Soar to Success: an Instructional Inquiry on a Reading Comprehension Curriculum for Students
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Soar to Success: An Instructional Inquiry on a Reading Comprehension Curriculum for Students with Significant Reading Deficits Tina Buhlman, B.M.E. Otterbein University 2017 Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a Master of Arts in Education degree. Dr. Erica Womack _______________________________ __________________ Advisor Signature Date Dr. Adele Weiss _______________________________ __________________ Second Reader Signature Date Dr. Diane Ross _______________________________ __________________ Third Reader Signature Date SOAR TO SUCCESS: READING INTERVENTION Copyright By Tina Buhlman 2017 ii SOAR TO SUCCESS: READING INTERVENTION Acknowledgements I would like to express my gratitude to my husband, David, for not only understanding my need for solitude during parts of this process, but also for being my conscience and kicking me in the pants on days when I didn’t want to work. Additionally, I would like to thank my advisor, Dr. Erica Womack, for her thoughtful advice and input throughout my writing. Also, many thanks to my friend, Kaylyn Armstrong, for keeping me honest, and offering her support for the duration of this project. iii SOAR TO SUCCESS: READING INTERVENTION Vita Teaching Experience 2015 - Present Intervention Specialist Pleasant View Middle School South-Western City School District Grove City, Ohio 2014-2015 Long Term Sub- Intervention Specialist Sells Middle School Dublin City Schools Dublin, Ohio 2012-2014 Substitute Teacher- Multiple Subjects/Grades Multiple districts around the city Columbus, Ohio 2010-2011 General Music Teacher Hutchings Elementary School Howell Public Schools Howell, Michigan 2009-2010 General Music Teacher Hillside and Longacre Elementary Schools Farmington Public Schools Farmington Hills, Michigan iv SOAR TO SUCCESS: READING INTERVENTION Education 2017 Master of Arts in Education Special Education Otterbein University Westerville, Ohio 2009 Bachelor of Music Education Michigan State University East Lansing, Michigan v SOAR TO SUCCESS: READING INTERVENTION TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii VITA iv TABLE OF CONTENTS vi LIST OF FIGURES viii ABSTRACT 1 SECTION ONE: INTRODUCTION 2 Introduction 2 Research Question 4 SECTION TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 4 Reading Comprehension 4 Struggling Readers 11 Intellectual Disabilities 14 Reciprocal Teaching 18 SECTION THREE: METHODOLOGY 24 Background 24 Setting and Materials 27 Participants 29 Procedures 33 SECTION FOUR: RESULTS 37 Narrative Summary Discussion 38 Baseline 1 38 Intervention 1 Procedures 39 vi SOAR TO SUCCESS: READING INTERVENTION Intervention 1 Analysis 40 Baseline 2 44 Intervention 2 Analysis 45 Informational Summary Discussion 49 Baseline 1 49 Intervention 1 Procedures 50 Intervention 1 Analysis 51 Baseline 2 54 Intervention 2 Analysis 55 STAR Reading Assessment Discussion 57 SECTION FIVE: LIMITATIONS AND IMPLICATIONS 60 Limitations of the Study 60 Implications 63 REFERENCES 65 vii SOAR TO SUCCESS: READING INTERVENTION LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Rubric for Informational Summary Method 35 Figure 2: Rubric for SWBST Summary Method 36 Figure 3: Narrative Summary Baseline 1 Data Graph 38 Figure 4: Student 5 Intervention 2 Narrative Summary 42 Figure 5: Intervention 1 Narrative Summary Data Graph 43 Figure 6: Baseline 2 Narrative Summary Data Graph 44 Figure 7: Student 2 Intervention 2 Narrative Summary 46 Figure 8: Student 3 Intervention 2 Narrative Summary 47 Figure 9: Intervention 2 Narrative Summary Data Graph 48 Figure 10: Overall Narrative Summary Data Graph 49 Figure 11: Baseline 1 Informational Summary Data Graph 50 Figure 12: KWL Chart for Informational Text 52 Figure 13: Intervention 1 Informational Summary Data Graph 53 Figure 14: Baseline 2 Informational Summary Data Graph 54 Figure 15: Intervention 2 Informational Summary Data Graph 56 Figure 16: Overall Informational Summary Data Graph 57 Figure 17: STAR Reading GE Data Graph 58 viii SOAR TO SUCCESS: READING INTERVENTION Abstract This Capstone was an instructional inquiry to determine the efficacy of the Soar to Success curriculum by, Houghton Mifflin, when used to instruct students with intellectual disabilities (ID). Participants in the study included five students in grades seven and eight identified as students with ID, two of whom spoke English as a second language. Additionally, two participants were female and three were male. Qualitative data were collected through student summaries of both narrative and informational texts, and quantitative data were collected in the form of computerized assessment data from a program titled STAR Reading and rubric scores from student written summaries. Data were analyzed and it was determined that through use of this curriculum, students with ID showed growth in the area of reading comprehension. Efficacy of the curriculum will be shared with reading specialists, other teachers in the district using the same curriculum, and other relevant parties in the school district. 