The proposed study has several specific, interrelated aims: (1) To closely examine the nature and variability of the classroom instruction 4th-5th grade children receive;(2) To investigate children's language and literacy development from 4th grade through the end of 5th grade including development of comprehension strategies and use of inferences in reading narrative and expository text;this includes the use of reading comprehension strategies using eye-tracking methodology;(3) To examine the contribution of 4th and 5th grade instruction to children's language and literacy development. This includes examining whether the effect of specific instructional strategies depends on individual children's language and literacy skills. That is, are there child characteristic by instruction (child X instruction) interactions? and (4) To develop dynamic forecasting intervention models for 4th and 5th grade students, which take into account child X instruction interactions. Dynamic forecasting intervention models use multilevel models to predict optimal patterns of instruction (i.e., that lead to greater reading skill growth) for individual children based on their language and literacy skills. The study aims will be met by building on and extending research that investigates the effect of individualized literacy instruction from 1st through 3rd grade on students'literacy development. Two studies in 1st grade reveal that children, who received individualized instruction, using dynamic forecasting intervention models, demonstrated greater reading skill growth than did children in control classrooms. For the proposed study, students who are currently participating in the 3rd grade study and who have completed the 1st and 2nd grade study (n = 225), and their classmates, will be followed into 4th and 5th grade (total anticipated n = 550 students, 30 4th and 5th grade classrooms in 8 schools). Their language and literacy skills will be assessed in the fall and spring. Classroom instruction will be observed, video-taped, and coded for each child late fall, winter, and early spring. Eye-tracking methods will be used to examine more closely children's use of reading strategies. Data from this study will permit the close examination of children's literacy skill development - including identifying the complex and transactional associations among key components of literacy that may respond to particular types of instruction. Multilevel hierarchical linear modeling, including cross-classified random effects models, will be used to conduct the analyses. By explicating quantifiable, albeit complex, links between children's assessed language and literacy skills and amounts and types of instruction to be provided, dynamic forecasting intervention models may have important implications for increasing understanding of how children learn complex multidimensional cognitive tasks (such as reading) and the critical role of instruction from first through fifth grade in facilitating this learning. Long term, these results have the potential of guiding the design and implementation of more effective literacy instruction in the upper elementary grades.
Proficient literacy skills are critical in today's information driven world and yet two-thirds of children fail to achieve proficient reading skills during elementary school. By understanding how 4th and 5th grade classroom instruction, across the content areas, affects children's literacy development, we can develop dynamic forecasting models of proficient reading that can be used to design and implement more effective instruction for 4th and 5th graders.
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