Patterns of relative reading performance from kindergarten to grade six

Osmond, Wendy Corina (1998) Patterns of relative reading performance from kindergarten to grade six. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

This study investigated the relative reading performance, from kindergarten through to grade six, of 187 students from a rural school district in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The aim of the investigation was to determine when reading performance patterns are established, to determine critical points for reading achievement over the course of primary and elementary school, and to determine whether a systematic relationship exists between gender and reading performance. -- Reading performance scores were obtained for the school years from kindergarten through to grade six for three cohorts of students who entered kindergarten in 198S, 1986, and 1987 respectively. These scores were analyzed statistically through cross tabulation analysis enabling an examination of each student's relative reading performance placement throughout each grade level from kindergarten to grade six inclusive. -- Researchers highlight the development of early literacy concepts, such home influences as storybook reading, and the development of positive attitudes toward education as factors that affect reading development. Research supports the claim that early literacy development significantly affects reading performance and is predictive of later reading achievement. -- Conclusions indicate that patterns of reading performance are clearly established by grade one and are consistent up through and including grade six. The identification of critical points for reading development along the primary and elementary school continuum signal the need for further attention to reading performance at the beginning of school and at grades three and six. The existence of performance distribution differences between boys and girls in the primary grades but not in elementary school also warrants further attention in efforts to improve literacy levels for all students. -- Suggestions for consideration evolving from this study include assessment of emergent literacy development in the preschool years, monitoring of reading achievement throughout all primary and elementary grades with focused attention on the critical points for reading development, responsiveness to the developmental differences between boys and girls in the primary grades, and refraining from holding prior expectations for student reading performance.

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