Education Commons^™

The Science Of Reading And The Use Of Decodable Texts In The Classroom, Anna Hudson

Honors Theses

This honors thesis includes a definition and explanation of the Science of Reading research, decodable texts and how they are used in the classroom, my creative process in writing my own decodable text, and a copy of my original decodable text "Can Meg Get In?"

The Influence Of Bolded Keywords In Online News Texts On Reading Speed And Comprehension For Heritage+ Learners Of Arabic, Marwah Khost Aljarkas

Theses and Dissertations

Learners and readers of Arabic, especially Heritage Language Learners, suffer more than ever from the lack of focus while reading online texts. This becomes a challenge that negatively impacts their overall learning process. This paper explores the influence of one salience feature - bolded keywords - over reading speed and comprehension amongst Heritage+ Learners of Arabic. Heritage+ refers to Arabs living in the Arab world, but who have minimum exposure to the language. Thirty-two students, who are Heritage+ Learners of Arabic, currently studying at the American University in Cairo and belong to Generation Z (18-25 years), participated in the study. …

Understanding The Relationships Between Social-Emotional Competency, Reading Fluency, Reading Comprehension, And Reading Achievement In Adolescent Students, David Phillips

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Capstones

The improvement of social-emotional factors is thought to help increase students’ achievement by 11% (Durlak et al., 2011). This current study is a descriptive study set in a rural setting, and it included 101 seventh and eighth-grade students. The study explored the relationship between social-emotional competency, reading ability, and reading achievement in adolescent students. Correlation results showed statistically positive relationships between reading measures and social-emotional measures except for social awareness and grit. Regression results revealed that social-emotional competencies explained from 7% to 36% of the variance in adolescent reading. Social-emotional competencies and reading ability measures together explained 51% to 53% …

Effective Reading Practices For Inclusive Classrooms, Andrew Block

Graduate Teacher Education

This paper examined research on what are best practices for teaching reading comprehension to students in an inclusive classroom. This topic is explored through research findings from multiple quantitative and qualitative studies which examined the effectiveness of structured reading instruction, explicitly taught reading strategies, student autonomy, and discussion and collaboration as best practices for improving reading comprehension skills. While research showed a variety of effective practices and strategies to increase reading comprehension among all students, the research also suggested the need for content area teachers to receive on-going professional development to consistently implement evidence-based practices throughout the course of the …

The Study Of Morphological Awareness For English Learners, Jane Beeninga

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

English Learner (EL) students in American schools are becoming increasingly common, but there does not seem to be enough support for these students. This is causing EL students to fall behind in content areas such as reading (Richards-Tutor et al., 2016). The purpose of this study was to investigate what barriers are keeping EL students from succeeding in reading. After identifying a need for vocabulary instruction, the researcher will be conducting a morphological awareness intervention to improve EL students’ ability to figure out unknown words. Morphological awareness is the understanding of a word’s smaller units such as prefixes, suffixes, and …

Today A Reader, Tomorrow A Leader: How Reading Comprehension Plays A Role In Academics Among Low-Income Students, Marissa Sandra Francisca Torrez

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

For this Capstone Project, the researcher investigates how teachers and low-income families view the resources needed for students to increase their reading comprehension and what they thought could be done to improve access to those resources. Interviews included a fieldworker who has a child enrolled in a middle school, a middle school Community Liaison who is very familiar and close to low-income families and the issues they face with education. Additionally, three middle school students completed a survey on reading comprehension. Based on an analysis of the interviews, surveys and the relevant research literature, the researcher used what they had …

The Effects Of Watching Text-Relevant Video Segments On Reading Comprehension Of Culturally Unfamiliar Texts With Adult English Language Learners Supported By The Schematic Information-Processing (Sip) Model Of Reading Comprehension, Amirreza Karami

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this mixed-methods sequential explanatory study was to investigate the effects of watching text-relevant video segments on reading comprehension of a culturally unfamiliar text when technical words are present or absent. Therefore, 44 adult English Language Learners (ELLs) with higher-intermediate to advanced English language proficiency levels from the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo (UASD) School of Languages located in the Dominican Republic were chosen and randomly assigned to two different groups: control vs. experimental.

