This session presents effective instructional practices by sharing research conducted on the efficacy of a reading comprehension software program to improve the reading and math abilities of elementary students. The presentation is designed to provide insight to educators who plan to implement software as a means for increasing student achievement.
Purpose
The problem is that students lacked the ability to read proficiently. These same students who were deficient in reading comprehension also demonstrated a weakness with performance-task, word problem items on the state mathematical assessment. This problem, which impacts student achievement and affects state accountability measures, created an investigative opportunity to conduct research that sought to test whether a reading comprehension software intervention that could result in progress in reading comprehension could transfer to achievement in mathematics. Cognitive and educational studies were examined to select a reading comprehension software program as an intervention that would produce positive results in reading comprehension and possibly transfer positive results to achievement in other academic areas, specifically in math. The effects of the intervention were measured by assigning subjects to an experimental group. The total sample consisted of 39 students who were deficient in reading comprehension, and also exposed a significant weakness with word problem items on mathematical assessments. Four instruments were used to collect data before and after the treatment to measure student achievement. To determine the degree to which the software program effected student achievement, data from the four instruments were analyzed using SPSS software. A paired-samples dependent t test and a Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient was computed with ratio level data to test for a correlation between increased math scores and reading comprehension scores. Results yielded statistically significant and positive results in increasing reading comprehension skills that could possibly benefit students in reading and understanding mathematical problems. Results did not conclusively support that the increase of reading-comprehension skills had a collateral effect on students scoring higher with math word problems. The results are conducive to providing insight to educational leaders who plan to implement software as a means for increasing student achievement.
Rationale
The ability to read proficiently is a fundamental skill that affects the learning experiences and school performance of children and adolescents. Students who are competent readers, as measured by their performance on reading tests, are more likely to perform well in other subjects, such as math and science (Hyde, 2007; Carnine & Carnine, 2004). State assessments in Florida have been designed to measure student achievement and have been aligned with the Common Core-based standards of Florida that serve as the instructional benchmarks for instruction in the Florida schools. The test specifications for the suite of assessments assume that students are able to read, understand and then explain their thinking in a reasonable format. For that reason, difficulty with reading comprehension could have a negative impact on math scores.
Cognitive and educational studies provided support for any experiment that attempted to improve student achievement by utilizing a reading program that promotes specific strategies in decoding and comprehension through teacher think-aloud and explicit instruction. The computer-based instructional program selected for this study cultivated progress in critical thinking and reading comprehension skills that would likely transfer to other academic areas. The following research questions guided the study: Research Question 1: What are the effects of the reading comprehension software intervention on the reading ability of students? Research Question 2: Will increased performance with reading comprehension have a collateral effect on students scoring higher with math word problems? Research Question 3: Is it possible for reading comprehension skills to be transferred to other academic areas, specifically in mathematics?
Method
The population for this study included 112 fourth and fifth grade students who were enrolled in an extended year program at the elementary school. The treatment covered 39 students who were enrolled in the fourth or fifth grade, were deficient in reading comprehension skills, and demonstrated significant weakness with performance-task, word problem items on mathematical assessments. As part of the regular curriculum, all students received reading-comprehension instruction. The teacher used the reading instructional curriculum that had been adopted by the district, which consisted of reading textbooks, related materials, and charts provided by the publishing company. All students participated in a daily 90-minute language arts block, which consisted of 25 to 60 minutes of whole-group instruction and 45 to 60 minutes of small-group instruction. The whole-group instruction included phonemic awareness, phonics and fluency, and vocabulary and comprehension. The regular reading curriculum also contained a 30-minute block where students participated in a DEAR program. The study used this block of time to implement the intervention. Students in the experimental group were exposed to the intervention in a computer lab setting for five weeks.
The intervention for this research aimed to improve reading comprehension by targeting language structures and modeling and was designed for students in grades three through five. The computer-based instructional program selected for this study cultivated progress in critical thinking and reading comprehension skills that would likely transfer to other academic areas. The program contained 120 passages and 1,320 questions. The program contained a feature that provided immediate feedback for students throughout the duration of the program. Assessments placed students in appropriate units of instruction and students advanced as they demonstrated readiness. The student's understanding of each of three texts was measured with reading comprehension questions related to main idea, sequence, inference, and interpretation.
The study used four instruments to collect data to measure student achievement: These instruments consisted of (a) embedded pre- and posttest scores in the reading comprehension software program, (b) pre- and posttest scores on the Standardized Test for the Assessment of Reading (STAR), (c) student performance in the classroom setting as measured by a Mastery Skills Checklist for Reading and Literature, and (d) reliable pre-and posttests in which test items and content were closely matched to summative state assessments that assesses the curriculum standards in reading and in mathematics. The primary measurement instrument in this study utilized pre- and posttest results that were embedded in the software program of the reading comprehension intervention. In order to get a fuller picture of the effects of the treatment on student achievement, pre and post test scores on the Standardized Test for the Assessment of Reading (STAR) were used to test the effect of the independent variable of a reading comprehension intervention on student achievement. Achievement changes on reading pre- and posttests were triangulated with student performance in the classroom setting. The progress of each student was measured by his or her teacher and was based upon the classroom work of the student, observations, and tests. Progress was tracked and monitored on a district-created Mastery Skills Checklist which consisted of a list of standards in reading/language arts that a student needed to master based on state standards. A skill was considered mastered if the student had demonstrated a 70% success rate on the assessment. The number of reading/language arts skills mastered by each student at the beginning and at the end of this study was collected to determine student performance. Pre- and posttest scores from a summative mathematic assessment were used to explore whether or not increased performance with reading comprehension had a collateral effect on students scoring higher with math word problems. Data from the four instruments were analyzed with SPSS using a paired-samples dependent t test. Also, a Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient was computed with ratio level data to test for a correlation between increased math scores and reading comprehension scores.
Results and discussion
The quantitative data produced within this study supported that the reading comprehension software program is an efficient instructional tool for increasing student achievement in reading (research question number one). However, data produced within this study did not conclusively support that the increase of reading comprehension skills had a collateral effect on students scoring higher with math word problems (research question number two). Furthermore, data produced within this study did not conclusively support that it might be possible for reading comprehension skills to be transferred to other academic areas, specifically in mathematics, as indicated in research question number three. The findings of this study supports full-scale implementation of the intervention as an efficient instructional tool to increase student achievement in reading. Educational leaders should select software that contains explicit instruction designed to provide remedial services that address the deficiency of the student. The reading comprehension software was an effective instructional tool for increasing student achievement in reading, but was not as successful at increasing student achievement mathematics. Reading comprehension programs could aid students in mathematics in the initial problem-solving phases when conceptual understanding and procedural understanding is required of students. However, supplemental, explicit instruction that included teacher modeling of the analysis, and solution process for sample word problems should be integrated.