The Effect of Parental Involvement on Reading Success of Kindergarten Students By Alison H. Good Submitted in Partial Fulfillment for the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Education May 2017 Graduate Programs in Education Goucher College i Table of Contents List of Tables i Abstract ii I. Introduction 1 Overview 1 Statement of Problem 2 Hypothesis 2 Operational Definitions 3 II. Review of the Literature 5 Introduction 5 Early Literacy 5 Benefits of Quality Early Literacy Instruction 6 Importance of Mastering Early Literacy Skills 6 Methods to Support Early Literacy Development 6  School Readiness 7 How to Achieve School Readiness 8 Parental Involvement and Academic Success 9 Parental Involvement in the Classroom 10 Parental Involvement at Home 11 Parental Involvement to Support Literacy Development 12 Promoting Effective Parental Involvement 14 Summary 15 ii III. Methods 16 Design 16 Participants 17 Instruments 17 Procedure 19 IV. Results 22 Changes in Reading Scores 22 Parent Feelings about Reading and Supporting Reading 24 V. Discussion 32 Implications of Results 32 Theoretical Consequences 34 Threats to Validity 34 Connections to Previous Studies and Existing Literature 37 Implications for Future Research 38 Conclusion 39 References 40 Appendixes Appendix A- Invitation to Workshop Letter to Parents Appendix B- Workshop Summary, List of Reading Strategies, Question Word Handout, Response to Reading Handout Appendix C- Pre-intervention Parent Survey Appendix D- Pre-intervention Student Survey Appendix E- Post-Intervention Parent Survey iii Appendix F- Post-Intervention Student Survey Appendix G- Homework Journal Materials Appendix H- Letter to Non-Attending Parents, Review of Handout Acknowledgement Appendix I- Reading Workshop Highlights iv List of Tables Table 1: Descriptive Statistics of Reading Scores 23 Table 2: Results of Paired Samples T tests comparing Pre & Post Intervention Reading Scores 24 Table 3: Descriptive Statistics for Parents’ Pre & Post-Intervention Survey Items with Ratings 25 Table 4: Descriptive Statistics for Students’ Pre & Post-Intervention Survey Items with Ratings 27 Table 5: Summary of Pre & Post-Intervention Home Reading Habits reported by Parents & Students 29 Table 6: Tally of Homework Journal Activities 31 i Abstract The purpose of this study was to determine whether the reading achievement of kindergarten students was affected by a parent involvement workshop intervention. This workshop taught parents strategies and best practices to use while reading at home with their children. Parents and caregivers who were not able to attend the workshop were given a handout outlining the key points. The sample consisted of 15 kindergarten students, some of whom have parents who speak little to no English. The study took place over three weeks. After attending the workshop or reviewing the materials prepared for it, parents or caregivers were asked to read nightly with their child and complete a response to their reading activity three nights a week. Using a pre-test and post-test design, students’ reading accuracy, comprehension, and strategy use were assessed. t-tests for dependent samples indicated significant gains in the areas of accuracy and strategy use, suggesting that parent involvement may be associated with improvement in literacy achievement among kindergarten students. Recommendations for future research include conducting controlled studies designed to identify specific practices for parents to implement to improve students’ reading achievement. ii CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Overview Many children begin kindergarten lacking language and early literacy experiences needed for successful achievement in the school setting. These children are at-risk of facing significant challenges in reading achievement. They may not reach expected language and literacy outcomes and are likely to become struggling readers. Unfortunately, the challenges faced by these young students are evident even in their preschool experiences. The gap in achievement in kindergarten between these at-risk children and their peers who have attained kindergarten readiness standards has been found to widen in subsequent years, even with the help of high quality preschool instruction (Greenwood, Carta, Goldstein, Kaminski, McConnell, & Atwater, 2014). Research such as that reported by Crosby, Rasinski , Padak and Yildirim (2015) indicates that parent involvement and the amount of time spent reading at home are major predictors of student success in reading, literacy development, and overall learning. Given the importance of support from home in helping children develop essential language and early literacy experiences, this study was designed to examine the effect of encouraging effective parent involvement and reading at home on children’s early literacy development. The researcher taught kindergarten in a public Title I school in which more than 86 percent of the students received free and reduced priced meals (FARMS), indicating that