The development of highly effective teachers is of interest to school systems because the quality of the teachers is associated with students' success. This study explored the relationship between teachers' participation in a job-embedded model of professional development and students' achievement in reading. Teachers in the third grade and fifth grade at five different elementary schools received more than 100 hours of training. The reading achievement scores of students assigned to these teachers were compared to the scores of students whose teachers did not participate in the training. Findings in this study were mixed. Fifth-grade students whose teachers participated in the model achieved significantly higher reading scores; third graders of the study did not perform at a significantly higher rate than the control group. The study provides an overview of models of professional development and reviews characteristics of high-quality designs. It might be helpful to school systems interested in implementing training based upon a coaching model of professional development.

This longitudinal research project explored the relationship between a 1:1 computing initiative and student achievement on the North Carolina End of Grade Reading Comprehension and Math tests in the study school district. The purpose of this research study was to determine if the implementation of a 1:1 computing initiative impacted student performance on standardized tests. This study used secondary, longitudinal data to follow a sample of the district’s 2012-2013 3rd grade students through the 2015-2016 school year. The study used student grade level proficiency on the North Carolina End of Grade Reading Comprehension and Math tests for both the district and state levels. The data revealed that in the 2012-2013 school year the study school district was not significantly below the state mean in student grade level proficiency reading or math. At the end of the four-year study period, the district was not significantly below the state mean in student grade level proficiency in either reading or math, but the district did have significant growth in both subject areas.

The goal of this research was to understand the work lives of literacy coaches in central Florida by studying who they were, what they did, and what they believed influenced student achievement. In addition, it was important to understand the perceptions of literacy coaches as to what factors influenced positive changes in student achievement. Of 27 central Florida literacy coaches, this study examined the academic and professional background of each coach, explored the time spent on ten key literacy coaching activities, and analyzed work factors related to student achievement in reading on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. Although the literacy coaching role was one that was expanding in the United States through state funding initiatives, much about the role and its effectiveness were not known through the literature. A web-based survey system and purposive interviews were used to gather important data relevant to providing understandings about literacy coaches. Exploratory regression analyses using coaching activities and school performance measures were run to determine the existence of relationships. Qualitative analysis was employed to develop literacy coaching themes from survey responses, and all data were triangulated and used to develop case studies. Case studies provided narrative descriptions of all data in the context of individual schools and their coaches all embedded within case types as identified by prior year school letter grade. The results of the study showed an overwhelming amount of time was spent on other activities not related to literacy coaching. Assisting with test preparation was one reason for other activity assignment. Modeling of literacy strategies was reported as one of the more useful and influential activities, but few of the coaches in the study organized their time for this. Case studies provided rich context into the work lives of literacy coaches. Suggested uses for the study included the development of stronger professional development programs for school administrators in working with high school literacy coaches. Although literacy coaches were a well-trained group, more specific training is needed in the re-allocation of time so that more influential activities are pursued.

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The importance of reading proficiency is unquestioned. Although the nation has set a goal for all students to be proficient in reading, many of the nation’s students are not proficient readers. The vast majority of research examining reading proficiency and reading achievement has concentrated on the cognitive aspects of reading and the use of scientifically based reading interventions. However, there is a body of literature that suggests that reading achievement is related to attitudes toward reading. The purpose of this study was to determine the recreational and academic reading attitudes of a group of sixth-grade students and to determine if their attitudes toward reading were related to measures of their reading achievement. This study was guided by seven research questions and utilized three research designs. Descriptive research was used to answer research questions one and two which sought to determine the recreational and academic reading attitudes of the sixth grade students participating in this study. Causal comparative research was used to answer research questions three and four which compared measures of academic and recreational reading attitudes by gender and ethnicity. Research questions five, six, and seven were answered using correlational research to determine if measures of reading attitudes were related to the scores on the language arts portion of the MCT2. The results of data analyzed to answer the research questions revealed that overall the sixth grade participants in this study had reading attitudes that were less than positive. The results also revealed that males had reading attitudes that were more positive than females. The results of the analysis of reading attitudes by ethnicity revealed that African American students had higher measures of positive recreational reading attitudes than Caucasian students and the students in the other ethnic group while Caucasian students had higher measures of positive academic reading attitudes than African American students and students in the other ethnic group. The only significant relationship discovered between measures of reading attitude and MCT2 scores was a very weak relationship between measures of academic reading attitudes and the language arts section of the MCT2. The study concludes with recommendations for further research.

