Award Date

1-1-2007

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Special Education

First Committee Member

Beatrice Babbitt

Number of Pages

148

Abstract

The intervention was Seven Cs/graphic organizer, comprised of seven steps (connect, clarify, consider, collect, converse, conclude and cite) in a graphic organizer format. It is completed as the reader works through the reading process (pre, during, and after-reading) in a nonfiction reading selection. The purposes of this study were as follows: (a) to determine if the use of the Seven Cs strategy/graphic organizer increased nonfiction reading comprehension scores for middle school students with learning disabilities, (b) to determine if the use of the Seven Cs strategy/graphic organizer in other content areas increased reading comprehension for the participants when measured through scores on grade level probe assessments; Six participants took part in the 11-week period, single subject reversal design, AB-A-B, which included an instructional phase. Dependent measures included a pre-test and a post-test, daily reading comprehension quiz scores and, three grade level probes; Participants were members of an inclusive seventh grade reading class in a large urban school in the western portion of the United States. Each day they completed a reading selection, a graphic organizer, and an associated quiz. The participants also completed three grade level probes, which were selections from a social studies seventh grade text. Results were analyzed individually. Data across participants was also analyzed as a means to determining whether there was a pattern of repeated improvement; The results of this study demonstrated that from pre-test to post-test reading comprehension scores increased for each student. In the cases of three participants the use of the graphic organizer did not result in increased reading comprehension. In the cases of two other participants, there was an initial gain in daily reading comprehension but it was not maintained. In the case of one participant, his reading comprehension scores did improve with the use of the graphic organizer. At the end of the study there was not sufficient evidence to claim that the participants' use of the graphic organizer as an intervention, helped to increase reading comprehension.

Keywords

Cognitive-based; Comprehension; Cs; Graphic; Graphic Organizers; Learning Disabilities; Nonfiction; Organizer; Reading; Reading Comprehension; Seven Cs; Strategy; Teens

Controlled Subject

Special education; Individualized reading instruction; Education, Secondary

File Format

pdf

File Size

2375.68 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

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