usc.edu.

IDENTIFICATION OF INVESTIGATORS
If you have any questions or concerns about the research, please feel free to contact :
Mayra L Perez
Roosevelt Elementary School
401 S Walnut Grove Avenue
San Gabriel, CA 91776
626-287-0512

Ask participant if they agree to be audio-taped:

□ I agree to be audio/video-taped/photographed

□ I do not want to be audio/video-taped/photographed

166

Appendix C
Teacher Interview Questions

167

Teacher Interview Questions
1. How many years have you taught at this school?
2. How long have you worked with English learners and in what capacity?
3. What literacy program do you use at your school? Describe your literacy program
in your classroom. How is it organized, what are some of its features?
5. What resources do you use when designing reading comprehension lessons?
6. What are some of the biggest challenges when teaching comprehension to
English learners?
7. What reading comprehension strategies do you teach and how?
8. Identify three top comprehension strategies. Why do you think these are the
best?
9. How do you teach new vocabulary to your EL students?
10. What resources do you use in planning vocabulary lessons?
11. What challenges do your English learners face when trying to learn new
vocabulary?
12. Why do you think your English learners are doing so well?

168

Appendix D
Observation Protocol

169

EL Instructional
Strategies
Tally Observation/Evidence
Teacher models reading

Students practice reading

Students share what they
have learned

Teacher model
comprehension strategies

Teaching text structure

Variety of reading materials

Systematic, explicit
instruction of vocabulary

Assessment informs
instruction

170

Evidence
Room arrangement allows for whole group
instruction.
Room arrangement allows for small group
instruction.
Literacy task boards are setup for
independent practice.
Ample classroom library
Print rich environment
Students access to materials and books
Displays of class constructed charts
Resources
Elements Addressed
Phonemic Awareness Phonics
Fluency
Vocabulary/Word recognition
Comprehension
Room
environment
Resources
Comments:
Instructional Approach
Instructional setting
Type of Instruction
Whole group
Small group
One to one
Reading Observation Protocol
Teacher_________________ Grade ___________________ School _________________
Observer Name _____________________________________ Date ______________
Context for Instruction
Lesson is focused on one clear concept that will enable
Teacher introduces the concept with clear, concrete
students to read more effectively.
Instructional Strategies
Teacher and/or students conduct a book talk.
Explicit
Open-ended
Spontaneous/Authentic
Begin time ______ End time _____
1
examples.
Teacher models, or demonstrates how to apply the new
learning.

171

Instructional Strategies: Guided Reading Evidence
Book Selection Book selection matches children’s instructional level.
Book selection contains a few challenging features.
Introduction Teacher builds meaning by relating the text to students’
prior experiences, knowledge of the world or literary
experience.
Teacher gives a brief overview of the book (main idea) or
examines text structure.
Teacher invites productive predictions about the book.
Teacher discusses the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary
or literary language patterns.
Teacher discusses a specific strategy for comprehending
this text.
Teacher sets the purpose for reading.
Book introduction actively involves students
passage.
Students practice reading high frequency phrases for
fluency.
2
Comments:
Student monitors buddy rereading and graphs fluency rate.
Teacher assesses two or three students for accuracy level.
used to read more effectively.
Students have an opportunity to engage in the use of the
learning during the lesson.
Students choose books from a variety of texts.
learning in their independent reading.
Students read at their independent level.
Teacher conducts a one-minute timed rereading of fluency
Includes explicit instruction on when the new learning can be
Students follow a clearly established routine.
Teacher provides opportunity for students’ to apply the new
Students are actively involved in guided practice.
used to read more effectively.
Includes explicit instruction on when the new learning can be

172

173
First Reading Students silently read text independently.
Teacher circulates among the students and observes
student’s reading behavior.
Teacher prompts students to use problem-solving
strategies.
Teacher provides feedback.
After Reading Teacher prompts students to discuss meaning of text.
Teacher prompts students to revisit text for a purpose.
Teacher and students discuss student use of the target
comprehension strategy.
Teacher selects one or two teaching points based on
students’ reading behavior.
Extension Teacher makes assignment for rereading the guided
reading text to apply specific comprehension strategies.
Evidence
Visualizing
Answering Questions
Instructional Strategies: Guided Reading
Generating Questions
Summarizing
Making Connections
teacher prompt) include:
Story Retelling
Monitoring
3
Vocabulary Comprehension
Teacher provides specific feedback to students on the use
of comprehension strategies based on observation notes.
Coments:
Using Graphic Organizers
comprehension strategies.
The teacher records observation notes of strategies used
by students.
Comprehension strategies used by students (without
Teacher facilitates a focused conversation about the text.
Comments:
Teacher prompts students to use conversational moves.
When necessary, teacher prompts for student use of
Most of the conversation is generated and produced by the
students.
Teacher prompts students to use group norms.
Teacher reinforces students’ use of group norms.

Appendix E
Classroom Diagram

174

175
Figure 2: Classroom Diagram

Reading Chair

Table
Meeting
Area
Word Wall
Published Student Work
Conference
Table
Computers
Charts
Book Boxes Classroom Library

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Asset Metadata

Creator Perez, Mayra Lizette (author)

Core Title Effective reading instruction for English learners

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Education (Curriculum

Publication Date 04/18/2008

Defense Date 12/10/2007

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag English learners,OAI-PMH Harvest,reading instruction

Language English

Advisor Mora-Flores, Eugenia (committee chair), Cowen, May (committee member), Ragusa, Gisele (committee member)

Creator Email mayraper@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-m1156

Unique identifier UC1103681

Identifier etd-Perez-20080418 (filename),usctheses-m40 (legacy collection record id),usctheses-c127-64202 (legacy record id),usctheses-m1156 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-Perez-20080418.pdf

Dmrecord 64202

Document Type Dissertation

Rights Perez, Mayra Lizette

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Repository Name Libraries, University of Southern California

Repository Location Los Angeles, California

Repository Email cisadmin@lib.usc.edu