Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Availability

Dissertation (UNI Access Only)

Keywords

Reading teachers--Attitudes; Teacher effectiveness; Teacher-student relationships;

Abstract

Mastery of word recognition reading skills is critical for kindergarten-2nd grade students with the aim of a student transitioning from learning to read to reading to learn at the beginning of third grade. In the ABC (pseudonym) school district, where this research will occur, 15 percent of kindergarteners, 17 percent of 1st graders, and 23 percent of 2nd graders were considered at or above grade level in reading as measured by the iReady Fall diagnostic screener. Instead of increasing the number of students proficient on the diagnostic as they progressed through elementary, the grades never surpassed 35 percent of students proficient. The current study was designed to test to what extent the ABC school district primary teachers’ actions, instructional practices, and beliefs influence K-2 students’ reading achievement. The reading achievement data for 283 K-2 students nested within 16 K-2 classrooms was compared with these actions, instructional practices, and beliefs in order to determine whether correlations existed between these variables and K2 student reading achievement. SES status was also examined as a possible moderating variable between teachers’ beliefs, actions, and instructional practices and student reading achievement. The findings suggested that while many student level characteristics (grade, gender, various race/ethnicities) and teacher level characteristics (highest teacher degree) impacted reading achievement, none of the beliefs, instructional practices, and actions demonstrated a significant relationship with reading achievement. In model 5, when compared to SES, four relationships demonstrated a significant relationship. These survey measures included: classroom management, establishing rules and procedures, instructional strategies, and student engagement.

Year of Submission

2023

Degree Name

Doctor of Education

Department

Department of Educational Psychology, Foundations, and Leadership Studies

First Advisor

Robert Boody, Co-Chair

Second Advisor

Stephanie Schmitz, Co-Chair

Date Original

7-2023

Object Description

1 PDF file (xi, 200 pages)

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

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