Date of Award

2018

Document Type

Open Access Dissertation

Department

Educational Studies

Sub-Department

College of Education

First Advisor

Todd Lilly

Abstract

This paper describes a problem of practice stemming from the disparity in reading achievement that exists among kindergarten students due to varying life and academic experiences. This action research study investigated the impact of a multisensory instructional program that attempts to improve students’ decoding skills, and therefore, overall reading ability by answering the following question: How does an adaptation of the Project Read Primary Phonics program affect the reading level of kindergarten students as measured by the DRA2+? This study employed an action research methodology, specifically Mertler’s (2014) action research cycle: planning, acting, developing, and reflecting. The planning stage was comprised of identifying the problem of practice, research question, related literature, and action research design. The acting stage was comprised of implementing the intervention, collecting related data, and analyzing that data. The developing stage was comprised of using the findings from the data analysis to create an action plan. The reflecting phase was comprised of analyzing the research questions and research design to guide future action research studies, as well as sharing the action research results in an effort to empower other teachers to examine their own instructional practices. Findings indicated that the adaptation of the Project Read Primary Phonics program had a positive effect on student achievement. These results served as the basis for the subsequent action plan.

Rights

© 2018, Heather Mascuch Holmes

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