Efficacy of the Rapid, Automatic, Vocabulary Elaboration, Orthography (RAVE-O) program with Spanish-English language learners

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of the Rapid, Automatic, Vocabulary Elaboration, Orthography (RAVE-O) program in improving literacy skills within a primarily Spanish-English Language Learner (SpELL) population. Twenty-nine second-graders were randomly assigned to a control group or one of two experimental groups that received RAVE-O. A battery of tests to determine literacy skills was administered at pre-and post-test. Experimental groups were provided RAVE-O only or RAVE-O plus the school's standard reading instruction..;Interaction effects between group assignment and most assessment measures were not found. Interaction effects between group assignment and progress on word identification were found to be significant at the p = 0.05 level. Orthographic knowledge at baseline correlated positively with reading comprehension progress across groups. Across groups, baseline scores on knowledge of multiple meanings and reading comprehension were negatively correlated. Modifications in the RAVE-O protocol to meet the unique needs of SpELLs are suggested.