Investigating the Effects of the Academy of Reading Program on Middle School Reading Achievement

Brenda Gail Myers, Tennessee State University

Abstract

Using a quantitative ex post facto causal comparative research design, this study analyzed the effects of the Academy of Reading software program on students’ reading achievement. Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) reading scale scores of students in the fourth, fifth, and sixth grades from 2013-2014 were utilized in this study. The independent variable in this study was the Academy of Reading computer based intervention program. The dependent variables in this study were TCAP Reading Language Arts scale scores. Gender and socio-economic status were also evaluated. Students in both the treatment and control groups received fifty minutes daily, four times per week of traditional classroom instruction while the treatment group alone received an additional fifty minutes of instruction using the Academy of Reading computer based intervention program. Reading achievement was measured by comparing the results of the 2014 TCAP reading language arts scale scores of students in both the treatment and control groups using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Software for analysis. The 2013 TCAP scale scores in reading language arts were used as a covariant. Data were collected over the course of the 2013-2014 school year and involved 152 students in grades four through six from Jackson County Middle School located in the Upper Cumberland Region of Middle Tennessee. An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to check the main effects of each variable. The ANCOVAs did not reveal statistically significant differences in reading achievement between students in the control group and those in the treatment group who received an additional 50 minutes of instruction using the Academy of Reading intervention program. At a 95% confidence level, no statistically significant main effect was found. Conclusions noted the importance of teachers receiving the necessary professional development to implement the Academy of Reading program with fidelity, and school and district leaders lending support to teachers by providing training, a strong curriculum including scientifically based reading programs, technology, and strong core instruction. Recommendations reinforce academic reform through best practices and high quality, explicit instruction. Mixed methods of further research should be conducted to guide practitioners in selection and instruction for curriculum involving the Academy of Reading program.

Subject Area

Educational tests & measurements|Literacy|Reading instruction

Recommended Citation

Brenda Gail Myers, "Investigating the Effects of the Academy of Reading Program on Middle School Reading Achievement" (2016). ETD Collection for Tennessee State University. Paper AAI10119087.
https://digitalscholarship.tnstate.edu/dissertations/AAI10119087

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