ERIC ED353569: An Investigation of the Relationship between the Reading Styles of Second-Graders and Their Achievement in Three Basal Reader Treatments. Revised.

23 Pages·1993·0.45 MB·English

by  ERIC

DOCUMENT RESUME
ED 353 569 CS 011 176
AUTHOR
Sudzina, Mary
TITLE
An Investigation of the Relationship between the
Reading Styles of Second-Graders and Their
Achievement in Three Basal Reader Treatments.
Revised.
PUB DATE
93
NOTE
23p.
Reports
PUB TYPE
Research/Technical (143)
EDRS PRICE
MFO1 /PCO1 Plus Postage.
DESCRIPTORS 'Basal Reading; *Cognitive Style; Elementary School
Students; Grade 2; *Instructional Effectiveness;
Language Experience Approach; Phonics; Primary
Education; *Reading Achievement; Reading Habits;
Reading Strategies
Pennsylvania (Philadelphia); Reading Style Inventory
IDENTIFIERS
(Carbo)
ABSTRACT
A study investigated the relationship among reading
style, instructional method, and reading achievement. Subjects were
213 second-grade students attending a large school in the
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area, with 84 students using a basal
reader series with a phonics emphasis, 90 students using a basal
reader series with a mixed emphasis, and 39 students using a basal
reader series with a whole-word emphasis. Following existing school
district procedures, better readers tended to be assigned to the
phonics group, the average readers to the mixed group, and the poorer
readers to the whole-word group. The Reading Style Inventory was
administered to subjects towards the end of the second grade. Results
(1) Carbo's Reading Styles Inventory was found to
indicated that:
distinguish among reading style strengths and preferences of readers;
(2) the most successful readers in all three groups showed the
highest match (and poorest readers the lowest match) of individual
(3) good readers overall
reading styles with instructional treatment;
had a better chance of being successful readers than poor readers;
(4) underachieving readers exhibited significantly poorer auditory
and visual strengths than good readers did; and (5) the reading
styles of poor readers indicated that they were global, strongly
kinesthetic, moderately tactual with good visual and only fair
auditory strengths. Findings suggest that the instructional methods
that best matched the poor readers' reading styles (Carbo recorded
book, individualized, and language experience) were not available to
students. (Seven tables and three figures of data are included; 16,
references are attached.) (RS)
**********************************************;c************************
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AN INVESTIGATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN THE READING STYLES OF SECOND-GRADERS
AND THEIR ACHIEVEMENT IN THREE BASAL READER TREATMENTS
Mary Sudzina, Ph. D.
PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS
U.S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Onrce of Educattoni Research and Improvement
MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BV
EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION
L/7/1%
CENTER (ERIC)
This document has been reproduced as
received from the person or orgenizatron
originating it
r Minor changes have bden made to improve
reproduction Quality
TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
Points of new or opinions stated )n this docu
went do not neCessanly represent officrei
INFORMATION CENTER IERICI
OERI position or poliCy
Revised 1993
"AT CGPV AVIAmi
Ont.
E
:St hi.
AN INVESTIGATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN THE READING STYLES OF SECOND-GRADERS AND
THEIR ACHIEVEMENT IN THREE BASAL READER TREATMENTS
Mary Sudzina.
Key Study Findings
Carbo's Reading Styles Inventory was found to distinguish among reading
style strengths and preferences of good. average and poor readers
and
offered clear evidence that students' reading styes should be identified and
matched with
or reading-style-compatible
instruction.
appropriate
The most successful readers in all three groups studied showed the highest
individual reading styles with instructional treatment.
match of
The lowest scoring readers show the gaatest mismatch between preferred
reading styles and instructional treatment.
When children's reading styles-based recommence-lions were taken into
over the full range of achievement and among several different
account
significant differences were found between the good and poor
methods
readers for the following methods: phonics, whale -word /8/iv/dual/zed and
Cato recorded book
In all instances, the good readers received the highest
recommendations. ranging from "acceptable" for phonics to "highly recom-
mended" for Carbo recorded book.
Good readers overcll had a better chance of being successful readers than poor
readers. because: (a) they were better matched with rnaterills and techniques
that were compatible with how they preferred to learn: (b) good readers had
more strengths, choices, and opportunities to be successful than poorer
readers, regardess of their assigned reading treatment.
interacting with instruc-
The research suggests that learner characteristics
tional demands, can make a difference in the ease with which children learn to
read
The study showed that some children can learn to read through a variety of
Poor readers, on the other hand. have limited learning options
methods.
