Date of Award
6-1-1990
Document Type
Practicum
Degree Name
Master of Science
Department
Center for the Advancement of Education
Advisor
Dr. Joan Horn
Keywords
appendices, automatic word recognition, baseline performance, brigance diagnostic inventory of basic skills, brigance test, heathington attitude scale, learning disabled students, modeling, oral reading, reading comprehension, reading rate, repeated reading, sample story map questions, taped reading
Abstract
This practicum addressed the need to develop an alternative method of teaching reading to learning disabled students who have experienced little success in this area. The necessity for implementation was documented by students' 1989 scores on the Brigance Diagnostic Inventory of Basic Skills, reading portion. A baseline of students’ pre-intervention performance in oral reading, comprehension, and word recognition both in context and in isolation was established. These scores were compared with post-intervention scores and with students' 1990 scores on the Brigance Test, reading portion. The Heathington Attitude Scale was administered pre and post intervention to determine positive changes in students’ attitudes toward reading. The ten week implementation period focused on the use of repeated taped reading instruction with modeling to improve fluency, comprehension and automatic word recognition. In addition, the teacher gave corrective feedback. The students answered story map questions both orally and in written form. The practicum results supported the need to develop a reading program that is frustration and failure proof for use with the learning disabled child. Appendices include the Heatington Attitude Scale, Intermediate Level, sample story map questions, samples of students' work.