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Improving Reading Comprehension Levels

Improving Reading Comprehension Levels in a Seventh Grade Classroom Alexandra Graham A Capstone Presented to the Teachers College Faculty of Western Governors University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Education – Instructional Design June 21, 2018

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Abstract This action research project focused on increasing reading comprehension skills of students in a seventh grade classroom. Two questions were posed during this research project: 1) What effect does a reading comprehension unit that includes the use of SMART board and one to one device technology have on the academic achievement of 7th grade students as measured by a pre and post-test? and 2) What effect does a reading comprehension unit with 7th grade students have on their attitudes towards reading as measured by a pre-post mixed methods questionnaire? These questions were developed due to an identified problem in the classroom that students are not able to comprehend what they read on the required grade level. The study includes 12 volunteer student participants from one seventh-grade classroom, as well as their teacher. The study was conducted using an action research model and the qualitative results were coded into themes in order to analyze the open-ended questions. The results of the study indicated that the instructional goal was met. The researcher concluded that the instructional unit is an effective method for improving reading comprehension skills and creating a more positive outlook towards reading within the participants of this study.

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Table of Contents Chapter 1 - Topic and Problem....................................................................................................4 Topic................................................................................................................................................4 Problem Statement........................................................................................................................5 Problem Background and Causes................................................................................................5 Research Questions........................................................................................................................9 Topic and Problem Conclusion.....................................................................................................9 Chapter 2 - Review of the Literature.........................................................................................11 Overview of the Literature..........................................................................................................11 Struggles of students with low reading comprehension skills..................................................11 Strategies in Reading Comprehension Instructional Practices...............................................13 Summary......................................................................................................................................15 Chapter 3 - Research Methodology............................................................................................16 Research Design...........................................................................................................................16 Research Questions......................................................................................................................16 Participants..................................................................................................................................16 Data Collection Instruments and Methods................................................................................17 Data Security and Confidentiality..............................................................................................18 Summary......................................................................................................................................18 References.....................................................................................................................................19

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Chapter 1 - Topic and Problem Topic While in the field of education, one typically hears how students struggle with reading comprehension. Reading comprehension skills have been a burden that educators have been trying to best address and solve for years. It is imperative that we address the problem and create a solution because our youth is struggling in not only the world of academia, but eventually in their adult work life as well. This struggle, although usually identified in a student’s language arts class, carries over into other subject areas, and has a negative effect on students overall. Due to students’ struggles with reading comprehension, students do not do well on standardized test, and do not succeed in other learning environments outside of the language arts classroom. At Dubose Middle School, students are placed in certain classes based off their reading comprehension scores. Students who score low in reading comprehension according to South Carolina College and Career readiness standards are placed in a class called READ 180. This class is designed to close the gap between reading levels and reading comprehension. Although an effort is being made, students are still struggling with reading comprehension on grade level. In order to be a successful independent reader, students must possess two skills: They must first be able to decode the individual words on the page of what they read, and second, they must be able to comprehend the text (Juel, Griffith & Gough, 1986). Although these two skills go hand in hand, a student may have accurate decoding skills, but that does not guarantee that a student will be able to comprehend what they read. As years go by in a student’s academic career, texts will become more difficult and complex. Similarly, as years go by, a student’s

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comprehension difficulties will become more apparent and have a more damaging effect on students’ academic career. Additionally, the world is becoming more technologically based. Student tests, assignments, and readings are now being given on computers in a one to one environment. The use of technology in reading and writing is expected. In order to meet the reading comprehension needs of students living in this quickly advancing world, teachers are compelled to develop effective instructional tactics for teaching reading comprehension and reading strategy use on computers, smartboards, and tablets. Studies have shown that students participate better in reading comprehension learning activities that are conducted using technology, and make a significant improvement in their reading comprehension level, after units taught using technology (Coiro, 2011). However, no matter how technology transforms, the need for adults with strong reading comprehension skills will always remain.

Problem Statement The students in the researcher’s class, are below grade level standards in reading comprehension as defined by South Carolina College and Career Ready Standards. By late middle school, students are expected to be able to read, comprehend, analyze, and synthesis informational and literature based text.

