Date of Award
2003
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Speech-Language Pathology
Department
Fischler Graduate School of Education and Human Services
Advisor
Sandra Savinelli
Committee Member
Barbara Packer
Keywords
academic achievement, beginning literacy, early reading, First Grade Students, Iowa Test of Basic Skills, kindergarten students, literacy skills, lower socioeconomic status, mixed descent, Montana, Native American, Native American Indian Reservation, phonemic awareness, phonological awareness, poverty, reading instruction, reading proficiency, reading scores, retrospective experimental study, rural communities, socioeconomic factors, speech-language pathologists, student achievement, Test of Phonological Awareness, tribal communities, unemployment rate
Abstract
This applied dissertation was conducted on a Native American Indian Reservation in rural, northwest Montana. Ninety-six percent of the student body is Native American and mixed descent. According to tribal and Bureau of Indian Affairs unpublished data files, the reservation has a 95% unemployment rate. This reservation has poverty levels and lack of academic achievement typical of many lower socioeconomic status areas.
According to district records, the mean Iowa Test of Basic Skills (Riverside Publishers, 1998-2000), reading stanine has been less than the 4th stanine for at least the past ten years. Scores in the 5th stanine are considered proficient. This speech-language pathologist conducted this retrospective experimental study, Phonemic Awareness and Beginning Literacy Skills in Lower Socioeconomic Native American Kindergarten and First Grade Students to determine if daily, developmentally sequenced phonemic awareness activities would demonstrate (1) a significant increase in the Test of Phonological Awareness (Torgesen & Bryant, 1994, TOPA) scores for the K-1 students from pre to post testing, (2) a significant increase in the TOPA scores for the K-1 students when comparing the control and experimental conditions, (3) a significant increase in the ITBS (Riverside Publishers, 1998-2000, ITBS) reading scores for the first grade when comparing the control and experimental conditions, and (4) a significant increase in the number of students at or above the 5th stanine on the TOPA when comparing the control and experimental groups.
Significant differences were found between the control and experimental conditions on the TOPA when comparing the mean post scores. The first grade experimental group did not demonstrate a significant difference on the ITBS reading test when compared to the students in the control group. As a result of this intervention, a significantly higher percentage of students in the experimental condition achieved scores at or above the 5th stanine on the TOPA when compared to the control condition, indicating a proficient level with phonemic awareness skills. Limitations of this study along with suggestions for further research regarding beginning literacy skills in lower socioeconomic status students are presented.