1+Literature+Review

Over the years, much research has been conducted in the area of reading comprehension. The research for this study has been focused on reading comprehension and the impact of technology in this field. This study focuses on the affects //Lexia//, a computer-assisted instructional tool, has on reading comprehension in a second grade setting. //Lexia// is a computer-based instructional program that “provides research-proven methods” to help students “acquire the essential reading skills needed to succeed in school and in life” ( [|www.lexialearning.com] ). This program is intended to for students in grades Pre-K through 12th grade and is geared in the direction of reading instruction. It is a program that is designed to provide a detailed picture of student’s reading performance. //Lexia// “provides explicit, systematic, and structured practice on the essential reading skills of phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension” ( [|www.lexialearning.com] ). It provides students with the guided reading instruction at their level and provides additional practice on the skills that students are struggling with. It also keeps moving at the child’s pace without stopping the flow of instruction. It can assess and monitor students reading progress to provide a measurement of reading skills. // Lexia // provides games and instruction in two forms: //Lexia Early and Primary Reading// which is designed for students in grades Pre-K through 3rd grade and //Lexia Strategies// which is designed for students in 4th grade and above. //Lexia Early and Primary Reading// is a supplemental tool that my school system purchased. Many teachers use the quantitative data gathered by this program to guide individual student instruction. To determine if the games are worth instructional time and teacher’s efforts, I will be conducting research to determine if Lexia //S.O.S.// games impact student’s reading comprehension skills. Computer-assisted instructional programs are becoming more and more common in the everyday classroom. Many programs state that “their” computer-assisted instructional program(s) can effectively aid with instruction and will support teacher instruction. Before school systems jump on the “technology bandwagon”, programs should be examined with a careful eye before purchasing and implementing. Most of the studies that I reviewed indicated that CAIs can improve reading comprehension, while some stated “no differences”. McKeown, Beck, and Blake acknowledged in their research that “a large body of research on [reading] strategies instruction has accumulated” and yet “a deal remains to be explained” (McKeown, Beck, Blake, 2009). This should be taken into consideration before adopting any CAI and implementing in the classroom. “The technology market changes rapidly and careful consideration of new products is always necessary” (Balajthy, 2007). In Applegate, Applegate, and Modla’s research study, they state that “many schools overemphasis” without paying any attention to comprehension. In Deeney’s article, //One-Minute Fluency Measures: Mixed Messages in Assessment and Instruction//, accuracy, rate, prosody were included in with the assessment, but many of times comprehension was excluded. In Rasinski’s study, it was stated that accuracy, automaticity, and prosody lead to comprehension. But was the focus really on comprehension? My research needs to study the effects //Lexia// has on comprehension and if significant gains are really made. Zawilinski stated in her research that “the internet is this generation’s defining technology for literacy” (Zawilinski, 2009). Weber and Cavanaugh along with Grimshaw, Dungworth, McKnight, and Morris studied eBooks as a means of improving reading comprehension and prove that they are readily available. McVicker studied the impact that electronic comic strips have on student’s comprehension. Most of these studies have positive results that provided evidence of improved comprehension. These studies will help to guide my research and are worth keeping in mind when conducting the //Lexia// research. Computers and computer programs do provide educators and school systems with another means of reaching students and aiding them with their reading skills. School systems and adoption committees need to have accurate research before adopting. “Technology can ease teachers’ assessment burdens and increase efficiency and effectiveness”, but it also has to meet the needs of the student population (Balajthy, 2007). Many programs along with the research prove that CAI programs do and can help with reading comprehension. They can also help with motivation which could be a step in the right direction to improving student’s reading comprehension abilities. My research could provide sound evidence that the //Lexia S.O.S.// games do increase reading comprehension. This would supply evidence and value in incorporating these games into the daily second grade reading schedule.
 * Review of Related Literature: **

Article 1:

This article compares and contrasts the benefits of focusing on reading comprehension strategies to reading content. “Presently, comprehension has come to focus on explicit comprehension strategies” and it “was featured in two major reports on reading: The National Research Council’s report and the National Reading Panel report” (McKeown, Beck, &Blake, 2009). The authors of this report argue that there is a lot of research on reading strategies, but there is little on the actual interactions with strategies and text. McKeown, Beck, and Blake believe that there are more “fluid approaches” to teaching reading comprehension, and they report on a study that they had previously conducted. They did find that reading comprehension strategies are beneficial to young readers, but they still believe that how a reader interacts and processes the content is crucial for deep comprehension. In the end, the authors found no differences in instructional conditions, but did find differences in recall and transfer.

Beck, I., L., Blake, R., G., K., & McKeown, M., G. (2009). Reading comprehension instruction: Focus on content or strategies? //Perspectives on Language and Literacy, 35, //28-32.

Article 2:

This was a very interesting article that I enjoyed very much. I felt it offered a lot of valuable strategies and information to a teacher of reading. The article its self included good strategies that would be worth trying if trying to increase student comprehension. The study did make a good point— comomprehension or fluency? Both are “correlated facets of reading” (p. 778), but does one take more precedence over another? According to this article, fluency does not always translate into improved comprehension. Marcell suggest implementing “Traffic Light Reading (TLR)” to guide modeling, reading practice, and multiple opportunities with a variety of texts and genres. The TLR its self is a traffic light that has strategies listed on each colored section of the red light. They are strategies (i.e. look backs, self talks, picture walks) that help students to become more metacognitive learners. In the end, Marcell did see some improvements in reading comprehension and students were able to take more charge of their own learning.

Marcell, B. (2007). Traffic light reading: Fostering the independent usage of comprehension strategies with informational text. //The Reading Teacher, 60, //778-781.

Article 3:

This was a very interesting article, especially since fluency and comprehension are so big in today’s methods of teaching reading comprehension and fluency. This “big” push in the two components (comprehension and fluency) are due to “federal policies and the NRP report”. Educators have been working hard to meet standards, but this article raises questions to how these means are being met. One minute fluency measures are being used across the nation, and many computer programs are being used to help with the assessment aspect of fluency. The problem, stated in this article, is that these programs (such as AIMSweb and DIBELS) and one minute probes are not assessing all the components of fluency. “Fluency consist of four components: accuracy, rate of speed (automaticity), prosody (smoothly), and comprehension. Most programs and teachers are only assessing accuracy, rate, and prosody; comprehension is not being assessed which means that fluency is not being measured accurately. Deeney also states that endurance is needed in order for one to be a fluent reader. This may affect some fluency computer programs, especially if the time of one minute cannot be changed.

Deeney, T. A. (2010). One minute fluency measures: Mixed messages in assessment and instruction. The Reading Teacher,63, 440-450.

Article 4:

This article struck me as very interesting, especially since I have personally had students who can read beautifully, but cannot tell me one thing about the story. This article was about a study that was conducted to see if fluent readers really do comprehend better. The authors referred to rate and accuracy as being over emphasized but stated that comprehension in regards to fluency is being ignored. LaBerge and Samuels (1974) research states that if students are fluently reading, then this clears up more cognitive space (students are not spending as much time tying to decode) for comprehension. The authors of this study do not think that this is necessarily the case. They designed an assessment that would distinguish between “readers that can recall information from the text and those who can think about it”. The students that were studied were considered good readers in school; “advanced comprehenders were those who scored an 85% or higher, proficient comprehenders scored 80% to 63%, and struggling comprehenders scored 58% or lower. In the end, the study found that even most proficient readers still need comprehension instruction. Students cannot be considered good readers just based on accuracy, prosody, and rate.

Applegate, M. D., Applegate, A. J., Modla, V. B. (2009). She’s my best reader; she just can’t comprehend: Studying the relationship between fluency and comprehension. The Reading Teacher, 62, 512-521.