Problem Background and Causes Throughout a student’s academic journey, reading comprehension plays an important role in their success. In the world of academia, it is no longer about reading for a basic understanding, but students are now required to use higher level thinking skills to read, analyze, and comprehend on

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a critical level, and right now, students are unable to do that. All courses that students take are reading intensive, especially as they reach grades six through twelve. Without proper reading comprehension skills, students will not be able to move on successfully to the next grade, and if they are moved along, they will continue to struggle as the required reading and analyzing becomes too much of burden for the student to handle successfully. Students are coming to seventh grade and still reading on a third grade level which is why students are continuing to struggle with reading comprehension on standardized test. Standardized testing in South Carolina, has shown that students are struggling with reading comprehension, and have been used to regulate student achievement and dictating whether a student should be placed in a READ 180 class based off of comprehension scores. Low reading comprehension skills leads to a variety of problems for learners. Such as, student dropout rates, and how teachers can no longer teach additional testing strategies because they are forced to constantly work on reading comprehension skills. Standardized testing for reading comprehension has become common in Public Schools across the United States. In 1845, an educator, Horace Mann came up with an ingenious idea for the time. Instead of conducting yearly oral exams, Mann suggested that the children at Boston Public School display their knowledge through written exams (Gallagher, 2003). Based off Mann’s idea, many schools in the 1970s and 1980s required students to pass a competency test in order to receive their high school diploma. Grodsky, (2008) noted that standardized testing did not become a huge movement when Mann first came up with the idea. However, it has quite made up for its slow start. In recent decades, standardized testing for reading comprehension has been adopted in schools throughout the United States. In the late 1960’s, the government decided to design achievement test that will evaluate instructional methods used in schools (Haney,

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1981). By using these standardized tests to gauge a student’s reading comprehension level, we are able to see that over the years, children struggle with the higher-level thinking skills of reading and analyzing a text in depth. In South Carolina, students begin partaking in standardized tests in third grade. Trends have shown that students are still being promoted to the next grade, even though they are scoring low in reading comprehension. The low score in reading comprehension can also be attributed to the fact that many students are also below grade level in reading skills in general. According to Popham, (1999) standardized tests are now designed so that someone can, “make a valid inference about the knowledge and/or skills that a given student possess in a particular content area”. To be even more specific, Popham continues, “The inference is supposed to be norm-referenced so that a student’s relative knowledge and/or skills can be compared with those possessed by a national sample of students of the same age or grade level”. By using the data that standardized test have provided, we can see that low reading comprehension skills is becoming an epidemic in South Carolina, as South Carolina is continuously ranked as an underperforming state in education.

This research is important to teachers in many ways. Not only can standardized testing for reading comprehension have a negative impact students, it can also adversely affect educators. The Department of Education has been promoting the use of standardized test to measure teacher achievement and use it as a way to determine pay and promotion. By conducting a study on the benefits of a reading comprehension unit, we will be able to see if incorporating reading comprehension in activities will help students have a more positive attitude towards reading, and if students perform better on a reading comprehension test.

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Many students that could not pass their high school’s exit exam due to low reading comprehension skills result to dropping out and entering into a world of drug trafficking because of the lack of educational success (Hatt, 2011). Even well performing schools that excel in specific concentrations such as math see the trend of students and performing low on standardized tests due to reading comprehension. Even though READ 180 helps improves reading levels, something additional needs to be done to help close the gap. Another cause for low reading comprehension levels that needs to be addressed is students’ attitudes towards reading. Guthrie and Wigfield (2000) stated, “Motivation is what activates behavior”. It is imperative for educators to understand that studies have shown that students’ attitudes towards reading is a direct impact of reading comprehension performance. Students who are more comfortable with reading and are reading on grade level, perform better on reading comprehension assignments. This can be attributed to the fact that reading for pleasure is a choice, and students who are below grade level in reading and reading comprehension, chose not to read unless it is a requirement. Without improving reading, the student will continue to fall behind academically. Reading achievement and attitude toward reading are the key to academic success for a child’s future.

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Research Questions 1. What effect does a reading comprehension unit that includes the use of SMART board and one to one device technology have on the academic achievement of 7th grade students as measured by a pre and post-test? 2. What effect does a reading comprehension unit with 7th grade students have on their attitudes towards reading as measured by a pre-post mixed methods questionnaire?

