READING RECOVERY IN TITLE I SCHOOLS

Reading Recovery in Title I Schools

A Proposal

Presented to the

Graduate Faculty of

Troy University

In partial Fulfillment of the

requirements for EDU 6691
by
Megan Flinn
Troy University Dothan


Chapter I
Introduction
Problem Statement
In response to the increased importance of literacy among schools in the United States due to the No Child Left Behind Act, Title I schools have implemented such programs as Reading Recovery and Intervention to improve reading scores on high-stakes tests. Title I funds are stretched across many areas of a school budget in order to increase the likelihood of the school meeting Annual Yearly Progress, or at least gaining progress towards this goal. Little research has been done concerning to the supplemental literacy program that gives the best results, and saves the most money in the long run. To make the most of the government funds dispersed, it would be beneficial for schools categorized under Title I to use the most valuable supplemental literacy program. I will focus solely on the Reading Recovery program and the results it provides to struggling readers, as well the cost of the program for the school.
Purpose of the Study
The major intent of this study is to provide Grandview Elementary school with research that would enable them to utilize the funds provided by Title I to their advantage.
• Does Reading Recovery accomplish the goal of improving literacy among students who are significantly below grade level?
• What are the long range financial benefits, if any, in utilizing Reading Recovery?
• What is the time frame for visualizing student improvement from the use of Reading Recovery, if any?
• What is the time frame for visualizing the financial benefits of Reading Recovery, if any?

Significance of the Study
This study could ultimately contribute to a school system-wide use of a beneficial literacy support program that is both beneficial in student improvement and financial savings for the long run. This study can also be used as a reference for schools under Title I funds with similar characteristics to Grandview Elementary in choosing a supplemental literacy program.
If my hypothesis is incorrect, Grandview Elementary can be confident in their current use of intervention support programs and the current costs. This study will also provide more support for the search of the best educational programs to increase literacy in the United States.
Definition of Terms
Reading Recovery is a supplementary education program that aims to offer the lowest-achieving early elementary school children an effective method of English language reading and writing instruction (Clay, n.d.).

Title I — Improving The Academic Achievement Of The Disadvantaged
SEC. 101. IMPROVING THE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF THE DISADVANTAGED.
Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) is amended to read as follows:
TITLE I--IMPROVING THE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF THE DISADVANTAGED
SEC. 1001. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE.
The purpose of this title is to ensure that all children have a fair, equal, and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education and reach, at a minimum, proficiency on challenging State academic achievement standards and state academic assessments. This purpose can be accomplished by —
(1) ensuring that high-quality academic assessments, accountability systems, teacher preparation and training, curriculum, and instructional materials are aligned with challenging State academic standards so that students, teachers, parents, and administrators can measure progress against common expectations for student academic achievement;
(2) meeting the educational needs of low-achieving children in our Nation's highest-poverty schools, limited English proficient children, migratory children, children with disabilities, Indian children, neglected or delinquent children, and young children in need of reading assistance;
(3) closing the achievement gap between high- and low-performing children, especially the achievement gaps between minority and nonminority students, and between disadvantaged children and their more advantaged peers;
(4) holding schools, local educational agencies, and States accountable for improving the academic achievement of all students, and identifying and turning around low-performing schools that have failed to provide a high-quality education to their students, while providing alternatives to students in such schools to enable the students to receive a high-quality education;
(5) distributing and targeting resources sufficiently to make a difference to local educational agencies and schools where needs are greatest;
(6) improving and strengthening accountability, teaching, and learning by using State assessment systems designed to ensure that students are meeting challenging State academic achievement and content standards and increasing achievement overall, but especially for the disadvantaged;
(7) providing greater decision-making authority and flexibility to schools and teachers in exchange for greater responsibility for student performance;
(8) providing children an enriched and accelerated educational program, including the use of school-wide programs or additional services that increase the amount and quality of instructional time;
(9) promoting school-wide reform and ensuring the access of children to effective, scientifically based instructional strategies and challenging academic content;
(10) significantly elevating the quality of instruction by providing staff in participating schools with substantial opportunities for professional development;
(11) coordinating services under all parts of this title with each other, with other educational services, and, to the extent feasible, with other agencies providing services to youth, children, and families; and
(12) affording parents substantial and meaningful opportunities to participate in the education of their children (Education, U.D.o., n.d.).
Supplemental Literacy Programs or Reading Intervention is a method of academic intervention used in the United States designed to provide early, effective assistance to children who are having difficulty learning. This was also designed to function as a data-based process of diagnosing learning disabilities. This method can be used at the group and individual level (International Reading Association, n.d.).
Limitations and Delimitations of the Study
This study will take place in Dothan, Alabama within Grandview Elementary school. This school contains grades kindergarten through fifth grade, and is classified as 93 percent free and reduced lunch under the 2006-2007 Alabama Department of Education Report Card (Alabama State Board of Education, n.d.).
Grandview Elementary school utilizes teacher assistants and the reading coach as instructors for reading intervention programs. These programs consist of a “double dip”, or re-teaching of the previous lesson in the school’s chosen reading program, as well as extra support in comprehension and fluency work among a group of three to six students at one time for a 20 to 30 minute sessions. Dependent on the student’s second grade classroom teacher’s schedule, does he or she participate in the reading intervention for a set time. Each second grade teacher has a different allotted time for the pull-out intervention, and also each second grade teacher has a varied amount of time for the pull-out intervention. For example, one teacher may choose to have the pull-out intervention time during the first 30 minutes of reading block within the class, but for only 20 minutes, while another teacher may have the pull-out intervention time later in the afternoon during science block within the class for 30 minutes.

