Browsing by Author "Dr. William Erchul, Committee Member"

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    Evaluating the Effects of a Teacher Implemented Reading Fluency Program for Low-performing Second-grade Readers
    (2010-04-14) Mitchell, Rachel Courtney; Dr. Scott Stage, Committee Member; Dr. William Erchul, Committee Member; Dr. John Begeny, Committee Chair
    Reading is one of the most important skills that a student can acquire. For elementary school teachers, helping students become proficient readers is one of the greatest impacts they can make in a student’s academic career. It is essential that students receive reading strategies in the classroom that have strong research support. Instructional strategies that have been shown to improve reading fluency include: repeated reading, listening passage preview, and phrase drill. Through the use of such evidence-based, procedurally standardized intervention strategies, teachers may be able to make meaningful contributions to improve students’ reading fluency. This study was conducted in an effort to bridge research to practice by offering an example of effectiveness (versus efficacy) research on a multi-component, evidence-based reading fluency intervention referred the Helping Early Literacy with Practice Strategies (HELPS) Program. The primary purpose of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the HELPS Program with low-performing second grade students when implemented by four classroom teachers and teacher assistants in a minimally controlled setting. Results from the study suggested that 29 students who received HELPS significantly improved (from pre-test to post-test) on the measure of basic reading competence when compared to a control group of 30 students, with low-performing students who received HELPS making significantly larger reading gains than students who did not receive the program. In addition, the study demonstrated that such outcomes are achievable when teachers and teacher assistants implement the program. Given these findings, HELPS appears to be a useful and practical tool for educators’ use in elementary school settings.