The purpose of this thesis is to examine the differences and similarities between the original version and an easy-to-read version of Selma Lagerlöfs novel Gösta Berlings saga. The method used is close reading of the two versions and thereby analysing descriptions of the environment, descriptions and psychological depth of the protagonist, missing chapters and changes of the plot. The results show that 21 chapters along with large parts from some of the remaining chapters are missing in the easy-to-read version due to not being necessary to the main story line. An alteration has been made in order to make the story line chronological. The use of invocation and personification of nature by Lagerlöf are missing in the easy-to-read version. There is also fewer details mentioned about the environments in the novel, which is resulting in the reader having to fill in the gaps on his own. The descriptions of the protagonist are few and over all quite similar, though some details are left out in the easy-to-read version and some clarifications have been made. There is a bigger difference between how thoughts and feelings are described in the texts, resulting in Gösta being a round and dynamic character in the original version and somewhat more flat and static in the easy-to-read version. These differances effect how a classroom discussion might be implemented, since the teacher must adjust the conversation so that it may be relevant for all participants.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of special accommodations on standardized achievement test scores of students in a school system in East Tennessee. Scores obtained by special education students who did not receive special accommodations in 1998 and/or 1999 were compared with scores obtained by the same students who did receive special accommodations in subsequent testing. Scores obtained by special education students who did receive special accommodations were compared with scores obtained by special education students who did not receive special accommodations. The population consisted of 448 special education students in grades two through eight in a public school system in Upper East Tennessee. All students who received Special Education services and took the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) achievement test with or without special accommodations in 1998, 1999, 2000, and/or 2001. Ninety-nine percent of students who received special accommodations had the accommodations of read aloud internal test instructions and read aloud internal test items. A quasi-experimental design was used. A t-test for independent means, a t-test for paired samples, and a two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to analyze data. As evidenced in this study, special education students who received special accommodations did experience significant gain scores in science, social studies, and math in an initial year they received accommodations. There were significant gains in science and social studies in 2000 for students initially receiving special accommodations. There were significant gains in social studies and math in 2001 for students initially receiving special accommodations. While this study did not find that mean math scores increased statistically significantly in 2000, it is of practical importance to mention that mean math scores did increase substantially. It appears that the benefit of accommodations is not continuous. Students in this study who received special accommodations two consecutive years did not experience noteworthy gain in the second year. Some students, in fact, experienced a significant decrease in gain scores for the second year they received special accommodations.

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It has been common for elementary teachers to read aloud to their students; however, it has not been so common in the middle school. The purpose of this phenomenological case study was to examine how middle school teachers and their students describe the use of read-alouds, including the teachers’ reasons for conducting read-alouds and the students’ descriptions of their experiences with them. Individual interviews and observations were conducted with two teachers and six students to gain the essence of their experiences with read-alouds. Results from this study indicated that what students gained from read-alouds matched the reasons their teachers utilized them. The students described their experiences as enjoyable, helpful to independent reading, motivating, engaging, and a learning opportunity which were all reasons their teachers stated for reading aloud. Findings in this study also indicated the fidelity with which read-alouds were implemented by teachers was impacted by district mandates and the pressure of preparing students for state tests. Results indicated students prospered both cognitively and affectively from listening to teachers read aloud. This study can be used to inform middle school teachers and administrators of the value of using read-alouds. Keywords: Read-Alouds, Middle School Teachers, Middle School Students, Middle School Reading

This study investigated the effectiveness of the READ 180 balanced literacy program in addressing the problem of low reading achievement among urban minority high school students. Research has shown low reading achievement to negatively impact academic and economic success. Holdaway's theory of natural literacy, which suggests reading instruction should be purposeful and realistic, supports READ 180 as a remedial intervention. The specific purpose of the study was to evaluate READ 180 in relation to improving classroom reading achievement, standardized language arts test scores, and graduation rates among students in a low-income, high-minority urban high school. Subjects were 2 cohorts of students consisting of 619 enrolled in READ 180 during the school year of 2007-2008 and 358 students enrolled in READ 180 during the school year of 2010-2011 at an urban high school in New Jersey. Following a goals-based program evaluation design, a paired difference t test was used to evaluate classroom reading achievement; a chi-square test was used to evaluate graduation rates; and a multiple regression analysis controlling for initial status was used to evaluate performance on the standardized language arts test. Findings indicated moderate improvement in classroom reading achievement, no improvement in graduation rates, and strong improvement in standardized test scores only for English learners. Results suggested that a balanced literacy program such as READ 180 may provide effective reading remediation for English learners in low-income urban areas, thereby promoting social change through increased academic success and upward economic mobility.

Writing is so important. It is important in school and in our careers; writing is found to be helpful physiologically and psychologically. Experts wonder, with writing so important, why is writing not being adequately taught in the schools. The answer may be that writing is complex and teaching it is even more complex. The Read-to-Write Strategy is a writing model based on the study of exemplary models of text and children are explicitly taught how to write the way an author writes through a process of the teacher modeling how to write this way; the teacher sharing the writing task with children, and having children collaborate with a partner during the writing task, so that eventually children can independently write text to match the child’s audience and purpose. In this exploratory study, second grade children were explicitly taught a writing strategy that followed the model proposed by Read-to-Write Strategy. This study of writing compared samples of children’s writing before and after they received instruction in the Read-to-Write Strategy. Children made good improvements in their writing and the tests run on the children’s writing samples infer that learning was significant.