Hypothesis
The Reading Recovery supplemental literacy program will be beneficial in significantly increasing the students’ literacy level from the previous level, of well below grade level, as well as being cost effective for Grandview Elementary under the issued Title I funds.
 
Chapter II
Review of Literature
Previous research and academic publications concerning the Reading Recovery program have been reviewed, and overall shed a positive light on the Reading Recovery program as a tool to improve literacy among students at Grandview Elementary school who are significantly below grade level. The major intent of this study is to provide Grandview Elementary school with research that would enable them to utilize the funds provided by Title I to their advantage. In review of the following articles research was located that showed successful results in terms of improving literacy among students tested at below grade level. I also was able to review previous trials of the Reading Recovery program where achievement was reached among at risk students within a diverse population.
Reading Recovery Success
According to Vellutino, Scanlon, Small and Fanuele (2006), children at risk for early reading difficulties were identified on entry into kindergarten, and half of these children received Reading Recovery intervention two to three times a week during their kindergarten year. The other half received whatever remedial assistance was offered by their schools. These children were again assessed at the beginning of first grade, and those who continued to have difficulties in reading received either one-to-one daily Reading Recovery intervention from the beginning to the end of first grade or whatever remedial assistance was offered by their schools over the same time period. All targeted children were periodically assessed through the end of third grade. Results suggest that either kindergarten Reading Recovery intervention alone or kindergarten Reading Recovery intervention combined with first-grade Reading Recovery intervention are both useful tools for preventing early and long-term reading difficulties in most at-risk children (2006, pp. 157-169).
Author Mary K. Lose (2007) discusses the fundamental principles of a successful intervention approach, and describes the Reading Recovery intervention program as a prime example of success. She explains that a child who has been provided with the Reading Recovery intervention will respond successfully, making progress daily and learning how to lift his or her own literacy performance with skilled support from the tools learned through Reading Recovery. Lose’s (2007) article gives many strict guidelines for the intervention to be successful in increasing student achievement including a knowledgeable teacher and opportunities for the highest quality of professional development for these teachers. The author is a firm believer of Reading Recovery intervention because it is an evidence-based early intervening service (2007, pp. 276-279).
Lynn Fuchs (2006) explores the Reading Recovery intervention program through a commentary article. She discusses how Reading Recovery, over the past decade, has emerged as a promising model of service delivery at the elementary grades, with behavior and reading receiving the greatest amount of systematic attention by researchers and practitioners. The authors define the intervention and prevention program by explaining that within the context of a multilayered prevention system, Reading Recovery integrates increasingly intensive instruction and, at each layer, employs assessment to identify students who are inadequately responsive and who therefore require intervention at the next, more intensive layer in the system (2006, pp. 621-626).

