Educators' Perceptions of Reading First and Success for All for Mobile and Nonmobile First Through Third Grade Students

Many mobile 1st through 3rd grade students are not reading on grade level in a southern urban school. The purpose of this study was to assess how teachers perceive the effectiveness of the Success for All and Reading First programs for their mobile and nonmobile students in order to create a new theory to improve instruction for the mobile students. The conceptual framework was based on Pastorino and Doyle-Potillo's argument that all children can learn and Eccles and Roseser's work on the impact on student learning as it relates to the composition of the student body, climate of the school, and scholastic atmosphere as other factors that contribute to learning. The study was guided by 3 research questions that examined the instructional methods that teachers perceived as the most effective, investigated the nature of literacy learning for mobile and nonmobile students, and analyzed teachers' perceptions about their literacy instruction for their mobile and nonmobile students. Using a grounded theory approach, data were collected from 10 reading teachers in Grades 1-3 who participated in interviews and observations; data also included lesson plans. Constant comparative analysis was used to note emerging patterns and themes that formed the basis of the findings. Mobile students were unable to progress on par with their nonmobile peers. Teachers identified the lack of consistency in the mobile student's attendance as the main factor, which impeded their academic success. These findings led to the development of a consistency in curriculum and delivery of instruction theory that includes ongoing communication between family and school as students move from school to school. Implications for positive social change include improved continuity in teaching and learning for mobile students.