| The writer investigated the effects of using systematic listening instruction to improve the listening comprehension, reading comprehension, and mathematics applications of students in grades two, four, and five. A secondary purpose was to determine the differences, if any, in effect that systematic listening instruction had on students identified to be "at-risk" in school from students who were not identified to be "at-risk." Identification of these students was made with a weighted matrix developed by the researcher consisting of socio-economic factors, test scores, attendance, and other factors associated with being "at-risk" of school failure.;The study was conducted during the 1990-91 school year with intact groups. The sample (n = 126) was divided to form an experimental group (n = 63) and a comparison group (n = 63). The experimental group received 36 planned listening lessons of 15 minutes each. The comparison group was read to for the same amount of time daily, but received no special instruction in listening.;The hypotheses that were related to the two primary purposes were evaluated utilizing a four-way (condition x grade x risk x time) analysis of variance for each of the three variables studied. The significance level was.05.;While, for each variable studied, the mean gain for each group was greater than the normal expectation of one year per year in school, the mean gain for the experimental group, for each variable studied, was not significantly greater than the mean gain for the comparison group. Furthermore, the difference between the mean gain of the experimental and comparison groups for the "at-risk" students was not significantly different from the mean gain for the students not found to be "at-risk." Hence, the results provided insufficient evidence to support a point of view that the treatment was more effective for the "at-risk" students than for the regular students. |