Poorer readers appear to be -at-risk" students in need of particular reading
approaches that are not provided during first and second grade.
Underachieving readers exhibited significantly poorer auditory and visual
Consistent with this finding, poorer readers
strengths than good readers did.
a global, tactile method
showed a decided preference for the Fernald method
of reading instruction.
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11
Key Findings
cont
Overall me reacina srySes
;died MR/ they i:s.e.re c/oLla/
'-:Paciers
kt?esi.P.,eitc
er:c only fair auditory
.77caerate/'y :actual
strer:gths
This finding strongly contradicts the recommendations that suggest
that all
at-risk vudents should he 'e or be re-Tied:27e:: with a strong program of
phonics
A strong match with the phonics method recu:res
- -at students be strongly
analytic and possess at least good auditory and fair visual strengths. These were
not characteristics exhibited by poor readers in
this study
Recommended methods that matched the poor reapers' reading styles were
Carbo recorded book, individualized. and language experience.
The whole-word
method. used most often with poor readers in this study turned out to be only
an acceptable match
Phonics-was not recommended
Findings support Carbo's recommendation that whole-language approaches
be incorporated into reading programs for primary children.
Purptc;
STgdy
The purpose
study was
investigate
this
of
relationship
the
to
among reading
and reading
instructional
style,
method
achievement.
has been conducted
Limited research
and none with
this
area,
in
a
second-grade sample comparing reading
"normal"
style and achievement
and among different
It was hoped
basal reading
between
treatments.
this
that research
contribute
would
knowledge
our
"average"
to
of
who are
no diagnosed
students,
nonetheless experiencing
with
deficits,
difficulties
beginning reading.
in
Reading style has been defined by Carbo (1980b, 1982) as an indi-
or she reads, and can include
style when he
vidual's learning
envfr.on-
physiological and psychological
mental
emotional,
sociological,
stim-
According to Carbo, of students can be identi-
reading styles
the
uli.
if
and instructional methods
to complement individual's
are selected
fled,
increased reading achievement
characteristics,
unique
result.
will
2
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git
study investigated
ti'e
This
differe.,%-es between reading style
of
and poor rear -s
000d. averaae.
of the
each
following
t-7roffie-s
tnree popular basal reader programs.'
(a) phonics.
(b) whole-word and.
(cy mixed (phonics and wl7o/e-woro)
hypothesized that
the mean
It
is
reading achievement
test
subjects
scores
taught
instructional
with
of
activities
that
would. be
matched
their
styles.
reading
sianificantly
higher than
subjects who were taught
those
the
of
instructional
with
activities
that
mismatched
reading
their
styles.
Szegic41
and 0@sAgot
St.-1(ggiAcn,
iiig-,2t,FIC6t,
PTtytty'&07@@,
Subject
Selection
from one large
subjects were second-graders,
All
school,
the
in
of 213 studer
A total
Philadelphia area.
comprised the
final
sample.
These students had been receiving instruction since first grade in one
of three basal reader series: a basal reader series with a phonics
a basal reader series with
a mixed emphasis (phonic
emphasis (n =84);
and a
and whole-word)
basal reader
a whole-word
series
with
(n =90);
emphasis (n=39).
Procedures
No attempt was made in
this study to match the reading styles of
Each student was assigned to one
the students.
the three basal
of
reader
series,
according
procedures
established
to
school
the
in
and taught with that series during the
district,
first
and second grades.
Assignment
phonic,
whole-word.
to
the
emphasis
mixed
more
treatments was based on
Metropolitan reading achievement scores and
A one-way analysis
teacher recommendations.
variance between
in-
of
structional reading level and reading treatment found the groups
signifi-
different
cantly
from
another better
Overall,
.0001).
one
the
(p
<
the phonic group, the average readers
had been
assigned to
readers
to
3
.1
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the mixed group
and the poorer readers to the whole-word group.
Materia!s
The Reading Style
Inventory (RSI) was administered to each sub-
towards the end
The RSI
second grade.
