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The Impact of the Balanced Literacy Approach in Reading Instruction on Student Reading Motivation and Reading Competence

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The Impact of the Balanced Literacy Approach in Reading Instruction on Student Reading Motivation and Reading Competence W&M ScholarWorks Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 2019 The Impact of the Balanced Literacy Approach in Reading Instruction on Student Reading Motivation and Reading Competence Jami Beth Clements William & Mary - School of Education, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd Part of the Elementary Education Commons Recommended Citation Clements, Jami Beth, "The Impact of the Balanced Literacy Approach in Reading Instruction on Student Reading Motivation and Reading Competence" (2019). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1582642577. http://dx.doi.org/10.21220/m2-sfz6-3z08 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE IMPACT OF THE BALANCED LITERACY APPROACH IN READING INSTRUCTION ON STUDENT READING MOTIVATION AND READING COMPETENCE __________________________________________ A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of the School of Education The College of William and Mary in Virginia __________________________________________ In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy By Jami B. Clements November 2019 THE IMPACT OF THE BALANCED LITERACY APPROACH IN READING INSTRUCTION ON STUDENT READING MOTIVATION AND READING COMPETENCE By Jami B. Clements Approved November 1, 2019 by ______________________________________ Steven R. Staples, Ed.D. Chair of Doctoral Committee ______________________________________ Margaret E. Constantino, Ph.D. ______________________________________ Michael F. DiPaola, Ed.D. Dedication This dissertation is dedicated to the two most important women in my life, my mother and my daughter. To my mom, thank you for always believing in me and supporting me. Thank you for listening to me ramble on and on about my research, hurdles, and next steps even when you really had no clue what it all meant. Without you by my side, this would not have been possible. To my amazingly curious and happy daughter, Waverly, I am grateful that you are too young to truly know the sacrifices you have made to make this possible. Your smile and hugs have often made me smile when I felt like crying and have given me hope when I felt like throwing in the towel. Next year, you will start kindergarten. May it be the beginning of a life full of learning, growing, and exploring. I hope that my pursuit of life-long learning, my work, and my life will be an inspiration to you as you have been to me! i Table of Contents List of Tables vii List of Figures viii Chapter 1: Introduction 2 Background 2 Program Description 5 Context 5 Description of the Program 7 Overview of the Evaluation Approach 13 Program Evaluation Model 13 Purpose of the Evaluation 21 Focus of the Evaluation 22 Evaluation Questions 23 Definition of Terms 23 Chapter 2: Review of Related Literature 25 Historical Trends in Elementary Reading Instruction 25 Explicit Instruction 32 Whole Language Instruction 34 Current Trend 36 Balanced Literacy 37 Student Reading Behavior 40 Engagement 40 Frequency and Amount 42 ii Student Motivation to Read 43 Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation 43 Self-Determination Theory and Motivation 46 Motivation Measurement Tools 48 CHAPTER 3: Methods 60 Introduction 60 Participants 62 Teachers 63 Students 63 Data Sources 64 Classroom Observation Data 65 Student Survey 66 Longitudinal Summative Assessment Data 68 Comprehensive Reading Assessment Data 71 Data Collection 72 Data Analysis 73 Delimitations, Limitations, and Assumptions 74 Delimitations 74 Limitations 75 Assumptions 76 Ethical Considerations 76 Institutional Review Board 77 Adherence to Program Evaluation Standards 77 iii Summary 78 CHAPTER 4: Findings 79 Summary Findings for Study 79 Evaluation Question 1 79 Evaluation Question 2 82 Evaluation Question 3 87 Evaluation Question 4 90 Summary of Findings 93 CHAPTER 5: Recommendations 94 Discussion of Findings 94 In Class Student Reading Time 95 Student Motivation to Read 97 Reading Competence 101 Student Motivation to Read and Reading Competence 103 Implications for Policy or Practice 104 Increase Student Reading Time 107 Increasing Student Choice and Interest 107 Early Interventions and Remediation 108 Discontinue the Use of PALS Assessment 108 Recommendations for Future Research 108 Summary 110 Appendices Appendix A: Indicators of Student Engagement Observation Protocol 111 iv Appendix B: Self-Regulation Questionnaire: Reading Motivation Student Survey 112 Appendix C: Self-Regulation Questionnaire: Reading Motivation Survey Data 114 Appendix D: