The impact of Istation reading program on reading achievement of third grade students: A mixed methods inquiry

A dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF EDUCATION in EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi in Corpus Christi, Texas.Americans have viewed literacy as an important aspect, not only in education, but also as a necessity for improving individual lives as they develop into productive citizens. The federal government has implemented several programs to help struggling students achieve literacy skills. The primary purpose of the study was to examine the impact of the Istation reading program on standardized academic achievement in reading. The setting for the mixed methods study was an elementary school in south Texas. The State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) scores were analyzed to test the hypothesis that 3rd graders who used the Istation reading program would score higher on standardized reading than did the students who had not used the Istation reading program. For the qualitative component of the study, a focus group was conducted to document the perspectives of a sample of teachers regarding the effectiveness of the Istation reading program. The quantitative results showed that the third graders who used the Istation reading program scored higher in the STAAR Reading Category 2: Understanding and Analysis of Literary Texts, compared to the comparison group; however, group differences on the basis of the Reading Category 1: Understanding across Genres, and Reading Category 3: Understanding and Analysis of Information Texts, were not statistically significant. Analysis of qualitative data resulted in eight themes, namely, (1) chronicles, (2) simplicity, (3) augment, (4) convenience, (5) parent accessibility, (6) intervention, (7) students’ delight in, and (8) deficiencies and extraneous variables. The results of the study suggested that Istation offers various resources which are not utilized properly due to the lack of time and appropriate training needed to correctly implement the program. If implemented properly, the Istation reading program can be instrumental in providing the students with an experiential teaching/learning environment and experience.Educational Leadership, Curriculum & InstructionCollege of Education and Human Developmen