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There is no abstract available for this thesis.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of special reading upon academic performance in reading of children in grade one. For this purpose a six months experiment was conducted in three similar schools.Special reading was implemented in one of two settings; one group received special reading in the school reading clinic under the direction of the reading specialist; a second group received instruction from the classroom teacher using the reading specialist as a resource person. Designated control, one group received no aid from the reading specialist.Children in the special reading groups had ranked in the low third on a screening test. Their reading achievement was evaluated as well as that of pupils who ranked in the middle and upper thirds in classrooms where special programs were implemented for the low third in one of two settings.Instruments used in the study were the First Grade Screening Test, The Screening Test for Assigning Remedial Treatment, the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test and a scale calculated to gain information about a dimension of per-called "locus of control". This scale is the StricklandNorwicki Scale.The results of the reading achievement test served as a basis for comparison, using analysis of variance to test four null hypotheses.Data obtained from the Strickland-Norwicki Scale were not subjected to statistical analysis but were described with reference to the groups.Results from the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test revealed that there were no significant differences in reading achievement between the three groups of pupils, those enrolled in either of the two special reading groups or the control group. These groups were comprised of pupils who had scored in the low third on the screening test.Students who ranked in the upper third in classrooms where special reading was implemented for the lower third achieved significantly higher than did top third students whose low third classmates received no aid from the reading specialist. This was also true when the upper and middle thirds were combined. When scores of the middle third alone were analyzed no significant differences resulted.The Strickland-Norwicki Scale revealed that perceptions of environment were nearly equally distributed between feelings of being internally and externally controlled for the total group. When viewing the scores of the three groups individually, the special reading outside classroom group had the more positive orientation, internal control, as evaluated by this scale.It was concluded that special reading is valuable to first-grade pupils although in this study those directly participating in the experimental special reading groups did not show significantly higher achievement than did those who did not receive it. However, students who had been deemed more ready for reading instruction as evaluated by a screening test, (upper third or combined middle and upper third) whose low third classmates were enrolled in a program of special reading, gained some indirect benefits of special reading. They achieved significantly higher reading achievement test scores than did students who also ranked in the upper third, or middle and upper third combined, in classrooms which did not provide special reading for classmates ranking in the low third.

This study investigated the effects of lesson preparation and teaching of reading and the effects of reinforcement inherent in the teaching role on reading comprehension, vocabulary, and attitude toward the concept "reading." Subjects for the study were low reading sixth graders.In this study equivalent groups were used to control for the possible positive social effects inherent in the process of assuming the tutor role. Additionally, the total time involvement with the reading material was controlled to assure equal time involvement for all subjects.In order to determine the most effective use of tutoring as a means of educational intervention for tutors, it was necessary to isolate the critical factors which determine the success of the overall tutoring process. Rigorous experimental control was also necessary in order to determine whether the academic improvement of tutors was actually a function of the tutoring process and not a function of uncontrolled, unknowm factors.The subjects in this study were 71 sixth grade students from 10 classrooms located in the seven elementary schools of a rural Midwestern school system. The subjects included all sixth grade students in the entire school system who scored between one and three years below grade level in reading comprehension, and for whom written parental permission for participation in the study was obtained.A pretest-posttest control group design was used to test data relative to nine hypotheses. The Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests were used to measure the reading comprehension and vocabulary of all sixth graders. A semantic differential was used to measure the attitudes of subjects toward the concept "reading."Analysis of covariance was the statistical treatment utilized to determine the significance of differences in data relative to the nine hypotheses.Following the pretest, subjects were randomly assigned within each school into one of three groups. Experimental group (ER) tutored fourth grade students in reading for three one-half hour periods a week for 12 weeks. These subjects tutored during part of their regular classroom reading period. Experimental group (EA) tutored fourth grade students in arithmetic for three, one-half hour periods a week for 12 weeks. These tutors remained in their regular sixth grade classroom during reading period. Control group (C) did not tutor nor interact with fourth grade children. These subjects remained in their sixth grade classroom for regular reading instruction.The conclusions of this study are as follows:1. Working as a tutor in reading plus receiving some' regularclassroom instruction was as effective as receiving regularclassroom instruction in reading alone.2. The effects of the reinforcement inherent in playing the role of teacher alone do not appear to produce improved reading achievement skills.3.Actual lesson preparation and teaching of reading plus some regular classroom reading instruction were as effective as regular classroom reading instruction alone.4. The effects of playing the role of teacher did not affect subject attitudes toward reading.

The purpose of the study was to determine the effectiveness of at-risk tutorial programs as measured by student grade point average.The population was defined as elementary students identif7ed by local school officials as being at-risk according to federal and state descriptions of at-risk youth and according to individual school program objectives. The sample consisted of 250 elementary students selected from nine schools in five school districts that offered Indiana Department of Education funded at-risk tutorial programs and who were identified as at-risk by local school officials.The independent variables were time and treatment utilizing a 3 (Time) x 3 (Treatment) design for the study. The dependent variable was grade point average. Intervening variables were gender, age, grade, socioeconomic status, tutor, race, type of treatment, motivation, parent input such as encouragement, and student participation in other special programs such as special counseling.The following three findings were a result of analysis of data collected for the study:1. The null hypothesis of no differences among group means was rejected at an alpha level of .05 using Wilks multivariate analysis of variance.2. Univariate F statistics revealed the multivariate difference among group means to be accounted for at Time 4.3. Scheffe' post hoc pair-wise comparisons for Time 4 revealed a difference existed between the Control Group and Experimental Group 1 and between Experimental Group 1 and Experimental Group 2. No difference existed between the Control Group and Experimental Group 2.One conclusion was evident as a result of procedures applied in the study. No differences of grade point average were proven to result from differing levels of participation in at-risk tutorial programs. Implications of the study were (a) at-risk students need to participate in long-term programs that provide services for the student K-12 school career and (b) short-term at-risk programs may cause decline of student progress when the program is withdrawn. / Department of Educational Leadership

There is no abstract available for this dissertation.

There is no abstract available for this dissertation.

The purpose of this investigation was to determine effectiveness of teaching to the learning modality preference of poor readers classified as visual or auditory learners at the beginning of second grade.

Typescript. / Bibliography: leaves [89]-98. / vii, 98 l

296 leaves : ill. ; 27 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Psychology, 1974