Journeys Program And Reading Comprehension At Elementary Level

Introduction

Background of the Study

Reading comprehension is an intricate cognitive activity which encompasses colossal skills and strategies. Though some students learn how to read and are able to decipher any text without difficulty, other students cannot comprehend a text without being given clear instructions in reading comprehension along with strategies. Hence, to meet these demands, students must have critical analysis and be able to understand what they read thoroughly. Effective reading instruction can help students meet these challenges.

Statement of the Problem

It was noted that some students are incapable of comprehending what they read due to the lack of innumerable comprehension strategies such as drawing conclusions or making connections. Hence readers who strive with comprehension also struggle with implementing comprehension strategies (Dole, Duffy, Roehler, & Pearson, 1991). For these novice readers, clear strategy instruction is particularly helpful.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this paper is to validate the efficiency of the Journeys program in assisting elementary students enhance their reading comprehension skills.

Rationale

The main purpose behind any core reading program is improving students’ capacities in reading and comprehending any text of different genres. To achieve this goal, we should engage students in an effective reading program that helps them link any text to their prior experiences and background knowledge, teach them how to make connections with another text, instigate their critical analysis, ensure that they have the basic skills needed to decode texts and read fluently. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s Journeys program embraces all of the above mentioned research-based elements in its program as to meet students’ challenges in reading. Also, by applying “I Do, We Do, You Do” model of instruction, the program supports teachers who are expert readers in conveying their skills and knowledge to students who are acquiring new skills.

Significance of the Study

Recent initiatives at the federal and state level have focused attention on reading instruction in an effort to improve the reading performance of students. Therefore, Journeys program has established the goal of having all children read well and independently. Increasingly, school districts are inviting publishers to show evidence that the approach and materials in their reading programs will support districts in achieving this goal.

Research Questions

• Do reading comprehension skills improve over the course of participating in the Journeys program?
• Do gains in reading comprehension skills differ between students using Journeys as compared to students not using the program?
• Does participation in the Journeys program result in other positive students’ outcomes?
• What do advocates of Journeys think about the program?

Hypothesis

This study shows that Journeys helps students improve their reading skills. Therefore, Elementary students using the program must reveal significant progress in reading comprehension skills from pre- to post-testing.

Limitations

There are some limitations that need to be addressed. The present study limited its sample to a group of students and teachers from two elementary schools. This may hamper the generalizability of the results. In other words, results should be generalized only to the population of students and teachers from those two particular educational institutions. However, it is possible that students and teachers from other educational schools in Lebanon would show same results.

Literature Review

Research that Guided the Development of the Journeys Program

Connecting to students’ background knowledge. Research on cognition shows that for new information to be learned and retained it must be integrated with existing information. New learning occurs when learners connect new concepts and ideas to those they already know and understand. In their principles for brain-based learning, Caine and Caine (1997a) refer to this as patterning; the brain/mind looks for patterns in the familiar and the new. Effective instruction must give learners a chance to make these patterns. Educators have known for some time that for learners to make sense of new information, they must be able to connect it with their prior knowledge and experiences (Afflerbach, 1986; Chiesi, Spilich, & Voss, 1979; Pressley, 2000; Snow & Sweet, 2003; Spires & Donley, 1998).

Activating students’ prior knowledge is one of the nine most effective instructional strategies identified by Marzano (2003). Concepts to which students are introduced in school must be both relevant and familiar enough to them that they are able to make those essential connections. Research attests to the benefits of making effective connections to students’ background knowledge, skills, and experiences. Students who learned from instruction designed to monitor and integrate their prior knowledge outperformed students who received traditional instruction (Dole & Smith, 1989). Benefits of building on student’s background knowledge, interests, and experiences include increased interest, increased motivation, increased concentration and focus, and increased learning (Williams, Papierno, Makel, & Ceci, 2004).

Explicit Strategy Instruction

The Report of the National Reading Panel (2000) agreed with what reading teachers have known for years; “the instruction of cognitive strategies improves reading comprehension in readers with a range of abilities.” (4-46) Whether they read or listen to texts, or do both at the same time, readers must use a variety of reading strategies—such as making inferences, asking and answering questions, visualizing, determining main ideas and details, and so on—in order to make sense of what they read. The rationale for teaching these types of strategies is clear. Teaching students specific strategies provides them with tools to use when they do not comprehend what they read. While some readers acquire these strategies informally, explicit instruction, modeling, and practice using these strategies enhance understanding for all students.