Article 5:

This article in particular was focusing on fluency in reading. Rasinski talks about how accuracy, automaticity, and prosody are very important aspects of fluency that lead to comprehension; in his words they are the “gateway to comprehension”. In comparison to other articles I have been reading on this topic, the author does not have any problems with the methods of teaching fluency but states that in should not be done in separation. He worries that if taught in isolation and the emphasis is not on reading for meaning, then the “desired results of improving comprehension will eventually return reading fluency to a secondary role in the curriculum”. I agree with Rasinski in the fact that accuracy, automaticity, and prosody should be taught together with emphasis on repeated readings. He later goes on to state that, “what would really inspire me to engage in repeated reading or rehearsal is performance”. This remark triggered all types of technological thoughts in my mind. Educators could use repeated readings and technology (whither it be an Audacity recording, a DVD of the story, and the possibilities go on) to make fluency relevant and applicable to students lives.

Rasinski, T. (2006). Reading fluency instruction: Moving beyond accuracy, automaticity, and prosody. The ReadingTeacher, 59, 704-706.

Article 6:

If anyone is interested in blogs for the classroom and increasing higher order thinking skill, then this is the article to read. It was very helpful for beginning bloggers and for starting a blog. The article does not focus completely on comprehension and fluency, but it does talk about blogs as a new literacy “between out-of-school and in-school literacies”. This is what caught my attention—the term new literacies. I feel like by allowing students to blog, this would increase the amount of time reading and comprehending as well as applying real skills and tools that will be used when students enter into the working force. Blogs could motivate students to want to read more, thus increasing student’s comprehension and fluency capabilities. Zawilinski later goes on to say that each step in blogging “integrates both traditional reading comprehension skills and the new, higher order thinking skills that are often required during online reading comprehension”. Are higher order thinking skills not needed to comprehend what one is reading? Students need to know how to analyze, synthesis, and evaluate text in order to be able to fluently comprehend what they are reading; blogs can be one direction to go!

Zawilinski, L. (2009). HOT blogging: A framework for blogging to promote higher order thinking. The Reading Teacher, 62, 650-661.

Article 7:

When looking for this week’s articles, I started searching reading topics that sounded like they gathered some form of literacy data. I came across this article, Promoting Reading: Using eBooks, and wanted to know if eBooks were an effective means of promoting and aiding reading comprehension and fluency for all readers. I found that eBooks are fairly inexpensive and sometimes even free, depending on where they are ordered or downloaded. Some of the benefits of the eBooks include: “adjustable text size, highlighting, bookmarking, note taking, interactive dictionaries, and reading aloud through text-to-speech software”. I feel like these are strategies that would benefit many readers in the areas of comprehension and fluency. The authors had great references that made it appear like eBooks would accomplish what I am researching. For example, eBooks include “audio components and highlighting of phrases as the narrator works through the text, providing an accurate model of what good readers do, while helping to increase fluency”, “findings state that some students benefit from a slower text-to-speech reading speed while others comprehend better at faster rates”, and “spoken word support has been found to improve reading comprehension”. All of this as stated above can be achieved or supported by the use of eBooks, based on the findings from the article.

Weber, C. L., & Cavanaugh, T. W. (2006). Promoting reading: Using eBooks with gifted and advanced readers. Gifted Child Today, 29, 56-63.