!ect
multiple-choice
of
is
a
identifies
questionnaire
that
youngster's
strengths and
reading
style
a
RSI reading recommendation scores were compared among
preferences.
three treatments.
levels
Good, average,
achievement
within
the
and
poor readers
whole-word treatment were compared according to
the
in
their
recommendations
for
whole-word
the
both
method;
RS!
good,
and poor readers
mixed treatment were compared to
average,
the
in
RSI recommendtions for
both the phonic and whole-word methods;
their
and good. average, and poor readers in the phonic treatment
were com-
pared according to their RSI recommendations for phonics.
Design
utilized
ex-post-facto
research
study
The
design.
The
an
variable was a
grade-equivalency score on the standardized
dependent
The independent variables were reading
reading achievement.
test
of
The data were analyzed using one-way
and reading treatment.
style
and mean
correlation
coefficients,
analysis Pearson's
variance,
of
r
scores and standard deviations.
FInding§
the three treatments
those subjects
Overall
within
each
of
whose reading sty/es had been matched by chance during second grade
achieved higher mean reading achievement scores than those subjects
According to RSI
whose reading sty/es had been mismatched by chance
both the whole-word and phonics
recommendatiOns, the best readers in
current reading treatment than
groups were better
matched with
their
those two groups: both scored in the "recommended"
other readers in
all
range for Their
other subjects
both groups
respective methods.
All
in
received decreasing RSI recommendations for the reading method that
the poorest readers
had been
each group
utilized
with
with
them,
in
having the greatest mismatch with the primary method that had been
their
during
second-grade reading experience.
utilized
the most interesting
Perhaps
finding was within
the mixed
treat-
ment aroup
the reading
the best readers had been
Again.
styles
of
for the
strongly matched
reading
methods
(phonics
used
and
whole-
purely by chance, during second grade. and the poorest readers
word).
lowest recommendation
received
the
scores
those
for
methods.
two
Comparing the whole-word and phonic methods,
was found that
it
those subjects who were reading
poorest readers
least
year
at
a
were more highly
instructional
below
grade
level
the
matched
for
whole-word method,
high "acceptable" range, than
scoring
for
the
in
a
phonic method, which was "not recommended."
As achievement scores
increased
mixed-treatment
the
group,
in
between the recommended scores
the two methods
disparity
the
for
Students who were reading at
instructional grade level, and
decreased.
those reading one year above,
matched the whole-word method
still
more strongly than the phonics method.
The recommendations for
the
however, now in
phonics methods were,
the "acceptable" range.
The
best readers
mixed-treatment group
fifth-grade
reading
the
in
at
a
were recommended equally
instructional
reading
level
for
phonic
the
and whole-word methods, scoring
the low "recommended" range.
in
These data suggest that
poorer readers,
the whole-word
for
the
method was a better reading styles match than the phonic method.
On
as reading achievement increased,
strengths and
the
other
hand,
the
good readers indicated
preferences of
their
ability
effectively
learn
to
either
with
method.
bears repeating that this study was designed to assess reading
It
match/mismatch over the
achievement levels
full
style
range
within
of
Because reading treatment groups were so highly loaded
the treatment.
to separate the
on acnievement.
became difficult
effects
achieve-
it
of
ment and the effects
of treatment in each group.
For this reason,
it
became imperative
matches and
children's
styles
to reading
examine
mismatches with reading methods on the basis of
overall achievement.
5
,
-
_
sz
.
.
The popular
reader treatments
basal
under
this
investigation
in
phonics and whole-word
study
highly recommended. as
were
not
this
for
of
anticipated
group
the
students.
following
Consequently.
methods were
also
for
considered
analysis:
individualized,
language-
experience. Fernald word tracing. and Carbo recorded book. The three
groups were reorganized
reading
treatment to
according
Metropolitan
The purpose was to form groups of good
reading achievement scores.
(n=105), average (n=55), and poor (n=53) second grade readers.
A series
one-way anovas and
post-hoc procedures revealed
of
.05) between the good and poor readers'
(p
significant
differences
<
reading method recommendations for
the
individ-
phonic,
whole-word,
and Carbo recorded-book
ualized,
Additionally,
significant
methods.
.05) were found between the average and poor readers
differences (p
<
the
the
Carbo recorded-book
and
individualized
method:
fc,r
average
readers had the higher recommendation scores for both methods. (See
Table 1.)
TABLE 1
ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE:
DIFFERENCES IN MEAN READING METHOD RECOMMENDATIONS
BY ACHIEVEMENT
Sum of
Degrees of
Mean
Method
Squares
Freedom
Square
Ratio
Significance
PHONICS
Between Groups
6.6020
2)
3.3010
4.502
.0122
(
Within
153.9707
(210)
.7332
Total
160.5728
(212)
.
