Effects of special reading instruction in grade one

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of special reading upon academic performance in reading of children in grade one. For this purpose a six months experiment was conducted in three similar schools.Special reading was implemented in one of two settings; one group received special reading in the school reading clinic under the direction of the reading specialist; a second group received instruction from the classroom teacher using the reading specialist as a resource person. Designated control, one group received no aid from the reading specialist.Children in the special reading groups had ranked in the low third on a screening test. Their reading achievement was evaluated as well as that of pupils who ranked in the middle and upper thirds in classrooms where special programs were implemented for the low third in one of two settings.Instruments used in the study were the First Grade Screening Test, The Screening Test for Assigning Remedial Treatment, the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test and a scale calculated to gain information about a dimension of per-called "locus of control". This scale is the StricklandNorwicki Scale.The results of the reading achievement test served as a basis for comparison, using analysis of variance to test four null hypotheses.Data obtained from the Strickland-Norwicki Scale were not subjected to statistical analysis but were described with reference to the groups.Results from the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test revealed that there were no significant differences in reading achievement between the three groups of pupils, those enrolled in either of the two special reading groups or the control group. These groups were comprised of pupils who had scored in the low third on the screening test.Students who ranked in the upper third in classrooms where special reading was implemented for the lower third achieved significantly higher than did top third students whose low third classmates received no aid from the reading specialist. This was also true when the upper and middle thirds were combined. When scores of the middle third alone were analyzed no significant differences resulted.The Strickland-Norwicki Scale revealed that perceptions of environment were nearly equally distributed between feelings of being internally and externally controlled for the total group. When viewing the scores of the three groups individually, the special reading outside classroom group had the more positive orientation, internal control, as evaluated by this scale.It was concluded that special reading is valuable to first-grade pupils although in this study those directly participating in the experimental special reading groups did not show significantly higher achievement than did those who did not receive it. However, students who had been deemed more ready for reading instruction as evaluated by a screening test, (upper third or combined middle and upper third) whose low third classmates were enrolled in a program of special reading, gained some indirect benefits of special reading. They achieved significantly higher reading achievement test scores than did students who also ranked in the upper third, or middle and upper third combined, in classrooms which did not provide special reading for classmates ranking in the low third.Thesis (D. Ed.