Date of Award

Fall 2020

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Committee Chair

Melessa Widener

Abstract

This is a mixed methods study that explored instructional reading strategies that were used by kindergarten, first-, and second-grade teachers who met and/or exceeded expected growth in EVAAS from 2017-2019. Research by John Hattie, Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey, and Robert Marzano are included in the literature review of this study. Data were collected through the use of a survey and interviews. There were a total of 15 K-2 teachers who completed the survey and 2 of them agreed to participate in the interviews. Findings from the surveys revealed goal setting, vocabulary instruction, and blended learning as three strategies commonly used by teachers meeting and exceeding expected growth in EVAAS. Blended learning included digital reading programs such as Zearn™, Moby Max™, Readworks®, Reading A-Z™, Accelerated Reader™, Tumblebooks, ConnectEd™, and i-Ready™. Findings from the interviews revealed 8 strategies for promoting growth. Those strategies were differentiated reading groups, the “Daily 5” literacy framework, learning targets, systematic phonics, using data to guide instruction, reading strategies, echo reading, and goal setting. The interviewees also identified some of the digital programs listed above and their instructional assistant as important resources for promoting student growth.

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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