Whole language approach
Overview
- Influence: Whole language approach
- Domain: Curricula
- Sub-Domain: Reading, writing and the arts
- Potential to Accelerate Student Achievement: Likely to have a small positive impact
- Influence Definition: An approach to reading that shows students how language is a system of parts that work together to make meaning. It has also been called balanced literacy and invites students to learn reading by exploring a literacy-rich environment.
Evidence
- Number of meta-analyses: 5
- Number of studies: 81
- Number of students: 8,018
- Number of effects: 288
- Effect size: 0.09
Meta-Analyses
| Journal Title | Author | First Author's Country | Article Name | Year Published | Variable | Number of Studies | Number of Students | Number of Effects | Effect Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Review of Educational Research | Stahl & Miller | USA | Whole language and language experience approaches for beginning reading: A quantitative research synthesis | 1989 | Effects of whole language instruction | 15 | 0 | 117 | 0.09 |
| Conference Paper | Gee | USA | An introduction to human language: Fundamental concepts in linguistics | 1993 | Effects of whole language instruction | 21 | 0 | 52 | 0.65 |
| Educational Psychologist | Stahl, McKenna, & Pagnucco | USA | The effects of whole-language instruction: An update and a reappraisal | 1994 | Effects of whole language instruction | 14 | 0 | 14 | 0.15 |
| The Elementary School Journal | Jeynes & Littell | USA | A meta-analysis of studies examining the effect of whole language instruction on the literacy of low-SES students. | 2000 | Effects of whole language instruction | 14 | 630 | 14 | -0.65 |
| Journal of Computer Assisted Learning | Abrami, Lysenko, & Borokhovski | Canada | The effects of ABRACADABRA on reading outcomes: An updated meta-analysis and landscape review of applied field research | 2020 | Effects of Balanced Literacy interventions | 17 | 7,388 | 91 | 0.20 |
| TOTAL/AVERAGE | 81 | 8,018 | 288 | 0.09 | |||||
Confidence
The Confidence is the average of these four measures, each divided into five approximately equal groups and assigned a value from 1 to 5 based on the following criteria:
-
Number of Meta-analyses
- 1 = 1
- 2 = 2–3
- 3 = 4–6
- 4 = 7–9
- 5 = 10+
-
Number of Studies
- 1 = 1–10
- 2 = 11–50
- 3 = 51–200
- 4 = 201–400
- 5 = 400+
-
Number of Students
- 1 = 1–2,500
- 2 = 2,501–10,000
- 3 = 10,000–20,000
- 4 = 20,000–100,000
- 5 = 100,001+
-
Number of Effects
- 1 = 1–100
- 2 = 101–300
- 3 = 301–600
- 4 = 601–1,200
- 5 = 1,200+
| Number of Meta-Analyses | Number of Studies | Number of Students | Number of Effects | Overall Confidence | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Confidence Factor | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 |