The present study examined the relationships among various learner characteristics and reading achievement, as measured by the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT). Using a multiple regression, the independent variables grade, gender, ethnicity, and motivation to read were used to predict the dependent variable, reading achievement. Participants in this study consisted of 585 students from nine elementary, nine middle, and nine high schools across three districts in Florida. Using archival data from a database composed by the Florida Center for Reading Research, the FCAT and Motivation to Read Profile were used to compute reading achievement and motivation to read, respectively. FCAT reading achievement was measured by the participant's Sunshine State Standard score in reading, and motivation to read was measured by student responses on the 4-point likert scale of the Motivation to Read Profile. The findings indicate that grade level and motivation to read were significant positive predictors of FCAT reading achievement, and African American and Hispanic ethnicity status were significant inverse predictors of FCAT reading achievement. African American ethnicity status was the strongest predictor of FCAT reading achievement and motivation to read was the second strongest. Gender and mixed ethnicity status did not significantly predict FCAT reading achievement. Results of this study support the findings of previous research.

<p><strong><strong>Uppsatsens titel:</strong></strong></p><p>Lättläst – för alla?</p><p><strong>Key words: </strong></p><p>Easy-to-Read (Lättläst)<em>, </em>Printed matter (Trycksak)<em>, </em>Readability (Läsbarhet)<em>, </em>Legibility (Läslighet), Reading value (Läsvärde).</p><p><strong>Syfte: </strong></p><p>Vårt syfte med examensarbetet var att med text och layout framställa ett lättläst material, i tryckt form, anpassat till målgruppen.</p><p><strong>Frågeställningar:</strong></p><p>Går det att framställa ett lättläst och tydligt informationsmaterial som fungerar för alla?</p><p>Om det inte går att framställa ett informationsmaterial som fungerar för alla, behövs i stället olika versioner för att alla ska förstå? I så fall hur många versioner?</p><p>Hur ska materialet anpassas till målgruppen när det gäller språkutformning och layout?</p><p><strong>Teori:</strong></p><p> </p><p>Vårt arbetssätt följde den hermeneutiska spiralen. Vi gick från förförståelse och tolkning genom litteratursökning, tidigare forskning och analysering av material och målgrupp, till erfarenheter genom utprovningar. Därefter reviderade vi materialet och vidgade förståelsen genom nya utprovningar och fick återigen ny erfarenhet. Vi fick på så sätt påtaglig kunskap om målgruppens krav och behov.</p><p><strong>Metod:</strong><strong> </strong></p><p>Vi valde att arbeta både kvantitativt och kvalitativt, genom att utföra enkätundersökning samt intervju. Vi använde oss av båda tillvägagångssätten eftersom de kompletterade varandra. De metoder som vi använde oss av var litteratursökning, analysering av material samt målgruppsanalys (intervju- och enkätmetodik). Vi arbetade efter en iterativ metod, det vill säga fortlöpande utprovningar. Under utprovningarna använde vi "tänka högt"-metoden, prestationstest samt synpunkter från experter.</p><p><strong><strong>Slutsats:</strong></strong></p><p>Vår slutsats var att det gick att framställa ett lättläst och tydligt informationsmaterial som fungerade för alla i vår målgrupp, oavsett ålder, kön och bakgrund. Genom utprovningarna framkom det att samtliga av testpersonerna föredrog vår lättlästa version och ingen ansåg att texten var för lätt. Tvärtom var alla positiva till förändringarna i materialet eftersom de förstod informationen och tyckte att innehållet var relevant. Vi skapade ett lättläst material genom att till exempel använda konkreta ord, korta meningar utan bisatser, ordförklaringar, luftig layout samt överskådligt innehåll med tydliga och kortfattade rubriker.</p><p> </p>

<p>This essay, called <em>Motivation and reading comprehension</em>, is a study of the correlation between the motivation to read and the reading comprehension of Swedish students in their final year of school before university level, meaning that they are eighteen or nineteen years old, sometimes more.</p><p>The relation between the identity of the individual and the learning process has been a matter of scientific interest for some time, and this essay works in that tradition by investigating the connection between how pupils regard reading and how well developed their ability to decode text is.</p><p>The reading comprehension is measured through a test that consists of a text from the Swedish epic by Vilhelm Moberg, <em>Invandrarna</em>,<strong> </strong>where the reader at certain intervals throughout the text is asked to<strong> </strong>mark the correct word from a choice of three. This test has been used and evaluated extensively by Per Fröjd, who has found that the results are reliable and useful.</p><p>To measure the motivation to read I’ve constructed a survey to be answered before taking the reading test. It focuses on three different parts of reading motivation that are noted as the most important ones by Ivar Bråten. These are the feeling of joy and interest for reading, the goal to acquire knowledge of a specific subject, and the expectations that you have on yourself as a reader.</p><p>Results show a weak or non-existent correlation between the two factors for the whole of the subjects, but once those who have a first language other than Swedish are removed the correlation becomes significant. There does not appear to be any difference based on gender, at least none that can be divined from these results.</p><p>The analysis does not give any reason to question previous research, and together with earlier studies of compulsory school this means that we can assume that the relation between motivation and reading comprehension is relevant throughout all the stages of schooling.</p><p>Regarding further studies a possible fruitful area of inquiry could be the significance of motivation for the students who are studying at a different language than their first.</p>

<p><strong>Purpose:</strong> my aim was to explore ways that teachers can support students with dyslexia and what/ which tools some teachers / special education teachers use to facilitate students.</p><p><strong>Method:</strong> I used a quantitative method by interviewing some regular teachers and special education teachers</p><p><strong>Results:</strong> In my study, I learned how some teachers can support students by reading loud to them; a main task for the teachers could be to create the love of reading for the students. That task was reinforced by students' self-image.</p>