Developing a novel approach to integrating foundational skills, comprehension and writing instruction within the context of authentic informational text reading to improve fourth- and fifth-grade students’ reading achievement and motivation.
Longstanding inequities in elementary reading achievement highlight the need for research on feasible and practical instructional programs to accelerate reading growth for students who are traditionally underserved by public schools. The purpose of the Read STOP Write project is to develop, implement, refine and test the effects of a multicomponent intervention to improve fourth- and fifth-grade students’ foundational reading skills (word recognition, morphology and fluency), reading comprehension, writing and motivation for reading informational text.
Instead of waiting for children to demonstrate mastery of foundational skills before introducing complex, informational texts, the Read STOP Write project will test an innovative approach: providing children with the built-in supports they need to succeed during reading and writing of science and social studies texts.
By teaching children to read multisyllabic words and build foundational skills in authentic learning activities, rather than in isolation, we hope to accelerate reading and writing acquisition while also supporting the development of children’s value of reading and their self-concept as readers. In addition, we plan to evaluate teachers’ and students’ perceptions of the social validity of Read STOP Write to inform iterative cycles of development, culminating in an experimental study of its effects on student achievement.
