Date of Award

Spring 2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Committee Chair

Sydney Brown

Abstract

This dissertation is a program evaluation of the Building Blocks of Comprehension vocabulary program, which was first implemented during the 2019-2020 school year by the English department at the school site. The study aimed to investigate the impact of morphological instruction on student vocabulary acquisition and reading comprehension. Chomsky’s (1975) Linguistic Theory, Marzano’s (2004) Six-Step Model of Vocabulary Introduction, and the Active View of Reading (Duke & Cartwright, 2021) were identified as theoretical frameworks for the program evaluation. Quantitative data from this mixed methods study were collected from pre and posttests, weekly quizzes, and unit assessments, and qualitative data were collected from a focus group of teachers who were implementing the program. According to the data analysis, student quiz scores decreased throughout the program and between Units 3 and 4. This shows that the program did not significantly impact these scores. The program significantly impacted increasing assessment scores for Units 1 and 2. The program had a significant impact on increasing student ability to define morphemes throughout their participation in the program, based on pretest/posttest analysis. Based on teacher focus group data, the program improved student reading comprehension and vocabulary acquisition. To increase the program’s effectiveness, the study recommends that future implementers of the program review the program at the start of the school year to ensure the rigor, format, and complexity of the quizzes are consistent; realign the program activities and tasks needed to improve student performance on unit assessments; diversify daily practice activities; and utilize flexible grouping practices.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License

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