Type of Document	Dissertation
Author	Lachney, Randy Paul
Author's Email Address	rlachn1@lsu.edu
URN	etd-0708102-155615
Title	Adult-Mediated Reading Instruction for Third through Fifth Grade Children with Reading Difficulties
Degree	Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
Department	Curriculum and Instruction
Advisory Committee	Advisor Name Title Jill H. Allor Committee Co-Chair R. Kenton Denny Committee Co-Chair Earl Cheek Committee Member Teresa Buchanan Committee Member Nathan Gottfiried Dean's Representative
Keywords	adult-mediated reading learning disabilities at-risk readers
Date of Defense	2002-07-01
Availability	unrestricted
Abstract This dissertation examined the efficacy of using minimally trained college undergraduates to tutor third- through fifth-grade students with reading difficulties. Tutors receiving four hours of training in scripted reading program based on the principles of Direct Instruction and emphasizing explicit instruction in phonological awareness and decoding. Thirty-six students from two elementary schools in a large southeastern city in the United States were selected and randomly assigned to treatment (tutoring) or contrast (non-tutoring) conditions. Treatment students received an average of fourteen and a half hours of tutoring over a twelve-week period. Data indicated that university students with minimal training successfully implemented the scripted tutoring package with experimenter feedback. Although, significant differences were only found for word identification, the treatment students out gained the contrast students on all measures. Effect sizes were moderate to strong. In addition, separate data for regular and special education students indicated statistically significant differences on two measures on two measures of fluency (correct words per minute read) for regular education treatment students over regular education control students. The efficacy of using minimally trained adult tutors to supplement classroom reading instruction for students with reading difficulties is also discussed.
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