Vocabulary Measurement: Progress Monitoring Tool
The focus of our last two posts has been on progress monitoring vocabulary acquisition to determine the impact of vocabulary intervention. We have reviewed the many facets of word learning, as well as the two dimensions of vocabulary acquisition; breadth and depth. We also looked at several examples of word knowledge continuums and how they contain general trends in expectations.
After using versions of these continuums, I noticed that it was difficult to show growth from quarter to quarter. This led me to create the skills checklist, or formative assessment, you see below. You may feel that certain skills belong higher or lower on the continuum. You may think of additional skills to add. This list is, by no means, standardized nor all encompassing. Instead it is meant to provide a helpful framework for documentation with suggestions of measurement activities you can create yourself. Many of the ideas have come from the researchers we have previously covered and should provide simple ways to determine if your vocabulary interventions are moving the needle.
If you recall the anecdote from the first entry in this series, the literacy intervention I had completed moved students from a “0” to “1”. While I had demonstrated measurable progress over the course of the semester, I was nowhere near the point of celebration. What I thought was the end, was really just the beginning.
Download and print a copy of the template here.
Need support using this formative assessment and progress monitoring tool in practice? Contact me at Jen@infercabulary.com
Sources:
Beck, I.L., McKeown, M. G., & Kucan, L. (2013). Bring words to life: Robust vocabulary instruction (2nd ed.). New York City, New York: The Guilford Press
Duff, Dawna. (2019). Has Vocabulary Intervention Had an Effect? A Valid, Reliable, and (Fairly) Quick Outcome Measure for Semantic Knowledge. Language, Speech, & Hearing Services in Schools, vol. 50, no. 4, pp. 506 – 517.
Author: Jen Knapp; MS, CCC-SLP