Diversity Among At Risk Students
Michelle McCollin (2005) discusses the achievement of at-risk students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds in the Reading Recovery intervention program. Through the authors’ research they have found that using a variety of instructional materials at different reading levels can accommodate individual reading acquisition skills. The variety needed to accommodate this strategy can be found in the Reading Recovery intervention program. She also discusses the need for an opportunity to allow students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds to acquire early literacy skills in order to close achievement gaps. Educators can encourage the reading achievement of students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds by directly and explicitly attending to research-based components of early literacy, such as provided within Reading Recovery intervention (2005, pp. 41-44).
Sharif, Ozuah, Dinkevich, and Mulvihill (2003) explain the lack of adequate literacy skills among children from socially disadvantaged homes. The authors discussed their belief that high intensity intervention programs such as Reading Recovery have been shown to improve the vocabulary skills and language comprehension of children in previous studies. Their own research studies show that the impact of literacy interventions, such as Reading Recovery has been greater on disadvantaged families. Overall, they concluded that the Reading Recovery intervention at a low-income, urban child-care center was associated with significant improvements in preschool children’s vocabulary skills (2003, pp. 177-180).
Nancollis, Lawrie, and Dodd (2005) discuss a study examining the effect of Reading Recovery intervention that focused on syllable and rhyme awareness on the attainment of literacy and the development of phonological awareness skills two years after intervention. The longitudinal study compared two groups of children from deprived socioeconomic backgrounds in the United Kingdom. One group received a program of Reading Recovery intervention and one did not. The Reading Recovery intervention that was implemented, which focused on enhancing syllable and rhyme awareness, had increased effect on later literacy development (2005, pp. 325-335).
Summary
Previous publications have researched and reported short-term programs of Reading Recovery programs and their successfulness in terms of student achievement and time frame for results. The previously reviewed articles have shown favor for the Reading Recovery program in achieving the goal of improving literacy among students who are significantly below grade level at Grandview Elementary school. The reviews provided insight into an ideal time frame for visible results in student achievement. Overall, I was unable to locate previous research or publications concerning the economics of the Reading Recovery program.











