Digital Scaffolding for English Language Arts
PIs:
Mark Warschauer, University of California, Irvine, School of Education
Penelope Collins, University of California, Irvine, School of Education
George Farkas, University of California, Irvine, School of Education
Investigators:
Joanna Yau, University of California, Irvine, School of Education
Jenell Krishnan, University of California, Irvine, School of Education
Tamara Tate, University of California, Irvine, School of Education
Ying Xu, University of California, Irvine, School of Education
Yenda Prado, University of California, Irvine, School of Education
Project Funding: U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences (IES # R305A150429) $3.5 million award
Project Duration: July 1, 2015 to September 30, 2019
Summary: In this project, researchers examined the efficacy of Visual Syntactic Text Formatting (VSTF), a technology for reformatting text to make it easier to understand, on 7th- and 8th-grade students’ reading and writing outcomes. Students are expected to read and understand progressively more complex texts as they get older, and many of these texts are complex both in their language and in their structure. One way to help students better understand the complex text they read is to adjust the text itself; even changing the size or spacing of letters can help students’ reading comprehension. VSTF is an empirically validated text formatting tool that arranges phrases so that it highlights the meaning of the text. Researchers examined whether reading text in VSTF improves students’ reading and writing as compared to reading text in standard blocks.
Project Activities: VSTF separates phrases and clauses into short, separate lines. It also uses a cascading pattern and different colors to highlight active verbs. The result is a streamlined column of text that makes reading easier and more efficient. In this project, classrooms of students were randomly assigned either to read their language arts text in VSTF on an iPad or Chromebook, or to read their language arts text in traditional block format on an iPad or Chromebook. Researchers also examined whether reading VSTF on an iPad or on a Chromebook makes a difference in how well the intervention works to improve students’ reading and writing outcomes. This project took place in Garden Grove Unified School District (GGUSD). Approximately 4,800 students in 7th and 8th grade, as well as their 57 teachers participated.
Research Design and Methods: Researchers used a randomized control trial to study the efficacy of VSTF on 7th- and 8th-grade students’ reading and writing outcomes. Additionally, four of the schools in the study implemented the intervention on iPads and six implemented the intervention on Chromebooks. Students in the VSTF condition received regular language arts curriculum and selected California Common Core aligned texts digitally in VSTF. Students read in VSTF for 50 minutes each week. Additionally, teachers provided explicit instruction in language structure. Students in the control condition used the same curriculum as students in the treatment condition. Also, readings were presented digitally, but not in traditional block formatting. Students in the control classrooms read for 50 minutes a week and received the same explicit instruction from teachers as students in the treatment classrooms. Students randomly assigned to the control condition received the same texts and same instruction as students in the treatment condition. They also read their texts on iPads or Chromebooks, but in block text formatting instead of in VSTF.
Key Measures: Student measures included grade point average in language arts and scores on the California English Language Development Test and the Smarter Balanced Assessment. Teacher measures included the Teacher Practices inventory and the Measuring Teacher Content Knowledge for Teaching Elementary Rescore Items. The team adapted the Pathway Observation Measure to assess the quantity and process of implementation of the intervention.
Data Analytic Strategy: Researchers used hierarchical linear modeling to assess the impact of VTSF on student outcomes with students at level 1 and teachers at level 2. The research team included interaction terms between the treatment condition and the iPad/Chromebook condition to examine whether the effect of VSTF varies depending on technology. The research team conducted a cost analysis to examine the cost of the VSTF intervention as compared to reading text digitally in block formatting.
Visual syntactic text formatting, also referred to by its trademarked name of Live Ink, was developed by Walker Reading Technologies.
Instruments: GGUSD language arts Benchmark assessments and the Smarter Balanced reading test
Reaction From a Pilot Teacher: “I like the short phrases and how it looks. It doesn’t look as intimidating as a block form text.”
Information for Teachers and Educators:
Try Live Ink out!
