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PACT five-component unit structure for text-based content instruction

Design · All designs
Evidence · 1 claim (1 mixed) · 1 study (1 causal), q2 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 1 claim rests on one study

Description

The PACT program organizes a 10-day content unit around five interrelated components embedded in teachers' content instruction. As the article prints it, "The PACT program consisted of five inter- related components embedded in the teachers' content instruction: comprehension canopy, essential words, knowledge acquisition, team-based learning comprehension checks, and team-based learning knowledge application." The comprehension canopy opens the unit with a video and overarching question reviewed daily; essential words are high-utility concepts introduced day one and reviewed across the unit; teams complete comprehension checks with scratch-off answer sheets for immediate feedback and a day-nine application activity.

Design Implications

Context

Requirements

  • Teachers were provided with semi-scripted lesson plans, a daily schedule identifying when components were delivered, and all materials needed for implementation.

Constraints

  • Fidelity observations showed teachers had the most difficulty with the knowledge acquisition and team-based knowledge application components, with more than 50% of observations in those areas rated 2.

Target Learners

  • eighth-grade students in general education U.S. history classes, including students with disabilities

Learning Goals

  • engagement with text-based learning
  • social studies content knowledge
  • application of content to complex historical questions

Claims

Examples

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Key Sources

  • Jeanne Wanzek, Greg Roberts, Sharon Vaughn, Elizabeth Swanson, and Katherine Sargent. (2019). Examining the Role of Pre-Instruction Academic Performance Within A Text-based Approach to Improving Student Content Knowledge and Understanding. Exceptional Children, 85(2). https://doi.org/10.1177/0014402918783187
Page metadata
Field Value
type design
id pact-five-component-unit-structure
title PACT five-component unit structure for text-based content instruction
description The PACT program organizes a 10-day content unit around five interrelated components embedded in teachers' content instruction.
status review
generated by process:settle-candidates on 2026-11-01
trust unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content
sources 1 — jeanne-wanzek-2019

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