Chapter III
Methodology
In order to test the hypothesis, previously stated, a quantitative quasi experimental study will be conducted. Statistical information will be gathered from the collected data and will be explored to make a comparison of the affect of the Reading Recovery program with past practices for teaching similar students.
The methods used in the study will examine data gathered by literacy pre-tests finished prior to entry into the Reading Recovery program. A post-assessment will also be administered to students once they have completed the Reading Recovery program to view the growth each student has made since the completion of the program. Overall, the researcher will be searching for students who make increased achievements in literacy according to pre and post-test results. Grandview Elementary school has very diverse demographics, but students will share a similar age range – seven to nine years of age. Both boys and girls will be included in the study. Students must have scored below the benchmark score according to the initial Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills, or DIBELS
Research Questions
The research questions will be answered through the analysis of the test scores. 1) Do students who are significantly below grade level have higher achievement scores in literacy after completion of Reading Recovery rather than the current intervention strategies implemented at the school? 2) Do student demographics influence literacy achievement scores? 3) Do Grandview’s school demographics influence literacy achievement scores?
Population
The study will be conducted with all second graders and those that have scored below the benchmark score on the DIBELS assessment given in the beginning of the school year. The students scoring at a low level will be the school’s primary candidates for a reading intervention program. The sample size of students in the program will be 33 students. The purpose for the reading intervention program currently provided at Grandview Elementary is to attempt to bring struggling readers up to grade level or significantly increase the literacy level. Reading Recovery versus the presently used intervention programs.
Instrumentation
The instrument that will be used in the study to test the effectiveness of Reading Recovery among second graders at Grandview Elementary will be a t-test. This will compare the mean scores of children that have taken the DIBELS assessment in the past before the intervention program with those that are taking the invention program now. The mean scores of the children’s DIBELs assessment will be used in the comparison.
Data Collection
Data including student age, race, gender, school budget, a literacy pre-test valid for the second grade level, past DIBELS scores, and current assessment scores will be collected before implementation of the Reading Recovery program.
Ethical Treatment of Human Subjects
The parents of the students who qualify for the program must complete a parental consent form in order to participate in the study. The consent form will specify the procedure and guidelines of the research study, and it will include the risk parameters for participating. Grandview Elementary is required also to give its permission for the researcher to take involvement in its school programs and investigate the current programs taking place.
Parents of the students participating in the study must be fully aware of all parameters of the study in order to allow them to make a knowledgeable decision concerning their child’s participation in the study. Parents will also be aware of how they may withdraw their student from the study at any time that they feel necessary. The study will not include deception. In finalizing the study, parents will receive a debriefing by the researcher. At this time, parents will be given the opportunity to ask specific questions and inquire about the study’s outcomes.
Data Analysis
This quantitative study will use the Statistical Package for Social Sciences, also known as S.P.S.S. which is a software program the researcher will use to help analyze and compare the test scores of the students involved in the study. The researcher will enter the statistical data collected. The scores will be placed in columns that are appropriately labeled. Once information is correctly entered into the program, the researcher will have the ability to maneuver and shift the data in many ways to achieve varying results. S.P.S.S. will allow the researcher to reduce bias that may exist. As the researcher investigates the data, he or she will help Grandview to determine an efficient intervention program both academically and financially. Demographic data will be analyzed and compared to DIEBELS scores to determine if there is a relationship between descriptive data and scores. A t-test will be used to determine if there is significant differences in the scores of second grade students in the past with the present second graders after the Reading Recovery program has been instituted.







References
Alabama State Board of Education. (n.d.). Grandview elementary school. Report Card 2006-2007.
Clay, M. (n.d.). Reading Recovery. Retrieved from Reading Recovery Council of North America Web site: http://www.readingrecovery.org/
Education, U. D. o. (n.d.). Title I: Improving the academic achievement of the disadvantaged. Retrieved from ED.gov Web site: http://www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/esea02/pg1.html
Fuchs, L. S. (2006). A framework for building capacity for responsiveness to intervention. School Psychology Review, 35 (4), 621-626.
International Reading Association. (n.d.). Focus on Topics in Reading. Retrieved from International Reading Association Web site: http://www.reading.org/resources/issues/focus_rti.html
Lose, M. K. (2007). A child's response to intervention requires a responsive teacher of reading. The Reading Teacher, 61 (3), 276-279.
McCollin, M. (2005, Fall). Increasing reading achievement of students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Preventing School Failure, 50 (1), 41-44.
Nancollis, A., Lawrie, B., & Dodd, B. (2005). Phonological awareness intervention and the acquisition of literacy skills in children from deprived social backgrounds. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 36, 325-335.
Sharif, I., Ozuah, P. O., Dinkevich, E. I., & Mulvihill, M. (2003, Spring). Impact of a brief literacy intervention on urban preschoolers. Early Childhood Education Journal, 30 (3), 177-180.
Vellutino, F. R., Scanlon, D. M., Small, S., & Fanuele, D. P. (March/April 2006). Response to intervention as a vehicle for distinguishing between children with and without reading disabilities: Evidence for the role of kindergarten and first-grade interventions. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 39 (2), 157-169.