Date of Conferral

2016

Degree

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

School

Education

Advisor

Deanna Boddie

Abstract

Average scores from the 2013 National Assessment of Educational Progress in reading for Grade 12 students indicated only 38% of Grade 12 students were proficient in reading. Even though significant research has been conducted on reading interventions for elementary and middle school students, little is known about how teachers implement reading interventions at the high school level. The purpose of this study was to explore how teachers implemented Tier 1 and/or Tier 2 reading interventions in high school English language arts courses. The conceptual framework was based on Vygotsky's (1929) theoretical research about scaffolding instruction in the zone of proximal development. This qualitative study used a single case study design. Participants included 5 English language arts teachers who provided classroom reading interventions in a rural high school in the Southwestern United States. Data were collected from multiple sources, including teacher interviews, reflective journals, observations, and district and school documents. Data were analyzed using line-by-line coding and the constant comparative method to construct categories to determine emerging themes and discrepant data. Findings indicated that teachers used formal and informal assessments for reading intervention placement. They also used a variety of scaffolding strategies to differentiate or individualize intervention instruction and computer-based programs to monitor and assess student progress. This study contributes to social change by providing a deeper understanding of how high school English teachers implement interventions for students at risk in reading so that the effectiveness of those interventions can be examined later.

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