Systematic Vocabulary Instruction Impacts Success in School

Cindy Riedl
Oct 04, 2010

Why is Vocabulary Instruction so important for student achievement?

Research continues to support a school-wide commitment to explicit vocabulary instruction to close the achievement gap and raise student achievement for all students. Systematic vocabulary instruction should be a critical aspect in all lessons at every grade level. It is an essential intervention that schools can use to prevent failure and reduce early drop-out rates for struggling students.

The latest research states that students must know approximately 95% of the words they hear and read for successful comprehension. This presents a challenging situation for schools that are committed to closing the achievement gap for high poverty students with vocabulary deficiencies. In addition to the economic gap there are cultural differences, such as with English language learners that may lead to vocabulary deficiencies. These vocabulary deficiencies appear early and increase over time without intervention.

There is much more to students learning vocabulary than just having good word attack skills. Furthermore, looking up words in a dictionary or memorizing spelling and definitions does not foster vocabulary development. These practices need to be abandoned and replaced by instructional strategies like those promoted in Vocabulary Instruction and Vocabulary Development in Language Arts from Learning-Focused. Success is dependent upon consistent and pervasive high impact vocabulary instruction. These Learning-Focused books are research-based and emphasize the instructional practices and strategies used by Exemplary Schools.