Master's Theses

Document Type

Thesis - campus only access

Date of Award

Summer 1999

Degree Name

Education Specialist (Ed.S)

Department

Advanced Education Programs

Advisor

Carol L. Patrick

Abstract

The Taylor Associates, Inc. Reading Plus program has been hypothesized to increase visual reading efficiency and, as a result, to also increase reading skill and achievement. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the Taylor Associates, Inc. Reading Plus and Guided Reading program, pre- and post-test measures of curriculum-based measurement (CBM) of oral reading fluency and reading comprehension collected from a sample of middle school students were analyzed. A total of 87 students participated in the semester long intervention. Gains in scores on CBM oral reading fluency and reading comprehension were compared to nonnative gains derived from a district-wide noon sample. Significant differences in discrepancy ratios from pre- to post-test were obtained for both CBM measures, although results varied according to grade level. In addition, gains in visual reading efficiency, as measured by the Visagraph II Eye-Movement recording system, were correlated with CBM gains to assess the relationship between improvement in visual reading efficiency and reading achievement. Correlations between change in relative efficiency and CBM reading and CBM discrepancy scores were not significant. However, a significant negative correlation was found between change in Grade Level Equivalence and CBM oral reading discrepancy ratio. The results of this study suggest that students participating in the Reading Plus program made significant gains in reading achievement, although no significant correlation between gains in achievement and improvements in eye-movement behavior was found.

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Rights

© 1999 Heath Marrs

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