Date of Award
2004
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Fischler Graduate School of Education and Human Services
Advisor
Karen B. Kamin
Committee Member
John B. Lustig
Committee Member
Maryellen Maher
Keywords
achievement, assessment, assistant principal, coaching, curriculum specialist, direct instruction, Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, grade 3, grade 5, guidance counselor, high risk students, instructional strategies, learning disabilities, learning styles, mentoring, mixed-ability grouping, peer mentoring, phonics, Pinellas Instructional Assessment Plan, principal, reading achievement, reading assessment, reading attitudes, reading diagnosis, reading improvement, reading instruction, reading program, reading strategies, retention, small group instruction, specific learning disabilities, student retention, teacher involvement, Title I teachers
Abstract
The goal of this study was to increase the reading achievement of 3rd-grade students in order to maintain little or no mandatory retention based on the new state law related to Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test scores. In the 2002-2003 school year, Maximo MicroSociety® Elementary School’s 3rd-grade mean score was 256 on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test compared to the district’s mean score of 292. An analysis of the 3rd-grade reading Pinellas Instructional Assessment Plan scores for the 2001-2003 school years indicated that the percentage of the school’s students reading below grade level was greater than that of the district. The percentages of 3rd-grade students were 36% and 55%, respectively, as compared to the district’s 30% and 30%.
The intervention strategies included the following: (a) small mixed-ability grouping for reading instruction, (b) an assessment of 3rd-grade students’ and teachers’ learning styles in order to individualize instruction, (c) incorporation of the concept of a phonics-based reading program (direct instruction), and (d) peer mentoring/coaching. These strategies involved the 3rd-grade and 5th-grade students, 3rd-grade teachers, curriculum specialist, Title I teachers, specific learning disabilities teachers, guidance counselor, assistant principal, and principal.
A combination of the 4 interventions helped increase the 3rd-grade students’ reading achievement as evaluated based on the results of the 3rd-grade students’ April 2004 Pinellas Instructional Assessment Plan assessment. These interventions also decreased the number of students retained at the 3rd-grade level. The 2003 and 2004 retention data were compared to show a decrease of 3rd graders being retained.