Draft4

IV. Conclusions

In the student journals of reading, they began to see reading as an everyday activity. Early journal entries were more likely to mention library books or assigned reading in class. Later journals mentioned newspaper articles, magazine articles, and even videotape cases.

Those performing at grade level began to use their time more wisely, and began to complete more reading and writing tasks. Those at grade level students have a better understanding of what they read.

Based on this evidence, students had increased their academic performance during the first three-week period of the intervention. While not all students were able to maintain their course of progress, the decreases were less severe.

There were marked differences between the classes. Those already performing at grade level were much more likely to complete assignments, and they were more likely to improve their averages than the below grade level students.

The slightly below grade level students wrote fewer journal entries during the intervention (compared to their earlier performance), but they were more likely to increase in their newspaper assignment participation than the below grade level students.

The below grade level students were more likely to stop attempting assignments when they were unsuccessful. When they were told that copying and summarizing were not the same, the level of participation dropped conspicuously. This group displayed the most negative changes during the intervention. Fewer assignments were completed, with no student exhibiting 100% participation in either journals or newspapers.

In general, the at-grade level students were more interested in reading the newspaper, were more likely to discuss what they had read, and were more likely to write about it. As the student's reading performance level declined, they were less likely to actively participate in the intervention.

Limitations of the research include the multitude of factors determining student success. The use of newspapers is only one strategy to improve the reading habits. Other influences must be considered as well, so this study cannot claim a causal relationship between newspapers and student improvement.

This study certainly revealed other issues related to the success of students in my classroom. In evaluating student work, I had to confront my own assumptions about their previous experience and knowledge of comprehension skills. I had assumed that their methods and experiences were similar to my own. I had assumed that eighth graders could summarize a passage using their own words. I had also assumed that students were familiar with identifying main ideas and supporting details. During the course of the study, I also realized emerging patterns in students’ comprehension strategies, including their assumption that the first sentence of a paragraph will be the main idea. Many students copied articles word for word. Before this study, I was aware that 47 of these students were performing below grade level, but I was not aware of the breadth of the problem.

Continuing questions for review include
What intervention strategies will improve academic performance and reading abilities of lower performing students?
What skills can be taught to improve students' academic performance and reading abilities when they are already below grade level?