First, the researcher compared two different types of reading instruction—traditional text-based vs. video-based reading instruction supported by the Schematic Information-Processing (SIP) model of reading …

Improving Reading Comprehension In Arabic English Language Learners, Amanda Watson

Culminating Experience Projects

While working at a charter school where students first language is Arabic, there has been a concern that Arabic English Language Learners (ELLs) often struggle with reading comprehension and teachers strive to find ways to fit additional instruction in with their rigorous reading curriculum. Therefore, the topic of this project thesis is how to increase reading comprehension for Arabic English Language Learners. It will look at the causes of why some Arabic ELLs struggle with reading comprehension and will briefly explore the differences between the English and Arabic orthographies. An increase and focus on phonological processing skills (specifically phonological awareness) …

Reading In Kapampangan, Filipino, And English: A Look At Multilingual Children In An Economically Challenging Philippine Community, Portia Padilla

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The present studies advance current understanding of the skills and processes involved in multilingual reading, especially in less researched alphabetic languages. These studies examined whether the dominant models in reading in English can explain the reading processes involved among low-income multilingual speakers of Kapampangan (L1), Filipino (L2), and English (L3) in the Philippines, a developing country. Kapampangan and Filipino use the same Roman alphabet that English uses. However, these two languages have transparent orthographies while English has an opaque orthography.

Study 1 examined the psycholinguistic grain size theory within the context of multilingual reading. There were three hundred twenty-six children …

The Impact Of Reading Intervention On Retained Elementary-Age Students, Elizabeth Lazar

Dissertations

Due to historically high rates of retained students, one low-performing school needed to fix the endless cycle of student failure. After implementation of a close reading program, participating students made growth on the state reading test. My main goal was to examine which key elements of this program supported retained third grade students resulting in learning gains. My data showed t-test findings with a statistically significant difference in both scale scores and achievement levels on the state reading assessment.

My recommended policy change provides elementary students with a district-wide close reading program to teach comprehension strategies. Through policy measures, I …

Corpus-Based Data-Driven Learning In Reading English For Academic Purposes, Ira Rasikawati

Education Dissertations

One of the second language (L2) instructional approaches perceived as promising is data-driven learning (DDL) – the use of computer-generated concordances for language teaching and learning. DDL provides students with the opportunity to analyze language forms across contexts found in the concordance output. Notwithstanding the growing research support, DDL has not been widely adopted in L2 classrooms. Studies examining the use of DDL have mostly been carried out in a case study context with a small sample size. To bridge the gap between research and instructional practices, more empirical studies are needed to corroborate the claim that exposing students to …

Exploring The Influence Of Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies (Pals) In Increasing Reading Comprehension Of Grade-Level Biology Text And Biology Self-Efficacy In Students With Learning Disabilities: A Formative Experiment, K. Lea Priestley

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The present study used a formative design experiment framework which does not answer a research question but addresses a pedagogical goal. The goal of this study was to determine the influence of Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies (PALS) on the reading comprehension of grade-level biology text and biology self-efficacy with students diagnosed with learning disabilities. As a result of this intervention, it was expected that students would better understand biology text and feel better about themselves as a biology student.

Students were separated into pairs, or dyads, with each pair having a stronger reader and a weaker reader. These dyads participated in …

The Impact Of Read Aloud With Socratic Discussion On The Literacy And Critical Thinking Skills Of The Elementary Student Submitted On May 21, 2020 In Fulfillment Of Final Requirements For The Maed Degree Lesley Kirk Saint Catherine University St. Paul,, Lesley Kirk

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

This study aims to uncover a link between read aloud with Socratic discussion and its impact on literacy and critical thinking skills. In researching this relationship, both quantitative and qualitative data tools were used. Participants in the study included 60 students from a charter Montessori school in the Southwest United States ranging from grade 1 to 6. Students participated in a six-week intervention. The intervention included a 60-minute read aloud with Socratic discussion session conducted twice a week. The findings indicate that there is a general increase in literacy and reading comprehension skills. In addition, the study was also shown …

Using The Question-Answer Relationship Strategy To Improve Listening Comprehension In Young Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Lisa A. Phalen

Communication Disorders & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

A well-established research base indicates that many children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience deficits in reading comprehension skills. There is currently limited research which examines the relation between the communication and language impairments in ASD and emergent literacy skills in early childhood. Listening comprehension has been identified as one emergent literacy skill closely linked to reading comprehension development. The purpose of the study is to examine the effects of the question-answer relationship strategy (QAR) and QAR cue cards as a shared book reading intervention package on the listening comprehension skills of children with ASD. A single-subject concurrent multiple-baseline …

Improving Literacy Outcomes For Adolescent English Language Learners, Grace Diaz-Peterson

Graduate Teacher Education

As the population of English Language Learners in United States public schools has risen significantly in recent years, the unique academic challenges these students faced, particularly in middle and high school, became more apparent. A widening reading and vocabulary gap between English Language Learners and their native English-speaking peers posed particular barriers in secondary content area classes, where many teachers reported feeling ill-prepared to meet the specialized linguistic needs of their English Language Learner students. This paper analyzed a mix of recent, available qualitative and quantitative research on best practices to improve literacy outcomes for adolescent English Language Learners. As …

