Graduation Date
5-2015
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science
Department or Program
Education
Department or Program Chair
Elizabeth Truesdell PhD
First Reader
Madalienne F. Peters, EdD
Abstract
Many students are struggling in school academically. These students do not qualify for additional resources. Typically these students continue to struggle in their classroom, year after year. Additionally, teachers tend to socially promote these students. These students continue to fail because they are lacking foundational skills.
The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of small group instruction using select reading comprehension strategies on student reading achievement comparing Measures of Academic Progress (MAPs) assessments from September 2014 to February 2015. The literature suggests that reading comprehension strategies and phonetic awareness improvements are only noted in small group instruction, grammar needs to be taught explicitly, and teachers need to understand individuals backgrounds and use that knowledge to motivate and encourage their students learning.
This is a teacher action research project. Pretest and posttest quantitative data will be collected and analyzed. The results indicated that approximately 50% of students who received explicated small group instruction in reading comprehension performed higher on their reading section of the MAPs statewide assessment in February 2015.