WHOLE-WORD
Between Groups
4.3107
2)
2.1554
3.405
.0351
(
Within Groups-
132.9287
(210)
.6330
Total
137.2394
(212)
INDIVIDUALIZED
Between Groups
12.0124
2)
6.0062
6.5161
.0018
(
Within Groups
193.5651
(210)
.9217
Total
(212)
205.57'75
LANGUAGE-EXPERIENCE
Between Groups
1.6819
2)
.8410
.606
.5464
(
Within Groups
291.3134
(210)
1.3872
Total
292.9953
(212)
FERNALD
Between Groups
1.5608
.7804
2)
1.9434
.1458
(
Within Groups
84.3265
(210)
.4016
Total
85.8873
RECORDED BOOK
Between Groups
5.5785
7.840
2)
2.7893
.0005
(
Within Groups
74.7126
(210)
.3558
Total
80.2911
(212)
0
6
reading recommendations
the
Overall.
rank
order
mean
of
the good and poor readers
On the
followed very
similar
patterns
for
the Carbo recorded-book method.
other hand
and langu-
individualized,
age experience methods were recommended most highly for both groups.
Fernald were recommended the
whole-word.
the
phonics.
while
and
least
TABLE 2
MEAN RSI READING METHOD RECOMMENDATIONS BY READING ACHIEVEMENT
Reading
RSI
Reading Method
Achievement Level
Mean RSI Score
Standard Deviation
Poor
3.09*
.883
PHONICS
Average
2.87
.862
Good
2.67*
.840
Poor
2.74*
.880
Average
WHOLE -WORD
2.45
.789
Good
2.39*
.753
Poor
2.28**
1.116
INDIVIDUALIZED
Average
1.78+
.956
Good
1.71;
.874
Poor
2.32
1.205
LANGUAGE-
Average
2.47
1.120
EXPERIENCE
Good
2.26
1.193
Poor
3.70
.890
FERNALD
Average
3.87
.579
Good
3.90
.491
1.62*
Poor
.765
RECORDED BOOK
Average
.573
1.31*
Good
1.23*
.505
RSI Scoring Key:
*(p < .05) between poor & good readers
1=Highly Recommended
(p < .05) between poor & avg. readers
2=Recommended
Poor readers = (n=53)
3=Acceptable
Average readers = (n=55)
4 =Hot Recommended
Good readers = (n=105)
comparison to the poor readers, the good rf.aders,
overall, had
In
more reading methods that
profiles categorized
their
significantly
RSI
the
with
Moreover,
"recommended."
"highly
recommended"
or
as
exception of the Fernald method, every reading method in this study
the poor
the good readers than
was recommended more highly
for
for
readers.
"highly recom-
achieved the
methods that
The reading
rank
of
mended" most frequently for the good readers were the Carbo recorded-
7
book and individualized methods
The language-experience and whole-
ward methods were "recommended." while bhonics
the method that was
malor'ty
good readers
the
with
of
investigation.
!Jsec
fell
into
in
this
the high
acceptable range.
poor readers were also mismatched on
According
profiles.
to
RSI
The method most highly recommenried for the
their
primary
method.
poor readers was the Carbo recorded-back method
Also recommended
group were individualized and language-experience approaches.
this
for
the reading method most frequently used during
the time
Overall.
of
the poor readers,
which was whole-word,
this
experiment
with
scored
the low-acceptable range.
Neither phonics. nor the Fernald method,
in
were recommended for these students.
A significant
Fernald method
preference
for
the
.05)
(p
a
<
global reading method requiring poor to
strengths and strong
fair
visual
was found
tactual
moderate
preferences
to
exist
to
between
the
poorest readers (n=13). who were reading on
first-grade
instructional
a
level, and all
other readers in this study. (See Table 3.)
TABLE 3
ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE: PREFERENCES FOR THE FERNALD METHOD
BY THE POOREST READERS COMPARED TO ALL OTHER READERS
Degrees of
Sum of
Mean
F
Source
Freedom
Sauares
Squares
Ratio
Significance
Between Groups
4.5471
1.1368
4)
2.907
.0227
(
within Groups
(208)
81.3402
.3911
Total
85.8873
(212)
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