Investigation of instructional reading strategies,professional development and training,and reading assessments used at the secondary level to improve student reading skills.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate instructional reading strategies,professional development and training, and reading assessments used to improve student reading skills in secondary high schools. The study focused on urban high schools in Northeast Indiana with diverse populations. Classroom teachers at the secondary level described their experiences in teaching reading.These "lived through" classroom experiences were examined to gain a better understanding of how instructional reading strategies, professional development and training, and reading assessments could be used at the secondary level to improve student reading skills. This study expanded on the works ofBarry (1997), High School Reading Program Revisited; Barry (2002), Reading Strategies Teachers Say They Use; Said, Sisson, Worley, & Zipperer (2002), Literacy Education and Reading Programs in the Secondary Schools: Status, Problems, and Solutions; and Schneider and Spor (1999), Content Reading Strategies: What Teachers Know, Use, and Want to Learn. This research examined the responses and the information pertaining to 13 interview questions through teacher interviews, classroom observations, and a review of the curriculum. These sources presented emerging themes and patterns.The results of this investigation revealed that perhaps the biggest obstacle to improving student reading skills in the focus schools was the attitude of classroom teachers. Presently, secondary teachers do not accept the teaching of reading skills as ttheir responsibility. Once administrators convince secondary classroom teachers to accept their responsibility for teaching reading, administrators have a challenge of providing appropriate professional development and training in instructional reading strategies and reading assessments. The current study focused on an investigation of instructional reading strategies,professional development and training, and reading assessments used at the secondary level to improve student reading skills. Due to the complexity of the reading process, a more in-depth research study needs to be conducted on each of the components of this research study. Evidence of failure, clearly points out that learning to read the English language is not as easy as some may lead one to believe. Therefore, the following recommendations are suggested on topics of instructional reading strategies, professional development and training, and reading assessment used at the secondary level to improve student reading skills: (a) instructional reading strategies used at the secondary level to improve student reading skills, (b) professional development and training used at the secondary level to improve student reading skills, (c) reading assessment used at the secondary level to improve student reading skills, (d) and focus on the principal's role at the secondary level to improve student reading skills.