Doctoral Dissertations
Student Choice-of-Text in an Upper Secondary Independent Reading Program: A Quasi-Experimental Study
Date of Award
5-2023
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
Major
Teacher Education
Major Professor
Dr. Susan Groenke
Committee Members
Dr. Susan Groenke, Dr. Amy Broemmel, Dr. Stergios Botzakis, Dr. Jennifer Morrow
Abstract
This study examined the effects of student choice-of-text and reading comprehension outcomes in a 12-week independent reading program in an upper-secondary school. Students aged 17-18 (N = 52) were divided into two groups with one receiving an assigned text of age-appropriate Lexile estimate and genre; the other group was given free choice-of-text from an appropriate Lexile level from a classroom library. This quasi-experimental study followed a pretest-posttest, one-way ANCOVA model with both groups receiving the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test series before and after the intervention. Both groups made modest gains; however, the ANCOVA results revealed no statistically significant difference between the choice-of-text and No Choice-of-text groups (p =.262). Participant interviews of typical and non-typical cases are included. Recommendations for further research include a call for a readjustment of previously reported effect sizes upon which to build future studies in adolescent literacy.
Keywords: Adolescent Motivation to Read Profile (AMRP), Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test (GMRT), Sustained Silent Reading/Daily Independent Reading (SSR/DIR), Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA), Reading Comprehension, Instructional Design Theory, Choice-of-Text, Secondary Education
Recommended Citation
DeLoach, Brian M., "Student Choice-of-Text in an Upper Secondary Independent Reading Program: A Quasi-Experimental Study. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2023.
https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/8098
Included in
Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons, Language and Literacy Education Commons, Secondary Education Commons