Education Commons^™

An Investigation Of Reading Instruction In Northeast Tennessee., Karen Pierson Reach

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine specific prekindergarten- through 8th-grade reading programs, instructional best practices, academic interventions, and educational activities that are perceived as successful practices in four high achieving schools within the parameters of Northeast Tennessee. This study was accomplished through a protocol of open-ended interviews with 15 participants comprised of 4 school principals, 4 primary reading teachers, 4 intermediate reading teachers, 2 Title I reading specialists, and 1 district language arts coordinator. Additionally, school-specific documentation and basal reading programs were reviewed to triangulate the findings of this investigation.

The findings from this study suggested that …

The Effect Of Teacher Retention On Student Achievement In Third Grade Reading/Language Arts, Kathy Bang Sellers

Dissertations

The United States government has placed emphasis on the placement of highly qualified teachers within each classroom through the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. This becomes more difficult when teachers become frustrated for various reasons and leave the profession of teaching before gaining the necessary experience to positively impact student achievement.

The purpose of the study was to examine the possible relationship between teacher retention, teachers staying within the teaching profession, and the effect it has on student achievement. The study is based on individual teachers' class summary reports from the 2007-2008, 2008-2009, and 2009-2010 …

Identifying Struggling Readers In Middle School With Orf, Maze And Prior Year Assessment Data, Jennifer R. Allison, Evelyn S. Johnson

Early and Special Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

Response to Intervention (RTI) is a framework with the primary purpose of early identification and prevention of learning problems. Screening procedures identify students in need of targeted intervention, but current screening research is limited to the elementary grades. This study explored the use of screening measures: prior year assessment data, oral reading fluency (ORF), and maze, to predict performance on Georgia’s Criterion-Referenced Competency Test (CRCT-8) for 236 eighth grade students from one district in Georgia. Logistic regression analyses compared the accuracy of the predictor variables. Overall classification accuracy was 96.6% for ORF and maze and 97.1% for CRCT-7; however, this …

Leading Schools To Increased Reading Achievement: An Investigation Into Effective Reading Instruction, Patricia Anne Alford

Dissertations

This study investigated the effectiveness of two models of middle school reading instruction as measured by mean scores of middle school students on a state criterion-referenced test. Two cohorts of students were repeatedly compared over a three year period: students who received reading instruction as a core content class (Intervention A) and students who received reading instruction through content-area courses of math, social studies, science, and language arts (Intervention B). The independent variable was the reading program implemented and the dependent variables were the scale scores on the Reading portion of the CRCT test. A mixed model analysis of variance …

Challenges For Australian Education : Results From Pisa 2009 : The Pisa 2009 Assessment Of Students' Reading, Mathematical And Scientific Literacy, Sue Thomson, Lisa De Bortoli, Marina Nicholas, Kylie Hillman, Sarah Buckley

Kylie Hillman

Focusing on reading literacy as the major domain for the PISA 2009 assessment, this national report examines Australian students' achievement in reading, mathematical and scientific literacy. Results are reported for the states, by gender, for Indigenous students, by location, language background and by socioeconomic background.

Students' Perceptions Of Read 180 At The Middle School Level, Erica L. Johnson

Theses and Graduate Projects

Read 180 is an intensive intervention program designed for middle level elementary up through high school. This is a program that teaches students through a combination of instructional, modeled, and independent reading components. The Read 180 class period is 90 minutes long and begins with 20 minutes of whole-group literacy instruction in which the teacher and students engage in shared reading, read aloud, or do direct instruction skills lessons. Next, students are split into three groups and each group participates in three 20-minute rotations. During each rotation the teacher works with one small group of students in the Small group …

Debating The Truth, Lisa Shay

Understanding by Design: Complete Collection

Students will spend six weeks discovering the value of opposing viewpoints on different current event topics. Students will learn to conduct a debate following the Middle School Public Debate Program model. Students will first research a variety of topics in teams of three, finding both the pros and cons of the topic. Students must be able to form arguments, find fallacies in both research and arguments refute and eventually debate their peers. The unit guides students through the debate process allowing for practice on each of the process stages. As the performance assessment pieces, students will conduct a debate using …

An Examination Of The Effects Of Using Systematic And Engaging Early Literacy To Teach Tier 3 Students To Read Consonant-Vowel-Consonant (Cvc) Words, Esther Marshall

