Effects of a Tier 2 Intervention in Eighth Grade English Classes

Abstract

Many school administrators in the United States continue to struggle with students not meeting the pass rate on statewide assessments. This study examined the effectiveness of a Tier 2 reading intervention, the Wilson Reading System (WRS) that was implemented at a local Virginia school for 1 semester to address the low pass rate on the statewide reading assessments. The framework for this study was based on the multi-tiered systems of support and the response to intervention model. A quasi-experimental pre-post research design was used to examine the differences on two reading assessments after completing the 16-week WRS program. A multivariate analysis of variance was used to examine the change between the 8th grade reading Student Growth Assessment (SGA) pretest and posttest scores, as well as the Lexile scores from the Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI) of the 82 8th grade students that received the WRS intervention. The results indicated a significant difference in the SGA (p \u3c .005) and the SRI Lexile reading pretest and posttest scores (p \u3c .005). These findings led to a recommendation to the school district leadership team to expand their reading intervention program at the middle school and to adequately train teachers on using the WRS. If students can maintain their respective reading grade level, students will be able to not only pass statewide reading assessments but also succeed in other school subjects, increasing the opportunity for students to graduate from high school and obtain successful careers

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