Supplemental Reading Instruction for Struggling Secondary Students: A Teacher as Researcher Action Research Project

• In Event: Roundtable Session 16
  In Roundtable Session: Teacher Research: Critical Literacy Across the Grades

Abstract

The goal of this teacher-conducted research was to determine whether supplemental instruction could increase the achievement of high school age remedial readers educated in a private school setting. Based on screening assessments, nine students were identified and received instruction from the Corrective Reading-Decoding curriculum in three, 45-minute sessions per week over a 36-week period. Data from a formative reading assessment, informal tests of decoding, and curriculum-based measures indicated that students demonstrated increases in reading achievement as a result of instruction. Findings of this research provided the necessary information to assist the school in determining the efficacy of the pilot project. Engaging in this research also offered the teacher-researcher the opportunity to authentically and purposefully advocate for the needs of students.

Authors

• Rachel Kern, Saint Patrick High School - Chicago

• Beverly J. Trezek, DePaul University