Date of Award
3-28-2018
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctorate of Education, Ed.D.
College
College of Education
Department
Education
First Advisor
Audrey Rabas, Ph.D.
Second Advisor
Jill Bonds, Ed.D.
Third Advisor
Mary Robinson, Ed.D.
Abstract
A quasi-experimental design investigated the effectiveness of three reading intervention types in increasing reading comprehension, both explicit and implicit, using a sample of 78 students, approximately 17% of the population of third through fifth grades at a single-school, rural, K-12, Central Texas school district with an enrollment of approximately 450. Data was gathered using the Development Reading Assessment (DRA2) and the Qualitative Reading Inventory (QRI-5), conducted during the first semester of the 2017-2018 school year. Reading intervention types included pull-out in a small group using part-to-whole language strategies, a computer-based reading intervention type, and an integrated reading intervention type using whole-to-part language strategies. Most students had a two-year growth in reading levels and an average of a 60% increase in reading comprehension implicitly, explicitly, or both. The strongest factor influencing outcomes was differentiation of reading intervention with a human element. Another strong factor was reinforcement of strategies integrating content and focusing on reading level of the student. Results of this study reinforce the need to intervene on an individualized level of the student, with relevant and meaningful content, and deliverable in a manner befitting learning style and preference. A framework for effective reading intervention program types is presented and supported by the results of this study. This study was unique because it investigated two types of reading comprehension, implicit and explicit, separately to determine the most statistically significant reading intervention type for intermediate students, grades third through fifth.