1 SOAR TO SUCCESS: READING INTERVENTION Section One: Introduction Introduction Reading comprehension is quite possibly the most detrimental area in which to have a disability. This impairment can stem from an intellectual disability or another area such as a specific learning disability or autism. Without the ability to comprehend what one is reading, one’s life becomes infinitely more difficult. Deficiencies in comprehension can impact a person not only during their elementary and secondary schooling, but can also prevent that person from obtaining gainful employment later in life. This lack has been long documented and improvements to reading instruction have been made for decades. Over the years, reading instruction has had many different faces. When the American education system first came into being, reading interventions did not exist. Students each used a primer book and were taught using one method of instruction. During the mid 1930s, for example, the Dick and Jane books used repetition of sight words to help students more quickly learn to read. A push for content area reading sprung up during World War II, when it became known that many soldiers could not read well enough to understand the instructional manuals required for their deployments. Following this discovery, a large emphasis was placed on phonics and decoding as a path to reading comprehension (Vogt & Shearer, 2011). During this time, interventions in reading instruction were based upon not only the type of reading instruction, but also the teacher. Basically, teachers either thought teaching phonics was “the” answer to teaching reading, or they thought the traditional comprehension methods were the way to go. In addition to this, the teacher in the room was ultimately responsible for designing and using their own interventions to reach their struggling readers (Vogt & Shearer, 2011). 2 SOAR TO SUCCESS: READING INTERVENTION Reading instruction needs to be improved nationwide, based on information from recent, standardized testing. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), on standardized tests in 2015, only 34% of eighth grade students nationwide performed at or above the level of proficiency in reading with an average scaled score of 264 (NAEP, 2015). Among students with disabilities, the average scaled score was 203, which falls into the limited range of ability (NAEP, 2015). According to these results, the entirety of the documented special education population is falling below that benchmark, although there may have been outlier students with disabilities who tested as proficient in reading. In this context, the special education population includes all students who receive services through an Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) as reported by each school district in the state. It is clear from these results that effective, evidence-based instruction methods must be consistently employed in order to promote growth in reading, especially in populations of students who qualify for special education services. One curriculum specifically designed to teach reading to struggling readers is called Soar to Success (STS), published by Houghton Mifflin (Cooper & Chard, 2008). The mixed method study and associated research that is the topic of this Capstone was developed to determine the efficacy of the STS curriculum in instructing middle school students with the primary disability of intellectual disabilities in the area of reading comprehension, as documented in their IEP. The American Association of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities defines an intellectual disability as “a disability characterized by significant limitations in both intellectual functioning and adaptive behavior…” (“Definition of Intellectual,” n.d.). During this study, intervention through STS was administered through explicit use of reciprocal teaching, as demonstrated by Palincsar and Brown in their 1983 studies. This teaching 3 SOAR TO SUCCESS: READING INTERVENTION method includes four specific reading strategies: predicting, clarifying, questioning, and summarizing (Palincsar & Brown, 1983). Scripted lessons were taught through direct use of the provided Soar to Success Level 6 Teacher’s Manual (Cooper & Chard, 2008). Qualitative data in the form of student summaries were used. Additionally, quantitative data provided by the computerized STAR Reading Assessment in the form of Grade Level Equivalents (GEs) were used to determine growth in the area of reading comprehension. Finally, quantitative data in the form of rubric scores on student created summaries were used