Within a Southwestern school system, deficits in early literacy skills exist as is illustrated by kindergarten students not meeting the requirements on the Phonological Awareness and Phonics Inventory (PAPI). To address this deficit in early literacy skills, the school system instituted the use of the Guided Reading Approach (GR); however, it was unknown how the kindergarten teachers were implementing GR. The purpose of this study was to investigate the experiences and challenges of kindergarten teachers who implement GR. Vygotsky's sociocultural theory of learning and constructivist theory provided the conceptual framework. Research questions explored the thoughts, attitudes, and beliefs teachers hold about GR as well as the challenges teachers face when incorporating GR. A case study methodology was used to investigate 6 kindergarten teachers' experiences with implementing GR through the use of interviews and document analysis. Analysis of data revealed that teachers believed that GR was a necessary component of teaching and increased student success. However, teachers did not have enough training, collaboration, or time to invest in GR. A professional training was developed for teachers as a result. The 3-day training will provide teachers with an overview of GR, opportunities for the participants to collaborate with colleagues, and time for the development of GR lesson plans that can immediately be transferred to the classroom. Positive social change may result by helping teachers better understand GR (components and implementation), which may result in an improved reading program, higher student performance, and information to influence others to improve reading programs.

The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that there is a reciprocal relationship between comprehension and fluency during reading. The notion that oral reading fluency can facilitate reading comprehension is well established in the research literature on the development of reading comprehension. However, more recent models have questioned the unidirectionality of this relationship and have suggested that reading comprehension may increase fluency through reading rate. This hypothesis was examined via analyses of second grade students' oral reading of connected texts. Four previewing conditions which isolated lexical effects, comprehension effects, and prosody effects on oral reading fluency were manipulated in an experiment and the effects on students' passage reading times and prosody were evaluated. Students who were on-level readers were randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions consisting of word preview (lexical factor), listening preview (prosody and comprehension factor), summary preview (comprehension factor) and no preview. Following the preview, students were asked to read passages aloud. Analyses of Covariance were performed to test the effects of lexical priming, comprehension priming and prosodic modeling on oral reading fluency as measured in correct words per minute (CWPM) and prosodic reading, while controlling for students overall achievement in reading as measured by the STAR-R score. The results showed significant differences in CWPM favouring the listening preview and summary preview over the no-preview condition for students at lower levels of fluency performance. The results are discussed in relation to theories of reading that highlight the role of comprehension and fluency in the integration of information during reading.

ABSTRACT LINKS AND DISCONNECTS BETWEEN THIRD GRADE TEACHERS’ BELIEFS, KNOWLEDGE, AND PRACTICES REGARDING NONFICTION READING COMPREHENSION INSTRUCTION FOR STRUGGLING READERS by Nicole P. Maxwell In the current era of accountability, U. S. teachers face strict demands from No Child Left Behind (NCLB) to ensure that all students’ reading achievement meets the requirements of their respective grade levels (Coburn, Pearson, & Woulfin, 2011). These demands are especially stressful when teachers have students who struggle with reading. Regrettably, many students grapple with reading difficulties, particularly with comprehending fiction and nonfiction texts (Allington, 2011). The purpose of this study was to examine the beliefs and understandings three third grade teachers held concerning nonfiction reading comprehension instruction for struggling readers and how these beliefs and knowledge influenced their pedagogical practices. This qualitative, interpretive case study examined their beliefs using the theoretical lenses of epistemology (Crotty, 2007; Cunningham & Fitzgerald, 1996; Dillon, O’Brien, & Heilman, 2004; Magrini, 2009), social constructivism (Vygotsky, 1978), transactional theory of reading (Rosenblatt, 1994), and the sociocognitive interactive model of reading (Ruddell & Unrau, 2004). The following research questions guided this inquiry: (1) How do third grade teachers support struggling readers when navigating nonfiction texts? (2) What are these third grade teachers’ beliefs and understandings about struggling readers? (3) How do these beliefs influence the third grade teachers’ pedagogical practices with struggling readers? Data collection lasted for five months and involved interviews, classroom observations, teacher debriefs, and the collection of artifacts, including DeFord’s (1985) Theoretical Orientation to Reading Profile (TORP). Data analysis was conducted using the constant comparative approach (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). The findings in this study revealed links and disconnects between the accommodations teachers believed their struggling readers needed and what they actually provided their struggling readers. These teachers faced pressures of time constraints and a focus on testing, which affected their pedagogical practices. Furthermore, they demonstrated a reliance on content area textbooks and dissatisfaction with the accessibility of nonfiction materials. These findings highlight the need for pre-service and in-service teachers to have access to quality nonfiction materials to use in the classroom and instruction on how to provide nonfiction comprehension instruction to their struggling readers.

