Article Summary and Analysis 8

Article title: An examination of the effect of customized reading modules on diverse secondary students’ reading comprehension and motivation. 
Authors: Cuevas, J.A., Russell, R.L., & Irving, M.A. 
Journal Title: Education Technology and Research Development 60 

Summary
Cuevas, Russell, and Irving (2012) did not study a typical SSR program, but they did take the major component of the program - students reading silently and independently - and investigated its effects on reading comprehension.  The researchers used three high school language art classes as their study participants:  one receiving traditional class instruction over stories, one reading the stories independently from a hard copy of the text, and one reading the stories on a customized computer module.  When the classes were tested on what they read, both of the groups who read independently scored higher than the traditional classroom.  Furthermore, an end of study survey showed that the independent reading classrooms showed higher growth in reading motivation.

Analysis
This was a very eye-opening survey for me.  Is my job as a language arts teacher going to be replaced by a computer module?  Well, probably not, but I found the results of this study fascinating.    Are teachers hindering students motivation to read?  Are we sucking the fun out of reading with our questioning and analyzing?  Are we too excited to point out the figurative language on page 14 that students are losing the overall message of the book?  Should we just trust that at a certain point students can grasp the story themselves?  As a youth, I always enjoyed reading and loved English class, but I never really enjoyed the stories we read in class.  Was it because of the assignments attached to them?  Or because we were reading "literary" texts?  Was it because teachers beat us over the head with read between the line details?  I know I always answered yes to those questions.

As for my study, this was important for me to read because the research showed that independent reading can improve students' motivation.  Also, a big part of my study is that students should be allowed to read on any device - not just with print.  The students' success with the computer module shows that reading via technology is also beneficial.  I know the students in my class appreciate being able to read on their phones, plus I can be confident that they will always have them.  Lugging around a book is a burden and not something students are going to go out of their way to remember.  That's definitely not the case with their smart phones. 

References

Cuevas, J.A., Russell, R.L., & Irving, M.A. (2012).  An examination of the effect of customized reading modules on diverse secondary students’ reading comprehension and motivation. Education Technology and Research Development, 60, 445-467. doi: 10.1007/s11423-012-9244-7

 

Research Study Update #2

Research Study Update #2

Plan basics: Determine impact of sustained silent reading and external rewards on reading motivation

My research study is chugging along nicely.  I have begun doing my midpoint interviews and will give out the midpoint survey when school resumes after the weekend.  Early indications from my interview are that students enjoy the sustained silent reading program, so that is a positive sign, but the real test is if it improves their reading motivation which I will get an indication of when the surveys are returned.

Successes

- The middle school homeroom teachers report that students appreciate and even look forward to reading day.

- I pass out the reading logs on the SSR day, but I had a student come ask me for her log so she could fill in books she has been reading outside of the period.  Unfortunately, she's not one of my participating students, but I'm happy nonetheless.

Opportunities

- A few students in my homeroom (11th and 12th grade) still seem surprised and irritated when Tuesday morning rolls around and I ask them to pull out their reading material; however, after a few eye rolls and grumbles, they generally settle in and read for the duration

- Some students are not honestly or accurately filling out their reading logs.

Outside irritations

- A combination of student research projects and vacation days has limited my time to get the midpoint interviews and surveys administered.

Even though this SSR reading period may not generate an increase in students' reading motivation (the time frame I am working with may be too short to have a noticeable impact), I am happy to know a reading culture has sprung up with the secondary students.  Tuesday from 8:30 to 8:45 is reading time.  15 minutes a week is not much, but it's a start.

Research Study Update #1

Research Study Update #1

Plan basics: Determine impact of sustained silent reading and external rewards on reading motivation

My research study has been put into action.  All consent and assent forms were given out and returned, so the sustained silent reading period was implemented in all secondary homeroom classrooms on Tuesday mornings.  The high school began a week later due to semester exams.

Successes:

•    All targeted students and their parents agreed to participate in the study.  
•    Other secondary homeroom teachers were receptive to the idea and agreed to implement SSR into their classrooms even though the targeted students were only in four of the seven secondary grades.  This has created a more positive reading culture in the school. 
•   Day 1 of the SSR period in my homeroom class went smoothly with all students reading quietly for the duration of the block.
• Survey #1 was handed out and fully completed by participating students.  An initial look at the results matches my presumptions.

Difficulties:

• Including reading goals as part of the program has not been successful.  If these are filled out during SSR period then the reading time decreases.  If they are given to students on a different day, students are distracted by other tasks that need to be done. 
• Students are not all coming prepared to the SSR block with reading material.  While they can read texts from in the classroom or material on their phones, I want the students to use this time to read something they WANT to read as opposed to “guess I have to read a random magazine the teacher has” 
•  One participating student will be leaving the school before the end of the study; this will drop the total number of participants.

Potential problems:

• The majority of students take an approximately 90 minute bus ride to the school.  These buses are often late, which would cut into the SSR time. 

•  Only being able to be in one place at a time, I am unable to monitor if the SSR period is actually being implemented as requested in the other classrooms.  This includes appropriate modeling by the homeroom teacher.  

Will be back with more updates next month.

- Sam