The Effects of the Read 180 Program on Oral Reading Fluency, Linguistic Comprehension, and Reading Comprehension with Secondary Special Education Students

There is great concern about secondary special education students reading achievement in decoding, listening comprehension, and reading comprehension. The READ 180 Program is an evidence and scientific based reading program that includes direct instruction, computer aided instruction, and reading materials that are high interest and implement the common core. The purpose of this study was to see the differences in oral reading fluency, linguistic comprehension, and reading comprehension in a pretest posttest model over a fourteen-week testing period. Ten ninth grade secondary students who were reading below the 25th percentile were instructed with the READ 180 Program with fidelity (90 minutes a day, four days a week, for fourteen weeks). The students were pretested and posttested with the Listening Comprehension Adolescent and the Gate MacGinitie Reading Comprehension Test. The students oral reading fluency was progressed monitored weekly with one minuet timed eighth grade reading probes from easyCBM that tracked total words read correctly, and the total number of miscues (words mispronounced, or omitted). The results showed that the students increased in the number or words read correctly and had a statistically significant decrease in miscues. In addition, on the Listening Comprehension pretest and posttest, the students realized a statistically significant increase on their posttest scores. The reading comprehension pretest and posttest scores did not see any change over the fourteen-week testing period. The results of the study conclude that the READ 180 Program had an effect on the student\u27s oral reading fluency and listening comprehension posttest scores

Search-based amorphous slicing

Amorphous slicing is an automated source code extraction technique with applications in many areas of software engineering, including comprehension, reuse, testing and reverse engineering. Algorithms for syntax-preserving slicing are well established, but amorphous slicing is harder because it requires arbitrary transformation; finding good general purpose amorphous slicing algorithms therefore remains as hard as general program transformation. In this paper we show how amorphous slices can be computed using search techniques. The paper presents results from a set of experiments designed to explore the application of genetic algorithms, hill climbing, random search and systematic search to a set of six subject programs. As a benchmark, the results are compared to those from an existing analytical algorithm for amorphous slicing, which was written specifically to perform well with the sorts of program under consideration. The results, while tentative at this stage, do give grounds for optimism. The search techniques proved able to reduce the size of the programs under consideration in all cases, sometimes equaling the performance of the specifically-tailored analytic algorithm. In one case, the search techniques performed better, highlighting a fault in the existing algorith

The Correlation of Reading Outside School and Reading Proficiency

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between time spent reading outside of school and reading proficiency, as measured by the Reading Comprehension component of the California Achievement Test. The underlying philosophy of this research stressed that the best way to develop reading ability is to provide abundant opportunity for experiencing reading. The research was conducted at a small, rural school in western New York State. As part of the recreational reading program, Book-It!, students were required to record the amount of reading they did outside of school each day for five months. The students\u27 reading proficiency was determined using the grade equivalency score obtained on the Reading Comprehension subtest of the California Achievement Test (C.A.T.), which was part of the research site\u27s district-wide yearly testing. These numbers were then statistically analyzed to determine the predictive relationship of time spent reading outside of school and reading proficiency, as determined by the Reading Comprehension subtest of the C.A.T. The results of this study indicate that there is no relationship between the number of minutes a student spends reading outside of the classroom and his reading proficiency. There does appear to be a strong educationally important difference in the amount of growth shown on the Reading Comprehension subtest of the C.A.T. and the number of months a student chooses to participate in a recreational reading program

THE USE OF GROUP WORK ACTIVITIES TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION AT LANGUAGE PROGRAM OF MAN 1 PEKANBARU

