Dayna Russell Freudenthal: The Development of the Project GROW Expressive Vocabulary Assessment

According to the National Reading Panel (2000), researcher-developed measures best assess vocabulary instruction's impact because they are more sensitive to gains than standardized measures. This study details the initial development of a proximal vocabulary assessment for a robust kindergarten vocabulary intervention (Project GROW) for students at-risk for reading difficulties. The purpose of the Proximal Project GROW Expressive Vocabulary assessment is to measure a student's expressive vocabulary knowledge of specifically targeted Tier Two, social emotional learning (SEL) focused academic vocabulary words. The assessment, similar to those used in prior research (Coyne et al., 2007; Baker et al., 2013), has been developed to evaluate the effects of explicit vocabulary instruction closely aligned to the intervention and examine student response to instruction. This assessment focused on student acquisition and mastery of child-friendly definitions of age-appropriate academic vocabulary identified and explicitly taught in the context of the unit storybook via evidenced-based instruction, including explicit vocabulary instruction and dialogic reading. The measure will be piloted as a pre-and post-test for prototype units of the intervention this Spring.