Date
10-2018
Department
School of Education
Degree
Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership (EdD)
Chair
David C. Nelson
Keywords
Title I, Reading Achievement, Reading Instruction, Guided Reading Instruction
Disciplines
Education | Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research
Recommended Citation
Smith, Hamilton Elijah, "A Causal-Comparative Analysis of the Effect of Reading Instruction on the Reading Achievement of Third-Grade Students in Title I Elementary Schools." (2018). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 1879.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/1879
Abstract
Title I, Part A (Title I) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) allocates federal government funds to schools serving low-income families. Title I schools receive additional financial support to combat the impact of poverty on students’ elementary and secondary education. This quantitative causal-comparative study examined the effect of reading instruction on third-grade students’ reading achievement score. The study included Title I elementary schools (n=4) within an urban school district in the Southeastern region of the United States. Participants included a convenience sampling of third-grade students (N=340). The researcher collected anonymous archived reading achievement scores from the Renaissance Star 360® reading assessment administered by Independent School District (pseudonym). Pre-test and post-test reading achievement scores were analyzed using an analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). The results of the ANCOVA indicated a statistically significant difference between the reading achievement scores of third-grade students who participated in guided reading instruction and third-grade students who participated in whole-group reading instruction while controlling for pre-test reading achievement scores. The findings rejected the null hypothesis. Implications of the findings were examined alongside recommendations for future research.
