Text

theses

Reading achievement at the third grade is predictive of ongoing academic success (Brown-Chidsey & Steege, 2005; Hernandez, 2011; Torgeson, 2002). While most students will respond well to effective classroom instruction, 20-30% of students will require additional reading supports (Vaughn & Denton (2008). Therefore, literacy achievement in the elementary school is a primary concern for educators (Pressley & Allington, 2014) and elementary schools need to be equipped to provide supplemental reading instruction to students who are not meeting grade level expectations. The purpose of this utilization focused evaluation study was to examine what happened when a Basic Skills Reading Program (BSRP) was implemented in an elementary school and to understand what factors shaped program implementation. This study also aimed to understand the perceived impacts of the supplemental reading program on students’ reading achievement. Data was gathered from a researcher journal, which documented my daily experiences as the BSRP instructor throughout the first six months of program implementation. To gain a broader perspective of the implementation of the BSRP, nine classroom teachers were interviewed, and twelve classroom teachers participated in an anonymous, online survey. Data from the interviews and survey as well as scores from students’ reading benchmark assessments were used to obtain a preliminary understanding of how the program might have impacted student participants. Data analysis involved coding data sources in alignment with research questions. Looking across the codes, bigger themes within the data were identified to create a rich description of the implementation of the BSRP, to identify strengths and challenges to implementing the program, and to describe the perceived impact of the BRSP on student achievement. Findings from this study suggest that the BSRP increased reading achievement among most of its student participants. Classroom teachers reported increased reading self-efficacy as well as improvements in students’ ability to decode words, reading fluency, and comprehension of texts. Additionally, this study found that several contextual factors influenced program implementation. While the compatibility and adaptability of the BSRP seemed to facilitate the successful adoption and implementation of the program, time and resources posed challenges. These findings have been used to inform the revision of the program in the 2017-2018 academic year.

ETD_8800

Ed.D.

Includes bibliographical references

by Lauren Opiela

doi:10.7282/T3BK1GSJ

ETD doctoral

The author owns the copyright to this work.