Date of Award
2004
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Fischler Graduate School of Education and Human Services
Advisor
Karen Kamin
Committee Member
Meline Kevorkian
Committee Member
Maryellen Maher
Keywords
acquisition, acceleration, achievement, analysis, assessment, at-risk children, balanced literacy, book buddy program, curriculum, Early Intervention Program, emergent literacy, family involvement, first grade, Georgia, Georgia Department of Education, heterogeneous grouping, home-school connection, inclusive classroom, individualized reading, individualized instruction, intervention strategies, kindergarten, literacy acquisition, low-achieving students, reading achievement, reading curriculum, reading instruction, reading progress monitoring, remediation, rural schools, student needs, student progress, struggling students, teaching models, take-home literacy program, traditional pullout method
Abstract
In response to a nation that is plagued with students who have trouble learning to read, many states are in the process of creating change. Schools in systems across the state of Georgia are in the midst of closely examining the effectiveness of the existing curriculum. There are more students identified each year as struggling students. This study examined the existing reading curriculum at Potter Street Elementary School and explored the interventions that assisted this rural school in the teaching of reading.
The Georgia Department of Education created the Early Intervention Program (EIP) in 2000 to assist low-achieving students in kindergarten through Grade 3 in the areas of reading and/or math. However, since the inception of the program, fewer than 25% of Potter Street Elementary School's first-grade EIP students have academically progressed out of the program. This research study used multiple strategies to assist low-achieving, at-risk children in reading.
This applied dissertation utilized a balanced literacy acceleration program as opposed to traditional remediation. An inventive “book buddy” program was developed to strengthen the connection between learning at home and at school. The first-grade EIP sample received instruction in an inclusive classroom as opposed to the traditional pullout method used in previous years. Additionally, the researcher created at home-school component to increase family involvement in the acquisition of literacy skills. Finally, the researcher established a program to assess the reading progress of EIP students consistently throughout the term of the study. This was done to ensure that instructional strategies matched well with individual student needs throughout the course of the study.
An analysis of the data revealed EIP students made academic progress in the area of reading and literacy acquisition. This improvement was due to many factors including utilizing a heterogeneous, inclusive teaching model; encouraging family involvement through the use of a take home book buddy program; and by using consistent and continual instruction for the purpose of individualizing teaching based on the varying needs of the students.