Reading is an essential skill for academic and workforce success; however, recent data-driven accountability initiatives have led to schools’ overreliance on reading achievement data for tracking and placement purposes. Such limited data do not give a comprehensive representation of the reader, and instructional decisions based on this narrow view can undermine students’ motivation and weaken achievement. Attitude has been associated with achievement, but using reading attitude data could be more useful if the relationship between reading attitude and reading achievement were better understood. This study sought to expand on the reading attitude-reading achievement relationship by exploring specific teacher and student gender related conditions. The study culminated in investigation of the strength of the relationship between reading attitude and reading achievement for girls and boys with gender matched and unmatched teachers. The findings revealed that reading attitude only predicted reading achievement for students with gender matched teachers. The strongest link was for boys taught by male teachers. / Educational Psychology

During the last decade there has been a renewed focus on improving the instruction of children at risk for not learning to read well and ways to effectively involve their parents to enhance their children's reading achievement. This focus has particularly centered on how programs of school, family, and community partnerships can be organized to improve schools and enable all families to support children's reading and literacy skills (Epstein et al, 2002-2009). This study examined the extent to which the reading achievement of African American male learners improves with school, family, and community partnerships. The sample consisted of fourth grade African American males from the Tidewater region of Virginia who were enrolled in Title 1 schools that participate in the National Network of School Partnerships. The goal of this study was to examine the relationship between school, family, and community partnerships and the reading achievement of the African American male. Second, the study identified which type of parental involvement significantly influenced the reading achievement of African American males. Third, the study identified parental involvement activities that significantly influenced the reading achievement of the African American male learner. Teachers and administrators were surveyed using an instrument adapted from Epstein's School, Family, and Community Partnership Survey, The Virginia Standards of Learning reading and language arts assessments provided data for reading achievement of fourth grade African American males. Data analysis revealed no significant differences in promising practices and the reading achievement of fourth grade African American males. An ANOVA showed a significant difference between principals and teachers in their ratings of the importance of Type 6 activities, collaborating with the community. A correlation was found between Type 3 parental involvement activities of volunteering and the reading achievement of fourth grade African American males. An ANOVA showed a significant difference between principals and teachers in their ratings of Teacher Reports of School Program Type 4 (Learning at Home). Significant differences were found between principals and teachers in their ratings of Teacher Reports of Total School Program to Involve Families. A correlation between teacher estimates of parents' involvement and the mean SOL English score for African American male fourth grade students was found. / Ed. D.

This study employed a pretest/posttest control group design to investigate the achievement of second grade Hispanic students from a predominantly low socio-economic school in a large metropolitan city. The thirty Hispanic students with the lowest scores on the Gates MacGinitie Reading Test were randomly assigned to the experimental group (n =15) or the control group (n=15). The treatment consisted of 16, 30-minute sessions of play intervention--2 times per week for 8 weeks. The providers of play therapy were school personnel trained in the principles of child-centered play therapy including tracking, reflecting feelings, and setting limits. Instruments were administered to all subjects prior to the 8 week treatment period and in the two-week period following treatment and included the GMRT, the Joseph Pre-School Primary Self-Concept Test (JPPSCST) and the Child Behavior Checklist Teacher Report Form (CBCTRF). Statistical analyses included a (t-test; 2 tail; p > .05), discriminant analysis, and cross validation. The results indicated that children who received play therapy did not achieve notably higher mean scores in reading. However, play therapy did improve the experimental group's self-concept scores and their internal behavior scores, though not significantly. All differences between the experimental and the control groups were within 1 point except the JPPSCST self-concept mean scores were 1.53 in favor of the experimental group. The CBCTRF Internal behavior mean scores were 1.20 in favor of the experimental group indicating a positive trend. The CBCTRF External behavior scores were 2.74 in favor of the control group. None of the differences was statistically significant and the 4 null hypotheses were accepted. The sample size (N =30) suggests the need to exercise caution in interpreting these findings.Further research utilizing a longer time period between pretesting and posttesting is recommended and may provide more definite information regarding the impact of play therapy on children's reading, self-concept, and internal and external behavioral characteristics.

The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of two methods of listening and reading instruction when used in the language arts programs at the eighth-grade level as related to listening, reading, study skills, and English achievement. Two groups were studied; one was an experimental group receiving programed material present by the Listen and Read Program and a control group receiving instruction through the regular classroom program.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of participation in a Computer-Assisted instructional program (CAI) on fourth grade student attitudes and achievement in reading and mathematics. This study, based on Campbell and Stanley's quasiexperimental design 10, utilized Diascriptive Reading software for the CAI mathematics group and Milliken Math Sequences software for the CAI mathematics group and was completed by 242 students. The time span between pretests and posttests was seven months. Iowa Tests of Basic Skills, Level 10, Form 7/8 was used for achievement testing and Estes Attitude Scale was used for attitude testing. Analysis of covariance was used to determine significance at the .05 level. The findings for this study were: 1. Reading Comprehension posttest scores were significantly higher for the control group than for the reading experimental group; 2. Reading Comprehension posttest scores were not significantly higher for boys than for girls within the reading experimental group; 3. Total math posttest scores were significantly higher for the mathematics experimental group than for the control group; 4. Concepts and Computation math subsets posttest scores were significantly higher for the mathematics experimental group than for the control group. There were no significant differences between the posttest scores of the two groups for the Math Problem Solving subset; 5. Total Math posttest scores were not significantly different for boys than for girls within the mathematics experimental group; 6. Attitude toward reading posttest scores were significantly higher for the reading experimental group than for the control group; 7. Attitude toward reading posttest scores were not significantly different for the boys than for girls within the reading experimental group; 8. Attitude toward mathematics posttest scores were significantly higher for the mathematics experimental group than for the control group; 9. Attitude toward mathematics posttest scores were significantly higher for girls than for boys within the mathematics experimental group.