ABSTRACT
The purpose of this program evaluation was to inform best practice for reading instruction in small groups of 4th-grade students using specific reading strategies. There were six teachers involved, all of whom were 4th-grade teachers. The evaluation also examined the implementation of targeted professional learning to improve elementary student reading performance; this treatment was applied to all groups. The teachers were divided into two groups. Group one consisted of three teachers who were responsible for implementing three reading strategies: predicting, making connections, and inferring. Group two consisted of three teachers who were responsible for implementing three different reading strategies: questioning, visualizing, and summarizing. Using quantitative methods, I found that all the teachers used one or more of the strategies during small group instruction, though not all to the same extent. All the participants implemented at least one component of the assigned reading strategies; however, few implemented the strategy beyond the surface level. As result, I would recommend creating a structure of accountability to ensure the implementation of professional learning is effective and sustained.
","abstract_html":"<p>ABSTRACT</p> <p>The purpose of this program evaluation was to inform best practice for reading instruction in small groups of 4th-grade students using specific reading strategies. There were six teachers involved, all of whom were 4th-grade teachers. The evaluation also examined the implementation of targeted professional learning to improve elementary student reading performance; this treatment was applied to all groups. The teachers were divided into two groups. Group one consisted of three teachers who were responsible for implementing three reading strategies: predicting, making connections, and inferring. Group two consisted of three teachers who were responsible for implementing three different reading strategies: questioning, visualizing, and summarizing. Using quantitative methods, I found that all the teachers used one or more of the strategies during small group instruction, though not all to the same extent. All the participants implemented at least one component of the assigned reading strategies; however, few implemented the strategy beyond the surface level. As result, I would recommend creating a structure of accountability to ensure the implementation of professional learning is effective and sustained.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Starks, Kenyatta"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Ed.D. Doctor of Education","degree_level":"Dissertation - Public Access","degree_discipline":"Educational Leadership","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Elizabeth Minor","Tina Nolan","Jim Fitzpatrick"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2018,"date_issued":"2018-06-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2018-06-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:21:38Z","subjects":["small groups","novice teachers","reading strategies","Education"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/271","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Elizabeth Minor","Tina Nolan","Jim Fitzpatrick"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Starks, Kenyatta"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2018-02-07T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Educational Leadership"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation - Public Access"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ed.D. Doctor of Education"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["small groups","novice teachers","reading strategies","Education"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/271"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["ABSTRACT
The purpose of this program evaluation was to inform best practice for reading instruction in small groups of 4th-grade students using specific reading strategies. There were six teachers involved, all of whom were 4th-grade teachers. The evaluation also examined the implementation of targeted professional learning to improve elementary student reading performance; this treatment was applied to all groups. The teachers were divided into two groups. Group one consisted of three teachers who were responsible for implementing three reading strategies: predicting, making connections, and inferring. Group two consisted of three teachers who were responsible for implementing three different reading strategies: questioning, visualizing, and summarizing. Using quantitative methods, I found that all the teachers used one or more of the strategies during small group instruction, though not all to the same extent. All the participants implemented at least one component of the assigned reading strategies; however, few implemented the strategy beyond the surface level. As result, I would recommend creating a structure of accountability to ensure the implementation of professional learning is effective and sustained.
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The purpose of this program evaluation was to inform best practice for reading instruction in small groups of 4th-grade students using specific reading strategies. There were six teachers involved, all of whom were 4th-grade teachers. The evaluation also examined the implementation of targeted professional learning to improve elementary student reading performance; this treatment was applied to all groups. The teachers were divided into two groups. Group one consisted of three teachers who were responsible for implementing three reading strategies: predicting, making connections, and inferring. Group two consisted of three teachers who were responsible for implementing three different reading strategies: questioning, visualizing, and summarizing. Using quantitative methods, I found that all the teachers used one or more of the strategies during small group instruction, though not all to the same extent. All the participants implemented at least one component of the assigned reading strategies; however, few implemented the strategy beyond the surface level. As result, I would recommend creating a structure of accountability to ensure the implementation of professional learning is effective and sustained.
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