Date of Conferral

2015

Degree

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

School

Education

Advisor

Ella Benson

Abstract

Choosing the most effective method of teaching literacy acquisition that will improve student achievement is a challenge for many early childhood educators. The problem is the target school district where this study took place did not have a curriculum for preschool teachers to use that provided reading instruction. The purpose of this causal comparative study was to explore the relationship between Concepts About Print (CAP) scores of preschool students who received direct CAP instruction and those who received indirect instruction through indirect reading and writing activities. Guided by Marie Clay's theory, which concludes that reading difficulties among beginning readers stem from a lack of attention to print concepts, this study examined students' knowledge of print conventions. A comparative research design compared pre- and post-test scores on the CAP assessment. An analysis of covariance with the pretest as the covariate was also performed in this study. Results revealed that students who were taught print concepts directly scored higher on the CAP assessment than did the students who were taught indirectly. Research findings from this study could aid administrators in the target school district with developing a technique to teach reading for preschool teachers on the local level, which will lead to social change by providing each preschool student with the strong literacy foundation needed to ensure later school success. Lifelong readers can begin in preschool.

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