The Effects of Technology on Reading Fluency in a First Grade Summer School Classroom

The purpose of this action research project was to determine if the technology app EPIC! is more effective in helping first-grade students increase their oral reading fluency skills compared to a teacher-assisted, non-technological intervention. Before the interventions began, the students completed three oral timed reading passages at the first-grade level by FASTbridge. This score was used as a baseline for the data. The intervention lasted for two weeks. The experimental group completed stories on the application EPIC! for 15 minutes each session, while the control group completed research based educational games with the researcher. Both were done in addition to all students receiving regular classroom reading instruction. A post-test was then given to determine how all students’ fluency skills were affected by the intervention using three FASTbridge passages at the first-grade level. The data collected was used to determine how many words per minute a student read on the pre-test versus the post-test. The findings indicated that students in the teacher-assisted, non-technological intervention improved fluency scores by seven more words correct per minute compared to the experimental group using EPIC! only increased fluency by one more word correct per minute

Reading Instruction for Students with Emotional Disturbance: A Mixed-Methods Investigation.

Although there is a substantial body of observation research investigating the manner in which reading instruction is provided to students with learning disabilities, there is little research in this area involving students with and at risk for emotional disturbance. The purpose of this investigation was to contribute to the limited corpus of observation studies investigating school-based practice in reading for this student population. In this investigation, 11 teachers from two states were systematically observed while providing reading instruction over the course of the 2017-2018 school year. Participating students were also observed over the course of the year and completed two standardized reading assessments at the beginning and end of this investigation. Teachers were also interviewed to identify contextual factors that promote or impede the provision of high quality reading instruction to this student population. Study findings suggest that teachers are in need of additional training, support, and resources to maximize instructional time. Students in this sample tended to make no or minimal progress in reading and were frequently observed displaying low levels of academic engagement across settings. Implications for school practice and areas for future research are discussed

Assisted Reading with Digital Audiobooks for Students with Reading Disabilities

The goal of this study was to compare the efficacy of assisted reading with digital audiobooks with the traditional practice of sustained silent reading (SSR) in terms of reading fluency and reading attitude with upper elementary students with reading disabilities. Treatment group participants selected authentic children’s literature and engaged in assisted reading with digital audiobooks four to five times per week over an eight-week implementation period. Results showed that while all students demonstrated growth in reading fluency as calculated by words read correctly per minute, the growth of the treatment group far outweighed that of the control group. There was no significant difference in reading attitude scores. Consequently, this study shows that teachers can promote greater growth in reading fluency when assisted reading with digital audiobooks is implemented in the place of SSR

Avoiding the Summer Slide: Tier One and Two Supports Targeting Early Readers

For more than 100 years, the “summer slide,” or the learning losses by students following a long summer break have been well documented. On average, a typical student loses a little more than one month’s worth of skill across each academic area (e.g., language arts and mathematics) throughout the summer months. Research has also demonstrated that the “summer slide” has a particularly harmful impact on reading achievement of students from low-socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of a tiered system of support for oral reading fluency in early elementary school aged students a summer day camp program to mitigate some of the academic loss that typically occurs. All students attending the summer day camp completed a survey-level assessment (SLA) process using AIMSweb materials to determine their instructional level with reading. Following the assessment, students were placed in tiered groups where they received intervention up to three times a week for 30 minutes and were progressed monitored weekly. Results were mixed across participants; however, nine of the 11 participants made gains by the end of the summer, and four of 11 participants performed above the predicted summer slide for the grade level they had completed in the spring. Limitations and future directions for research are also discussed for furthering supports in this area

Time to Act: An Agenda for Advancing Adolescent Literacy for College and Career Success

Presents a vision for literacy instruction from fourth through twelfth grade; examines the challenges; outlines the elements of success, including professional development and use of data; and lays out a national agenda for change based on case studies

Evaluation of computerized reading intervention

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a computer-based reading intervention with eight elementary school children. This program, called the Reading Center, utilizes repeated reading, listening passage preview, word drills, and comprehension questions. A multiple baseline design was used to evaluate the intervention effects on oral reading fluency. Results indicated growth in all eight children, with increases between 8.7 and 20 words per week for intervention passages. The implications of the results for the use of computer-delivered interventions are discussed

Improving reading fluency in a struggling reader by using repeated reading strategies and spelling pattern writing interventions

The purpose of this case study is to examine using repeated reading interventions along with spelling pattern writing interventions to improve a struggling reader with ADHD\u27s oral reading fluency. The interventions in this study occurred over 10 sessions with the target student. The methods used in the study resulted in improvement both over daily fluency intervention sessions as well as over the entire case study. While the impact of the writing interventions as compared to the reading interventions on the student\u27s oral reading fluency was unclear, the student\u27s oral reading fluency was positively impacted over the course of the case study. The current study suggests that struggling readers would benefit from literacy interventions that focus on improving oral reading fluency

