A Multi-State Study Examining the Impact of Explicit Reading Instruction with Incarcerated Students.

Abstract

This randomized pretest/posttest group study examined the impact of explicit instruction in decoding, comprehension, and fluency on the reading achievement of incarcerated students from facilities in a southwestern (SW) state, a southeastern (SE) state, and a mid-Atlantic (MA) state. Comparisons were made between instruction comprised of higher and lower teacher-student ratio groups (1:12 v. 1:4) for the MA site and overall student reading growth rates for the SW and SE site. A total of 49 students were involved (SW=13, SE =16i, MA=20). MANCOVA results for the MA site found significant differences for group size on the Letter-Word Identification subtest of the Woodcock Reading Mastery test. Pretest and posttest difference scores are reported for the SW and SE sites. Results are discussed in relationship to the implication of providing explicit reading instruction with lower teacher-student ratios and the overall difficulty of conducting juvenile justice research. Incarcerated students have acute academic skill deficits that put them at significant risk for failing in school and functioning well in a society that emphasizes educational achievement (Foley, 2001). These skill deficits are particularly pronounced in the area of reading. When compared to non delinquent peers, incarcerated students on average are two years behind in reading (Foley, 2001). Project READ (as cited in Brunner, 1993), one of the first studies to examine reading performance of incarcerated youth with a nationally representative sample indicated that the average reading level of incarcerated students in ninth grade was fourth grade reading level. This study also found that more than one third of these students were illiterate. Others (Humphrey a