<p> Many students with Down syndrome now receive reading instruction in either inclusion-focused or skill-based instructional settings. There are, however, varied results in the level of reading skills that students with Down syndrome attain. The focus of this study was to determine if there was a significant difference in the reading skill acquisition of students with Down syndrome between those students placed for reading instruction by grade and those students placed in a developmentally appropriate classroom. The specific type of quantitative research design used was quantitative non-experimental because the study used archival data collected in previous testing for a different evaluation. This study analyzed the Wisconsin Alternate Assessment for Students with Disabilities (WAA-SwD) of 136 elementary school students with Down syndrome. The study compared the reading scores of students with Down syndrome placed for reading instruction in a classroom by chronological age with scores of Down syndrome students placed in an a developmentally appropriate classroom. The research questions related to whether there was a significant difference in reading skills acquisition for elementary school students with Down syndrome after receiving either grade-based or skill-based instruction. The hypotheses were tested using a <i>t</i> test. Based on the analysis, there was no significant difference in reading skills acquisition for elementary school students with Down syndrome when their scores were grouped by the two types of instruction (grade-based versus skill-based) they receive after controlling for the student’s demographic characteristic of grade level. The importance of this study can inform the educational community of the specific response to the question of the consequence of placement for reading instruction on reading acquisition. The findings provided from this research study will benefit future studies and classroom planning.</p><p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:10830978 |
| Date | 11 August 2018 |
| Creators | Daniels, Tenja Marie |
| Publisher | Capella University |
| Source Sets | ProQuest.com |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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