Date of Award

Spring 2020

Document Type

Open Access Dissertation

Department

Educational Leadership and Policies

First Advisor

Leigh D’Amico

Abstract

This action research seeks to examine the impact of a district supported mentoring program and its effect on the reading achievement of a group of African American male students. The participants received routine, sustained mentoring during a three-year period of time. All of the schools involved are Title I and within the same county.

The action research involved the collection of various forms of achievement data such as the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP®) assessment, Fountas and Pinnell benchmark assessment, and the South Carolina College- and Career- Ready assessment, specifically in the area of reading. These assessments allowed the researcher to assess growth over a three-year period of the students participating in the mentoring program (cohort group) and those not participating in the program (comparison group). The mentoring began during the participants’ third grade year and concluded at the end of their fifth grade year.

The goal of this study was to determine what impact a district supported mentoring program would have on African American male reading achievement. It was found that the cohort group of students showed more growth on both the MAP® Reading assessment and the Fountas and Pinnell benchmark assessment, then with the comparison group. However, less growth was shown overall on the SCREADY assessment with the v same cohort group. The ultimate goal was to compare the growth of those students participating in the program to those not participating at the same school sites.

Rights

© 2020, Brooke Wray-Fisher Rowe

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