Adolescent Newcomers: Improving Vocabulary and Comprehension in a

Universally-Designed Scaffolded Digital Reading

Environment

Sabina Neugebauer, Harvard Graduate School of Education, United States of America

Paola Uccelli, Harvard Graduate School of Education, United States of America

Bridget Dalton, CAST, United States of America

Elaine Mo, Harvard Graduate School of Education, United States of America

Patrick Proctor, Boston College, United States of America

Catherine Snow, Harvard Graduate School of Education, United States of America

Ge Vue, CAST, United States of America

Overall Project Goals

To develop and test a universally designed (Rose &

Meyer, 2002) scaffolded digital reading environment

(Dalton & Proctor, 2007) to improving reading

achievement and engagement of 5th grade students,

including bilingual students and struggling readers

Intervention• Students read 8 fiction and non-fiction hypertexts

with embedded supports for vocabulary, comprehension, and assessment for sixteen weeks.

Universal Design for Learning Program Features:• Multiple means of representation• Multiple means of expression• All instructional supports available in Spanish and

English• Reading is connected to writing, multimedia

composition and oral language

Research Questions

What are the benefits and limitations of a UDL intervention for improving 5th grade Spanish-speaking newcomers’ vocabulary and reading comprehension in the U.S.?

What students seem to benefit the most from this intervention?

ParticipantsStudent Gender Born in U.S. Time in the

U.S.Special Education *

1. Juana F NO 6 months No

2. Jane F NO 2 years No

3. Will M NO 3 years Yes

4. Katy F NO 3 years No

5. Francis M NO 4 years Yes

6. Marta F NO 4 years No

7. Javi M NO 7 years Yes

8. Jose M YES n/a No

9. Rodrigo M YES n/a No

All student names are pseudonyms to protect the identity of these students

Measures

Student Profiles

Individually Administered Pre-test

Woodcock-Muñoz Language Survey-Revised

Picture Vocabulary

Letter Word ID

Passage Comprehension

Pre and Post Intervention AssessmentGroup Administered Pre and Post-Test

Group Reading Assessment and Diagnostic Evaluation (GRADE)

GrowthStudent

Pre-TestFall, 2006

Post-TestSpring, 2007

Vocabulary Pre-test

Grade EquivalentVocabulary Post-testGrade Equivalent

1. Juana n/a 4.42. Jean 2.7 5.43. Will* 3.0 2.74. Katy 3.0 3.85. Francis* 3.0 2.76. Marta 3.8 5.87. Javi* 3.5 3.88. Jose 3.0 4.69. Rodrigo** . 8.2

Student Performance comparing pre and post vocabulary scores on the GRADE

English Literacy Skills: Student WCM GE Scores

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

PictureVoc

Word ID Passage

1. Juana

2. Jean

3. Will

4. Katy

5. Francis

6. Marta

7. Javi

8. Jose

9. RodrigoK

Spanish Literacy Skills: Student WCM GE Scores

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

PictureVoc

Word ID Passage

1. Juana

2. Jean

3. Will

4. Katy

5. Francis

6. Marta

7. Javi

8. Jose

9. Rodrigo K

Complementary English skills (WCM GE Scores)

0

1

2

3

4

5

Marta Jean

Voc

Word ID

Comp

K

Profiles for Success

• Initial Grade-level English skills– A student with grade-level English skills improved to reach 8th grade

equivalent scores (Rodrigo).

• Initial above-grade level Spanish skills– A student with grade-level skills in the home language improved from

no English up to 4th grade equivalent scores in vocabulary and 3rd grade equivalent scores in reading comprehension (Juana).

• Collaborative work: Complementary Skills in English

– Students with low scores in English, but with complementary reading skills, who enjoyed working together (Jean and Marta) improved.

ContactsSabina Rak Neugebauer neugebsa@gse.harvard.edu

Paola Uccelli uccellpa@gse.harvard.edu

http://www.cast.org/

ReferencesAugust, D.L., & Shanahan, T. (Eds.). (2006). Developing literacy in a second language:

Report of the National Literacy Panel. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.August, D., Carlo, M., Dressler, C., & Snow, C. E. (2005) The Critical Role of

Vocabulary Development for English Language Learners. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice 20 (1), 50–57.Dalton, B. & Proctor, P. (in press). The changing landscape of text and comprehension in

the age of new literacies. XX YY (Eds.) International Handbook of New Literacies.Genessee, F., Lindholm-Leary, K., Saunders, W. M., & Christian, D. (Eds.). (2006).

Educating English language learners: A synthesis of research evidence. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.Group Reading Assessment and Diagnostic Evaluation, AGS, 2001Palinscar, A. S., & Brown, A. L. (1984). Reciprocal teaching of comprehension-fostering and comprehension-

monitoring activities. Cognition & Instruction, 1(2), 117.Proctor, C. P., Dalton, B., & Grisham, D. (In press). Scaffolding English language learners and struggling readers in a universal literacy environment with embedded strategy instruction and vocabulary support. Journal of Literacy Research.Rose, D. H., & Meyer, A. (2002). Teaching every student in the digital age: Universal design for learning.

Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD).Short, D. & Boyson, B.A. (2004). Creating Access: Language and Academic Programs for Secondary School

Newcomers. Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics.