Thesis (Ed. D.)--West Virginia University, 2003. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 172 p. : ill. (some col.). Vita. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 116-138).

Thesis (MTech (Education Management))--Peninsula Technikon, 2002. / Word processed copy. Summary in English. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 79-90). Also available online.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2002. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 48-52). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

This study investigated whether or not the use of specific task motivational instructions, delivered without hypnotic induction, would improve the reading performance of elementary school students reading on a remedial level. The task motivational instructions consisted of two components: fantasy trips and suggestions designed to improve the subject's self-confidence and increase his/her reading performance. Twenty-one students who read on a remedial level, grades two to six, were assigned randomly to one of three experimental groups: Group I (Relaxation plus Task Motivational Instructions), Group II (Task Motivational Instructions only) and Group III (Control). Subjects were seen for one baseline session and six experimental sessions. During baseline and each experimental session, three measures of reading performance (reading comprehension, reading speed, and word recognition) were obtained. A portable EMG system was used to record the forehead muscle tension of each subject. During experimental sessions, Group I received both relaxation training and specific task motivational instructions designed to improve reading performance. Group II received the same specific task motivational instructions, but without the relaxation. Although Group III received neither relaxation training nor task motivational instruction, the subjects in Group III were tested weekly on the three reading measures. The results of the study were as follows: (1) Subjects receiving both relaxation training and task motivational instructions showed (1) a significant increase in reading comprehension scores, (2) a significant increase in the number of words read per second, and (3) no significant increase in word recognition scores. (2) Subjects receiving only task motivational instructions showed (1) a significant increase in reading comprehension scores, (2) a significant increase in the number of words read per second, and (3) no significant increase in word recognition scores. (3) Subjects receiving neither of the experimental treatments showed (1) no significant increase in reading comprehension scores, (2) no significant increase in the number of words read per second, and (3) no significant increase in word recognition scores. (4) Data for all subjects participating in the study showed a significant increase in forehead EMG scores following reading. The results of this study support these conclusions. First, the treatment used resulted in significant increases in reading comprehension and the number of words read per second. Second, children appear to enjoy the treatment activities involving the fantasy trips and the motivational instructions. Third, children do not seem to enjoy the relaxation training method used. Fourth, children who have difficulty reading show greater forehead muscle tension following reading. Fifth, an EMG recording of forehead muscle tension does not appear to be a satisfactory method to measure relaxation in elementary school children. In summary, the results of this study indicate that elementary school children who read on a remedial level appear to increase their reading performance faster when remediation includes task motivational instructions.

The purpose of this study was to compare the readability levels of the recreational reading books children selected to read with the reading levels of the children established by Powell's (1992) criteria for the Informal Reading Inventory. Using Fry's Readability Graph, a second purpose of this study was to compare the reading levels of the books the children chose and read with the reading levels of the books the children chose and did not read. Five hypotheses were tested at the .05 level of significance.Hypotheses I-IV were tested using a t-test for paired samples to determine if there was any particular reading level from which children tended to choose their recreational reading books.The analyses did not allow rejection of Hypotheses I and II. There were no significant relationships found between the reading levels independent and developmental, and the levels of recreational reading books children chose from their school library.The analyses did allow rejection of Hypotheses III and IV. The reading levels emergent and frustration proved to be statistically significantly different from the children's recreational book levels.Hypothesis V was tested using the Pearson correlation coefficient to determine the relationship between the reading levels of the recreational reading books the children chose and read and the reading levels of the books the children chose and did not read.The analysis failed to reject Hypothesis V. There was no significant relationship between the reading levels of the books the children chose and read and the reading levels of the books the children did not read. Although this hypothesis did not prove to be statistically significant, the following tendency was observed: the easier the readability of the book, the more likely it was to have been read.The findings of this study indicate fourth grade students chose books from their school library on all their reading levels. However, on the average students chose books between their independent and developmental reading levels. / Department of Elementary Education

This study compared the effects of two comprehension monitoring strategies on the reading comprehension awareness in expository text read by third and fifth grade students. A secondary purpose was to determine if the comprehension monitoring strategies influenced reading comprehension achievement. The effects of gender were also studied. The participants were 51 third grade students and 57 fifth grade students from six intact classrooms in four elementary schools in a midwestern school district.One third and one fifth grade classroom was randomly assigned to each of the two experimental groups and the one control group. During a 4-week intervention, one experimental group was taught the comprehension monitoring strategy K-W-L; the other the comprehension monitoring strategy Predicting/Evaluating. The control group read the same expository text as the experimental groups during sustained silent reading for the 4-week period with no instruction in a comprehension monitoring strategy. A metacognitive instrument and a standardized norm-referenced test were used as pretest (covariate) and posttest (dependent variable) measures. Two separate analyses of covariance were used to address the four research questions. The following results were suggested.1. Third grade males with no strategy instruction outperformed third grade males with strategy instruction in reading comprehension awareness.2. Fifth graders outperformed third graders in reading comprehension awareness regardless of gender and regardless of strategy taught for comprehension monitoring.3. Females outperformed males in reading comprehension awareness regardless of grade level and regardless of strategy taught for comprehension monitoring.4. Third and fifth graders achieved equally well in reading achievement whether or not they received instruction and practice using a comprehension monitoring strategy.5. Males and females achieved equally well in reading achievement whether or not they received instruction and practice using a comprehension monitoring strategy.6. Third graders outperformed fifth graders in reading achievement regardless of gender and regardless of strategy taught for comprehension monitoring. / Department of Elementary Education