Participant Consent Letter 116 Appendix E: Student Reading SOL Scores for Years 2012-13 to 2017-18 117 References 134 Vita 152 v Acknowledgements This dissertation is the result of the persistence to never lose sight of the end goal, resilience to push forward through planned and unplanned detours, and the unwavering support of so many people in every avenue of my life. I would like to thank the members of my dissertation process who gave me guidance and encouragement. Dr. Constantino, thank you for giving precise feedback to ensure I produce a quality program evaluation. Dr. DiPaola, thank you for keeping me on the right track and making it a manageable process. Dr. Staples, thank you for your consistent encouragement, feedback, and understanding. Thank you to my daughter for not questioning when I had to work. Thank you to my mother, who has always been my cheerleader and my support in every possible way. Thank you to my entire family for asking enough questions to hold me accountable and giving me enough love to make it happen. Thank you to my dear friend and informal mentor in this process, Dr. Erin Warren, for being there for being my rock when I needed stability and my pillow when I needed a soft place to land. Finally, I’d like to thank my administrative peers in the school district and my faculty at my school. I appreciate our conversations, your understanding, and your encouragement. vi List of Tables Table 1. Frequency of Coded Topics in “The Reading Teacher” in Five-Year Segments and Total 27 Table 2. Grades 3-5 SOL Strand Details 71 Table 3. Evaluation Questions and Data Analysis 74 Table 4. Observation Data by Grade Level Teacher 81 Table 5. Student Motivation to Read Mean Scores by Motivation Type 84 Table 6. Correlations by Motivation Type 86 Table 7. Mean Reading SOL Scores by Grade and School Year 87 Table 8. Tukey’s HSD post hoc test analysis of Grade 3 Reading SOL Scores and Year of Implementation 88 Table 9. Tukey’s HSD post hoc test analysis of Grade 5 Reading SOL Scores and Year of Implementation 89 Table 10. Student Cohort Mean PALS Scores and Reading SOL Scores 91 Table 11. Research Question Findings and Recommendations 106 vii List of Figures Figure 1. District Reading SOL Pass Rates 7 Figure 2. Program Theory for Study of Motivation and Reading Comprehension 12 Figure 3. Logic Model for Balanced Literacy Reading 15 viii Abstract The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate the impact Balanced Literacy Reading Instruction had on student motivation to read and student reading competence in the elementary school of one public school district. This study analyzed extant student summative reading assessment data and extant teacher observation data. The study also administered the Self-Regulation Questionnaire-Reading Motivation to measure the reading motivation of students who had received Balanced Literacy Reading Instruction in the district from first grade through fifth grade. The study sought to determine the amount of reading time administered during reading instruction during the implementation, the current level of student reading motivation, and the longitudinal growth of student reading competence. The study used the CIPP model of program evaluation for data collection on the context, input, process, and products of implementation and student results of the Balanced Literacy Reading Instruction. The findings of the study indicate that the Balanced Literacy approach is not being implemented with fidelity based on the disparity of student reading time between teachers. Based on survey results, the current level of student motivation to read varies significantly between students and does not reflect trends in motivation research. The students have not experienced significant growth in reading competence during implementation. Recommendations for future research and continuous program improvement include providing consistent and continuous professional development on Balanced Literacy, collecting baseline data on student motivation to measure growth, and analyzing the effect of Balanced Literacy Reading Instruction on student populations more aligned to the district’s student population. ix THE IMPACT OF THE BALANCED LITERACY APPROACH IN READING INSTRUCTION ON STUDENT READING MOTIVATION AND READING COMPETENCE CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Background Public education was founded to develop citizens who would have the knowledge and skills to be productive members of society. The foundation of a structured school education and a functional society is literacy (Becker, McElvany, & Kortenbruck, 2010; Bitter, O’Day, Gubbins, & Socias, 2009; Schiefele & Schaffner, 2016). Since the 1950s, there has been an intense debate regarding the best strategies, practices,
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