The Effect of Parental Involvement on Reading Success of Kindergarten Students By Alison H ...

75 Pages·2017·2.16 MB·English

The Effect of Parental Involvement on Reading Success
of Kindergarten Students
By
Alison H. Good

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment for the Requirements for the
Degree of Master of Education

May 2017

Graduate Programs in Education
Goucher College
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Table of Contents
List of Tables i
Abstract ii
I. Introduction 1
Overview 1
Statement of Problem 2
Hypothesis 2
Operational Definitions 3
II. Review of the Literature 5
Introduction 5
Early Literacy 5
Benefits of Quality Early Literacy Instruction 6
Importance of Mastering Early Literacy Skills 6
Methods to Support Early Literacy Development 6 
School Readiness 7
How to Achieve School Readiness 8
Parental Involvement and Academic Success 9
Parental Involvement in the Classroom 10
Parental Involvement at Home 11
Parental Involvement to Support Literacy Development 12
Promoting Effective Parental Involvement 14
Summary 15
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III. Methods 16
Design 16
Participants 17
Instruments 17
Procedure 19
IV. Results 22
Changes in Reading Scores 22
Parent Feelings about Reading and Supporting Reading 24
V. Discussion 32
Implications of Results 32
Theoretical Consequences 34
Threats to Validity 34
Connections to Previous Studies and Existing Literature 37
Implications for Future Research 38
Conclusion 39
References 40
Appendixes
Appendix A- Invitation to Workshop Letter to Parents
Appendix B- Workshop Summary, List of Reading Strategies, Question Word Handout,
Response to Reading Handout
Appendix C- Pre-intervention Parent Survey
Appendix D- Pre-intervention Student Survey
Appendix E- Post-Intervention Parent Survey
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Appendix F- Post-Intervention Student Survey
Appendix G- Homework Journal Materials
Appendix H- Letter to Non-Attending Parents, Review of Handout Acknowledgement

Appendix I- Reading Workshop Highlights

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List of Tables
Table 1: Descriptive Statistics of Reading Scores 23
Table 2: Results of Paired Samples T tests comparing Pre & Post Intervention Reading Scores 24
Table 3: Descriptive Statistics for Parents’ Pre & Post-Intervention Survey Items with Ratings 25
Table 4: Descriptive Statistics for Students’ Pre & Post-Intervention Survey Items with Ratings 27
Table 5: Summary of Pre & Post-Intervention Home Reading Habits reported by Parents & Students 29
Table 6: Tally of Homework Journal Activities 31
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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the reading achievement of kindergarten
students was affected by a parent involvement workshop intervention. This workshop taught
parents strategies and best practices to use while reading at home with their children. Parents and
caregivers who were not able to attend the workshop were given a handout outlining the key
points. The sample consisted of 15 kindergarten students, some of whom have parents who speak
little to no English. The study took place over three weeks. After attending the workshop or
reviewing the materials prepared for it, parents or caregivers were asked to read nightly with
their child and complete a response to their reading activity three nights a week. Using a pre-test
and post-test design, students’ reading accuracy, comprehension, and strategy use were assessed.
t-tests for dependent samples indicated significant gains in the areas of accuracy and strategy
use, suggesting that parent involvement may be associated with improvement in literacy
achievement among kindergarten students. Recommendations for future research include
conducting controlled studies designed to identify specific practices for parents to implement to
improve students’ reading achievement.

