The effects of reading comprehension with indvidualizing vocabulary and fluency strategies to third grade students scoring below the first quartile

Thesis (M.Ed.)--Wichita State University, College of Education, Dept. of Curriculum and Instruction.After pre assessing students in a third grade classroom, the researcher noted four students, scoring below the 20th Percentile on the reading portion of the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) exam, fall, 2008, in a pilot study. As the researcher further assessed these students, it was noted that these students lacked fluency and vocabulary skills. Focusing on fluency combined with individual, vocabulary instruction, the researcher individualized each of the students' reading program within the regular education classroom. Each of the four students was working at their current level of reading, entering the third grade and progressing throughout the school year. The researcher used a combination of the Power Reading program and coupled it with individual, vocabulary strategies to assist readers with fluency and comprehension. As their reading progressed, students were challenged to next levels. Data was analyzed using the NWEA assessment, Houghton Mifflin Leveled Reading Assessment and Kansas State Reading Assessments during the course of the school year to mark progress. All four students in year one exited the bottom quartile of the NWEA, gained two reading levels according the Houghton Mifflin Leveled Reading Assessments and scored in the top twelve percent of the Kansas State Reading Assessments. The pilot study was replicated in the school year, 2009-2010, Year Two, with ten students with similar needs