Date of Award
2003
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Programs for Higher Education
Advisor
Kimberley Fatata-Hall
Committee Member
Barbara Packer
Keywords
adolescents, attitudes toward reading, graphic organizers, Jamestown Signature Reading Series, literacy class, Middle School Journal, middle schools, parental involvement, Phi Delta Kappan, Question-Answer Relationships (QAR), reading comprehension, reading comprehension skills, reading materials, reading strategies, reciprocal teaching, Science Research Associates (SRA), self-confidence, seventh-grade students, Standardized Test for the Assessment of Reading (STAR), students, The Reading Teacher Show more lines
Abstract
This applied dissertation was designed to improve the reading comprehension skills of seventh-grade students. A majority of the students in the writer’s literacy class scored poorly on the following reading comprehension instruments: the Standardized Test for the Assessment of Reading (STAR), the Science Research Associates test (SRA), and a reading selection from the Jamestown Signature Reading Series. Failure to succeed on these tests can be discouraging for adolescents and can cause them to develop negative attitudes towards the concept of reading as a whole.
For several months, the writer read multitudinous pieces of educational literature from credible sources (e.g., Middle School Journal, The Reading Teacher, and Phi Delta Kappan) and chose to implement the following strategies because they proved to be successful in other settings: the incorporation and use of reading materials that appealed to the personal interests of her students, parental involvement, and the implementation of effective reading comprehension strategies, e.g., graphic organizers, Question-Answer Relationships (QAR), and reciprocal teaching.
An analysis of pre- and posttest data revealed that students showed improvement in their reading comprehension skills. Positive and verbal comments from students and the quality of their work were indications that their attitudes and self-confidence in the area of reading improved as a result of the intervention.