Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Domain general, computer adaptive word and text reading fluency (Amplify). mCLASS DIBELS. The mCLASS DIBELS assesses several early literacy skills from kindergarten through sixth grade. The K-3 DIBELS assesses the following areas: sound fluency, phoneme segmentation fluency, letter naming fluency, nonsense word fluency, oral reading fluency, and retell abilities (University of Oregon 2018-2020). We will use a composite score that combines subtest scores for end-of-year nonsense word reading fluency (correct letter sounds and whole words read), oral reading fluency, and retell ability.
Domain general reading comprehension, End of Grade (EOG) English language arts and math. The 3rd graders will be eligible to take the North Carolina beginning of grade (BOG) and end of grade (EOG) exam. The North Carolina Beginning-of-Grade3 (BOG3) English Language Arts (ELA)/Reading Tests are linked to the Read to Achieve Program and are aligned to the NC Standard Course of Study (NCSCS) (North Carolina Department of Instruction, 2021). Students read authentic selections comprised of literary and informational selections and then answer related questions. The North Carolina End-of-Grade Tests are designed to measure student performance on the goals, objectives, and grade-level competencies specified in the North Carolina Standard Course of Study.
Domain specific knowledge of vocabulary networks. We developed a 24-item measure to assess third-graders’ science vocabulary knowledge depth. The 24-item semantic association task assesses students’ definitional knowledge of taught science words and their ability to identify relations between the target word and other known words (Kim, Burkhauser, et al., 2021). For example, the science measure includes 7 domain specific words taught in the Grade 3 MORE science lessons (i.e., taught words): skeletal, muscular, nervous, diagnosis, structure, system, function. The task also includes 5 associated words that are not directly taught in the MORE lessons (i.e., untaught words): signal, repair, organ, fracture, sensory. The prompt askes students to “circle all of the words that go with the word signal” and the options includes “metal, messenger, transmit, similar” Each item is scored dichotomously where both correct answer choices must be selected. Similarly, the measure includes 7 domain specific words directly taught only in the treatment condition (astronaut, adventurous, ingenious, voyage, experiment, contributions, equipment) and 5 associated words that were not directly taught (instrument, control, link, commander, orbit).
Domain specific reading comprehension in science. Students will take a 30-item multiple choice tests (with 4 options per item) that assess their ability to read near, mid, and far transfer passages in science. The near transfer passage assesses science content comprehension on a topic taught during the lesson (e.g., scientists studying how monkeys recover from heart attacks), while the mid and far transfer passages have children read content related passage that were not directly taught during the lessons (e.g., how North American migratory birds’ skeletal and muscular systems are adapting, or the anatomy of a skyscraper).