Abstract
Reading First, Part B of Title 1 of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, provides support for states with approved programs to improve the reading achievement of early elementary students in high poverty, chronically low achieving schools. The purpose of this study is to examine the extent to which the Reading First program in the state of Michigan is making progress in meeting this goal after five years of implementation. The study design makes use of the reading comprehension achievement test results for cohorts of students who entered the program in different years and who took the test two or three times while attending a Reading First school in Michigan between 2002 and 2006. The results indicate that overall the students showed significant gains in reading comprehension; further, students with three years in Reading First tended to score higher than those with two years in Reading First. However, students whose socio-demographic characteristics place them at an educational disadvantage (e.g., eligibility for subsidized lunch) made relatively modest gains in reading comprehension. In addition, any negative effects attributable to such student characteristics are compounded when the student body in the school is composed of a large percentage of students with the same characteristic. These results suggest that while a successful program overall, Reading First is not comprehensive enough to counteract the socio-demographic problems of extremely high poverty schools.
Zusammenfassung
Teil B des “No Child Left Behind Act”, in den USA als Gesetz seit 2002 in Kraft, umfasst das Programm “Reading First” (RF), das Bundesstaaten finanziell unterstützt, die ein zuvor genehmigtes Interventionsprogramm zur Verbesserung des Lese- und Rechtschreibleistung von Grundschülern aus sozial benachteiligten Schulen mit chronischen Leistungsdefiziten implementieren. Die vorliegende Studie untersuchte, inwieweit RF in Michigan die selbstgesteckten Ziele nach fünfjähriger Intervention erreicht hat. Die Analysen basieren auf Testdaten des Leseverständnisses aller Schüler der beteiligten Schulen in einem mehrjährigen Mehrkohortenlängsschnitt der Jahre 2002 bis 2006. Die Befunde belegen im Kohortenvergleich substantielle Zugewinne im Leseverständnis für diejenigen Schüler, die von der ersten Klasse an auf eine RF Schule gingen. Diejenigen Schüler jedoch, die aufgrund sozio-demographischer Merkmale als Risikogruppe eingestuft wurden (z. B. Kinder aus verarmtem Elternhaus), zeigten vergleichweise geringe Zugewinne. Zudem wirkte sich auf die Entwicklung des Leseverständnisses ungünstig aus, wenn die Schule einen überdurchschnittlichen hohen Anteil von Kindern mit demographischen Risikofaktoren aufwies. Wenn auch insgesamt erfolgreich, so scheint RF doch nicht umfassend genug zu sein, um den massiven Benachteiligungen entgegenzuwirken, die Schulen in sozialen Brennpunkten belasten.
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Cortina, K., Carlisle, J. & Zeng, J. Context Effects on Students’ Gains in Reading Comprehension in Reading First Schools in Michigan. ZfE 11, 47–66 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11618-008-0003-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11618-008-0003-9
Keywords
- accountability
- context effects
- elementary school
- evaluation
- Literacy
- longitudinal study
- No Child Left Behind
- Reading First