Screencast https://www.screencast.com/t/nRBRTFe5VB
From Our Lab
Publications:
Park, Y. (2018). Syntactic enhancement: Bootstrapping for second language reading. Journal of Cognitive Science, 18(4), 473-509.
Park, Y. (2017). The effects of syntactic enhancement for L2 readers with low working memory. Modern English Education, 18(4), 47-66.
Oh, R., Park, Y., & Lee, H. (2016). The effects of syntactically visualized text reading on English reading comprehension of middle school students in Korea. Language Research, 12(52), 581-610.
Warschauer, M., & Park, Y. (2012). Re-envisioning reading in English as a foreign language. JACET-KANTO Journal, 8, 5-13.
Warschauer, M., Park, Y., & Walker, R. (2011). Transforming digital reading with visual-syntactic text formatting. The JALT CALL Journal, 7(3), 255-270.
Presentations:
Krishnan, J., & Prado, Y. (2018, June). Intentional Instruction: Teachers’ Purposeful Use of Technology for English Language Arts. Presented at the annual meeting for the International Society for Technology in Education, Chicago, IL.
Prado, Y., Warschauer, M., & Collins, P. (2018, June). Promoting Positive Literacy Attitudes in Struggling Readers with Digital Text Scaffolding. Presented at International Society for Technology in Education, Chicago, IL.
Krishnan, J., & Prado, Y. (2018, April). From assistance to agency: A study of digital scaffolding in the classroom. Presented at the annual meeting for the American Educational Research Association, New York, NY.
Prado, Y., Warschauer, M., & Collins, P. (2018, April). From attitudes to action: Promoting positive literacy beliefs and practices through digital scaffolding. Presented at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, New York, NY.
Xu, Y., Yau, J., Warschauer, M., & Collins, P. (2018, April). Examining the role of teacher efficacy in the implementation of a large-scale technology-based intervention. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New York, NY.
Krishnan, J., Tate, T., Yau, J., Xu, Y., & Prado, Y. (2018, January). Digital scaffolding for English language arts. Presented at the Institute of English Sciences Annual Principal Investigators’ Meeting, Washington, DC.
Krishnan, J., & Yau, J. (2016, October). Planting roots for a healthy partnership: Responsive professional development for improving reading with digital scaffolding. Presented at the annual meeting for the Digital Media and Learning conference, Irvine, CA.
Prado, Y. (2018, January). Using Visual Syntactic Text Formatting to Promote Equity in Literacy for Children with Exceptional Needs. Work in progress presented at University of California Center for Research on Special Education, Disabilities, and Developmental Risk Annual Conference, Davis, CA.
Park, Y., & Warschauer, M. (2014, April). Building up knowledge of language structures in adolescent literacy development. Roundtable discussion presented at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA.
Park, Y., Collins, P., Warschauer, M., & Oak, M. (2013, July). The effect of syntactic scaffolding on adolescent literacy development. Paper presented at the 20th annual meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading, Hong Kong, China.
Park, Y., & Warschauer, M. (2013, April). The effect of visual-syntactic text formatting on adolescents’ reading competencies. Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Seattle, WA.
Other VSTF Publications and Presentations:
Walker, R. C., Gordon, A. S., Schloss, P., Fletcher, C. R., Vogel, C. A., & Walker, S. (2007, October). Visual-syntactic text formatting: Theoretical basis and empirical evidence for impact on human reading. In Professional Communication Conference, 2007. IPCC 2007. IEEE International (pp. 1-14). IEEE.
Walker, S., Schloss, P., Fletcher, C. R., Vogel, C. A., & Walker, R. C. (2005). Visual-syntactic text formatting: A new method to enhance online reading. Reading Online, 8(6), 1096-1232.
Walker, R. C., & Vogel, C. (2005, June). Live Ink: Brain-based text formatting raises standardized test scores. Paper presented at the National Educational Computing Conference, Philadelphia, PA.
