- As is the policy with all SERP projects, Word Generation focuses upon a problem identified by people in schools, not by outside researchers.

- Boston teachers were concerned that middle school students were not able to understand texts across the curriculum.

- WG focuses on vocabulary. Increased student vocabulary helps with reading accuracy, fluency, syntax issues, background knowledge, and comprehension.

- Teachers tend to focus on discipline-specific vocabulary and not general academic words (such as "process").

- Word Generation is written at a middle school level - not at a remedial level.

- WG addresses what researchers observed: vocabulary rarely taught; general academic words crucial for texts and glossaries; lack of student engagement with materials and discussion.