Education Commons^™

Teachers’ Use Of Standardized Assessments To Monitor Learning And Its Impact On Student Reading Achievement, Eilyn Sanabria

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Reading instruction must be “intentional, systematic, and explicit” and “implemented by a knowledgeable teacher” (Ruetzel & Cooter, 2019, p. 87). The era of accountability has brought standardized assessments to the forefront of reading instruction. However, gaps about assessment-related and instructional practices and their impact on student achievement exist in the literature. The present study aims to provide needed insights on how these practices help or hinder, specifically, historically low-performing students.

Using student achievement and teacher survey data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study: Kindergarten 2011 (ECLS-K), and through the lens of data use theory (Hutchins, 1995; Spillane, 2012), hierarchical multiple …

A Corpus-Driven Approach Toward Teaching Vocabulary And Reading To English Language Learners In U.S.-Based K-12 Context Through A Mobile App, Seyedjafar Ehsanzadehsorati

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In order to decrease teachers’ decisions of which vocabulary the focus of the instruction should be upon, a recent line of research argues that pedagogically-prepared word lists may offer the most efficient order of learning vocabulary with an optimized context for instruction in each of four K-12 content areas (math, science, social studies, and language arts) through providing English Language Learners (ELLs) with the most frequent words in each area. Educators and school experts have acknowledged the need for developing new materials, including computerized enhanced texts and effective strategies aimed at improving ELLs’ mastery of academic and STEM-related lexicon. Not …

Meaning Negotiated Through Independently-Written Summaries And Oral Academic Conversations: Enhancing Comprehension Of Science Text By Ninth-Grade, English Learners, Edward C. Burke

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

English Learners experience challenges related to comprehension of science text particularly at the high school level. The language of science differs significantly from that of conversation and expository text. Students benefit from collaborative interpretation of readings. Additionally, there appears to be a need to train adolescents in the oral language skills requisite for academic discourse.

This study employed a sample of high school physical science students (N = 75) whose first language was Spanish and who were currently developing English language proficiency. It used quasi-experimental methodology with treatment and comparison groups, during the normal operations of the public school …

Closing The Reading Gap, Bria Lundy

South Florida Education Research Conference

Changes in federal regulations regarding phonics instruction show that there is an ongoing problem concerning early reading difficulties. This research looks at how the Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons reading program can benefit phonics skills and phonemic awareness of first graders who are not yet reading.

Effects Of Sex, Third Grade Reading Achievement And Motivation As Predictors Of Fourth Grade Reading Achievement Of Hispanic Students: A Path Analysis, Vivian M. Del Rio

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study explored the topic of motivation for intermediate students combining both an objective criterion measure (i.e., standardized test scores) and the self-report of students on self-concept and value of reading. The purpose of this study was to examine how third grade reading achievement correlated with the motivation of fourth grade boys and girls, and, in turn, how motivation related to fourth grade reading achievement.

The participants were fourth grade students (n=207) attending two public, elementary schools in Miami-Dade County who were of primarily Hispanic origin or descent. Data were collected using the Reading Survey portion of the …

The Effect Of Reciprocal Mapping On High-Risk Sixth-Grade Students' Social Studies Achievement, Tina Cash

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Reading deficits in students in Grades 4 to 12 are evident in American schools. Informational text is particularly difficult for students. This quasi-experimental study (N=138) investigated sixth-grade students' achievement in social studies using the Reciprocal Mapping instructional routine, compared to sixth-grade students' achievement taught with a traditional approach. The Reciprocal Mapping instructional routine incorporated explicit instruction in text structure using graphic organizers. Students created their own graphic organizers and used them to write about social studies content. The comparison group used a traditional approach, students' reading the textbook and answering questions.

Students for this study included sixth-graders in the seven …

Phonics Instruction Using Pseudowords For Success In Phonetic Decoding, Jessica M. Cardenas

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined a Pseudoword Phonics Curriculum to determine if this form of instruction would increase students’ decoding skills compared to typical real-word phonics instruction. In typical phonics instruction, children learn to decode familiar words which allow them to draw on their prior knowledge of how to pronounce the word and may detract from learning decoding skills. By using pseudowords during phonics instruction, students may learn more decoding skills because they are unfamiliar with the “words” and therefore cannot draw on memory for how to pronounce the word. It was hypothesized that students who learn phonics with pseudowords will learn …