many of these students lived at or below the poverty line. The student population was diverse in terms of racial composition and proficiency with the English language. As cited above, there is an achievement gap in school performance that separates disadvantaged 1 children from their more affluent peers. However, there also is a school readiness gap between and among groups on the basis of race, gender, and English language proficiency (Cannon & Karoly, 2007). After observing varying levels of kindergarten readiness among her students, the researcher was interested in learning more about how early literacy experiences in students’ homes affect their literacy growth in kindergarten and in identifying effective practices for supporting her students’ development of literacy-related skills. As part of the daily guided reading instruction in her kindergarten classroom, the researcher sent home books for parents to read to their children. However, these books often were not being read and, therefore, the skills taught through guided reading instruction were not being reinforced at home. The researcher began to question whether parents understood the expectations for students’ learning and the importance of early exposure to quality reading and literacy strategies. The researcher also questioned whether parents had the required time or knowledge about how to support their child’s reading effectively and in accord with current reading research. Statement of Problem The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of providing instruction and structure for parent involvement with reading at home on early literacy achievement among kindergarten students. Hypothesis The null hypothesis to be tested was that parent involvement would have no effect on early literacy achievement or student or parent attitudes about reading and supporting reading. The 2 following null hypotheses were tested after the workshop materials were shared with parents and the home intervention period. ho1: mean pre-intervention F&P accuracy score = mean post intervention F&P accuracy score ho2: mean pre-intervention F&P comprehension score = mean post intervention F&P comprehension score ho3: mean pre-intervention Strategy Use score = mean post intervention Strategy Use score ho4: student feelings about reading before intervention= student feelings about reading after intervention ho5: parent feelings about reading support ability before intervention = parent feelings about reading support ability after intervention Operational Definitions Early Literacy: According to the National Dropout Prevention Center, “Early literacy refers to a child’s efforts to understand both oral and written language, beginning at birth” (p. 10). Language is learned through “meaningful interactions” with other people and the environment (Stegelin, 2002). School Readiness: School readiness is defined as how prepared a child is to succeed in school, cognitively, socially and emotionally. Parental Involvement: Parent involvement is defined as “any of a variety of activities that allow parents to participate in the educational process at home or in school, such as information exchange, decision sharing, volunteer services for schools, home tutoring/teaching, and child/school advocacy” (Williams, Chavkin & Southwest Educational Development Lab, 1984, p. 12). 3 Reading Achievement: Reading achievement is defined as proficient reading in regards to accuracy, comprehension, and the use of reading strategies. Accuracy: Student accuracy is defined as the percentage of words read correctly in a text. It is determined dividing the number of words read correctly by the total number of words in the text. This score is then used to determine if the level of text is the reader’s independent reading level, if he or she earns a score between 95 percent and 100%, instructional reading level, if he or she earns a score between 90 percent and 95 percent score or his or her frustration reading level, if he or she earns a score below 90 percent. A comprehension score is also taken into consideration when determining a readers’ reading level (Fountas and Pinnell, 2016). Comprehension: Students’ comprehension is the students’ understanding of what they read with regard to understandings within, beyond, and about the text. For purposes of this study, comprehension scores were determined by rating the students’ answers to the comprehension questions from zero through seven with excellent being a score of six through seven, satisfactory being a score of five, limited being a score of four, and unsatisfactory being a score of zero through three. The assessor used prompts from the Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark Assessment to guide questioning within the text and beyond and about the text. Reading Strategies: Reading strategies are methods that students are encouraged to use during reading to help decode, read, and understand unknown words found in the text. These strategies are used during guided reading instruction in the classroom. 4