Principal Instructional Leadership Effect On High School Students’ Literacy Achievement

The purpose of this applied study was to further understand the problem of poor literacy achievement among high school students and to design interventions for school leaders to impact and improve high school students’ literacy. Fifteen Florida secondary principals’ self-perceived instructional leadership behaviors were scored using the three dimensions of the Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale (PIMRS). The independent variables were the principal’s instructional behaviors, and the dependent variable was sophomore students’ Florida Standards Assessment English Language Arts school level scores for the 2016–2017 school year. In addition, semi-structured interviews were conducted using four open-ended questions to gather further information about instructional leadership behaviors that contributed to students’ literacy achievement. The study is grounded in the research of Bandura’s social cognitive theory. The survey, demographic, and student achievement data were analyzed through the use of Pearson’s product-moment correlation coefficient. Interviews were transcribed resulting in six common themes to all participants. Results revealed no significant relationship between the instructional leadership behaviors of Florida high principals and student reading achievement levels

AN EXAMINATION OF THE PROPERTIES, USES AND INTERPRETATIONS OF FIRST GRADE READING SCREENING TOOLS IN ONE SCHOOL DISTRICT

Early identification of children who are likely to struggle to achieve reading proficiency is essential to providing them timely access to effective interventions. Thus, universal screening is a critical feature of preventative service delivery models that identify students at risk and provide early support for reading difficulties. As schools choose assessment tools for this purpose, three aspects of universal screening tools are especially important to consider: appropriateness for the intended use, technical adequacy, and usability. Using these standards for assessment review, this study investigated two screening tools commonly used to identify first-graders at risk for reading failure: the Aimsweb Tests of Early Literacy (TEL) and Reading Curriculum Based Measurement- Reading (R-CBM), and the Developmental Reading Assessment-Second Edition (DRA2), an informal reading inventory (IRI). First, test materials were examined for evidence of alignment to important constructs of interest, usability, and technical adequacy. A questionnaire was employed to gather information from twelve first-grade educators from four elementary schools in one diverse suburban district about decisions made using data from each assessment. Finally, to examine predictive validity, an important aspect of technical adequacy, scores on each screening tool as well as third-grade outcome measures were analyzed for 269 students in the participating district. Results indicated that the TEL measures were more closely aligned to early reading constructs of interest than the DRA2, and also demonstrated more efficient usability characteristics. However, the educator questionnaire revealed that both assessments are endorsed by teachers for the purpose of screening. While both tools are indeed predictive of later reading achievement, neither resulted in adequate classification accuracy to be recommended for use as a stand-alone screening tool. In addition, the DRA2 resulted in high levels of problematic false negative screening results, meaning that it under identifies students at risk, potentially neglecting students’ access to timely intervention. Analysis of classification accuracy for subgroups including English language learners and students eligible for free and reduced lunch revealed that classification accuracy varies by subgroup membership, affecting the predictive validity of screening tools with these populations. Implications for practice and future research are addressed

EXAMINING THE EFFECTS OF MODE OF DELIVERY OF A READING FLUENCY INTERVENTION USING A RANDOMIZED EXPERIMENTAL ALTERNATIVE-TREATMENTS DESIGN

The importance of reading fluency has been established. Requirements under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act include increased expectations to utilize evidence based interventions and the expectation of accountability for all students and schools to improve. Teachers are facing challenges trying to incorporate researching findings into their classroom practice while meeting the needs of their students and dealing with limited resources. Advances in computer, literacy and communication technology have resulted in the development of new possibilities for intervention. With districts facing these pressures, it is important to explore the relationship between method of delivery of interventions and outcomes so schools can make informed decisions. This study examined whether the delivery method of a multi-component reading fluency intervention (traditional vs. computer-led) made a difference in helping to effectively increase oral reading fluency (ORF) of third grade students who were identified as at risk. Read Naturally was chosen as the intervention system for this study as it is supported in the research, is a package often utilized by schools, and offers several methods of delivery. Among their products, they offer both a traditional package (led by teacher and/or audio CD), and a web-based cloud product that is a computer facilitated version of the same intervention. These products have not been compared. A randomized experimental repeated measures design was used to test whether method of delivery of the intervention effected rate of improvement (ROI) in ORF for students. Results indicate that while there was no difference in ROI for students based on group, students in the computerized intervention group had significantly higher gain scores than students in the traditional format group. The computer-facilitated intervention also resulted in greater ease of implementation. There were no differences among generalized outcome measures and measures of student engagement