17 1 What is the Impact of Guided Reading on Student Self-Efficacy

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What is the Impact of Guided Reading on Student Self-Efficacy in Reading?

Your name

College of Education, Georgia Southwestern State University

EDUC course number: Course Name

Dr. Kathy Barnetson

Date

The Impact of Guided Reading on Student Self-Efficacy in Reading

Reading Achievement is such a broad topic in education. Many schools throughout the nation focused heavily on whether or not the students enrolled are reading on, below or above grade level. The goal is to increase reading achievement to have most, if not all students reading at or above grade level. When dissecting what all plays a vital part in building readers, one avenue I explored is student self-efficacy. The idea of how students view themselves as readers and how they believe that they too can be an on or above grade level reader is a part of the foundation of how to address the needs of students. A strategy that has been around for some time is guided reading. This strategy allows for more chances to incorporate reading in the classroom and facilitates better independent readers (Makumbila & Rowland, 2016). This study highlighted the impact of guided reading on student self-efficacy in reading.

This study helped to identify how students view themselves as readers. It helped in presenting the findings of how strategies were used to not only teach content, but to teach content, build confidence and instill motivation within students. The strategy of guided reading, how students learn to read through interaction with teacher and text in a small group (Long & Szabo, 2016), was the focus of this study. Students, parents, teachers, and schools should benefit because this study builds upon research to support building better readers intrinsically and yield students that perform better in terms of reading achievement due to them believing in themselves.

The goal of this study was to determine if the implementation of guided reading in a self-contained class helped to develop a greater sense of reading confidence within students. This is an important area of study because of the demands put on schools in the area of reading achievement. This study assisted in learning that through instruction a teacher can help to build the confidence of a struggling reader. Instruments that were used to collect data for this study incuded observations of students during guided reading instruction, student interviews, and student surveys.

A questionnaire adapted from the Motivation for Reading Questionnaire (Hager, 2017) in addition to interviews and observations of students during guided reading was used to measure the motivation and belief of students in terms of themselves as readers. The questionnaire was administered to second grade students taught reading using the strategy of guided reading instruction.

Research Questions

For this study, the following research question was addressed:

Do students view themselves as better readers after guided reading instruction is implemented?

Definitions

1. guided reading – a small-group instructional context in which a teacher supports each reader’s development of systems of strategic actions for processing new texts at increasingly challenging levels of difficulty (Fountas & Pinnell, 2018).

2. self-efficacy – an individual’s belief in his or her capacity to execute behaviors necessary to produce specific performance attainments (Carey & Forsyth, 2019).

Review of the Literature

Reading is a necessity in our world today and students continue to struggle with reading. In this literature review several topics were discussed: Guided reading and self-efficacy.

Guided Reading

Guided reading has been a strategy used by many teachers to build reading skills for many years. Lately, more students have been reading below grade level causing teachers to heavily rely on guided reading to remediate. Makumbila and Rowland (2016) after observing and evaluating fifty-eight teachers determined that teachers felt strongly about guided reading and the impact it had on producing readers but needed more training and materials to effectively implement it and to make it more appealing to engage students. Long and Szabo (2016) studied thirty-five fifth grade students in a suburban elementary school and found that the relationship between the teacher and the students played an important role in the learning process and the implementation of the guided reading groups. Toste et al. (2017) studied fifty-nine struggling readers in third and fourth grade and determined that students participating in forty minute small group focused instruction out performed students that were not labeled as struggling. Additionally, Toste et al. (2019), through replication of a previous study, found that students taught in small groups began to read with a greater word fluency.

Pilonieta (2017) also found that first and second grade students were able to read with understanding in guided reading after being taught comprehension strategies. The study conducted determined that guided reading gave students the opportunity to engage in their reading with teacher support when necessary (Pilonieta, 2017).

Self-efficacy

The idea of how students feel about themselves and their learning is steadily becoming a more prevalent topic in education. Harris (2015) concluded a study to determine the perspectives of students related to reading and found that children began to develop an understanding of their self-efficacy as they matriculated through kindergarten, first grade and second grade. In a study focused on a particular instructional framework that was developed for a specific student, the researchers determined that both focus and leveled learning aided in developing literacy skills and self-perception as a reader within a student (Stover et al., 2017). Two major findings for Stover et al. (2017) were that it is possible to increase a student’s motivation to read through intentional and individualized instruction and attention must be paid to students’ reading motivation for them to reach their full potential yielding literacy development.

