The Crestwood paired reading project

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Date
1997
Authors
Carter, Karen Lynn
University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Education
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Lethbridge, Alta. : University of Lethbridge, Faculty of Education, 1997
Abstract
This project measured the gains in word identification (WI) and passage comprehension (PC) made by grade one students following 9 weeks of Paired Reading (PR) practice with a parent or 8 weeks of PR with a trained cross-age student tutor. Following training, 36 parents and children undertook to practice PR for 10 minutes a day, 5 days a week for 9 weeks. Grade 5 and 6 student volunteer tutors worked with 25 students for a maximum of 2 weekly 20- minute sessions for 8 weeks. Pre and post testing of tutees was conducted using the WI test from Basic Reading Inventory (J. Johns, 1988) and the PC test of Psycho-Educational Battery-Revised (Woodcock-Johnson, 1990). Suggested improvements for future projects included: (a) collecting more reading materials; (b) having teachers monitor their own students and their peer tutors; (c) adding non-parent adult volunteers; (d) clarifying ambiguous areas of the training sessions; (e) holding mid-project and follow-up meetings; (f) altering the project's length; and (g) continuing testing on a small student sample to monitor the project's effectiveness. The 57 students completing the project made an average gain of 4.5 months in WI and 6 months in PC. Students practicing with parents gained an average of 6 months in WI and 7 months in PC while those working with student tutors gained an average of 2.3 months in WI and 2.75 months in PC. Differences in the "at home" and "at school" groups were attributed to: (a) time on task, (b) the influence enjoyed by parent and student tutors, and (c) student commitment and readiness to undertake PR. On a follow-up questionnaire, 81 % of parents responding believed their child was making fewer mistakes and 84% felt their child was more confident in reading.
Description
ix, 71 leaves : col. ill. ; 28 cm. --
Keywords
Children -- Reading , Reading comprehension , Reading (Primary) -- Alberta -- Medicine Hat
Citation