Comments on: Shootout At The RF Corral http://www.eduwonk.com/2008/05/shootout-at-the-rf-corral.html Education News, Analysis, and Commentary Fri, 05 Dec 2008 05:04:41 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Stuart Buck http://www.eduwonk.com/2008/05/shootout-at-the-rf-corral.html#comment-681 Stuart Buck Fri, 02 May 2008 02:53:00 +0000 http://www.eduwonk.com/wordpress/2008/05/shootout-at-the-rf-corral.html#comment-681 What really struck me was how utterly miniscule the "intervention" really was, in terms of what the teachers actually did. From page 44: <br/><br/>QUOTE: In first grade classrooms, the impact on phonics was statistically significant, while the impact on comprehension was not statistically significant. First grade classroom instruction in schools with Reading First included about 21.4 minutes on phonics and about 23.6 minutes on comprehension per daily reading block. This reflects an estimated daily impact of 3.9 additional minutes for phonics and 2.3 more minutes for comprehension.<br/><br/>• Second grade classroom instruction in schools with Reading First included about 29.2 minutes per daily reading block on comprehension, and about 14.0 minutes on phonics. This reflects an estimated daily impact of 5.3 extra minutes for comprehension and 3.9 extra minutes for phonics, both of which were statistically significant.<br/><br/>Classroom instruction in both first and second grade in schools with Reading First included less time per daily reading block on other dimensions of reading than on comprehension and phonics, as follows: vocabulary (7.8 and 11.6 minutes, respectively), fluency (4.5 and 4.3 minutes, respectively), and phonemic awareness (2.1 and 0.4 minutes, respectively). ENDQUOTE<br/><br/><br/>So it was just a few minutes more phonics, and a few minutes less vocabulary/fluency. Why would anyone be surprised that a few minutes don't make that much difference? What really struck me was how utterly miniscule the “intervention” really was, in terms of what the teachers actually did. From page 44:

QUOTE: In first grade classrooms, the impact on phonics was statistically significant, while the impact on comprehension was not statistically significant. First grade classroom instruction in schools with Reading First included about 21.4 minutes on phonics and about 23.6 minutes on comprehension per daily reading block. This reflects an estimated daily impact of 3.9 additional minutes for phonics and 2.3 more minutes for comprehension.

• Second grade classroom instruction in schools with Reading First included about 29.2 minutes per daily reading block on comprehension, and about 14.0 minutes on phonics. This reflects an estimated daily impact of 5.3 extra minutes for comprehension and 3.9 extra minutes for phonics, both of which were statistically significant.

Classroom instruction in both first and second grade in schools with Reading First included less time per daily reading block on other dimensions of reading than on comprehension and phonics, as follows: vocabulary (7.8 and 11.6 minutes, respectively), fluency (4.5 and 4.3 minutes, respectively), and phonemic awareness (2.1 and 0.4 minutes, respectively). ENDQUOTE

So it was just a few minutes more phonics, and a few minutes less vocabulary/fluency. Why would anyone be surprised that a few minutes don’t make that much difference?

]]> By: Anonymous http://www.eduwonk.com/2008/05/shootout-at-the-rf-corral.html#comment-679 Anonymous Thu, 01 May 2008 21:49:00 +0000 http://www.eduwonk.com/wordpress/2008/05/shootout-at-the-rf-corral.html#comment-679 Do we have an example of a large scale experimental study run out of IES showing positive results for the intervention? Do we have an example of a large scale experimental study run out of IES showing positive results for the intervention?

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