Makumbila and Rowland (2016) completed a study where they observed and evaluated fifty-eight teachers to determine how the implementation of reading strategies aids in increasing student reading ability and discovered that students’ literacy engagement and motivation improved after using leveled books, facilitating oral reading and group activities through guided reading.

Conclusion

Students widely struggle with reading and many different strategies are implemented to support them with regards to reading throughout each school year. The studies found that directly relate to student self-efficacy and the implementation of the reading strategy of guided reading are limited and focused in regions outside of the western region where the United States is located. The fact that there is not much information accessible to see how a student’s self-confidence is impacted through the implementation of reading strategies to further support students is brought to light. This supports the need for further research related to the impact of guided reading on student self-efficacy. Through a qualitative approach, this study will address if in fact students view themselves as better readers after guided reading instruction is implemented.

Methodology

This study will explore and highlight how students view themselves as readers. This research will provide an answer to the question of whether or not students view themselves as better readers after the implementation of guided reading.

Research Design

This will be a qualitative research survey study of how students view themselves as readers after the implementation of guided reading. Students will be given a questionnaire adapted from the Motivation for Reading Questionnaire (Hager, 2017), will be interviewed, and observed during guided reading. The data collected will be used to measure the motivation and belief of students in terms of themselves as readers. The theoretical model for this research will be based on the humanistic theory because through the personal experiences of the participants from the implementation of daily guided reading instruction, the motivation and self-confidence grew within the participants themselves.

Participants

The participants in the study will be six second grade students that all reside in a low-socioeconomic area. They attend a Title I elementary school located in a rural community in the Western region of Georgia. They will be in the same class and will be taught reading using the strategy of guided reading instruction. Students are all African-American. Three female and three male students will participate in this study. All participants will be eight years of age at the time of the study. Three participants will be classified as students with disabilities. Those three participants all have individualized education plans on file. Three participants will be classified as general education students. The participants will be randomly chosen in class by pulling numbers out of a box, twenty-one students pulled numbers and the students who will pull numbers one through six will be chosen for the study. Informed consent will be obtained from the principal (see Appendix A). IRB approval was obtained (see Appendix B). Informed consent will be obtained from the parents of the participants (see Appendix C).

Procedures

This study will be comprised of both a focus group and independent interviews with students. To ultimately answer the research question and learn if students view themselves as better readers after the implementation of guided reading, each participant will be interviewed and complete a questionnaire at the beginning of the study. Students will be told that their responses are not wrong or right but simply how they feel and will be asked to answer truthfully.

The participants will be initially interviewed and asked a total of five questions. Students will be asked questions about how they feel about their reading ability. They will be instructed to answer with a yes or a no and will be given the option to expound on their response if they so desired. The investigator will note their responses on a paper with the interview questions listed. A bank interview list will be used for each participant. After the interview, the participants will be given a questionnaire to respond to. The questionnaire will be comprised of a total of ten questions about their reading ability and perception of themselves as a reader. The questionnaire will be read aloud to them and they will circle their response of yes or no on their papers. The participants will be interviewed independently in the classroom during a time where the other students will be out of the classroom in specials. The following day after the interview the participants will be given the questionnaire at the same time and under the same conditions as the interview the day before.

Two weeks after the participants will be interviewed and complete the questionnaire, they will begin to receive daily guided reading instruction in a small group setting for fifteen minutes. During the guided reading lessons all participants will be observed.

At the conclusion of this study all participants will again be interviewed and all will complete the questionnaire again. The interviews and questionnaires will be completed over a two-day period in the classroom independently just as they were prior to the implementation of guided reading instruction. The data collected from the interviews, questionnaires and observations will be used to answer the research question.

Instrumentation

Instruments that will be used to collect data for this study include student interviews, student questionnaires, and observations of students during guided reading instruction. The instruments should assist in revealing the effects of guided reading on student self-efficacy.

Student Interview

Students will be interviewed. In the interview they will be asked five questions about themselves as a reader (see Appendix D). The questions and responses should reveal how the participants feel about their reading ability. The interview questions will be formulated with the idea of student self-confidence in mind. This was directly related to the study and assisted in determining if in fact students’ belief in themselves improved over time once guided reading was implemented.

