Carla Jamerson Fundamentals of Educational Research EDU 671 Instructor: Kathy Hoover October 15, 2015

Introduction The best afterschool programs do two things: they engage students in fun activities that create a desire to learn and they build on what students are learning during the school day to extend the knowledge they already have. The YMCA of Greater Long Beach California services the cities of Bellflower, San Pedro, Downey, Lakewood and Paramount. According to the 2015 Start Class Report the reading scores of this service area across the board are well below the national average (Washington, 2015). However, of these five cities the city of Bellflower schools have the lowest reading test scores in the area (Washington, 2015).

Purpose The purpose of this study is to determine if after school enrichment programs geared towards reading comprehension have a significant influence on the reading scores of second language students who have scored below average on the state academic test.

Explanation of the Problem Within the before and after school programs in the Bellflower school district I have seen a trend of less engagement in regards to planned activities and academic enrichment, associated with the academic areas of math and reading. Over the years the before and after school enrichment programs ran by the YMCA have seemed to lose focus on the academic perceptive of after school enrichment giving more attention to physical fitness and healthy living.

Explanation of the Problem Cont: Not to say that physical fitness and healthy living are not of great importance and should not be addressed in the curriculum associated with the YMCA’s after school enrichment. But as stated in the opening introduction the best afterschool programs do two things: they engage students in fun activities that create a desire to learn and they build on what students are learning during the school day to extend the knowledge they already have.

Description and Justification of Participants For this study I have chosen to focus on 4 students of which two are second language learners and are participants in the YMCA after school enrichment community. And two are traditional English learners. These students range from the ages of 7 and 8 years of age, grades 2nd and 3rd and scored below the national average in both reading and writing on the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress statewide exam, which replaced the California Star Exam in 2013.

Research Questions “What can I provide for effective reading instruction for second language English learners as well as the traditional English learners who are limited readers or nonreaders?” “What strategies will enhance the reading instruction of both the English second language learner and the traditional English learner?” “What methods of instruction will benefit the struggling reader?”

Intervention/Innovation Within my afterschool program I have chosen four students as participants for my reading comprehension study. Two are second language learners and two are traditional English learner’s grades 2 and 3. Each participant has scored below the national average in the area of reading comprehension skills. I have observed that all four students are unable to read at their grade level and are struggling with text comprehension. I have placed these students in groups of two by grade level to complete homework tasks and for participation in explicit skill instruction. Explicit skill instruction refers to task specific; teacher led instruction that overly demonstrates how to complete a task and can be used to teach students both basic and higher order reading skills.

Implication I will start with setting up a meeting to discuss the program with parents, students and staff. Once each volunteer and their parents are in agreement with the plan of intervention each student will be given reading pretest to determine their level of reading. Once the participants level of reading has been determined each student will participate in a six week program of explicit skill instruction. At the end of the six weeks on instruction each student will be given a post reading test.

Data Collection Pretest/Post-test Case Studies Questionnaires

Ethical Considerations Respect for persons-students will be treated with complete respect. Beneficence – Students will not be harmed because names will not be mentioned. Justice – Students will receive what they deserve in regards to a fair education. Informed Consent – Both students and parents will be noticed of the plan of action and informed that participation is voluntary.

Plan of Action As part of the daily afterschool enrichment program at the YMCA our students are given 1 hour homework time and 30 minutes of reading time Monday- Thursday. It will be during reading time that I with the help of an aide will implement explicit skill instruction with my four participants. So for 6 weeks during reading time my research participants will participate in explicit skill instruction.

Action Plan Cont: For the next six weeks participants will participate in the following activities. First 10 mins “Working with Words” Next 15 mins “Fluency Practice” Last 10 mins “Journal Writing”

Literature Review Hartry, A., Fitzgerald, R., & Porter, K. (2008). Implementing a structured reading program in an afterschool setting: Problems and potential solutions. Harvard Educational Review, 78(1), , Retrieved from Katzir, T; Goldberg, A; Aryeh, T, Joffe B, Donnelley, K, Wolf, M. (2013). Intensity vs. Duration: Comparing the Effects of a Fluency-Based Reading Intervention Program, in After-School vs. Summer School Settings. Journal of Education and Training Studies, v1 n2 p61-73 Oct 2013 Retrieved from Kim, J.S, Capotosto, L, Hartry, A. & Fitzgerald, R. (2011).Can a Mixed- Method Literacy Intervention Improve the Reading Achievement of Low- Performing Elementary School Students in an After-School Program? Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis Vol. 33, No. 2, pp. 183–201 DOI: / Lauer, P. A., Akiba, M., Wilkerson, S. B., Apthorp, H. S., Snow, D., & Martin- Glenn, M. (2004). The Effectiveness of Out-of-School-Time Strategies in Assisting Low-Achieving Students in Reading and Mathematics: A Research Synthesis. Retrieved

Literature Review Cont: Little, C. A., & Hines, A. H. (2006). Time to read: Advancing reading achievement after school. Journal of advanced Academics, 18(1), Retrieved from Martens, B. K., Eckert, T. L., Begeny, J. C., Lewandowski, L. J., DiGennaro, F. D., Montarello, S. A., & Fiese, B. H. (2007). Effects of a fluency- building program on the reading performance of low-achieving second and third grade students. Journal of Behavioral Education, 16(1), Retrieved from Mills, G. E. (2014). Action research: A guide for the teacher researcher (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc. Nelson-Royes, A.M. & Reglin, G.L. (2011). After-School Tutoring for Reading Achievement and Urban Middle School Student. Reading Improvement 48(3) Retrieved from Retrieved from Pierce, M., Katzir, T., Wolf, M., & Noam, G. G. (2007). Clusters of second and third grade dysfluent urban readers. Reading and Writing, 20(9), doi: Sanderson, D. R. (2003). Setting up a successful after school tutorial program: One district's journey. Reading Improvement, 40(1), 13. Retrieved from Slavin, R. E., & Cheung, A. (2003). Effective Reading Programs for English Language Learners. A Best-Evidence Synthesis. Retrieved from