Date of Award
2004
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Fischler Graduate School of Education and Human Services
Advisor
Gypsy Abbott
Committee Member
Gigi Outz
Committee Member
Barbara Packer
Keywords
alabama high school graduation exam, Alma Bryant High School, at-risk students, compensatory education, dropouts, eleventh grade students, English instruction, extended day programs, high school exit examinations, instructional intervention, reading achievement, reading comprehension, reading improvement, reading instruction, reading remediation, reading specialists, reading strategies, remedial reading programs, secondary education, Stanford Achievement Test Ninth Edition, state-mandated programs, student achievement, test preparation, testing, tutorial programs
Abstract
This applied dissertation was designed to create an intervention program at Alma Bryant High School used to increase reading achievement as measured by the Alabama High School Graduation Exam (AHSGE) and Stanford Achievement Test, Ninth Edition (SAT-9). Eleventh graders at Alma Bryant High School had maintained the same reading stanine scores for the past 2 years. Reading scores had the greatest deficiency as language scores were slightly higher. However, reading comprehension and language needed attention. A substantial increase in either or both subtests would allow for an increase in the total reading score.
The writer developed a program whereupon 28 eleventh-grade students who did not meet the requirements for passing the reading subtest of the AHSGE and SAT-9 were enrolled in a state-mandated remedial reading class in which the teacher focused on various reading strategies along with a specialized curriculum geared toward remediation in reading. The students attended an extended day tutorial program to enable the teachers to target specific areas of the reading portion of the AHSGE and SAT-9 with the students. A variety of reading tutorials and activities were used by the teachers to instruct the students to help accomplish the goals of the program.
An analysis of the data revealed an increase in reading skills for 23 of the 28 students who completed the program. Those students who made gains in the area of reading comprehension and passed the reading portion of the AHSGE were reassigned to a standard English class for the next semester. The implementation of the reading program resulted in students’ AHSGE and SAT-9 scores from 2001 to 2002 to improve in reading achievement for many of the students. Consistent instructional intervention will be needed to maintain acceptable reading test scores.