An Evaluation of English 101, Reading Development, At Evangel College

The purpose of this study was to evaluate Evangel College's reading development course in terms of improvement of grades and retention of students. The following questions, from which the hypotheses were formulated, were posed. 1. Will the semester grade point averages (GPA) of students enrolled in English 101, reading development, during their first semester be significantly greater than the GPA of students not enrolled in the course during their first semester? 2. Will the retention rate of students who completed English 101 during their first semester be significantly higher than that of the students who did not enroll in English 101 during their first semester? To facilitate this study, permanent records and English department placement lists were examined to determine the two groups involved. Group one consisted of the names of 118 marginal students who enrolled in and completed English 101 during their first semester (MSE). Group two consisted of the names of 242 marginal students who did not enroll in English 101 during their first semester (MSN). The first semester GAP's of all students involved and their enrollment status for the following semester were recorded. The data were analyzed using a t-test and Chi-square analysis. The t-test results indicated that there was a significant difference (.05) in the GPA's of the two groups in favor of the MSE group. Chi-square analysis indicated that no significant difference existed between the two groups in terms of retention rate. The researcher concluded that although a significant difference between the GPA's of the MSE and MSN groups did exist, that the difference may not be educationally significant and subject to generalization to other groups. The researcher also concluded that marginal students who do not enroll in English 101 will be no more likely to drop out of school than those who do enroll in and complete English 101. A need for further research was indicated.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science in Education in Literacy

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Reading, Foundations, and Technology

Year

1979

Author dc:creator

• Huechteman, Rebecca Kelly

Contributors dc:contributor

• James Layton

• Other Education

Statement dc:rights

• © Rebecca Kelly Huechteman

Repository record dc:identifier

https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/theses/383

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:bearworks.missouristate.edu:theses-1384