Date of Award
1-1-1992
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Center for the Advancement of Education
Advisor
Joan M. Mignerey
Committee Member
Thrisha Shiver
Committee Member
David S. Flight
Keywords
achievement testing, assessment, Basic Skills Assessment Program, Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills, educational intervention, eighth grade, Granard Junior High School, instructional materials, instructional strategies, junior high school students, ninth grade, parent involvement, percentile scores, reading achievement, reading assessment, reading instruction, reading performance, reading skills, reading test scores, remedial education, remedial placement, remedial reading, school improvement, standardized testing, student achievement, student motivation, target group intervention, test performance, variety of instruction methods
Abstract
This report describes a project for improving the reading achievement of rising ninth grade remedial reading students at Granard Junior High School. The problem was noted when the standardized achievement test scores in reading at Granard Junior High School continued to fall below those of other students in the school district and in the state in 1988-89.
Analysis of the problem symptoms revealed that 54.6% of the students who took the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills (CTBS) in 1989-90 at Granard Junior High School in grade seven scored below the 50th national percentile. Additionally, the results of the eighth grade S. C. Basic Skills Assessment Program (BSAP) testing in Spring 1990, revealed that 35.4% of the students scored below the state standard in reading resulting in remedial placement.
The literature and interviews with knowledgeable others supported intervention in the areas of increasing parent involvement, variety of instructional strategies, appropriate assessment and materials, and improved student motivation as solutions to the problem. The intervention strategies resulted in an average improvement of 19% in the number of students who scored at or above the standard score in reading on the BSAP Test and an average increase of four percentile points for the target group on the CBS total reading battery.