Mark Warschauer, University of California, Irvine, School of Education
Penelope Collins, University of California, Irvine, School of Education
George Farkas, University of California, Irvine, School of Education
Investigators:
Joanna Yau, University of California, Irvine, School of Education
Jenell Krishnan, University of California, Irvine, School of Education
Tamara Tate, University of California, Irvine, School of Education
Ying Xu, University of California, Irvine, School of Education
Yenda Prado, University of California, Irvine, School of Education
Project Funding: U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences (IES # R305A150429) $3.5 million award
Project Duration: July 1, 2015 to September 30, 2019
Summary: In this project, researchers examined the efficacy of Visual Syntactic Text Formatting (VSTF), a technology for reformatting text to make it easier to understand, on 7th- and 8th-grade students’ reading and writing outcomes. Students are expected to read and understand progressively more complex texts as they get older, and many of these texts are complex both in their language and in their structure. One way to help students better understand the complex text they read is to adjust the text itself; even changing the size or spacing of letters can help students’ reading comprehension. VSTF is an empirically validated text formatting tool that arranges phrases so that it highlights the meaning of the text. Researchers examined whether reading text in VSTF improves students’ reading and writing as compared to reading text in standard blocks.
Project Activities: VSTF separates phrases and clauses into short, separate lines. It also uses a cascading pattern and different colors to highlight active verbs. The result is a streamlined column of text that makes reading easier and more efficient. In this project, classrooms of students were randomly assigned either to read their language arts text in VSTF on an iPad or Chromebook, or to read their language arts text in traditional block format on an iPad or Chromebook. Researchers also examined whether reading VSTF on an iPad or on a Chromebook makes a difference in how well the intervention works to improve students’ reading and writing outcomes. This project took place in Garden Grove Unified School District (GGUSD). Approximately 4,800 students in 7th and 8th grade, as well as their 57 teachers participated.
Research Design and Methods: Researchers used a randomized control trial to study the efficacy of VSTF on 7th- and 8th-grade students’ reading and writing outcomes. Additionally, four of the schools in the study implemented the intervention on iPads and six implemented the intervention on Chromebooks. Students in the VSTF condition received regular language arts curriculum and selected California Common Core aligned texts digitally in VSTF. Students read in VSTF for 50 minutes each week. Additionally, teachers provided explicit instruction in language structure. Students in the control condition used the same curriculum as students in the treatment condition. Also, readings were presented digitally, but not in traditional block formatting. Students in the control classrooms read for 50 minutes a week and received the same explicit instruction from teachers as students in the treatment classrooms. Students randomly assigned to the control condition received the same texts and same instruction as students in the treatment condition. They also read their texts on iPads or Chromebooks, but in block text formatting instead of in VSTF.
Key Measures: Student measures included grade point average in language arts and scores on the California English Language Development Test and the Smarter Balanced Assessment. Teacher measures included the Teacher Practices inventory and the Measuring Teacher Content Knowledge for Teaching Elementary Rescore Items. The team adapted the Pathway Observation Measure to assess the quantity and process of implementation of the intervention.
Data Analytic Strategy: Researchers used hierarchical linear modeling to assess the impact of VTSF on student outcomes with students at level 1 and teachers at level 2. The research team included interaction terms between the treatment condition and the iPad/Chromebook condition to examine whether the effect of VSTF varies depending on technology. The research team conducted a cost analysis to examine the cost of the VSTF intervention as compared to reading text digitally in block formatting.
Visual syntactic text formatting, also referred to by its trademarked name of Live Ink, was developed by Walker Reading Technologies.
Instruments: GGUSD language arts Benchmark assessments and the Smarter Balanced reading test
Reaction From a Pilot Teacher: “I like the short phrases and how it looks. It doesn’t look as intimidating as a block form text.”
Information for Teachers and Educators:
Try Live Ink out!