Article 8:

This article was full of technology assessment strategies that supported the development of reading comprehension and tools to aid teachers in the tracking of student’s reading data. Balajthy looked at a “variety of ways in which computer and information technologies are being used to address assessment issues”. He acknowledges that technology does change rapidly and what he stated in the article could be subject to change in a few years; so in other words, be careful of technology adoptions and take careful consideration in regards to these issues. Balajthy breaks the article down into different sections which talk about assessment issues. The first is online assessment tools that are used to track and organize student development. Examples of these include (but are not limited to) the Stanford-10, DRA (Developmental Reading Assessment by Pearson Learning), Renaissance Learning which includes the STAR Reading Test, and PALS (Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening). The article then goes into computer-based assessment administration. Examples of these are CAT (Computer Adaptive Testing), SRI (Scholastic Reading Inventory), and BEAR (Basic Early Assessment of Reading). Then the article turned from assessment programs to record keeping and portfolio systems. This section was interesting and seemed very beneficial for teachers and the tracking of student progress. The article ends with recreational reading management programs, like Accelerated Reader, and Websites. The website section listed some useful sites that could be useful in the classroom. In the end, I feel like some of these programs might be worth the investment and would help make the collection of reading comprehension and fluency data a bit easier and less time consuming.

Balajthy, E. (2007). Technology and current reading/literacy assessment strategies. The Reading Teacher, 61, 240-247.

Article 9: As I searched for articles this week, I kept looking for some that specifically used one tool to help with reading comprehension. I came across this article that uses comic strips as a means of increasing or helping with reading comprehension. McVicker stated that “teachers can use comics to build strategies to deepen their students’ understanding of content using visual literacy skills”, and I agree because I use them when teaching reading comprehension strategies. Throughout the article and the overall point, “using visual literacy with representation helps to develop better spatial concepts so readers are not forced to imagine details or descriptions in the text such as size, color, or distance. Comic images enhance and extend the text communication. They attract the attention of the reader and create understanding of unknown factors in the text’s language.” The article also went on to list websites that were easy and sometimes free to access and/or download so educators could use them in their classrooms. Many were very age appropriate, for example Garfield, Family Circus, The Peanuts, and Sesame Street. Comic strips are also very motivating and a great way to lighten or add humor to any classroom.

McVicker, C. J. (2007). Comic strips as a text structure for learning to read. International Reading Association, 61, 85-88.

Article 10:

I know this topic is a little off from reading comprehension, but writing is a demonstration of comprehension. So I wanted to see if the use of descriptive video (a type of technology) would aid with reading comprehension. The article talks about how teachers are already using movies to complement or aid with their instruction; “comparing a book with/to a movie is a classic teaching strategy”. By activating the closed-captioning features on the television allow viewers to visually see the descriptive narration. “Described programming can enhance reading and writing ability as well as provide a motivating educational stimulus in today’s entertaining culture. Vocabulary, concept development, background knowledge, language precision, and descriptive writing are just some of the ways descriptive video can be used to enhance classroom instruction. After looking at student’s writing samples from before and after video description, students’ vocabulary and understanding increased in their samples. Many described programs are free or are on loan from at least “1,200 public libraries in the United States”. When using this type of technology it has the potential to increase learning, writing and reading comprehension.

Baker, E., Hoffner, H., Quinn, K. B. (2008). Lights, camera, pencils: Using descriptive video to enhance writing. International Reading Association, 61, 576-579.

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Article 11:

For these articles, I wanted to start reading some more actual research articles that pertain to reading and comprehension. I think it helped to gain an understanding of what I am going to be doing and how to put all the different research elements together. This article in particular is a study that investigated the differences of children’s comprehension and their enjoyment of specific books based on their presentation—eBooks or paper bound book. The researchers of this article also wanted to compare reading with and without a computer. They wanted to investigate if computers “enhance or hinder reading and learning”. Before they started, it was established that for comprehension to take place lower level processes like rapid word recognition were needed. They also used students who were “generally very skilled at using computers”, which I feel helped with the speed of the study but I did wonder if it affected the results (even just a little bit). In the end “no significant differences” were found in the comprehension scores and the conditions (electronic versions of the books vs. printed versions of the book).

Dungworth, N., Grimshaw, S., McKnight, C., Morris, A. (2007). Electronic books: Children’s reading and comprehension. British Journal of Educational Technology, 38, 583-599.

