Document Type

Thesis

Date of Degree Completion

Spring 2003

Degree Name

Master of Education (MEd)

Department

Education

Committee Chair

Don Woodcock

Second Committee Member

Osman Alawiye

Third Committee Member

Lee Plourde

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the statistical significance between the instructional strategies of the REW ARDS program and a control group by teaching word chunking, or multisyllablism, to increase struggling middle school readers' decoding, reading fluency, and spelling accuracy. An experimental design of pretest, intervention (REW ARDS), and posttest with non-random groups, including a control group, was utilized. The study included three teachers and 23 sixth and seventh graders from two middle schools to test the null hypothesis. The null hypothesis was accepted, not rejected, which used five separate t-tests to statistically prove significance in the areas of decoding, reading fluency, and spelling accuracy. Although gains were made in decoding and spelling accuracy, a larger sample size and further research is needed. A different method of research to increase reading fluency is needed because no gains, and even temporary losses, were demonstrated in the experimental group.

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