Pangatungan, M. (2018). The impact of read-aloud accommodations of fourth- and fifth-grade elementary students with and without learning impairment: A descriptive case study (Publication No. 10979195) [Doctoral dissertation, Concordia University]. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global. https://www.proquest.com/docview/2169127741

Concordia University (Portland, OR) [permanently closed in Spring, 2020]; ProQuest document ID: 2169127741

The focus was to uncover and describe the perceptions of parents and teachers of students with and without learning disabilities on the impacts of the oral delivery accommodation provided live and in-person during instruction, formative assessments, classroom tests, and state assessments.

A group of adults (N=21) in the lives of students in grades 4–5 with learning disabilities and of students without these disabilities in Louisiana (U.S.) participated. There were 6 elementary teachers and 15 parents of these students. Demographics of the adults were also reported, including gender and ethnicity. Nearly all parents and students were African-American, and all teachers were women.

The perceptions of parents and teachers were gathered using a semi-structured interview protocol, documented in the researcher's notes, with full quotes validated by participants. Participants, both parents and teachers, responded to a researcher-developed survey rating the relative impact of oral delivery on students' overall reading performance. The researcher's observations, documented in field notes, helped to authenticate the other data sources. [Note: Although data were collected about the participants' perceptions of the relative impact of oral delivery on students' grades, formative assessments, and state reading assessments, the grades and assessment results themselves were not independently collected.]

The dissertation researcher sought to deeply understand the perspectives of parents and teachers of grade 4–5 students with and without "learning impairments," primarily learning disabilities. The results of the integration of data from interviews and from surveys rating the relative impact of reading aloud to students on their performance on various academic activities including classroom and state assessments yielded five themes and 12 sub-themes, including some from teachers' perceptions and different ones from parents' perceptions. Teachers indicated that oral delivery was supportive of students' reading performance, including school grades and state tests. Teachers noted that oral delivery allows students the opportunity to comprehend academic content rather than struggling with decoding alone; further, teachers indicated that their reading aloud to students can model and instruct decoding, while preventing students from becoming discouraged. Parents indicated that they value the access that their children with learning disabilities have to the oral delivery accommodation during state assessments. Parents also indicated that their children need and benefit from having access to various content including academic content through either the parents reading to them or computer-based oral delivery of content when completing schoolwork at home. Further, parents expected that their children will be provided oral delivery of academic content at school. The researcher also indicated that students benefited from oral delivery of academic content in decreased classroom misbehavior; these details are not emphasized in the current summary. Limitations of the study were reported, and future research directions were suggested.