Journal of the Effective Schools Project, Volume 18, 2011 Page: 57

Results
Research questions la, lb, lc.
The first set of research questions
explored whether students who
received explicit vocabulary in-
struction in math performed better
on the 5th grade TAKS math stand-
ardized assessment. Results
showed no statistically significant
differences between all students in
Group 1 (M = 2303.53, SD =
177.37) and Group 2 (M =
2310.20, SD = 190.42); t (-.19) =
112, p = .85. Results also showed
no statistically significant differ-
ences between economically disad-
vantaged students in Group 1 (M =
2229.07, SD = 152.42) and Group
2 (M = 2217.90, SD = 170.80); t
(.17) = 23, p = .87. Likewise, no
statistically significant differences
were reported between students
identified at-risk in Group 1 (M =
2147.08, SD = 143.19) and Group
2 (M= 2152.25, SD = 146.80); t (-
.08) = 18,p = .94.
Research questions 2a, 2b, and
2c.
The second set of research ques-
tions explored whether students
who received explicit vocabulary
instruction in science performed
better on the 5th grade science
TAKS standardized assessment.
Results showed no statistically
significant differences between all
students in Group 1 (M= 2252.95,
SD = 188.78) and Group 2 (M =
2265.52, SD = 180.89); t (-.36) =
112, p = .72. Results also showed
no statistically significant differ-
ences between students identified
at-risk in Group 1 (M = 2075.33,
SD = 97.83) and Group 2 (M =
2175.13, SD = 206.16); t (-1.46) =
18, p = .16. However, results
showed a statistically significant
difference between economically
disadvantaged students in Group 1
(M = 2099.93, SD = 121.39) and

Group 2 (M = 2249.70, SD =
191.40); t (-2.40) = 23, p = .03.
Discussion
Although no statistically signifi-
cant findings were reported for
student performance on the 5th
grade math TAKS assessment,
numerous studies (e.g., Carter &
Dean, 2006) provided evidence
enumerating the benefits of explic-
it vocabulary instruction in mathe-
matics. Students must possess an
understanding of specialized math-
ematical terms in order to compre-
hend mathematical readings, such
as word problems.
However, the results of this study
revealed economically disadvan-
taged students receiving explicit
vocabulary instruction performed
better on the 5th grade science
TAKS standardized assessment.
Beck and McKeown (2002) identi-
fied three tiers of words that com-
prise an individual's vocabulary as
(a) first tier, basic words rarely
required instruction in school; (b)
second tier, academic words en-
countered in academic situations;
and (c) third tier, content area
words needed to understand a con-
cept. Findings from this study in-
dicated the importance of provid-
ing explicit instruction to economi-
cally disadvantaged students with
third tier vocabulary.
Implication
Vocabulary instruction in content
areas must extend beyond the tra-
ditional strategy of merely copying
definitions. Participants in this
study were provided explicit vo-
cabulary instruction that was stu-
dent-centered and fostered active
engagement during the learning
process. The Vocabulary Builder
graphic organizer fostered a deeper
understanding of content-specific

Vocabulary instruction
in content areas must
extend beyond the tradi-
tional strategy of merely
copying definitions.

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