Date of Award

1985

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Education

Department

Education

First Advisor

Gene Henderson

Second Advisor

Diane Denney

Abstract

The Wentzville R-IV School District initiated a pilot program using the SUCCESS in Reading a nd Writing approach to teaching reading in the Fall of 1984. This study was conducted to compare the effects of the SUCCESS approach on the vocabulary , comprehension , attitudes , and behavior of the students participating in the pilot program to those who were taught in the Houghton-Mifflin basal reading program . It was predicted that students who experienced instruction i n the SUCCESS app roach would achieve significantly greater gains in vocabulary and comprehension . It was also predicted that the SUCCESS students would show better attitudes and behaviors towards reading than children in the basal reading series.

This study was conducted at the end of the school year of 1984-85 . A nine month period of instruction had been completed from t he time the children started the SUCCESS program in September, 1984 to the beginning of the post-testing in May, 1985. The interval between pre- and posttests was 12 months-- May 1984 to May 1985.

The entire second grade was involved in t he study, 61 students in the SUCCESS classrooms and 121 students

in the Houghton-Mifflin classrooms . The 1984 grade level equivalent scores from the first grade SRA Achievement test for comprehension and vocabulary skills were compared with the spring of 1985 SRA Achievement test . The Independent t-test was applied to this data to determine mean scores using the .05 level of significance.

No statistically significant difference existed between the experimental and control groups in vocabulary and comprehension. The experimental group showed slightly higher gain scores in vocabulary than the control group. The control group showed slightly higher gain scores in comprehension than the experimental group.

The "Estes Attitude Scale" revealed no statistically significant difference in attitudes between the experimental and control groups. The raw score means for attitudes were slightly higher for the experimental group.

"A Scale of Reading Attitude Based on Behavior" was used to measure attitudes and behavior towards reading. Using the Independent t-test, the data analysis proved positive and significant.

With the exception of hypothesis four these results may have been inconclusive because of the time lapse between the pre-test (May,1984) and posttest (May, 1985) . Other limitations considered were the lack of randomly selected groups , length of study, and the use of supplementary Houghton-Mifflin materials in the program.

Parents a nd teachers were very pleased with the children's progress in the SUCCESS program. The children displayed additional strengths in creative writing skills, spelling, and positive concept. Although the SUCCESS group did not produce higher scores, it was evident that the language experience approach should be considered a viable alternative to basal reading instruction .

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