The Effects of Parents Reading With Their Children on Reading

Levels and Reading Achievement in School

Alissa CollinsSeminar in Applied Theory & ResearchEducation 703.22

Fall 2010Final Presentation

Table of Contents Abstract Introduction

Statement of the ProblemReview of Related LiteratureStatement of Hypothesis

MethodParticipantsInstrumentsExperimental DesignProcedure

Results Discussion Implications References

AbstractReading scores have been declining and PS X in

Brooklyn has been in the bottom percentage of city schools. Reading achievement needs to be improved in any way and parents may be the key. This action

research project encouraged parents to read with their children each night over a six week period. Students and parents were surveyed and WRAP was used to

assess reading levels for pre-tests and post-tests. The findings were that participants who responded that

they read at home with their parents did have higher reading levels than participants who responded that they don’t read at home with parents. There was no

correlation found between parents reporting that they do read with their child and an increase of reading

levels during the six week treatment.

Introduction Reading is the basis for all education.

Struggling with reading can lead to problems for years to come.

Parents have the opportunity to help strengthen their child’s reading skills and

achievements by reading with them at home.

It is debated if reading in the home holds any benefits for young students and contributes to higher levels of reading achievement.

Statement of the Problem

PS X has been performing poorly on school report cards, especially in the area of Student Performance over the last several years. Parents at PS X are uninvolved for several reasons. Students need as much help as possible. Parents can provide additional support in the home.

Review of Related LiteraturePositive Effect on Reading Ability

Reading achievement in school could be predicted by home literacy activities and how frequently these activities occurred.(Scheffner-Hammer, Farkas & Maczuga, 2010)

Students who read harder books in a positive atmosphereat home had higher reading achievement than those who did not. (Baker, Macklet, Sonnenschein & Serpell, 2001)

Children have the opportunity to be prepared for school at

home. Taking texts read in class home helped to improve reading levels and fluency(Hindin &Paratore, 2007)

Review of Related Literature Additional Benefits or “PROS”

Shared reading between a parent and a child increases the motivation level and interest in reading for early elementary students.(Otto,1990)

Shared reading between a child and parent can positivelyeffect vocabulary and morphological and syntax comprehension.(Senechal, Pagan, Lever & Quellette, 2008)

Reading with your child in a positive atmosphere can lead to

Higher social and academic achievement later on.(Vandermaas-Peeler, Bumpass & Sassine, 2009)

Review of Related Literature “PROS”- The type of Shared Reading can make a

difference

Reading storybooks paired with manipulatives lead to longer sentences and more complicated speech in

young children.(Kaderavek & Justice, 2005)

Students with pre-established basic reading skills who engaged in powerful dialogue after reading with a

parent showed an improvement in verbal expression and

higher listening comprehension.(Lonigan, Anthony, Bloomfield, Dryer & Samuel, 1999)

Review of Related LiteratureEffects on students with Special Needs

(High Risk, Low SES, ESL & ELL)Children with low pre-literacy skills improve reading behaviors but not comprehension after reading with a parent.(Curenton, 2008)

In a comparision of high risk and low risk students only low risk studentsadvanced in letter/sound recognition after reading with a parent.(Laasko, Poikkeus, Eklund, Lyytinen, 2004)

Children with reading disabilities are not affected by home literacy practices.(Fontina, Morris & Sevcik, 2005)

Low-Level students who participated in the Fast Start Reading Programshowed more improvement in reading than low-level students in their grade who did not participate.(Rasinski, 2005)

Reading at home in your native language can improve vocabulary acquisition in English.

(Roberts, 2008)

Mothers in disadvantaged communities want information and can have positive reading behaviors

and attitudes. (Morgan, 2005)

Review of Related LiteratureWhat if it doesn’t make a difference?

CONS

Students who have more books at home do have higher reading levels

and scores than students with less books but this is because their

parents have higher levels of education and stronger work ethics.

(Dubner & Levitt, 2005)United States Department of Education

Junior High School students benefit more from reading at school than

they do from reading at home.(Taylor, Frye, & Maruyama, 1990)

Statement of Hypothesis

HR1: Reading with a parent every night for 20 minutes, over a six week period will improve

the independent reading levels in school by at least one for 18 3rd

grade students attending PS X, a Title 1 funded school in Brooklyn,

NY.

MethodParticipants

18 third grade students in CTT class4 students who have an IEP

(3 boys and 1 girl)

2 students who have been held over(1 boy and 1 girl – both who have an IEP – held over in previous grades)

2 students who receive ESL services12 students stay for Extended Day

program

InstrumentsLetters & Instructions to

ParentsReading Survey (Likert Scale)

Student Interview Parent Survey

Pre-Test & Post-Test(WRAP)

Research DesignPre-Experimental Design

One- Group Pretest-Posttest Design

Symbolic Design: OXO

Pretest =oTreatment = xPosttest = o

Threats to ValidityInternal Validity• History• Maturation• Instrumentation• Mortality Rate• Differential

Selection of Subjects

• Selection-Maturation Interaction

External Validity• Generalizable

Conditions• Selection-

Treatment Interaction

• Experimenter Effects

• Hawthorne Effects

• Novelty Effects

ProcedurePre-TreatmentSeptember- October 2010

Parent Meeting & LettersPre-Test using WRAPStudent Reading SurveysStudent Interviews

Post-TreatmentNovember 2010

• Post-Test Using WRAP• Parent Surveys• Data Analysis

Results - SummarySix out of 18 students went up one reading level, or 1/3 of the class.One student went down one reading level.Pre-test nine students were in 3rd grade range.Post-test 11 students were in 3rd grade range.Student Interview 10 students responded they read with parent.Parent survey 12 parents responded with at least “I agree” to statement

– I read with my child.No Correlations Found

Correlation between student interviews and post-test reading level = 0.18Correlation between parent responses and post-test reading level = 0.31Correlation between parent responses and change in reading level between pre-test and post-tests = -0.09.

ResultsSix students increased one levelOne student decreased one level

PreTest/PostTest Results

Pre-Test

Post-Test

Student Labels

Rea

ding

Lev

els

ResultsQuestion on Student Interview – Do you read with one of your

parents at night?

rxy = 0.18

ResultsQuestion on Parent Survey – I read with my child.

4 – I strongly Agree3 –I Agree

2- I Disagree1 – I strongly Disagree

rxy = 0.31

ResultsQuestion on Parent Survey – I read with my child.

4 – I strongly Agree3 –I Agree

2- I Disagree1 – I strongly Disagree

rxy = 0.09

DiscussionResults do not support hypothesis as there is no correlation between parents reading with their children and increased reading levels.

However….After reading intervention in the home reading levels for 1/3 of participants did improve. Researcher cannot conclude that improvement was due to intervention.

After Post-Test 10 participants were performing at grade level for reading. 8 of these participants had parents that responded they agree with the statement “I read with my child.”

ImplicationsResearcher still believes parents need to read with their children

A longer study should be done. (Six weeks was not a long enough time)

Research needs to be conducted in a way to ensure parents are

actually reading during intervention and not just recording

that they are on reading logs.

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