Date of Award
2003
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Programs for Higher Education
Advisor
Gypsy Abbott
Committee Member
Gilda Outz
Committee Member
Barbara Packer
Keywords
achievement levels, assessments, best practices, Failure Free Reading, Howard Elementary School, leadership domains, learning disabilities, reading achievement, reading intervention, reading perceptions, reading programs, special-needs students, Standardized Test of Assessment of Reading (STAR), supplemental reading program, student achievement, teacher research
Abstract
This study examined the effect of using Failure Free Reading (Lockavitch, 1995) as a supplemental intervention reading program with fourth- and fifth-grade LD students at Howard Elementary School. The reading achievement and reading perceptions of 16 LD students were studied. An overview of the assessments for determining the perceptions and achievement of the students is discussed. Although an analysis of the data indicated some gain in pre- and posttests scores on the Standardized Test of Assessment of Reading (STAR) for some of the students, positive perceptions of reading were noted by all of the LD students in the study.
Implications of the findings suggested that additional research may be warranted in order to obtain the effectiveness of the Failure Free Reading program as compared to other reading programs used in the district. A more traditional study using comparative data is needed.