Why is the explicit teaching of vocabulary so important?

The most recent meta-analysis, by Elleman et al., into reading in the United States included 37 studies. Among the findings was that students with reading difficulties who were exposed to vocabulary instruction benefited three times as much as those who were not.

Why is this particularly important to Disadvantaged Pupils?

“From birth to 48 months, parents in professional families spoke 32 million more words to their children than parents in welfare families, and this talk gap between the ages of 0 and 3 year – not parents education, socio-economic status, or race – explains the vocabulary and language gap at age 3 and the reading and math achievement gap aged 10.” The Achievement Gap in Reading, 2017, Edited by Rosalind Horowitz and S. Jay Samuels – Routledge, p151

What have the Research School and the Mobilise Project been doing to develop the teaching of vocabulary?

As part of the Mobilise project we conducted a trial across 19 classes in seven schools: a total of 411 pupils participated in the trial. In our trial pupils made up to four months additional progress in their vocabulary learning to compared to the control group.

What the Research School is offering:

• The chance to be part of a replication ‘Randomised Control Trial’ with other schools to evaluate impact and have a ‘research poster’ to share data with staff and governors.

• Initial training for school leads into the research around ‘best practice’ in teaching vocabulary from EYFS to KS3/4

• This training will include:

• Guidance on implementing the research across the whole school so the practice is adopted in every classroom and sustained throughout the year, using research material from the EEF

• Training in assessment in vocabulary across the school and how to evaluate impact

• Training materials for all year groups Questions for governors and a governor timeline to help monitor impact

• A logic model and ‘theory of change’ to allow schools to implement, monitor and evaluate the impact of teaching vocabulary

• Optional follow on support (which may incur an additional charge) to ensure fidelity and sustainability