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Article 12:

This article, at first, sounded very similar to my previous article. The study was investigating the benefits of computer-assisted instruction (CAI) for middle school students who were taking remedial reading classes. The authors of this study also stated that “letter-sound correspondences and word-attack strategies” are crucial for reading development. They also went on to state that a “balanced reading” program and/or instruction were needed. The balanced approach consisted of phonological awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension, and I too greatly agree with this. The CAI that they ended up using was Lexia S.O.S., which is what I want to use with my students except for a lower grade level. The program was incorporated in with reading lessons and completed two to three times a week for about 20-30 minutes. In the end, their findings did show the “CAI can provide significant benefits for older struggling readers who need support in strengthening decoding skills”. They also restated that “CAI programs should not stand alone but be utilized as a supplement”.

Macaruso, P., Rodman, A. (2009). Benefits of computer-assisted instruction for struggling readers in middle school. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 24, 103-113.

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">Article 13: <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"> This article was very similar to all the others that were concerned with reading, technology, comprehension, and how they can aid one another. This study wanted to prove that technology could improve reading and writing skills. The authors found it very important to start off by indicating the important aspects and skills needed by students to read and understand expository texts, for example problem-solution, compare-contrast, cause-effect, and generalizations. I think this was very smart to include this at the beginning of the study; these are reading comprehension skills that are crucial to understanding expository texts. “Research studies reveal that K-12 students produce quantitatively more and qualitatively better writing when they are allowed to use computers than when they use paper and pencil” (Montelongo &Herter, 2010). Writing is a key indicator of comprehension, and if students can do this with the help of technology then incorporation should be occurring. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">Herter, R., J. & Montelongo, J., A. (2010). Using technology to support expository reading and writing. //Science Activities, 47,// 89-102.

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">Article 14:

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">This article talks about learning and using reading comprehension strategies to read smarter, not harder. The authors believe in teaching “more sophisticated strategies such as exploring inferences, analyzing text structure, summarizing, and synthesizing” (p. 66). As a reading teacher, I believe these strategies are “critical to helping students move beyond literal comprehension” and allows them to move forward so they can “begin to question, evaluate, and reconsider text” (p. 66). Students need to be able to relate text to their own personal lives. Teaching the above strategies teaches students how to relate texts to their lives and promotes better comprehension. The article goes on to list “global reading strategies” which need to be modeled before implementing. Global reading strategies include strategic questioning about context clues, identifying a range of textual and visual clues, activating prior knowledge, and text skimming. Also, “promoting students to become more aware of their choices through modeling, think alouds, visualization and journal keeping” helps students to become more strategic readers (p. 69). All of these skills are important to take into consideration when evaluating the results of my research. Does the CAI assess these comprehension skills?

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">Bishop, P. A., Pflaum, S. W., Reyes, C. (2006). Read smarter, not harder: Global reading comprehension strategies. //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">The Reading Teacher, 60, //66-75.

Article 15: <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">This article studies a fourth grade teacher and his incorporation of laptops into his fourth grade classroom. This study is very similar to the research that I want to conduct and carry out. I wanted to see if he had success with the incorporation of technology into his classroom and exactly how he went about doing it. Barone and Wright, the authors of the study, state that technology helps to “extend traditional literacy experiences with comprehension of information on the internet; effective use of search engines to locate information; evaluation of internet sources; communication using e-mail, texts, and chats, and the use of word processing programs” (p. 292). The authors also go onto make some strong points regarding the use of technology in the classroom. “Computers and internet are available to students, but most students do not have sufficient time in school to develop new literacies”, and by simply using software programs on computers does not necessarily prepare them for the new world literacies (p. 292). Another point to keep in mind is that new literacies are constantly entering and changing which requires all to embrace the changes. I think this study made some very valuable points that are crucial to take into consideration when conducting my research and writing my paper.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">Barone, D., Wright, T., E. (2008). Literacy instruction with digital and media technologies. //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">The Reading Teacher, 62, //293-302.