Date of Award
2003
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Fischler Graduate School of Education and Human Services
Advisor
Donald Lueder
Committee Member
Carolyn S. Buckenmaier
Committee Member
Barbara Packer
Keywords
Accelerated Reader Program, Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers, Advantage Learning Systems, Alabama, assessment results, fifth grade students, grade level gain, Huntsville, Independent Reading Level, instructional improvement, Monrovia Elementary School, parental involvement, reading, reading assessment, reading comprehension, reading development, reading programs, reading skills, reading strategies, staff development, STAR Reading Assessment, SAT-9, Scott Foresman Reading Program, Stanford Achievement Test, student achievement, test scores, teacher training, upper elementary education, Qualitative Reading Inventory
Abstract
For the past 3 years, the cumulative reading comprehension subtest scores of 5th-grade students at Monrovia Elementary School in Huntsville, Alabama have shown a drop below the 70th percentile on the Stanford Achievement Test. At the 4th-grade level, these same students performed above the 70th percentile.
The researcher proposed the following to improve reading comprehension subtest scores at the 5th-grade level: (a) initial and ongoing staff development related to the implementation of the Accelerated Reader Program (Advantage Learning Systems, 1999) at the 5th-grade level, (b) increased staff development on the present reading program- -the Scott Foresman Reading Program (Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers, 2000)--to help teachers learn skills to teach reading better, and (c) a parental involvement program designed to aid parents in helping their children with reading comprehension development.
The data gathered from the 2002 and 2003 STAR Reading Assessment reports showed an increase in the 5th-grade students at the 6.0 grade level. The 2002 report showed that, of the 145 students in the study, 98 of the students (68%) were reading at the Independent Reading Level (IRL) of 6.0 or above and the 2003 report indicated that 81% were reading at or above the 6.0 grade level. The 2002 Qualitative Reading Inventory (QRI) scores indicated that 62% were reading on the IRL. The April 2003 scores indicated 74% showed a 1-year grade level gain at the IRL. According to the QRI, IRL is when a student can read successfully without assistance. The 5th-grade spring 2002 SAT-9 test results showed a score at the 68th percentile in reading comprehension. The spring 2003 SAT-9 test results showed a score at the 73rd percentile in reading comprehension. The pre- and post assessment results on all 3 assessments indicated improvement in the students’ reading comprehension.