Theses and Dissertations

A single-subject-multiple-baseline-across-behaviors design was used to examine the effects of using Systematic and Engaging Early Literacy (SEEL) instruction to help Tier 3 kindergarten students learn to read CVC words. Four students designated as Tier 3 by their teachers participated in the study. They were grouped into two dyads and received SEEL instruction focusing on specific word reading targets for approximately 20 minutes four days per week over a seven-week time period. The instruction included meaningful, interactive activities and incorporated high levels of play, multiple exposures to the target, explicit instruction, and student-teacher conversational exchanges. Baseline assessment data were collected prior …

Accelerated Reader: The Relation To Age Of Entry Into Formal Education, Tiffani Long

Master's Theses

The current study examined the relationship between ages of entry into formal education and the effects it had on participation in the Accelerated Reader program. More specifically, the variables being compared were: the child’s age in months, gender, average number of AR points accumulated, the number of quizzes passed, and finally the number of quizzes taken. It was hypothesized that those children who are younger than their peers are going to earn fewer points than their older peers. Additionally, a gender difference was also hypothesized, predicting that female students would earn more points than their male classmates. Data was gathered …

Crabb, Alfred Leland, 1884-1979 (Mss 367), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and bibliography (click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Collection 367. Correspondence, book and article manuscripts, and research material of Alfred Leland Crabb, a native of Warren County, Kentucky and later professor at George Peabody College for Teachers in Nashville, Tennessee. The topics of the manuscripts include historical fiction related to Nashville and Bowling Green, biographies of prominent Nashvillians, and articles on all levels of education. Much of the unpublished material is fiction but draws from Crabb's Plum Springs school days and his student experiences at Western Kentucky University.

Teachers' And Principals' Perspectives Of Literacy Coaching In An Elementary School., Barbara Jane Anderson Hull

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to discover the literacy coach's tasks and qualities teachers valued the most and which qualities they valued the least. Knowing those precepts might help one to become a more efficient and valuable resource for both classroom teachers and principals. School visits, focus group interviews, individual interviews, interviews with each principal, and documents from the 3 southwest Virginia schools in 2 districts provided the data for analysis. Teachers' and principals' perspectives of literacy coaching explained both the desirable and undesirable practices and techniques.

The 3 schools had been swept into a change process when …

Comparative Study Of Reading First Schools Reading Achievement To Non-Reading First Schools., Wandaleen Adams

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if there was any significant increase in the reading achievement of Reading First third grade students compared to the reading achievement of the third grade reading students in Non-Reading First schools located in southwest Virginia for 2004-2009. The Standards of Learning (SOLs) reading test scores were compiled from the Virginia Standards of Learning test scores that are available to the public from the Virginia Department of Education website. The elementary schools chosen for this study have a similar number of disadvantaged students and similar demographics. The reading achievement was being examined after …

A Comparison Between Read 180 Students And Non-Read 180 Students Reading And Math Scores By Classroom Structure., Amanda C. Cannon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to compare the achievement of students in reading-language arts and math, who participated in the Scholastic READ 180 program within self-contained classroom organizations with the achievement of READ 180 students within departmentalized classrooms and with students not enrolled in READ 180. Classroom organizational structure at the intermediate grade is a highly debated issue. The READ 180 program is a highly structured model of the reading-language arts block. However, past research has provided few recommendations on how to schedule classes for at-risk students. Teachers and administrators of intermediate school students will benefit from a quantitative …

Student Achievement In Block And Non-Block Schedule Schools, William Shelton Smith Jr.

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if the number of minutes allocated for high school instructional periods influences student achievement. The study also examined the perceptions of principals regarding one method of instructional time allocation, block scheduling.

The study examined the differences in student achievement on a high school exit examination in the content areas of Reading and Mathematics between schools in a southern state using a four-period block schedule and schools using a non-block schedule in order to ascertain if the type of schedule has any impact on student achievement. Additionally, information pertaining to scheduling was collected …

Teacher Professional Development And Its Effects On Reading Instruction, Kristen Lea Suarez

Dissertations

The world of education is an ever-evolving profession. We, as a society, have learned so much about education and how we can better benefit our students. Students depend on education to equip them with the tools needed to become successful. This dissertation addresses the need for and adequacy of today’s teacher professional development in Reading instruction and how that training can translate into more meaningful classroom education.

