A Causal Comparative Study to Investigate the Impact of the Guided Reading Plus Framework with Kindergarten Students

The purpose of this causal comparative study was to determine if there was a significant difference between the reading and writing scores of kindergarten students who received Guided Reading Plus instruction and kindergarten students who did not receive Guided Reading Plus instruction. While Guided Reading Plus was designed as an intervention for struggling readers, its use could benefit kindergarten students who are in the emergent and early stages of literacy development by providing them with targeted, small-group instruction that includes guided reading, word work, familiar reading, and writing. This archival study included two intact kindergarten classrooms at the same school—one that implemented the Guided Reading Plus framework with all students, and one that implemented the traditional guided reading framework. Students in both classes were administered the Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA) and a writing prompt, scored using the Clay scale, at the beginning of the 2007-2008 school year. Independent t-Test results indicated there was no significant difference between the two classes at the beginning of the year. The DRA and writing prompt were administered to both classes again at the end of the school year. Results from an Independent t-Test indicated significantly higher reading scores in Classroom A, but no statistically significant difference between the writing scores of the two groups at the .05 level of significance. The researcher therefore concluded the Guided Reading Plus framework had a positive impact on reading achievement in kindergarten. The relationship between Guided Reading Plus and writing achievement in kindergarten needs to be further explored