Closing the Word-Problem Achievement Gap in First Grade: Schema-Based Word-Problem Intervention with Embedded Language Comprehension Instruction.

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to test the effects of word-problem intervention, with versus without embedded language comprehension instruction, on at-risk 1st graders' word-problem performance. We also isolated the need for a structured approach to word-problem intervention and tested the efficacy of schema-based instruction at 1st grade. Children (n=391; mean age = 6.53, SD = 0.32) were randomly assigned to 4 conditions: schema-based word-problem intervention with embedded language instruction, the same word-problem intervention but without language comprehension instruction, structured number knowledge intervention without a structured word-problem component, and a control group. Each intervention included 45 30-min sessions. Multilevel models, accounting for classroom and school effects, revealed the efficacy of schema-based word-problem intervention at 1st grade, with both word-problem conditions outperforming the number knowledge condition and the control group. Yet, word-problem performance was significantly stronger for the schema-based condition with embedded language comprehension instruction compared to the schema-based condition without language comprehension instruction. Number knowledge intervention conveyed no word-problem advantage over the control group, even though all 3 intervention conditions outperformed the control group on arithmetic. Results demonstrate the importance of a structured approach to word-problem intervention; the efficacy of schema-based instruction at 1st grade; and the added value of language comprehension instruction within word-problem intervention. Results also provide causal evidence on the role of language comprehension in word-problem solving.