The Impact Of Collaborative Strategic Reading On Esl International Students’ Reading Comprehension And Metacognitive Awareness In College, Fatima Benlyazid

Education Dissertations

Many ESL international students struggle with academic reading, which hinders their success in American colleges. Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR) is a multi-component approach that trains struggling readers to apply a set of cognitive and metacognitive strategies to enhance their reading comprehension and content area reading. This quasi-experimental nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest study aims to evaluate the effect of CSR on ESL international students' reading comprehension and their metacognitive awareness in college. The researcher employed Degrees of Reading Power (DRP) and Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies Inventory (MARSI) measurement tools to collect the data. Capturing students' perceptions of CSR in the …

Sources Of Missed Understanding: A Framework For Diagnosing Comprehension Breakdown, Tarr Jennifer

Dissertations

This research sought to understand how a formative assessment framework created by the researcher (called the Sources of Missed Understanding construct) would be used by teachers to diagnose students’ reading comprehension challenges during authentic reading instruction, and to understand the context and supports teachers needed to use the tool effectively. A design experiment methodology was used to follow the diagnostic processes of five reading specialist candidates, each working one-to-one with an upper elementary or middle school reader during a five week summer university-based tutoring setting, resulting in five case studies and cross case analysis. This study shows that teachers who …

How Oral Reading Fluency And Reading Comprehension Are Intertwined, Ivy Rath

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a correlation between oral reading fluency and reading comprehension. Specifically, the study focused on finding if a student who is a highly fluent reader is also strong is comprehension and if a student is a low fluent reader, then they are also low in comprehension. Students were baseline tested at the beginning of the second semester to see where their oral reading fluency and reading comprehension scores were. Throughout the second semester of school, students were progressed monitored based on their baseline scores. Through careful analysis of the data …

We Aren't Living Happily Ever After: Embodying Characters In Readers Theater To Promote Comprehension, Cassandra Angley

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Readers Theater is an old genre of Theater integrating oral interpretation and presentational Theater. The high interest of the scripts chosen for a Readers Theater production and the repetition of rehearsing text promotes fluency, expressiveness, and motivation. Readers Theater is one method that may support comprehension by developing students’ understanding of character. Very few Readers Theater studies measure comprehension. I set-up a study where nine fifth and sixth-grade students from a summer literacy program each embodied a character. I wanted to know if Readers Theater could help teach character comprehension. I created a comprehension assessment tool, called a Character Map, …

Morphological Awareness And Advanced Efl Learners’ Listening Comprehension, Xu Bian

Education Dissertations

This study explored the relationship between morphological awareness and advanced EFL learners’ listening comprehension by deconstructing three multi-dimension constructs, morphological awareness, vocabulary knowledge and listening comprehension. The variables under morphological awareness were compounding and derivational morphology; vocabulary knowledge included both reading and listening vocabulary; listening comprehension was assessed by two different listening tasks whose aural texts and response formats were interviews and multiple choices, and one mini lecture and the gap-filling. Participants were 152 third-year English-majors in two universities in China. The main findings were (1) morphological awareness was a significant predictor of listening comprehension when the latter was measured …

Pairing Young Adult And Classic Literature In The High School English Curriculum, Anne V. Miller

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Literacy experts recommend young adult literature to engage teens and scaffold their developing reading and literary analysis skills. Yet, the American high school English curriculum is dominated by a narrow list of classics, virtually unchanged since the late 19^th century. This static curriculum neither reflects the diversity of American culture nor the lives of students in the 21^st century. Adolescent literacy scholarship can support practitioners by expanding the research on effective strategies for using young adult literature. This research study examines the effects of an intentional pairing of a classic work of literature with a work of young …

The Impact Of The Summarization/Paraphrasing Strategy, Frayer Model, And Student Engagement On Reading Comprehension, Yolanda Janiece Reilly

Education Dissertations and Projects

This mixed-methods research examined student achievement in reading comprehension as measured by the North Carolina End-of-Grade Test for Reading Comprehension, and specific reading strategies (Frayer Model & Summarization/Paraphrasing strategy) in Grades 6–8 classrooms. The purpose of this research was to determine if a difference exists in student reading comprehension achievement between students instructed using the Frayer Model and students instructed using the Summarizing/Paraphrasing strategy, when used with fidelity, and which reading strategy students found to be more engaging between the Frayer Model and Summarization/Paraphrasing strategy. Engagement is a major factor in education that impacts achievement in the classroom as well …

