The Effects of Parents Reading
With Their Children on Reading
Levels and Reading Achievement
in School
Alissa Collins
Seminar in Applied
Theory & Research
Education 703.22
Fall 2010
Final Presentation
Table of Contents
Abstract
 Introduction

Statement of the Problem
Review of Related Literature
Statement of Hypothesis

Method
Participants
Instruments
Experimental Design
Procedure
Results
 Discussion
 Implications
 References

Abstract
Reading scores have been declining and PS X in
Brooklyn has been in the bottom percentage of city
schools. Reading achievement needs to be
improved in any way and parents may be the key.
This action research project encouraged parents to
read with their children each night over a six week
period. Students and parents were surveyed and
WRAP was used to assess reading levels for pretests and post-tests. The findings were that
participants who responded that they read at home
with their parents did have higher reading levels
than participants who responded that they don’t
read at home with parents. There was no
correlation found between parents reporting that
they do read with their child and an increase of
reading levels during the six week treatment.
Introduction
 Reading
is the basis for all education.
Struggling with reading can lead to problems for
years to come.
 Parents
have the opportunity to help
strengthen their child’s reading skills and
achievements by reading with them at home.
 It
is debated if reading in the home holds any
benefits for young students and contributes to
higher levels of reading achievement.
Statement of the Problem
PS X has been performing poorly on
school report cards, especially in the
area of Student Performance over the
last several years. Parents at PS X
are uninvolved for several reasons.
Students need as much help as
possible. Parents can provide
additional support in the home.
Review of Related Literature
Positive Effect on Reading Ability
Reading achievement in school could be predicted by
home literacy activities and how frequently these activities
occurred.
(Scheffner-Hammer, Farkas & Maczuga, 2010)
Students who read harder books in a positive atmosphere
at home had higher reading achievement than those who
did not.
(Baker, Macklet, Sonnenschein & Serpell, 2001)
Children have the opportunity to be prepared for school at
home. Taking texts read in class home helped to improve
reading levels and fluency
(Hindin &Paratore, 2007)
Review of Related Literature
Additional Benefits or “PROS”
Shared reading between a parent and a child increases the
motivation level and interest in reading for early
elementary students.
(Otto,1990)
Shared reading between a child and parent can positively
effect vocabulary and morphological and syntax
comprehension.
(Senechal, Pagan, Lever & Quellette, 2008)
Reading with your child in a positive atmosphere can lead to
Higher social and academic achievement later on.
(Vandermaas-Peeler, Bumpass & Sassine, 2009)
Review of Related Literature
“PROS”- The type of Shared Reading can
make a difference
Reading storybooks paired with manipulatives lead to
longer sentences and more complicated speech in young
children.
(Kaderavek & Justice, 2005)
Students with pre-established basic reading skills who
engaged in powerful dialogue after reading with a parent
showed an improvement in verbal expression and higher
listening comprehension.
(Lonigan, Anthony, Bloomfield, Dryer & Samuel, 1999)
Review of Related Literature
Effects on students with Special Needs
(High Risk, Low SES, ESL & ELL)
Children with low pre-literacy skills improve reading behaviors but not
comprehension after reading with a parent.
(Curenton, 2008)
In a comparision of high risk and low risk students only low risk students
advanced in letter/sound recognition after reading with a parent.
(Laasko, Poikkeus, Eklund, Lyytinen, 2004)
Children with reading disabilities are not affected by home literacy practices.
(Fontina, Morris & Sevcik, 2005)
Low-Level students who participated in the Fast Start Reading Program
showed more improvement in reading than low-level students in their grade
who did not participate.
(Rasinski, 2005)
Reading at home in your native language can improve vocabulary acquisition in English.
(Roberts, 2008)
Mothers in disadvantaged communities want information and can have positive reading behaviors
and attitudes. (Morgan, 2005)
Review of Related Literature
What if it doesn’t make a difference?
CONS
Students who have more books at home do have higher
reading levels
and scores than students with less books but this is because
their
parents have higher levels of education and stronger work
ethics.
(Dubner & Levitt, 2005)
United States Department of Education
Junior High School students benefit more from reading at
school than
they do from reading at home.
(Taylor, Frye, & Maruyama, 1990)
Statement of Hypothesis
HR1: Reading with a parent every
night for 20 minutes, over a six week
period will improve the independent
reading levels in school by at least
one for 18 3rd grade students
attending PS X, a Title 1 funded
school in Brooklyn, NY.
Method
Participants
18 third grade students in CTT class
4 students who have an IEP
(3 boys and 1 girl)
2 students who have been held over
(1 boy and 1 girl – both who have an IEP – held over in previous grades)
2 students who receive ESL services
12 students stay for Extended Day
program
Instruments
Letters & Instructions to Parents
Reading Survey (Likert Scale)
Student Interview
Parent Survey
Pre-Test & Post-Test
(WRAP)
Research Design
Pre-Experimental Design
One- Group Pretest-Posttest
Design
Symbolic Design: OXO
Pretest =o
Treatment = x
Posttest = o
Threats to Validity
Internal Validity
External Validity
History
• Maturation
• Instrumentation
• Mortality Rate
• Differential Selection of
Subjects
• Selection-Maturation
Interaction
•
•
•
•
•
•
Generalizable Conditions
Selection-Treatment
Interaction
Experimenter Effects
Hawthorne Effects
Novelty Effects
Procedure
Pre-Treatment
September- October 2010
Parent Meeting & Letters
 Pre-Test using WRAP
 Student Reading Surveys
 Student Interviews

Post-Treatment
November 2010
•
•
•
Post-Test Using WRAP
Parent Surveys
Data Analysis
Results - Summary
Six out of 18 students went up one reading level, or 1/3 of the class.
One student went down one reading level.
Pre-test nine students were in 3rd grade range.
Post-test 11 students were in 3rd grade range.
Student Interview 10 students responded they read with parent.
Parent survey 12 parents responded with at least “I agree” to statement
– I read with my child.
No Correlations Found
Correlation between student interviews and post-test reading level = 0.18
Correlation between parent responses and post-test reading level = 0.31
Correlation between parent responses and change in reading level
between pre-test and post-tests = -0.09.
Results
Six students increased one level
One student decreased one level
Reading Levels
PreTest/PostTest Results
Pre-Test
Post-Test
Student Labels
Results
Question on Student Interview – Do you read with one of
your parents at night?
rxy = 0.18
Results
Question on Parent Survey – I read with my child.
4 – I strongly Agree
3 –I Agree
2- I Disagree
1 – I strongly Disagree
rxy = 0.31
Results
Question on Parent Survey – I read with my child.
4 – I strongly Agree
3 –I Agree
2- I Disagree
1 – I strongly Disagree
rxy = 0.09
Discussion
Results do not support hypothesis as there is no
correlation between parents reading with their children
and increased reading levels.
However….
After reading intervention in the home reading levels for
1/3 of participants did improve. Researcher cannot
conclude that improvement was due to intervention.
After Post-Test 10 participants were performing at grade
level for reading. 8 of these participants had parents
that responded they agree with the statement “I read
with my child.”
Implications
Researcher still believes parents need to
read with their children
A longer study should be done. (Six
weeks was not a long enough time)
Research needs to be conducted in a way
to ensure parents are actually reading
during intervention and not just
recording that they are on reading logs.
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