Ecal Ade Yansyah. 2010. The Use of Group Work Activities to Improve Students’ Reading Comprehension at Language Program of MAN 1 Pekanbaru. The purpose of this research is to investigate students who were taught to read by using group work activities have better reading comprehension than who were taught to read by using comprehension questions approach at Language Program of MAN 1 Pekanbaru. To do this research, two groups of students (experimental and control groups) at Language Program of MAN 1 Pekanbaru participated in the research. Each group had different treatment; therefore the research design follows the pre-test post-test control group design. In the other words, this research was aimed to determine whether two techniques in teaching reading were significantly different in improving students’ reading comprehension. They are group work activities and comprehension questions approach. This research was done for eight meetings. The data had been collected from pre-test and post-test measuring students’ reading comprehension. After doing the both tests, the data had been managed to get the score for each student and then to get the average of each class. The instrument consists of 40 reading comprehension test. The researcher made the test in form of multiple-choice. The posttest and the pretest were developed based on the curriculum and the students’ textbook. Therefore, the researcher assumed that tests had content validity. The researcher checked the reliability of the instrument by analyzing the try out result by using Hoyt’s formula. To describe whether the hypothesis is accepted or rejected, the researcher used the analysis of t-Test formula. Pretest results showed that there was no significant difference of result on students’ reading comprehension. However, posttest results in each research classes showed, it was found in the T-table that t (tt.ts.5% = 2.05 and tt.ts1% = 2.76) so the researcher could know that to was bigger than tt; is that: 2.05 2.76. In conclusion, according to the result of the hypothesis testing, teaching reading by using group work activities is effective to improve students’ reading comprehension at grade XI of Language Program in MAN 1 Pekanbaru

The Effects of a Directed Reading-Thinking Approach in the Teaching of Reading on the General Reading Comprehension Scores and Inferential Comprehension Scores of Third Grade Students

The purpose of this research was to investigate the effects of a directed reading-thinking approach in the teaching of reading on the general and inferential comprehension scores of third grade students of average reading ability. The subjects consisted of 32 third grade students, 17 males and 15 females, of average reading ability. The subjects were divided into two comparable average reading groups. One group was assigned as the control group and followed a regular basal reading program. The other group was designated as the experimental group and was taught by this investigator using a directed reading-thinking approach in the teaching of reading. The experimental group received directed reading-thinking activities to help foster higher-order levels of thinking. General comprehension and inferential comprehension scores for both groups were obtained from the comprehension section of The Stanford Achievement Test. The mean raw scores for both groups in regard to general and inferential comprehension were tested for significance at the .05 level using an independent t-test of correlated means. The data failed to reject both null hypotheses. A directed reading-thinking approach did not significantly augment general and inferential comprehension. Despite the fact no significant difference were achieved between the two groups, the experimental group did perform better than the control group. The findings suggest that perhaps under optimal testing conditions a directed reading-thinking approach could significantly help to increase general and inferential comprehension

Impact of a state sponsored intervention program on reading comprehension scores

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the impact of the state sponsored Ramp-Up Literacy intervention program on reading comprehension test scores as measured by Mississippi\u27s Subject Area Test Program (SATP) and the Mississippi Curriculum Test, Second Edition (MCT 2). There were 252 participants representing three school districts over three testing years. Each school district selected program participants based on reading test scores, teacher recommendations, and grades. A paired samples-t test was the statistical analysis used to determine significance through pretest and posttest outcomes for each program year. The effect size d was also used to determine whether the change in test scores was small, moderate, or significant. All schools did experience a change in effect size each year of intervention. However, they did not all experience significance based on t-test results each year

Relationships between cognitive styles and written composition of African American ninth grade students in a metropolitan school district in Western Michigan /

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationships that exist between cognitive styles, and written composition. The procedure included testing 200 ninth grade students in six high schools in a metropolitan school district in western Michigan, with the Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT). The median for the GEFT scores was the criterion used to form two categories of cognitive styles, low field-independent and high field-independent. The writing items of the Michigan Education Assessment Program (MEAP) Eighth Grade Writing Test, provided the measures for writing comprehension. Analyses of one-way ANOVA were performed to determine whether there were statistically significant differences between low field-independent and high field-independent subjects in written composition. The analysis of the data revealed a statistically significant difference for the measure of written comprehension, F (l, 198) = 214.62, P \u3c .05. The written comprehension of raw scores were higher for high field-independent subjects than for low field-independent subjects. The result of the styles were manifested in written composition. The data suggested that written comprehension is likely to differ remarkably as a function of cognitive styles. The disposition to process information in a more articulated or less articulated manner is reflected in writing

