The Study of Student Achievement in Reading Comprehension and Professional Development of Third-Grade Teachers in a Suburban Public-School Setting

The purpose of this study was to determine if ongoing, sustained professional development in the area of reading resulted in an increase in student achievement on reading scores using i-Ready reading comprehension data. For the purpose of this study, students were divided into two groups: Group 1 was taught by teachers who received ongoing, sustained professional development, and Group 2 was taught by teachers who did not receive ongoing, sustained professional development. The qualitative part of this study examined teacher questionnaires, interviews, and observations in regard to ongoing, sustained professional development in reading comprehension. The quantitative study examined students' achievement scores measured by the i-Ready Reading comprehension benchmark. The two groups of students were tested twice during this study, once before the teachers received ongoing, sustained professional development and again at the end of the ongoing, sustained professional development. The benchmark scores were analyzed using a paired-sample T-test, along with Likert-scale questionnaire questions. The paired-sample T-test showed statistically significant measures regarding reading achievement scores which indicated both groups of students had an average (M = 0.46) for the pretest, showing Group 1 (m = 0.54) and Group 2 (m = 0.50) significantly increased on the posttest. Five themes emerged from the interview portion of the qualitative research. Implications for policy and practice included providing ongoing, sustained professional development in a targeted area. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]