Topic and Problem Conclusion

The students in the researcher’s class, are below grade level standards in reading comprehension as defined by South Carolina College and Career Ready Standards. By late middle school, students are expected to be able to read, comprehend, analyze, and synthesis informational and literature based text. These standards are used as a guide for what students are supposed to learn each year and what they should be ready to learn the next year in a higher grade. The standardized test that are given in accordance with South Carolina College and Career Ready Standards are high in reading comprehension, and the expectation is harder than what the students are capable of doing. Standardized test are used in Dubose Middle School to identify students who struggle with reading comprehension to be placed in a class titled READ 180. This class is designed to bridge the gap between a student’s reading level, and their reading comprehension skills. Students need reading comprehension skills in order to do well in all subject areas, and to become successful, self-functioning adults. The goal of Dubose Middle School and Dorchester School District Two is to path the way for all students to become “worldclass citizens”. Without proper reading comprehension skills, the school, and district will not

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have met their goal and students will enter the work force lacking needed skills. By increasing students’ reading comprehension levels, and increasing their desire to read, the students will begin to perform better across all subject areas.

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Chapter 2 - Review of the Literature Overview of the Literature A review of instructional strategies, relations between students reading level and their desire to read, and the impact of student comprehension levels on standardized testing was done to retrieve information about how students can best increase their reading comprehension levels in the classroom. Two important themes arise during this research. Students with low reading comprehension skills also have other struggles and struggle throughout the world of academia. In addition, the choices educators make in regards to specific reading comprehension instruction has an impact on students who have low comprehension levels desire to read. Struggles of students with low reading comprehension skills Overall, unless a child is born with a learning disability, all children are able to gain adequate reading comprehension skills. There are other factors that come into play such as a students’ home life, access to materials, etc., but it is the first eight years of a young students’ life that are the most important for reading comprehension. The first eight years create the foundation of reading skills that students will continue to build upon for the rest of their academic lives. Students who do not have a learning disability, but struggle with reading comprehension typically come from a low socio-economic household. Blair and Raver (2016) explained that children who are born into low-income households not only experience more stress, but also less verbal and written interactions. They also do not have access to all of the materials needed that can help a struggling learner in the reading process. In comparison, students who are raised in a household with higher income levels are more likely to have higher reading comprehension levels because they are exposed to verbal and written word at a young age and

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have access to supplemental materials if they do show signs of struggle. These differences can be seen through standardized test scores. In a recent study of the NAEP assessment, researchers have concluded that the downfall of reading comprehension is evident in standardized tests and begins in third and fourth grade. Schugar and Dreher, the researchers of this study, also explain that a student’s middle school years, are the last years of “hope” for raising reading comprehension levels so that students may become self-functioning adults in the world of academia. One component of their research expounded on the No Child Left Behind Act, which although it was designed with good intentions, actually hurt our students in reading comprehension skills and vocabulary. It was designed to help narrow the gap between the learners of different socio-economic status, but it failed to do so. The Blair and Raver study explained that students need enrichment activities and experiences that help the brain develop connections, analyze reading on a higher level, and retain information better. Russell Gersten (2001) explained that teaching reading comprehension strategies to struggling readers is similar to teaching reading comprehension strategies to student with a learning disability. In a study conducted by Mercedes Spencer (2018), it was noted that many students who have a reading comprehension deficit despite adequate decoding, also have deficits in oral language skills. A lack of reading comprehension skills not only lead to an array of other learning deficits later on in a students’ academic career, but also highlight struggles that a student may already be experiencing. It is important to understand that comprehending a written text requires higher level of cognitive abilities that not all children have (Alvarez-Canizo 2015). Some children possess these abilities only to a certain extent. For example, they may only understand oral text; however, they have difficulty in

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understanding written texts. Although some children have these skills, they fail in comprehending complex text. Following the Simple View of Reading (Hoover and Gough, 1990), linguistic comprehension and word recognition are needed to achieve a successful level of reading comprehension in order to progress in the world of academia. Consequently, there are several possible causes for poor comprehension. Fluent reading and adequate reading comprehension skills involves accuracy, speed, and good expression (National Institute of Child Health, and Human Development, 2000). Kim and Wagner ...