Assignment 1b

Improving the Reading Comprehension Skills of Sixth-Grade Students

Performing Below Grade Level

by

Student Name

EDU708

Nova Southeastern University

Month year

Topic Description

Community

The community for this proposed project is a low to middle class community in the [name the general area: do not identify city or town]. The community has seen many developments over the past 10 years, changing from rural to suburban. New additions, such as commercial banks, radio stations, public and private clinics, a post office, community library, police and fire stations, community parks, plazas, supermarkets, and eateries afford many residents the convenience of living and working in their community. There are approximately 5,000 residents. [insert average income and other information from the city/county website]

School

Within this community, there are six schools, four elementary and two secondary. The elementary schools comprise kindergarten to Grade 6 classes and the secondary school comprises Grades 7 through 12 classes. The four elementary schools and one of the secondary schools are government owned and operated, while the other secondary school is owned and operated by a local church.

In the proposed target school, there are 41 classrooms along with a computer lab, music room, special education class, and three pre-school classrooms. There are four administrators on staff that include a principal, vice-principal, and two senior mistresses; a teaching staff of 42, seven teacher’s aides, a guidance counselor, nurse, two clerical staff, 14 janitorial staff, and one handyman. The student population has increased to approximately 990. All the teachers at this school are trained and have earned, at minimum, a Bachelors Degree in Education, while six have completed Master’s Degree in various disciplines. With the exception of music, Spanish, science, computer, and physical education, which have specialized teachers, all Grades 1 through 6 teachers are trained to teach all other content material that includes math, all language subjects (i.e. grammar, writing, spelling, reading, and listening comprehension), social studies, religion, family life, and literature. The school has an interactive website, where both students and parents frequently visit to keep abreast of the school’s goals, plans, and accomplishments. Subscribing to the Facebook social network is one of the new initiatives undertaken by this school and it is via this medium that information about the school’s special functions are posted for public viewing and comments. Some functions include, Commonwealth Day, Thanksgiving, Academic Award Ceremonies, and Graduations. Cable and wireless internet services are also available and many of the 41 classrooms are outfitted with at least one desk top computer that has web surfing capabilities. All classrooms have a dry erase board and teachers have at their disposal, LCD projectors, overhead projectors, boom boxes, and the Promethean Board software. Availability of these items afford teachers the opportunity to purposefully integrate some form of technology into the teaching and learning process.

Topic

Improving reading comprehension is the topic for this proposed project. During the administration of the June 2010 school-based Reading Comprehension final examination, all students were expected to achieve a 45% (D) grade or better. However, upon completion of the grading process, a discrepancy between the expected scores and the actual scores achieved was observed. The scores indicated that 16 of the 30 students scored 45% (D) or better, while 14 students did not meet the expectations. Moreover, during this same period, these 14 students achieved an accumulated Grade Point Average (GPA) that ranged from 0.65 to 1.88, when the minimum expected GPA is 2.00. The Reading Comprehension final examination scores and the final grade point averages for these 14 students provide some evidence of possible reading failure at the current sixth grade level and a need for intervention (see Table 1).

Table 1

Results of Sixth Grade, 2010, Reading Comprehension Final Examination

Participants	Expectation	Observation	Discrepancy
Sixth-grade students N = 30	Score 45% or better N = 30	Score 45% or better N = 16	N = -14

Data presented in Table 1 reflect the achievement scores of all 30 students in the proposed sixth grade target class. Of the 30 students, 16 achieved 45% or better on the June 2010 Reading Comprehension final examination, while 14 students scored below the 45% expected score. The expectation is that all students will score 45% or better on the final examination. However, 14 students did not meet that expectation.

Rationale for Selecting the Topic

At the targeted elementary school, the writer is the teacher in the Grade 6 classroom where student performance needs improvement, and the writer has a personal interest in supporting student success in reading. This topic is especially important, as the children must pass the examination in order to move to the next grade level. The data presented in Table 1 show that the Grade 6 students are performing below expectations and in order to show proficiency on the annual examination, their reading performance must improve. It is imperative that students learn to read. As noted by the Carnegie Report, “. . . approximately eight million young people between fourth and twelfth grade struggle to read at grade level” (Biancarosa & Snow, 2006, p. 3).

Proposed Target Group

The writer examined the Reading Comprehension final examination data that indicated 14 students performed below expectations. The data show of the five areas that were assessed, the area that showed the greatest deficit was vocabulary. There were eight students who showed a performance deficit in vocabulary, and these eight students will be selected as the target group for this proposed action research plan. Of the target group, three are girls and five are boys. Five students receive services in the Exceptional Student Education (ESE) program, and two students receive services in the English for Other Speakers of Language (ESOL). Expectation was that students would score 45% or higher on the vocabulary section; however, the target students did not meet that expectation (see Table 2).

Table 2

Description of Target Group

Student	Gender	Ethnicity	Special Programs	Vocabulary Score %	Retained
A	Girl	Hispanic American	ESOL	35	No
B	Girl	European American	ESE	38	No
C	Girl	African American	None	38	No
D	Boy	Hispanic American	ESOL	42	Yes
E	Boy	European American	ESE	39	No
F	Boy	European American	ESE	35	No
G	Boy	European American	ESE	40	No
H	Boy	African American	ESE	41	No

The data displayed in Table 2 show that there is a need to provide some type of intervention to improve the reading vocabulary of the target students.

Research ethics

The community and the school remain anonymous as “educational researchers must adhere to ethical considerations and ensure that the participants in their studies are protected” (Mertler, 2016, p. 53). Anonymity and confidentiality are assured. The writer has received consent from the parents of the proposed target group to provide enhanced instruction to remediate the area of need. The ethics principle of professional competency has been followed as the writer by researching peer-reviewed literature that provides strategies that have been shown to improve student achievement (Lochmiller & Lester, p. 69). The writer intends to develop an action research plan that could provide a solution to the problem identified by the topic.

References.

Biancarosa, C., & Snow, C. E. (2006). Reading next—A vision for action and research in middle and high school literacy: A report to Carnegie Corporation of New York (2nd ed.). Washington, D.C.: Alliance for Excellent Education.

Lochmiller, C.R., & Lester, J.N. (2017). An introduction to educational research: Connecting methods to practice. Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publishing

Mertler, C. A. (2016). Introduction to educational research. Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.