Students who struggle with reading are common in today’s middle school classrooms. This research used a socioecological framework to explore middle school teachers’ perceptions of struggling readers. As the notion of perception encompasses many influences, the research sought out teacher understandings of components and factors relating to reading difficulties, both intrinsic and extrinsic. As well, the study examined teacher views of struggling readers’ behaviours, affect, and the classroom implications of their difficulties. Finally, the study explored feelings of both competency and responsibility in the teaching of struggling readers. The research was carried out in three school districts in the Vancouver Island/Gulf Islands, BC area. Using a phenomenological case study approach, survey data from 35 respondents, and interview data from 10 participants were analyzed using both a within-case and cross-case analysis method. Identified common themes included teachers’ difficulty defining and assessing students who struggle with reading, and tending to attribute the difficulties to factors beyond their control. The teachers realized the correlation between reading difficulties and motivation but were unsure how to mitigate the ensuing behaviours in their classrooms. The participants believed that middle school students should be competent grade level readers and did not believe it their job to teach specific reading skills in content area classes. Although the teachers in this study wanted to do more to help their students who struggle with reading, they were constrained by a perceived lack of knowledge and time. The findings suggest that teachers, both pre-service and in-service, need more education about reading difficulties, classroom strategies and practice. The research indicates a need for more optimal use of specialist teacher time, literacy coaching, levelled resources, and a focus on the British Columbia Performance Standards. / Graduate

God läsförmåga är en förutsättning för att kunna ta till sig information i vårt samhälle. För att uppnå läsförmåga krävs att kunna avkoda. När avkodningen blir svår behöver eleverna hjälp för att ta sig vidare.  Syftet med denna litteraturstudie är att belysa vad aktuell forskning säger om läsinlärningen hos elever i avkodningssvårigheter samt lärares betydelse för dessa elever, för att få kunskap inom området. För att uppfylla studiens syfte har följande frågeställningar formulerats:   Vilka orsaker kan ligga bakom avkodningssvårigheter hos elever? <ul type="disc">Hur kan lärare stötta elever som är i avkodningssvårigheter?   Studien som gjorts är en litteraturstudie. Olika vetenskapliga publikationer har använts, såsom vetenskapliga artiklar och avhandlingar bestående av både nationell och internationell forskning. Stegvis gjordes en noggrann analys av materialet. Dessutom har en bilaga varit underlag för studien.   Resultatet på första frågan visar att de elever som inte har den fonologiska medvetenheten är mest utsatta i sin läsutveckling. Vidare framkommer i resultatet hur elevers syn på sig själva är en bidragande faktor för läsutvecklingen. Även lärares brist på kunskaper om elevers läsinlärning framkommer som ett viktigt bidrag i studien. Resultatet på studiens andra fråga visar vikten av att agera skyndsamt. Eleverna behöver träna på den fonologiska medvetenheten för att befästa den alfabetiska koden. Vidare framkommer motivation, självförtroende samt vikten av att få beröm och uppmuntran som faktorer där elevers läsutveckling gynnas. Likaså har lärare en betydande roll vad gäller den egna kompetensen om läsinlärningen samt att ha ett variationsrikt arbetssätt i undervisningen. Slutsatsen som dras utifrån resultatet är att den fonologiska medvetenheten är viktig då den utgör grunden till avkodning. Den fonologiska medvetenheten uppnås genom variationsrik undervisning. Att återkommande uppmuntra och berömma eleverna bör vara lärares förhållningssätt. Lärares kompetens inom läsinlärningen utgör en viktig roll för att skapa en god undervisning.

Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction Programs / Marjorie R. Hancock / Children who struggle in reading must be offered additional pathways of communication in order to enable them the opportunity to express themselves and enhance listening/viewing comprehension. Through understanding of the elements of art, the utilization of artistic response, and exposure to distinctive literature such as Caldecott Medal picture books, students are better equipped to grasp both visual and textual meaning. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to investigate the convergence of the elements of art, artistic response, and Caldecott Medal picture books and how they influence the listening/viewing comprehension of the struggling reader. Two, forty-minute lessons were given exclusively about the seven elements of art prior to the listening/viewing of Caldecott picture books. Participants engaged in the listening/viewing of six selected Caldecott Medal picture books through an initial listening/viewing within a small group setting, a second listening /viewing followed by an individual interview, and a third listening/viewing combined with an artistic response to each Caldecott picture book in a small group setting. General questioning concerning both story elements and elements of art were asked during both the initial listening/viewing and artistic response. Specific questioning occurred during the individual interview. Data were collected through interview and discussion transcriptions, visual and audio taped group work, field notes, and actual artistic response artwork. Data analysis revealed the enrichment of listening/viewing comprehension of the participants through 1) verbal usage of the elements of art, 2) comments regarding the elements of the story- setting, characters, events, problem, solution, 3) discussion of topics relating to personal experiences, 4) the dialogue of art media and the importance of art, and 5) distinct qualities of the picture book message theme articulated through artistic response. Art opened up the world of expression for the nine participants in this qualitative case study. Through the elements of art and artistic response combined with Caldecott literature, children were able to convey knowledge through an alternative pathway in order to enhance their listening/viewing comprehension of the picture books. Furthermore, documented evidence of the motivation of the participants indicated the value of exploration of rich literature and creative expression through artistic representation.

Reading deficits in students in Grades 4 to 12 are evident in American schools. Informational text is particularly difficult for students. This quasi-experimental study (N=138) investigated sixth-grade students' achievement in social studies using the Reciprocal Mapping instructional routine, compared to sixth-grade students' achievement taught with a traditional approach. The Reciprocal Mapping instructional routine incorporated explicit instruction in text structure using graphic organizers. Students created their own graphic organizers and used them to write about social studies content. The comparison group used a traditional approach, students' reading the textbook and answering questions. Students for this study included sixth-graders in the seven sixth-grade classrooms in two public schools in a small, rural south Florida school district. A focus of this study was to determine the helpfulness of the intervention for at-risk readers. To determine students considered to be at-risk, the researcher used data from the reading portion of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT), 2011-2012, that considers Level 1 and 2 as at-risk readers. The quasi-experimental study used a pretest-posttest control group design, with students assigned to treatment groups by class. Two teachers at the two rural sites were trained on the Reciprocal Mapping instructional routine and taught students in both the experimental and control groups for an equivalent amount of time over a 5-week period. Results of the 3 x 2 factorial ANCOVA found a significant positive difference favoring the experimental group's social studies achievement as compared to that of the comparison group as measured by the pre/post unit test from the social studies series (McGraw-Hill, 2013), when controlling for initial differences in students' reading FCAT scores. Interactions for high-risk struggling readers were investigated using the significance level p < .05. Due to no significant interaction the main effects of treatment were interpreted. The pretest was used as a covariate and the multivariate analysis was found to be significant. Therefore, analysis of covariance was run on each of the dependent variable as a follow-up. Reciprocal Mapping was found to be significant in posttest scores, independent of gender and level of risk, and while holding the pretest scores constant. Findings showed there was a significant difference in the performance of the high-risk reading students taught with the Reciprocal Mapping intervention who scored statistically better than students in the control group. Further study findings showed that teacher fidelity of implementation of the treatment had a statistically significant relationship in predicting posttest scores when controlling for pretest scores. Study results indicated that improving students’ use of text structure through the Reciprocal Mapping instructional routine positively supported sixth-grade students’ social studies achievement.

