Effect of Heggerty Phonemic Awareness Program on Fourth Graders' Foundational Reading Skills

The problem is that fourth-grade students in the United States are not meeting reading proficiency benchmarks. Phonemic awareness is a strong predictor of reading success; however, few studies have investigated its effectiveness for intermediate elementary students who are at risk or struggling readers. The purpose of this quantitative quasi-experimental causal-comparative study was to find whether fourth-grade students who are identified as at-risk or struggling readers will show improvement in phonemic awareness and word recognition skills when taught with the Heggerty Phonemic Awareness Program as a supplement to regular reading instruction as compared to students who received traditional core reading instruction. The theory that grounds this study is Watson's theory of behaviorism. Research questions explored the effectiveness of the Heggerty Phonemic Awareness Program on fourth graders phonemic awareness and word recognition skills. Archival data were analyzed. Results indicated that there was a statistically significant difference in the phonemic awareness and word recognition skills of fourth-grade students who were taught with the Heggerty Phonemic Awareness Program as a supplement to regular reading instruction as compared to students who received traditional core reading instruction but received no supplementary instruction in phonemic awareness. The findings of this study have the potential to create positive social change for fourth-grade students, teachers, and school administrators to provide the Heggerty Program as a supplement to their core reading instruction. [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.]