Using Reading Cbm To Predict Performance On Smarter Balanced Assessment, Jonathan Wesley Shank

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This study examined the relationship between AIMSweb oral reading fluency (R-CBM) and reading comprehension (MAZE) curriculum-based measures and performance on the English language arts/literacy (ELA/L) component of the Smarter Balanced Assessment (SBA) using a sample of students in third through fifth grade (N = 499). Pearson correlations between R-CBM, MAZE, and SBA were moderate to high, with R-CBM generally demonstrating the strongest relationships with coefficients ranging from .73 to .75. Results from hierarchical multiple regression models indicated that R-CBM provided strong predictive validity for SBA performance among third grade students (63.4% variance explained, p<.001), while the addition of MAZE to the equation was negligible (1.4% additional variance explained, p<.001). Similar findings resulted from the fourth and fifth grade multiple regression models. The predictive value of R-CBM and MAZE each decreased as grade level increased. Results support continued use of CBM to predict success on the Smarter Balanced Assessment, although CBM using cloze passages explained little variance in high-stakes test scores beyond that of oral reading fluency alone.

Passion And Compassion : Teaching First Graders Reading Comprehension Through Kindness And The Works Of Kevin Henkes, Salvi Muzio

Graduate Student Independent Studies

A literature review in the field of reading comprehension combined with a research-based curriculum created based on the experts and the author's personal experiences both in the classroom as a teacher and a student.

Reading For Deep Understanding : Knowledge Building And Conceptual Artifacts In Secondary English, Marc Nachowitz

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The purpose of this design-based experiment is two-fold: to see if classroom pedagogies can be developed to improve student achievement in English literature as well as prepare them for 21st Century literacies. Applying Bereiter and Scardamalia's theory of Knowledge Building to English curricula, this experiment tracked the progress of a sixth grade Language Arts class as they engaged in creating theories of literary interpretation supported by Knowledge Forum, a computer-supported, on-line learning environment. The study revealed several key findings concerning how knowledge-building can support student's attainment of "high literacy" in the reading of literature, including maintaining idea diversity, the importance …

An Examination Of Instructional Interactions Between Volunteer-Tutors And Students Who Show Differential Gains In Reading Comprehension, Laurie J. Newcomer

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

It is essential to provide high quality interventions designed to improve struggling readers' reading comprehension while making use of limited resources. This study explored, through an holistic, multiple-case study design, volunteer-student interactions and activities in an after school reading program utilizing minimally-trained volunteers. The purpose of this research was to explore and describe factors that differentiated the volunteers working with students who made larger or smaller gains in reading comprehension

Using Literature Circles To Engage Students With Informational Texts, Theresa Marie Anderson

All Graduate Projects

The focus of this project was to review the available research on literature circles as a method of engaging students with informational texts and to create an implementation guide for teachers. The results of the research show that there is a need for effective nonfiction instruction and that including this instruction at the elementary level provides tremendous benefits for students. Literature circles are an effective way to engage students with these informational texts, because they offer an authentic literacy experience and provide students with the kinds of informational text interactions they will encounter in the real world. The project includes …

Bridging The Gap By Using Mini Shared Reading, Ljubica Radisich Quilici

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this study was to investigate an alternative teaching strategy for assisting five first grade students who were struggling with learning how to read. This project examined how Mini Shared Reading, a melding of Shared Reading and Guided Reading, enabled these students to progress five to ten reading levels in five weeks.

Multilevel Text Sets In A Middle School Classroom, Merryl Gladstone

Graduate Student Independent Studies

As students reach middle school, they are expected to read on grade level and to have mastered the complex process of reading. In fact, many students are still mastering the skills necessary for fluent reading of grade level material. The struggling readers need to read instructional level material and receive instruction in decoding, fluency and comprehension. Indeed many middle school students would benefit from reading instruction, as the reading demands in middle school are very different than those faced in elementary school. Middle school reading draws much of its material from expository texts, while elementary school programs typically use narrative …

The Importance Of Phonemic Awareness: Developing Phonemic Awareness In First Grade Students Through A Backpacking Program, Shannon Kaye Sanger

All Graduate Projects

The role of phonemic awareness in beginning reading acquisition was researched. Studies suggested that the presence of phonemic awareness in young children facilitates learning to read. Research also suggested a positive relationship between parental involvement and reading acquisition. A handbook containing activities designed for use in a backpacking program was created. The activities involve parents in developing phonemic awareness in their children. These activities are to be sent home with students and completed with the assistance of their parents. The handbook also contains assessments and instructions for teachers regarding the implementation of this backpacking program.