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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
Overview
Many children begin kindergarten lacking language and early literacy experiences
needed for successful achievement in the school setting. These children are at-risk of facing
significant challenges in reading achievement. They may not reach expected language and
literacy outcomes and are likely to become struggling readers. Unfortunately, the challenges
faced by these young students are evident even in their preschool experiences. The gap in
achievement in kindergarten between these at-risk children and their peers who have attained
kindergarten readiness standards has been found to widen in subsequent years, even with the
help of high quality preschool instruction (Greenwood, Carta, Goldstein, Kaminski, McConnell,
& Atwater, 2014).
Research such as that reported by Crosby, Rasinski , Padak and Yildirim (2015) indicates
that parent involvement and the amount of time spent reading at home are major predictors of
student success in reading, literacy development, and overall learning. Given the importance of
support from home in helping children develop essential language and early literacy experiences,
this study was designed to examine the effect of encouraging effective parent involvement and
reading at home on children’s early literacy development.
The researcher taught kindergarten in a public Title I school in which more than 86
percent of the students received free and reduced priced meals (FARMS), indicating that
many of these students lived at or below the poverty line. The student population was
diverse in terms of racial composition and proficiency with the English language. As cited
above, there is an achievement gap in school performance that separates disadvantaged
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children from their more affluent peers. However, there also is a school readiness gap
between and among groups on the basis of race, gender, and English language proficiency
(Cannon & Karoly, 2007).
After observing varying levels of kindergarten readiness among her students, the
researcher was interested in learning more about how early literacy experiences in students’
homes affect their literacy growth in kindergarten and in identifying effective practices for
supporting her students’ development of literacy-related skills. As part of the daily guided
reading instruction in her kindergarten classroom, the researcher sent home books for
parents to read to their children. However, these books often were not being read and,
therefore, the skills taught through guided reading instruction were not being reinforced at
home. The researcher began to question whether parents understood the expectations for
students’ learning and the importance of early exposure to quality reading and literacy
strategies. The researcher also questioned whether parents had the required time or
knowledge about how to support their child’s reading effectively and in accord with current
reading research.
Statement of Problem
The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of providing instruction and structure for
parent involvement with reading at home on early literacy achievement among kindergarten
students.
Hypothesis

The null hypothesis to be tested was that parent involvement would have no effect on early
literacy achievement or student or parent attitudes about reading and supporting reading. The
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following null hypotheses were tested after the workshop materials were shared with parents and
the home intervention period.
ho1: mean pre-intervention F&P accuracy score = mean post intervention F&P accuracy score
ho2: mean pre-intervention F&P comprehension score = mean post intervention F&P
comprehension score
ho3: mean pre-intervention Strategy Use score = mean post intervention Strategy Use score
ho4: student feelings about reading before intervention= student feelings about reading after
intervention
ho5: parent feelings about reading support ability before intervention = parent feelings about
reading support ability after intervention
Operational Definitions
Early Literacy: According to the National Dropout Prevention Center, “Early literacy refers to a
child’s efforts to understand both oral and written language, beginning at birth” (p. 10).
Language is learned through “meaningful interactions” with other people and the environment
(Stegelin, 2002).
School Readiness: School readiness is defined as how prepared a child is to succeed in school,
cognitively, socially and emotionally.
Parental Involvement: Parent involvement is defined as “any of a variety of activities that allow
parents to participate in the educational process at home or in school, such as information
exchange, decision sharing, volunteer services for schools, home tutoring/teaching, and
child/school advocacy” (Williams, Chavkin & Southwest Educational Development Lab, 1984,
p. 12).
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Reading Achievement: Reading achievement is defined as proficient reading in regards to accuracy,
comprehension, and the use of reading strategies.
Accuracy: Student accuracy is defined as the percentage of words read correctly in a text. It is
determined dividing the number of words read correctly by the total number of words in the text.
This score is then used to determine if the level of text is the reader’s independent reading level,
if he or she earns a score between 95 percent and 100%, instructional reading level, if he or she
earns a score between 90 percent and 95 percent score or his or her frustration reading level, if he
or she earns a score below 90 percent. A comprehension score is also taken into consideration
when determining a readers’ reading level (Fountas and Pinnell, 2016).
Comprehension: Students’ comprehension is the students’ understanding of what they read with
regard to understandings within, beyond, and about the text. For purposes of this study,
comprehension scores were determined by rating the students’ answers to the comprehension
questions from zero through seven with excellent being a score of six through seven, satisfactory
being a score of five, limited being a score of four, and unsatisfactory being a score of zero
through three. The assessor used prompts from the Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark Assessment
to guide questioning within the text and beyond and about the text.
Reading Strategies: Reading strategies are methods that students are encouraged to use during
reading to help decode, read, and understand unknown words found in the text. These strategies
are used during guided reading instruction in the classroom.
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