Date of Award
2003
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Programs for Higher Education
Advisor
Ann Joslin
Committee Member
Doug Eury
Committee Member
Barbara Packer
Keywords
administrators, attitude toward reading, Book of the Month campaign, classroom culture, coordinated process, CRCT, culture of reading, middle school students, observational surveys, One Million Word campaign, organizational culture, parents, positive reading attitude, professional development, questionnaires, reading achievement, reading campaigns, reading comprehension, reading improvement, reading standards, staff members, students, teachers, vocabulary development, Wheeler County Middle School
Abstract
Based on an analysis of the Criterion Referenced Competency Test (CRCT), 30% of 6th-8th graders at Wheeler County Middle school were not meeting state reading standards. Based on evidence from questionnaires and surveys to administrators, parents, students, and teachers, students spent little time reading and have poor attitude toward reading. Students at Wheeler County Middle School simply were not reading enough to build a sufficient vocabulary or an effective level of reading comprehension. Thus, the problem on which this study focused was how to get students to read more and be more positive about reading.
The intervention for this study was the development of a culture of reading. Two reading campaigns were implemented to assist in establishing a culture of reading. These were (a) the Book of the Month campaign and (b) the One Million Word campaign. A coordinated process was put in place whereby all staff members were modeling reading. All staff members received professional development in order to enhance their skills in creating a culture of reading in their classroom or workstations. These strategies involved students, parents, staff members and administrators. The process began in May 2002 and continued until January 2003.
In evaluating the impact of the interventions, the data indicated that a culture of reading was established at Wheeler County Middle School. The data also demonstrated the teachers who fully implemented the elements for organizational culture had more success in their students than teachers who did not fully implement. By January 2003, as compared with May 2002, students were reading more and had a positive attitude about reading, and improved in reading achievement as measured by the 2003 CRCT scores.