Screencast https://www.screencast.com/t/nRBRTFe5VB
From Our Lab
Publications:
Park, Y. (2018). Syntactic enhancement: Bootstrapping for second language reading. Journal of Cognitive Science, 18(4), 473-509.
Park, Y. (2017). The effects of syntactic enhancement for L2 readers with low working memory. Modern English Education, 18(4), 47-66.
Oh, R., Park, Y., & Lee, H. (2016). The effects of syntactically visualized text reading on English reading comprehension of middle school students in Korea. Language Research, 12(52), 581-610.
Warschauer, M., & Park, Y. (2012). Re-envisioning reading in English as a foreign language. JACET-KANTO Journal, 8, 5-13.
Warschauer, M., Park, Y., & Walker, R. (2011). Transforming digital reading with visual-syntactic text formatting. The JALT CALL Journal, 7(3), 255-270.
Presentations:
Krishnan, J., & Prado, Y. (2018, June). Intentional Instruction: Teachers’ Purposeful Use of Technology for English Language Arts. Presented at the annual meeting for the International Society for Technology in Education, Chicago, IL.
Prado, Y., Warschauer, M., & Collins, P. (2018, June). Promoting Positive Literacy Attitudes in Struggling Readers with Digital Text Scaffolding. Presented at International Society for Technology in Education, Chicago, IL.
Krishnan, J., & Prado, Y. (2018, April). From assistance to agency: A study of digital scaffolding in the classroom. Presented at the annual meeting for the American Educational Research Association, New York, NY.
Prado, Y., Warschauer, M., & Collins, P. (2018, April). From attitudes to action: Promoting positive literacy beliefs and practices through digital scaffolding. Presented at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, New York, NY.
Xu, Y., Yau, J., Warschauer, M., & Collins, P. (2018, April). Examining the role of teacher efficacy in the implementation of a large-scale technology-based intervention. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New York, NY.
Krishnan, J., Tate, T., Yau, J., Xu, Y., & Prado, Y. (2018, January). Digital scaffolding for English language arts. Presented at the Institute of English Sciences Annual Principal Investigators’ Meeting, Washington, DC.
Krishnan, J., & Yau, J. (2016, October). Planting roots for a healthy partnership: Responsive professional development for improving reading with digital scaffolding. Presented at the annual meeting for the Digital Media and Learning conference, Irvine, CA.
Prado, Y. (2018, January). Using Visual Syntactic Text Formatting to Promote Equity in Literacy for Children with Exceptional Needs. Work in progress presented at University of California Center for Research on Special Education, Disabilities, and Developmental Risk Annual Conference, Davis, CA.
Park, Y., & Warschauer, M. (2014, April). Building up knowledge of language structures in adolescent literacy development. Roundtable discussion presented at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA.
Park, Y., Collins, P., Warschauer, M., & Oak, M. (2013, July). The effect of syntactic scaffolding on adolescent literacy development. Paper presented at the 20th annual meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading, Hong Kong, China.
Park, Y., & Warschauer, M. (2013, April). The effect of visual-syntactic text formatting on adolescents’ reading competencies. Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Seattle, WA.
Other VSTF Publications and Presentations:
Walker, R. C., Gordon, A. S., Schloss, P., Fletcher, C. R., Vogel, C. A., & Walker, S. (2007, October). Visual-syntactic text formatting: Theoretical basis and empirical evidence for impact on human reading. In Professional Communication Conference, 2007. IPCC 2007. IEEE International (pp. 1-14). IEEE.
Walker, S., Schloss, P., Fletcher, C. R., Vogel, C. A., & Walker, R. C. (2005). Visual-syntactic text formatting: A new method to enhance online reading. Reading Online, 8(6), 1096-1232.
Walker, R. C., & Vogel, C. (2005, June). Live Ink: Brain-based text formatting raises standardized test scores. Paper presented at the National Educational Computing Conference, Philadelphia, PA.
