Document Type
Article
Publication Date
Summer 2024
Abstract
For many students, early reading intervention is necessary for learning to read. The purpose of this action research project was to determine the effects of Reading Recovery intervention and systematic phonics intervention on first-grade students’ reading skills and to determine how the two interventions compare. For this study, the researcher selected 8 at-risk first-grade students who had academically similar reading skills. Students’ academic levels were determined using the Observation Survey assessment and Early Reading FAST assessment. After initial testing, four of these participants were given a 14-week Reading Recovery intervention and the other four were given 14 weeks of systematic phonics instruction. At the end of each intervention, all 8 students were retested on the Observation Survey and Early Reading FAST assessments. These assessments were used to determine the effectiveness of each intervention. Results were compared using a Four-way Factorial Means Test. The findings revealed an increase in student achievement for both the Reading Recovery group and the phonics intervention group from pretest to posttest on the Observation Survey and Early Reading FAST assessment. While both groups showed growth, the Reading Recovery students showed greater levels of growth than the phonics intervention group on all assessments. The Reading Recovery group scored significantly higher statistically than the phonics intervention group on the Observation Survey. While the mean score of the Reading Recovery group is larger than the mean score of the phonics intervention group on the Early Reading FAST assessment, the difference is not statistically significant. Quantitative results from this research will be used in determining the most effective intervention for each particular at-risk child so that educators can assist students in attaining reading success now and in their future.