Several studies have provided evidence regarding factors that contribute to the mathematics achievement gap between African American and White students. Byrnes (2003) found that 45%-50% of the difference in White and African American students' performance in mathematics was associated with socioeconomic status, exposure to learning opportunities, and motivational aspects of math while 4.5% was explained by ethnicity. The goal in this mixed method study was to examine the mathematics attitude of African American (n = 22) and White (n = 10) high school students and to allow students to voice what practices and supports they perceived enabled them to learn mathematics. The students discussed practices and supports specific to their school, home, and community. The Attitudes Toward Mathematics Inventory data were examined across race and performance levels. The performance levels, excelling and struggling, were based on each student's cumulative performance in mathematics. The attitude results yielded one positive significant differences between performance groups on the self-confidence construct. As for qualitative data, there were few differences across the racial groups. Unlike White excelling students (n=6), African-American excelling students (n=11) reported that they received limited encouragement from teachers to take advanced mathematics courses or to participate in extracurricular activities related to mathematics. In examining the students' responses, there were more similarities than differences across groups. Groups spoke of the need for teachers to be more patient and willing to provide additional support. Students reported that some teachers assumed something within them [students] was the reason that they had not grasped a concept (e.g., lack of attention during instruction). The question of why African American students' mathematics performance lags behind their White counterparts remain pertinent. Many of the reasons for the achievement gap reported in the literature were not explicitly expressed by the students in this study. However, the intent to have students express their perspectives and needs related to mathematics was accomplished. Thus, this insight can only enhance our efforts to improve African American students' mathematical experiences and success.

In a Mid-Atlantic school district, the administration of standardized assessments begins in third grade. Over the past 3 years, these assessments revealed that an average of 37% of third graders in the local district did not possess necessary reading skills, although over 86% of this group received intervention support in second and third grade. It is unclear how effective the implementations of various interventions are in instruction with struggling second graders to prepare them for the rigors of third grade. The purpose of this descriptive case study was to explore the perspectives of 9 second grade teachers on research-based interventions implemented to increase the reading skills of struggling second grade readers in 2 elementary schools. The bottom-up theory, which holds that reading is an automatic information process that allows readers to read fluently and comprehend without individual focus on any one reading element, guided this study. Research questions sought to identify research-based reading interventions and strategies participants implemented. Data collection occurred via semi-structured interviews, document review, and observational data obtained during second grade team meetings. Data were analyzed through descriptive and categorical coding to identify themes related to participants' perspectives on instructional practice. Results of the data analysis showed that the 9 teachers did not implement interventions according to the research-based guidelines. This finding led to a system-wide professional development focused on increasing teachers' capacities to implement interventions effectively. This study has the potential to promote positive social change by enhancing teachers' instructional delivery and increasing students' reading abilities.

After many years of reform efforts, educators are still searching for ways to better serve the needs of struggling students. The purpose of this study was to develop a grounded theory (GT) that reflects teachers' perceptions of students' behavior, students' need for support, and students' skill deficiencies. Discovering the ways in which teachers address students' needs could sharpen teacher practices and promote support for struggling students. Guided by Weimer's research on learner-centered teaching, this GT study created a conceptual understanding of classroom experiences from teachers' perspective. Twenty teacher interviews began with the grand tour question, "Talk about teaching struggling students at your high school." A constant comparative analysis was employed to induce and develop the theory of guided differentiation. Three main categories or stages emerged from this GT study, with each stage representing a conceptual rendering of behaviors one can expect when working with struggling students in a similar setting: (1) appraising, which is a process of gathering and assessing student performance; (2) tool-boxing, in which teachers identify and apply strategies and interventions to enhance student learning; and (3) reappraising, where teachers assess the effectiveness of interventions applied in the second stage. This theory can be useful to educators considering how best to work with struggling students by revealing the patterns of behavior among teachers who serve struggling students. Extending guided differentiation through the method of grounded action may also serve to advance this research, as it could provide a useful theory for resolving teacher concerns when assessing student performance or skill deficiencies.