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of written prequestioning on the reading comprehension of fifth grade students. The sample for this study consisted of 144 fifth grade students randomly selected from six elementary schools in Muncie, Indiana. These students ranged in reading ability from 3.0 to 9.0 on the reading subtest of the Iowa Test of Basic Skills.The 144 students were randomly assigned to one of two groups. Half of the students (question-read-question group) received questions to guide their reading prior to each of the reading selections, while the other half (read-question group) did not. The two groups were equated on the basis of (1) levels of reading ability and (2) on the basis of sex.The reading material used in this study consisted of three reading passages. Each of the passages was approximately 1025 words in length. The passages were judged to be at the fourth, fifth, and sixth grade reading levels. Twenty multiple choice questions over each of the reading passages were constructed. The questions were classified as recall, inference or evaluative types of comprehension questions according to Barrett's taxonomy. The reliability coefficients (KR-20) for the three tests were .73 for the fourth grade questions, .74 for the fifth grade questions, and .76 for the sixth grade questions.Seven indices of comprehension were used with the reading materials. These seven indices were measures of: (1) total of all the materials, (2) the recall questions, (3) the inference questions, (4) the evaluative questions, (5) the fourth grade reading level materials, (6) the fifth grade reading level materials, and (7) the sixth grade reading level materials. Mean scores for the seven indices of comprehension were computed for the total sample, male, female, high reading ability students, average reading ability students, and low reading ability students. Comparisons of these mean scores were obtained by the utilization of the statistical technique of analysis of variance.Twenty-one null hypotheses were tested at the .05 level of confidence to ascertain the effect of prequestioning on the reading comprehension of the students taking part in the study.No significant differences were found among any of the mean scores of the seven indices of comprehension for the total sample, male, female, high reading ability students, average reading ability students, or low reading ability students. Nor were any interactions found between the two groups and the factors of sex, reading ability, and question type.It was concluded from the results of the analysis of data that the prequestioning technique utilized in this study had no significant effect on the reading comprehension of the fifth grade students.

The purpose of this study was to investigate factors related to the reading ability of beginning kindergarten children. The study purported to investigate the following major components: One, the relationship between two specified sets of variables. Set I included: (1) letter naming; (2) visual discrimination; (3) auditory discrimination; (4) oral language; (5) chronological age; and (6) mental age. Two, the relationship between reading as measured by word call and comprehension, and sex and socioeconomic status was investigated. Three, the relationships between reading and the environmental and developmental characteristics of beginning kindergarten children were examined through child and parent interviews.A word call and comprehension test was developed and given to 1,858 beginning kindergarten children of thirty-one public schools of Delaware County, Indiana. A stratified random sampling procedure was employed. The strata were determined by a combination of raw scores on word call and comprehension according to the various ranges in scores and the number of children available representing each range. An attempt was made to provide proportional sampling for each sex.The instruments used in the sample were: (1) a self-constructed letter naming test; (2) Gates-MacGinitie Readiness Skills Test (visual discrimination subtest) ; (3) Wepman Auditory Discrimination Zest ; (4) Slosson Intelligence Test for Children and Adults (SIT); (5) The Minnesota Scale for Paternal Occupation; (6) eight puppets to elicit oral language samples measured by the T-unit; (7) Child Interview Questionnaire; and (8) Parent Interview Questionnaire. All tests and instruments were administered individually.The data obtained from the Child Interview Questionnaire included: (1) experiences; (2) interests; (3) responsibilities and behaviors; (4) language-speaking experiences; (5) reading-writing experiences; and (6) parent attitudes. The data obtained from the Parent Questionnaire included: (1) family background; (2) home environment; (3) physical--motor skills; (4) behavioral characteristics; (5) preschool language-speaking experiences; (6) preschool reading experiences; and (7) parental attitudes and opinions. The analysis was made on the total sample; comparisons between the upper and lower quartile of the sample were made where appropriate.The statistical procedure used to analyze the data of this study was the canonical correlation which measures the relationship between two sets of variables and permits assessment of the interrelationships among them. One canonical correlation was significant which yielded a chi squared of 97.997 with twelve degrees of freedom value of (p <.0001).The correlation between Set I and Set II variables in this study was .8730 with 38.11 percentage of explained variance in Set I accounted for by variables in Set IT.Variables letter naming, visual discrimination, and mental age tended to have the highest correlation or greatest weight with variables word call and comprehension with letter naming as the major contributor. This would tend to confirm the use of letter naming as a predictor of reading achievement. The five most influential factors that encouragedchildren to take an interest in reading in this study were: being read to; seeing others read; having reading. materials available; viewing television; and curiosity.Children in the upper quartile of the sample who manifested greater degrees of reading ability than children in the lower quartile of the sample tended to come from higher socioeconomic classes; more reading materials were available; family members were seen reading; spoke in sentences earlier; and had less difficulty with verbal fluency or expression.Parents of children in the upper quartile of the sample encouraged interest in reading most often through incidental. learning situations rather than deliberate attempts to teach reading skills. Most parents indicated that they did not foresee any special school related problems because of their child's reading ability prior to kindergarten; children would continue reading on their own; would gain self-confidence; would become better students; and would experience success.Most parents in this study generally felt capable of helping their children with reading. Parents generally believed that children should learn to read prior to kindergarten provided they are: interested; reading occurs naturally; there is ability and potential; and no force is used.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Washington, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 57-60).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2007. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 105-108). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.