Feature: Educational Studies Doctoral Student Morris Council Graduates With Secured Tenure-Track Position
Dissertation Title: Investigating Librarian Involvement with a Tier-Two Reading Intervention on the Achievement of Primary-Aged Urban Learners.
One of the greatest risk factors for special education placement, school failure, and later life marginalization is reading incompetence (Fuchs, Fuchs, Safer, & McInerny, 2005). The National Reading Panel (NRP, 2000) identified five basic components critical for reading instruction (i.e., phonemic awareness, alphabetic principal, vocabulary development, fluency, and comprehension) but noted that fluency is often an overlooked aspect of explicit classroom reading instruction. They also mention that oral reading fluency should be developed during beginning reading instruction and that repeated reading intervention is one evidence-based practice that can be used effectively for this purpose. Many young children who show special education risk, especially students of color in urban schools, struggle with reading fluency and would benefit from explicit fluency training. Some authorities posit beginning reading can be further enhanced by using culturally relevant (CR) materials along with repeated reading (e.g., Bishop, 2007; Gay, 2004) particularly for students of color who are struggling readers.
My dissertation examines the involvement of a school librarian in monitoring a computer software program (Reading RACES – Relevant and Culturally Engaging Stories) to five second-graders attending an urban school, who demonstrated reading risk. The Reading RACES program was designed to deliver a repeated reading interventions using culturally relevant literature. A multiple baseline probe across participants’ design was employed to determine the effects of Reading RACES on oral reading fluency (ORF) and comprehension of the participants. This study also used a descriptive analysis of the librarian’s ability to monitor the intervention.
This Fall, I will begin a tenure-track position at the University of West Georgia as an Assistant Professor in Special Education. My research interest includes academic and social interventions for learners considered at-risk for academic failure and/or diagnosed with high incidence disabilities. I also hope to explores the intersections between evidence-based intervention and sociocultural approaches to education.