The writer surveyed elementary Reading teachers in grades 3-6 from two school districts in southern Mississippi to determine their perceptions concerning various elements of the professional development training they received during the 2009-2010 …

Teachers' Experiences With Comprehension Instruction In Upper Elementary Classrooms, Kathryn Louise Solic

Doctoral Dissertations

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Determining The Longitudinal Effects Of Acculturation Orientation On Elementary-Aged Spanish-Speaking English Language Learner Students' Reading Progress, Courtney M. Leclair

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this study was to examine whether the reading progress of Spanish-speaking English Language Learner students differed depending on their acculturation orientation. Participants included 85 students in 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade in two school districts in the rural Midwest. All participants were Latino and qualified as “English Language Learner” students. Measures included the Brief Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican-Americans II (B-ARSMA-II), the easyCBM Passage Reading Fluency (PRF) scale, and an author-created Parent Demographic Form. In addition, the participants’ teacher’s adherence to the core reading program (Reading Mastery) was monitored by staff from the National Institute …

Evaluation Of The Ardoch Western Lincs Project, Michele Lonsdale, Jenny Wilkinson, Elizabeth Kleinhenz

Jenny Wilkinson (retired)

In Australia and other Western countries, there is growing recognition among governments, business and community groups that schools cannot deal with the complex demands of the twenty-first century on their own. There is an emerging body of evidence to show that school-community partnerships can make a positive difference to the outcomes of students in disadvantaged areas. There are still gaps in the evidence base however. More evidence of successful collaboration is needed and the impact these partnerships have on student outcomes. The WLinCS project is one such example of a highly effective school-community partnership. The western suburbs of Melbourne are …

Evaluation Of The Ardoch Western Lincs Project, Michele Lonsdale, Jenny Wilkinson, Elizabeth Kleinhenz

Dr Elizabeth Kleinhenz (retired)

In Australia and other Western countries, there is growing recognition among governments, business and community groups that schools cannot deal with the complex demands of the twenty-first century on their own. There is an emerging body of evidence to show that school-community partnerships can make a positive difference to the outcomes of students in disadvantaged areas. There are still gaps in the evidence base however. More evidence of successful collaboration is needed and the impact these partnerships have on student outcomes. The WLinCS project is one such example of a highly effective school-community partnership. The western suburbs of Melbourne are …

Using Mnemonic Strategies To Teach Letter-Name And Letter-Sound Correspondences, Janet S. Shaeffer

Master of Education Research Theses

The critical role of acquiring alphabet letter names and sounds as a foundation to literacy is pursued successfully with a class of kindergarteners, using two mnemonic treatments, one using pictures and jingles, and the other using music with a kinesthetic element.

The Influence Of Dual Language Education Upon The Development Of English Reading Skills Of Kindergarten Through Grade Two Students, Corey W. Reynolds

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

The Influence of Dual Language Education Upon the Development of English Reading Skills of Kindergarten through Grade Two Students.

The purpose of this inductive and quantitative research study is to examine the influence of dual language education upon the development of literacy skills in English proficient kindergarten through grade

2 students. Secondly, this research is purposed to aid in filling the void in the limited way in which educational researchers have examined quantitative research of early elementary English proficient dual language students' reading development disaggregated by gender and ethnicity. Finally, this study is purposed to be utilized as an integral …

The More They Read, The More They Can Read, Nolan Weil

Languages, Philosophy, and Communication Studies Faculty Publications

We learn to read by reading, but improvement requires consistency and takes time. Extensive reading is not the silver bullet. Multiple approaches are necessary to promote high levels of L2 reading proficiency, but extensive reading is a vital component.

Preserving Adolescent Readership Through Interest And Motivation, Gina M. Doepker, Evan Ortlieb

Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

Adolescent literacy has remained a relatively hot topic for several years in the field of reading education (Cassidy, Ortlieb, & Shettel, 2010/2011) however, educators remain conflicted about how to maintain high levels of reading motivation. A historical analysis of adolescent interests and motivations was conducted to determine what instructional techniques have had positive effects so as to meet the imminent needs of adolescent readers. Findings include information pertaining to: choice of a multitude of reading materials, substantial time to experience aesthetic and engaging reading experiences, and a relevant, challenging curriculum that addresses student needs, personal interests, and motivations.

