Date of Award
2003
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Programs for Higher Education
Advisor
Clifford Claiborne
Committee Member
Lucille Beisner
Committee Member
Barbara Packer
Committee Member
Claudia Santin
Keywords
achievement, cognition, comprehension strategies, control group, curriculum model, DePriest Elementary School, experimental group, Federal Lunch Program, heterogeneously mixed students, Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS), parent involvement, parent training, performance, primary students, professional development, reading, reading comprehension, reading curriculum, reading instruction, reading strategies, schemata, socioeconomic status, standardized assessments, strategic reading instruction, student performance, teacher beliefs, teacher practices, teacher training, third grade students
Abstract
Students at DePriest Elementary School were performing poorly on standardized assessments in reading comprehension. The possible causes of low student performance were (a) teachers’ beliefs and practices, (b) the reading curriculum, (c) students’ lack of knowledge as to how to read for meaning, and (d) the lack of parent involvement in their children’s schooling.
This dissertation examined the improvement of students’ reading comprehension performance through the use of strategic reading instruction, professional development of teachers, and parental involvement. It examined whether instructing students in the use of comprehension strategies improved their reading comprehension performance.
A reading comprehension strategies curriculum model was developed with the assistance of a third grade teacher who volunteered to participate in the study. There were 54 third grade students and their classroom teachers involved. The students were a heterogeneously mixed group of students with common instructional needs and abilities as evidenced by the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) and their socioeconomic status according to the Federal Lunch Program.
Three intervention strategies were applied as a part of this study. They were: implementing a curriculum model, teacher training, and parent training. These interventions were applied for a full school year.
Strategies instruction had a positive impact on students’ reading comprehension achievement. Strategies instruction helped students to plan, monitor, analyze, and regulate their reading. The experimental group performed better on the ITBS Reading Comprehension subtest than their control group peers.