A Comparison Of An Extended Individualized Reading Instructional Program With The Regular Reading Instructional Program And Its Effects Upon Reading Skills Of Selected Black Junior High School Students Who Areunderachieving In Reading.

It was the purpose of this study to investigate the premise that if a reading program is based on individual interest, those individuals participating in the program will be motivated to read and will make greater gains in vocabulary skills, comprehension skills, and total reading skills than those taught by a non-individualized approach. The research undertaken fer this study utilized thirty-nine, Black, seventh grade students who were underachieving in reading. These subjects were randomly assigned to two experimental groups and two control groups. The analysis of covariance procedures were used to measure gains in vocabulary achievement, comprehension achievement, and total reading achievement. The results revealed no difference in achievement gains between the experimental and. the control groups at the .10 level of significance. The conclusions drawn from the study revealed that although the individualized reading approach did not show significantly greater gains in reading scares, it may be a means of enhancing interest in reading. The findings in this study strongly suggest the need to undertake research to: (1) examine the impact high interest reading material may have in affecting reading skills improvement: (2) ascertain the variant reading interests which may exist among students of different ethnic origins