Overton, A. M. (2013). Examining comprehension when using a student-reads-aloud accommodation on two text types (Publication No. 3558209) [Doctoral dissertation, The University of West Florida]. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global. https://www.proquest.com/docview/1348689351

The University of West Florida (Pensacola, FL); ProQuest document ID: 1348689351

Reading performance was compared with participants reading silently and when reading aloud to themselves. Each participant completed reading and test items in a quiet room by oneself, and was not given any time limit.

Elementary special education teachers from five schools in a school district in Alabama (U.S.) assisted in identifying 11 students in their grade 5 classes; each student participant completed reading passages and comprehension items in four different conditions. Criteria for selection to participate in the study included students who read below grade level by at least one grade equivalent but no more than two grade levels, according to the benchmark reading assessment administered in fall, winter, and spring throughout the district. Further, students were eligible for special education services, had at least one reading-related IEP goal, and evidenced average range of ability according to IQ scores, ranging from 70 through 108. Participants' genders, full scale IQ scores, and Standardized Test for the Assessment of Reading (STAR) independent reading levels and their grade equivalents were also reported.

Performance in reading comprehension was measured using a set of eight passages along with eight comprehension test items at the grade five skill level, drawn from two tests. Six passages, three expository and three narrative text types, were used from the Qualitative Reading Inventory 5th Edition (QRI-5; Leslie & Caldwell, 2011). One set of passages, one expository and one narrative, was used from the Informal Reading Inventory, Eighth Edition (IRI; Roe & Burns, 2011). Special education teachers of the eleven student participants also completed demographic information forms about the students.

Results unexpected by the researcher were reported for the main effects. There were no significant differences in performance between the student-reads-aloud and silent reading conditions, and between narrative and expository text types. However, there were significant interaction effects when reading conditions and text types were considered simultaneously. Specifically, the mean scores for students reading narrative text silently were significantly lower than mean scores for students reading expository text aloud to themselves; however, there was little performance difference when comparing text types that students read orally. The researchers pointed out that a possible consideration of these results on practice was that use of student-reads-aloud accommodation could benefit students when material is narrative text, but may result in lower scores for expository text. Limitations of the study were reported, and future research directions were suggested.