Effects of Intervention on Reading Levels of Children from Kindergarten through Third Grade

The world of public education is constantly changing in a myriad of ways, including state and national policy changes and demands, student achievement measured through online assessments, and rigorous curriculum that meets students within their zone of proximity. These reforms come with pressure and economic demands. School administrators can use structured interventions to meet the ever-changing needs of students and staff. This mixed-methods research study utilized both qualitative and quantitative measures to explore 11 research questions. The researcher took into account the perceptions of elementary educators on the effects of a student's reading ability on his or her performance supported by data from formative and summative assessments. Participants in this study were current building-level classroom teachers from a rural county in Northeast Missouri. The participants responded to an electronic survey instrument that was designed with open-ended questions. The qualitative analysis of the data was conducted via an in-depth analysis of a single case or case study. The quantitative data analysis took place through two-sample t-test and a single factor ANOVA. Overall, the perceptions of the intervention program were favorable despite not providing statistical significance across all groups included in the study. Recommendations for further research included expansion of the pool of participants, analysis of the reading data of students involved in preschool and the intervention, and comparison of the reading intervention to another program. The research adds to the professional literature of the educational community.