Date of Award

2016

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Education

Abstract

The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate teachers implementation levels of best practices in reading. This study examined the frequency of instructional reading strategies serving as predictors of student success in the End of Course Assessments (ECA) for Algebra I and English Grade 10. This study reviewed current literature to determine the depth of the problem and to study effective research strategies in order to provide a better understanding of the secondary reading issue. The study also reviewed the specific reading strategies in Indiana high schools in relationship to results of Algebra I and English Grade 10 of ECA in lowest poverty schools and highest poverty schools in Indiana. A Qualtrics survey was constructed and emailed to teacher participants. The electronic survey was separated into two sections with the first asking information about the school and the teacher, and the second asking the teachers to respond to the frequency with which the strategies of vocabulary, summarization, prior knowledge, fluency, and visualization were emphasized in classes. Each strategy included four questions for a total of 20 questions. A total of 66 teachers responded to the survey; 29 teachers from low-poverty level shcools and 37 teachers from high-poverty levels schools. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multiple regressions. Multiple regressions were used to address the four research questions that were used to structure the research for this study. The predictor variables do explain a significant amount of variance within the Algebra 1 ECA scores. This was determined as the significance value was lower than the given alpha level (.05) with F (5, 23) = 2.66, p = .049. ANOVA results for all predictor variables in Algebra I ECA did not reveal that the use of reading strategies is related to the success of passing the Algebra I For low-poverty level schools. The multiple regressions conducted did not prove that frequency of research-based instructional reading strategies taught in high schools served as a predictor of standardized testing performance in English 10 ECA for low-poverty schools or high-poverty schools. This study provided information as to the selection of reading strategies as they contribute to students ability to pass the ECA. This was significant because it did not suggest the importance of instructional reading programs and strategies in high school. The study, through quantitative data, did not prove whether the use of reading programs and strategies will improve the students passing scores in the ECA. The study provide a better understanding why some students get through their early years of school only, to get to high school and have a difficult time with reading and become one of the numbers of students who drop out.

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