Theses and Dissertations

Date of Award

2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice

Advisor

Roz Doctorow

Committee Member

Linda Gaughan

Committee Member

Kimberly Durham

Keywords

archival data, digital instructional tools, early childhood development, early learning interventions, early reading development, early reading skills, Head Start, i-Ready, independent t-test, kindergarten, literacy interventions, preschool programs, progress monitoring, quantitative data analysis, reading achievement, reading diagnostic tests, SPSS, technology-based literacy interventions, urban K-8 Center Program

Abstract

This applied dissertation was designed to investigate the preparedness of kindergarten children in early reading skills, drawing comparisons from their experiences in comparable preschool programs and to gain insight about how to address the problem of low early reading skills among children entering kindergarten. Using archival data from i-Ready reading diagnostic tests over a 4-year period (2021-2022 to 2024-2025), the researcher compared students who attended an urban K-8 Center Head Start program (n=47) with students from other preschools (n=33).

The researcher conducted an independent t-test with SPSS, version 30 software, to analyze differences at the baseline (Assessment Period 1) and the middle of the year (Assessment Period 2) assessments. The results of the quantitative data analysis revealed a statistically significant improvement in kindergarten students’ early reading scores following the introduction of i-Ready resources to the curriculum. However, no statistically significant differences were found in reading achievement between students from Head Start and those from other preschool programs, both at the baseline (Assessment Period 1) and at the middle of the year (Assessment Period 2) assessments. An analysis of the data revealed that students from the Head Start Program performed, on average, higher than their peers from other preschool programs, although this difference was not statistically significant.

These findings suggested that technology-based literacy interventions enhanced early reading development for all students, regardless of preschool experiences. The researcher highlighted the capabilities of digital instructional tools to support foundational literacy skills and substantiated the importance of progress monitoring of early learning interventions.

Download
Share Feedback

Share

COinS