Motivation for Reading Questionnaire

Students will also complete a questionnaire adapted from the Motivation for Reading Questionnaire (Hager, 2017) (see Appendix E). The participants will respond to ten questions about their reading ability and their perception of themselves as a reader. The questions are formulated by the researchers to determine student self-efficacy. This directly related to the research study to prove that guided reading motivates students and increases their self-efficacy.

Student Observations

Students will be observed during this study. During the observations their behaviors will be notated as they read during guided reading. The observations will be collected on a teacher created observation sheet (see Appendix F). The behaviors of participants will be used to determine their feelings toward reading and how they changed throughout the study. The participants will be observed using this chart once a week, on Fridays.

Data Collection and Analysis Procedures

This qualitative study was a content analysis that will be organized on charts according to the particular students that participated. Data will be analyzed and compiled from the completed student interviews, student questionnaires, and observations during daily guided reading instruction. The constant comparative approach will be used to analyze the data collected from this qualitative research study. A content analysis chart will be completed with students’ participation and yields the results and conclusions for this study. The participants in this study will not be offered incentives to encourage them to participate.

References

Carey, M. P., & Forsyth, A. D. (2019). Teaching tip sheet: Self-efficacy [web log comment]. https://www.apa.org/pi/aids/resources/education/self-efficacy

Fountas, I. C., & Pinnell, G. S. (2018). What is guided reading? [web log comment]. https://fpblog.fountasandpinnell.com/what-is-guided-reading

Hager, J. L. (2017). The relationship of reading self-efficacy and reading achievement in second grade students. Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers, (Professional Paper). https://scholarworks.umt.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=12111&context=etd

Harris, P. (2015). “Words and stuff”: Exploring children’s perspectives of classroom reading in the early school years. Australian Journal of Language & Literacy, 38(1), 27–37.

Long, D., & Szabo, S. (2016). E-readers and the effects on students’ reading motivation, attitude and comprehension during guided reading. Cogent Education, 3(1), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2016.1197818

Makumbila, M. P., & Rowland, C. B. (2016). Improving South African third graders’ reading skills: Lessons learnt from the use of guided reading approach. South African Journal of Childhood Education, 6(1), 1-8. Retrieved October 26, 2019, from https://eric.ed.gov/contentdelivery/servlet/ERICServlet?accno=EJ1187098 

Pilonieta, P. (2017). First- and second-grade urban students’ path to comprehension strategy use: A practitioner’s framework. Reading Psychology, 38(4), 369–389. https://doi.org/10.1080/02702711.2016.1278415

Stover, K., Sparrow, A., & Siefert, B. (2017). “It ain’t hard no more!” Individualizing instruction for struggling readers. Preventing School Failure, 61(1), 14–27. https://doi.org/10.1080/1045988X.2016.1164659

Toste, J. R., Capin, P., Vaughn, S., Roberts, G. J., & Kearns, D. M. (2017). Multisyllabic word- reading instruction with and without motivational beliefs training for struggling readers in the upper elementary grades: A pilot investigation. Elementary School Journal, 117(4), 593-615. https://doi.org/10.1086/691684 

Toste, J. R., Capin, P., Williams, K. J., Cho, E., & Vaughn, S. (2019). Replication of an experimental study investigating the efficacy of a multisyllabic word reading intervention with and without motivational beliefs training for struggling readers. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 52(1), 45-58. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022219418775114

APPENDICES

Appendix A

Administrative Approval Form

Appendix B

IRB Approval Form

Appendix C

Parent Permission Form

INSERT YOUR PARENT PERMISSION FORM IF USED

Appendix D

Student Interview

I enjoy reading. (YES or NO)

I need help reading. (YES or NO)

Guided reading has made me more comfortable with reading. (YES or NO)

Guided reading has helped me learn to reading better. (YES or NO)

I enjoy guided reading. (YES or NO)

Appendix E

Motivation for Reading Questionaire

I am a good reader. (YES or NO)

2. When I read aloud, I read at a steady pace and read all the words correctly. (YES or NO)

3. After I read a story, I can tell about what I read. (YES or NO)

4. Reading is hard for me and sometimes I make mistakes. (YES or NO)

5. When I read aloud, I sound great and listeners can understand the story. (YES or NO)

6. Reading aloud by myself makes me feel nervous. (YES or NO)

7. I can read a story and answer questions about it correctly. (YES or NO)

8. I am ready to try reading more challenging stories. (YES or NO)

9. I have worked hard at reading this year and I am getting better. (YES or NO)

10. I will do well in reading in the future. (YES or NO)

Appendix F

Student Observation Data