Understanding reading comprehension : multiple and focused strategy interventions for struggling adolescent readers

The purpose of this study was to investigate methods for improving reading comprehension among struggling adolescent readers. More specifically, this study was concerned with: the effectiveness of pull-out intervention for reading outcomes in this population; the most effective type of intervention; and the contributions of instructional method to reading comprehension after decoding has been removed. These questions were answered with the help of 29 students from a rural school division in Saskatchewan who volunteered to participate in testing and various forms of reading intervention for a period of four to five weeks. Students were placed into one of three groups: the MSI group practiced decoding and learned six comprehension strategies; the FSI group practiced decoding and learned just two comprehension strategies; and the control group who participated in their typical education program. In sum, the analysis produced the following results: 1.Pull-out intervention (pre-test M = 6.00; post-test M = 7.33) did not offer a statistically significant advantage over the typical classroom setting (pre-test M = 7.00; post-test M = 7.05) when attempting to remediate reading comprehension; 2.Participants in the MSI group demonstrated significant improvement on measures of decoding (p = .001; ©¯p2 = .75); 3.Although statistical testing did not reveal significant results, effect sizes were large for: participants in the MSI group on measures of fluency (©¯p2 = .39); participants in the FSI group on measures of fluency (©¯p2 = .53) and the Oral Reading Quotient (©¯p2 = .37); participants in the control group on measures of decoding (©¯p2 = .21), comprehension (©¯p2 = .38), fluency (©¯p2 = .32), and the Oral Reading Quotient (©¯p2 = .50); and 4.Decoding accounted for a statistically significant 15.4% of the unique variance in post-test comprehension scores (p = .03), but differences in grouping contributed a negligible amount (p = .1; R2 change = .004)

Can a computerized reading therapy protocol augment auditory comprehension in severe aphasia?

Treatment of severe aphasia has historically been very difficult to remediate, and efficacious treatment options for this type of aphasia are limited (Samo et al., 1970). A person with aphasia demonstrates impairment in the understanding of and expression of oral language. Also, due to the multi-modal nature of aphasia, an individual with aphasia will usually demonstrate impairment in reading abilities as well. The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not a computerized reading therapy program could augment auditory comprehension. Utilizing a single-subject, ABA design, we evaluated the effects of computerized ORLA (Chemey, 2010) on an individual with severe aphasia. Qualitative results yielded improvements in both auditory comprehension and verbal expression, as well as gains in confidence within the subject. Failure to establish a stable baseline led to the inability to statistically analyze results. Several of the testing modalities showed no marked improvement, and possible reasons for these responses are presented. This study signifies the need for further research into ORLA as it could be an invaluable resource for individuals with severe aphasia.B.S. (Bachelor of Science

Predictive measurements of college success : a study of the relationship between the freshman testing program and college success at the University of Richmond

The writer undertook this study with several objectives in view. Primarily it was desired to study the exact statistical relationship between academic success at University of Richmond and each of several scores obtained in the freshman testing program. More specifically, it was desired to check the predictive ability of: (1) the Q or quantitative score, (2) the L or linguistic score, (3) the T or total score, (sum of Q and L scores) obtained from the American Council on Education Psychological Examination for College Freshmen. In addition to this, it was desired to compute the validity coefficient for another test of the battery, the Cooperative Reading Comprehension Test. This is one of three complete tests which are combined in the testing program to make up the Cooperative English Test. Finally, it was the purpose of this study to review the literature for reports of previous investigations of this and closely related problems. This was done not only as a check on the writer\u27s findings, but to prevent him from covering over-investigated territory. Also, it was a search for an indication of the most profitable direction of exploration