Small scale action research study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Small scale action research study - Essay Example Findings V. Analysis and Interpretation VI. Conclusion and Recommendations Small Scale Action Research Study I. Introduction This research study deals with how years 1 and 2 primary school children in my school approach reading; these children are aged five to six years. The research study is aimed at not only finding out how their reading skills can be improved, but also how this relates to the previous reading levels in my school. Reading among these children has been gradually deteriorating with time. It has been characterized by several difficulties. The nature of these reading problems coincides with what most reputable scholarly researchers have already studied sometime back cons in relation to this. The nature of the problems of readers who are struggling is quite complex. Over time, study has indicated that the complexity emanates from the individual differences that are present within any group that undertakes a reading. The reading struggle among the children is characteriz ed by the different approaches, skills, and dispositions. This makes it difficult for those reading to make sense of the print. Studies continue to reveal that both poor decoding and poor comprehension are among examples of aspects that struggling readers may posses. Besides, they also have difficulties in both vocabulary and language skills (Allington and McGill-Franzen, 2009, p. 221). Since September 2010, the Early Reading Research (ERR) has been used in my school. Since the time it was introduced, I have taken note of reading improvement among the children. The schools has teaching assistants who are not only experienced, but also industrious, and have really been surprised by the steps of improvement in reading levels attained by the children up to this far. I am still not certain of the fact that the National Literacy Strategy is the best approach to reading in our schools, due to the observed worsening trend of the reading level among the children. Before the National Literac y Strategy came into force, there was another Reading programme referred to as the Early Reading Research by Essex Lea. Thus the research question in this study is how effective is the Early Reading Research (ERR) by Essex Lea in solving the reading problem of children in my school? Interest for this area of study is motivated by the outcomes of the recently carried out research by the Essex Lea and the Leverhulme Trust on the efficiency of the Early Reading Research in comparison to other reading programmes. The study was based on classroom empirical investigations that was carried out on a large scale basis coupled with small scale cases to establish how children’s learning could be impacted with various principles of instruction. Apart from establishing the most efficient methods of teaching reading, Early Reading Research was also used in examining not only the level to which age and skill reading targets could be reached by each child, but also the prevention of particul ar difficulties in reading. This research study encompasses various sections that reveal the literature review, method of data collection, findings, analysis and interpretation, and conclusion together with recommendations. II. Literature Review a. The Significance of Reading Most people do not just take reading lightly, but also they do not easily see how difficult life can be for those who have not read. Print is available at almost every place that surrounds us that is on adverts, shop names, product instructions and novels, just to mention but a