International Schools' Assessment Program

International Developments

Designed and developed Schools’ Assessment Designed and developed by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), the International Schools' Assessment Program (ISA) is currently administered in 260 international schools worldwide with over 49000 students participating, and allows these schools to benchmark themselves against other international schools in the core skill areas of mathematical literacy, reading and writing. The ISA is a culturally inclusive test that provides meaningful and valuable information for education providers and the parents of students.

Programme For International Student Assessment (Pisa)

International Developments

The Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) leads an international consortium of research organisations, and educational institutions to deliver the International PISA project on behalf of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Translated into 48 languages and then verified to ensure they can be understood by students from a wide range of language and cultural backgrounds, PISA questions are based on relevant, everyday situations. PISA tests the reading, mathematics and science literacy of 15-year-olds across the world. In 2009 around 400 000 students from 57 countries took part.

A Comparison Of Eighth Grade Athletes And Non-Athletes Academic Achievement, Time Spent On Homework, Future Educational Goals, And Socioeconomic Status, John F. Shelby

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the differences between eighth grade athletes and nonathletes in terms of mathematics and reading achievement based on standardized test scores from direct cognitive assessments in mathematics and reading. The data for this study came from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten Class of 1998- 1999 (ECLS-K). Data were collected from student and parent surveys in conjunction with direct cognitive assessments. The research questions were as follows: 1. To what extent is there a difference in mathematics achievement between eighth grade athletes and non-athletes while controlling for self-reported future educational goals and socioeconomic status? 2. To what extent …

Effects Of A Reading Inference Strategy Intervention On The Reading And Social Inference Abilities Of Adults With Asperger Syndrome, Kimberly A. Murza

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The ability to generate inferences is a skill that is necessary to fully comprehend a text and understand the intentions, behaviors, and emotions of a conversational partner. Individuals with Asperger syndrome (AS) have been shown to demonstrate significant difficulty in inference generation in both social contexts and in reading comprehension. Although, the reciprocity of the four components of literacy (reading, writing, listening, and speaking) has been established in the literature (Bradley & Bryant, 1983; Catts & Kamhi, 2005; Englert & Thomas, 1987; Gillon & Dodd, 1995; Hiebert, 1980; Kroll, 1981; Ruddell & Ruddell, 1994); the relationship between inference generation in …

The Impact Of Title I Program Funding Through A Comparison Of Schoolwide Assistance And Targeted Assistance On Fifth Grade Reading Achievement Scores In Illinois: Implications For Leadership In Public Education, Michael E. Robey

Dissertations

The ability to read with proficiency and comprehension is one of the basic goals of our educational system. Adequacy of funding these goals, particularly for lower income students, continues to be a challenge. Despite the efforts of a variety of educational reforms many students, particularly the economically disadvantaged, continue to struggle with basic reading skills.

The intent of this study is to help school leaders in identifying whether schoolwide or targeted assistance programs funded through Title I schools are associated with higher reading achievement. The study measured reading achievement for fifth grade students in Illinois using data from the Illinois …

Supporting Hispanic Mothers With Preschool Children With Speech And/ Or Language Delays Via Dialogic Reading And Coaching Within The Home, Natalie Elizabeth Dopson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Young children who are Hispanic, from low-income homes and have developmental delays are at a disadvantage for not having the basic early literacy foundation to become successful readers later in school (Ballantyne, Sanderman, D‘Emilio, & McLaughlin, 2008; Hammer, Farkas, & Maczuga, 2010; Ezell & Justice 2005; McCardle, Scarborough, & Catts, 2001). These challenges can be addressed in several ways. Early intervention including parent education and collaboration along with shared book reading are considered best practices and critical to improving child outcomes (NELP, 2008). In addition, children who have a solid foundation in early literacy skills including vocabulary development in their …

The Impact Of Socioeconomic Status On Second Grade Reading Levels, Amanda Jill Knight

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The purpose of this study is to examine if low SES students respond differently to Tier I and Tier II interventions than Non-Low SES students. The study also seeks to determine the effect Tier I and Tier II interventions have on a group of second grade students. Forty-four Tier I and Tier II Caucasian second grade students from a rural Ohio elementary school were included in this study. No significant differences were found between the reading levels of low-SES and Non-Low-SES students prior to or afterimplementation of RTI. Significant differences were found between the AIMSweb fall and winter benchmarks as …