Theses and Dissertations

Date of Award

2009

Document Type

Dissertation - NSU Access Only

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

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

Advisor

Candace H. Lacey

Committee Member

Shery Bennett

Committee Member

Maryellen Maher

Keywords

Readiness/Reading Skills/Reading Instruction/Proficiency Based Education

Abstract

This applied dissertation examined the impact of America’s Choice Ramp-Up Literacy Program (Ramp-Up) on the targeted sixth-grade students’ reading achievement. The purpose was to determine whether Ramp-Up’s objectives provided students with reading skills, strategies, and the ability to perform tasks in reading and English language arts.

The researcher explored Ramp-Up’s ability to increase students performance by collecting and analyzing students’ scaled scores from the Group Reading Assessment and Diagnostic Evaluation (GRADE) pretest and posttest and the Spring 2007 and 2008 Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) assessments. Using convenience sampling, 46 students were selected based on GRADE scaled scores that were lower than the district’s benchmark score of 96. The statistical method employed was a paired-matching t test. The methodology employed a one-group pretest-posttest design with three steps: (a) preintervention administration of the dependent variable, the GRADE; (b) implementation of the experimental treatment, the Ramp-Up curriculum; and (c) a postintervention administration of the dependent variable, the GRADE. In addition, the 2007 and 2008 MCAS scaled scores were analyzed to compare the mean difference.

Two research questions were established: 1. Did students who participated in Ramp-Up show a statistically significant difference in scaled scores in the area of reading and English language arts between the GRADE pre and post assessments? 2. Did students who participated in Ramp-Up show a statistically significant difference in scaled sores in the area of reading and English language arts between the MCAS 2007 and 2008 assessments? Posttest results revealed that the improvement in GRADE scores was statistically significant (p = .003), using a .05 alpha level. Results derived from the MCAS were not statistically significant (p = .356) based on an alpha level of .05.

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