Vocabulary Instruction for Struggling Students
What Works for Special-Needs Learners Series

Addressing a key skill in reading, writing, and speaking, this comprehensive book is grounded in cutting-edge research on vocabulary development. It presents evidence-based instructional approaches for at-risk students, including English language learners and those with learning difficulties. Coverage ranges from storybook reading interventions for preschoolers to direct instruction and independent word-learning strategies for older students. Guidance is provided on using word lists effectively and understanding how word features influence learning. The book also reviews available vocabulary assessment tools and describes how to implement them in a response-to-intervention framework.

1. Origins of Vocabulary Knowledge and Its Role in Reading Comprehension 2. Word Properties That Affect Vocabulary Instruction 3. Making Principled Decisions about Vocabulary Instruction 4. Early Approaches to Vocabulary Instruction 5. Evidence-Based Instructional Approaches for School-Age Children 6. Independent Vocabulary Learning Approaches 7. Vocabulary Assessment 8. Teaching Vocabulary to English Language Learners

Patricia F. Vadasy, PhD, is Senior Researcher at the Oregon Research Institute in Seattle, Washington. Her background is in early reading acquisition and instruction, instructional design, and intervention research. Dr. Vadasy oversees a research team engaged in research on effective school-based literacy interventions for at-risk and struggling students. She has published findings on her grant-funded intervention research widely in peer-reviewed journals. She is the lead author (with Rollanda E. O’Connor) of the Sound Partners code-oriented supplemental tutoring program.

J. Ron Nelson, PhD, is Professor in the Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. His research and over 150 publications have focused on serving children at risk of school failure and on research issues, and he has developed a number of behavior and literacy interventions. Dr. Nelson is a recipient of the Distinguished Early Career Research Award from the Council for Exceptional Children.