Bishop-Temple, C. (2007). The effects of interactive read-alouds on the reading achievement of middle grade reading students in a core remedial program (Publication No. 3287381) [Doctoral dissertation, Florida Atlantic University]. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global. https://www.proquest.com/docview/304848275

Florida Atlantic University (Boca Raton, FL); ProQuest document ID: 304848275

The read-aloud accommodation and its effect on reading achievement was examined.

A total of 175 middle school students who were identified as at-risk for reading (reading below grade level) participated. Students were in a core intensive reading program in Palm Beach County's school district (fourth-largest district in Florida; U.S.). No participants had identified disabilities.

The researcher conducted literature studies through read-alouds and sustained silent reading with grades 6, 7, and 8 intensive reading students as a supplement to the READ XL ® remedial program. Specifically, this study investigated the difference on the achievement scores on the Florida State Fluency Probes (FORF), the Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test in Reading (FCAT), the Florida Comprehensive Norm Reference Test Scale Scores (FCAT/NRT), the Scholastic Reading Inventory Lexile Levels (SRI), and the teacher-created tests on the literature during the period 2006-2007.

Results indicated a greater increase in fluency, as measured by the Florida State Fluency Probes, from 2006 to 2007, for students in the read-aloud group (test) as compared with students in the sustained silent reading group (control group), and for students in grades 6 and 7 as compared with students in grade 8. Overall there was no difference in fluency as moderated by gender. The results of this study also found that read-alouds promoted increased performance of female students on the teacher-created tests. This suggests that read-alouds may play a role in increasing the performance of middle school at-risk female readers on similar instruments. Limitations of the study were reported, and future research possibilities were suggested.