Research shows that to be most effective, reading comprehension instruction must support students, directly and explicitly, with how to use the strategies needed to comprehend a text (Cantrell, Almasi, Carter, Rintamaa, & Madden, 2010; National Reading Panel, 2000; Hollingsworth & Woodward, 1993). Struggling readers often have trouble using such strategies (Dole, Duffy, Roehler, & Pearson, 1991) so for these students, explicit instruction in reading is particularly important (Nelson & Manset-Williamson, 2006). However, all students benefit from this type of instruction—poor and high achievers alike, as well as native speakers and non-native speakers of English (Alfassi, 2004; Baumann, 1984; Francis, Rivera, Lesaux, Kieffer, & Rivera, 2006a, 2006b; Klingner & Vaughn, 2004: Nokes & Dole, 2004; Rosenshine, Meister, & Chapman, 1996; Van Keer & Verhaeghe, 2005).

Critically Responding

The high literacy demands placed on today’s students mean that basic comprehension is insufficient; readers must engage in higher-order thinking. Researchers have begun to focus on how to develop this higher-order literacy. Critically responding to a text means asking and answering questions about why, how, and what-if rather than basic questions of who, what, when, and where. Research supports instruction in critical thinking, finding improved achievement and transfer with improved critical thinking skills (Adey & Shayer, 1993; Haywood, 2004).

While research into the effectiveness of specific instructional approaches for promoting higher level comprehension and reflection is still in its early stages, a body of research is beginning to emerge supporting some strategies. Asking students good questions—and teaching students how to ask their own good questions—promotes deeper comprehension of what is read (Craig, Sullins, Witherspoon, & Gholson, 2006; Graesser & Person, 1994; King, 1994; Pressley et al., 1992; Rosenshine, Meister, & Chapman, 1996). In a study looking at the role of meta-cognitive strategies in critical thinking, Ku and Ho (2010) found that good critical thinkers engaged in more meta-cognitive activities, suggesting a relationship between instruction that expects critical thinking and instructions that provides support for meta-cognition.

Decoding

Students’ ability to comprehend is dependent on their ability to quickly and automatically decode the words on the page. Without sufficient skills in phonics and phonemic awareness, students cannot achieve this goal. Systematic instruction in phonics and phonemic awareness in the early grades has been shown to be significantly more effective than other approaches (National Reading Panel, 2000). Decoding must be included in any framework for early reading instruction (Kendeou, van den Broek, White, & Lynch, 2009) and for older, struggling readers, instruction with decoding is an essential element of a comprehensive program (Chard, Pikulski, & McDonagh, 2006; Moats, 2001). Regular assessment—and subsequent tailored instruction—is necessary for these fundamental skills: “Because the ability to obtain meaning from print depends so strongly on the development of word recognition accuracy and reading fluency, both of the latter should be regularly assessed in the classroom, permitting timely and effective instructional response where difficulty or delay is apparent.” (Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998)

Critically Responding in Journeys

The Journeys program was designed to develop the kind of critical thinking skills that will prepare students to be ready for college- and career-ready coursework in the upper grade levels. Within each plan, Journeys provides teachers with essential information useful for planning instruction around each text. Included are Critical Thinking questions, provided as a black line master for ease of classroom use. These Critical Thinking questions encourage students to think within, beyond, and about the text and to make connections with what they read.

Decoding in Journeys. The Journeys program supports teachers in planning decoding instruction for their students. As background, teachers are provided with research on decoding instruction). To aid in planning instruction that incorporates a focus on decoding, the Planning and Pacing guides for the early grades include instruction in Phonics and High-Frequency Words within each unit.

Research Methodology

Research Design

This study is designed to validate the efficiency of the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Journeys program in assisting elementary students improve their reading comprehension skills and understanding. Every lesson allows the student to develop comprehension and fluency by focusing on a target skill and strategy in a relevant short story and non-fiction one.

Population

The research design consists of 1046 students who participated from two different elementary schools in the study. Since the efficiency of the Journeys program is measured by students’ performance. The first School was chosen as control group of 505 students using other elementary program and the other School was chosen as variable/treatment group of 541 students using Journeys program. Also, 44 teachers were chosen to participate in the study; 21 represent the control group and 23 represent the variable group.

Instrument

Several techniques were used in this study. Quantitative research was used due to the fact that the skills and strategies of reading comprehension could be developed from theories and other researchers’ studies. Also conducting interviews was chosen. Not to mention, the numerical character of data that gave us the opportunity to measure students’ performance along with teacher and reading-related attitudes. Multilevel modeling was conducted to examine that there were significant differences in growth of reading related skills between treatment and control students.