AN EXAMINATION OF AN EARLY INTERVENTION READING PROGRAM FOCUSING ON THE PROGRESS MONITORING OF LITERACY SKILLS AND THE READING SELF-CONCEPTS OF STRUGGLING READERS

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine progress monitoring, reading self-concept, and the literacy skills of first and second grade struggling readers. Progress monitoring is an instructional process used by teachers to assess students’ academic performance on a regular basis, typically weekly or monthly. When based on the skill level of the student, the targeted remediation, and the goals of the intervention, progress monitoring may be used with various reading interventions. The use of progress monitoring is central to good decision-making in a Response to Intervention model. Academic self-concept has become an integral part of education. Connections have been made regarding academic achievement and academic self-concept. Self-concept specifically of reading is vital in the primary years when the main focus of education is learning to read. This study utilized a quasi-experimental research methodology as well as a correlational design. The sample size of 40 participants consisted of approximately 19 students in the experimental group and 21 students in the comparison group. All students in the experimental group participated in a reading support program with a Language Arts Consultant (LAC). The LAC’s participated in training utilizing progress monitoring and incorporating biweekly follow-up, specific to each individual student’s daily interventions. Students met in groups of three, for 30 minutes, four to five times per week. All struggling readers in the comparison groups were seen in small groups for 30 minutes, four to five times a week. They were instructed by an Early Literacy Tutor (ELT) who had not been trained in and did not utilize progress monitoring. A two-group multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted utilizing core reading words, core writing words, phonemes, and spelling, as the four dependent variables measuring literacy skills. These are four of the nine scores yielded from the Dominie Reading and Writing Assessment Portfolio (DeFord, 2004). The independent variable of reading support group consisted of two levels, progress monitoring and no progress monitoring. Results indicated no significant differences in group means of core reading words, core writing words, phonemes, and spelling. A standard multiple regression procedure was conducted consisting of progress monitoring and reading self-concept as the predictor variables, and literacy skills, as measured by core reading words, as the criterion variable. The Reading Self-Concept Scale (Chapman & Tunmer, 1995a) was utilized to measure struggling readers reading self-concept. Results indicated no significance in progress monitoring and reading self-concept as predictors of students’ literacy skills