Action Plan

Based on the themes that have become apparent in our research study, we believe that it is necessary to complete a larger-scale study. Results would vary by school district (as seen in our study) and socioeconomic status, so it would be most effective if this study were replicated throughout entire elementary schools. Study replications would include all grades and classes from grades one through six, and the teachers and administration would use the results to revise the current AIS program being used within their district. This study could only span grades one through six because the Elementary Reading Attitude Survey is set at a norm for these specific grade levels. It would also make our conclusions stronger if we made sure that the AIS programs within each school being surveyed were identical, in order to factor for the variable that the type of services being provided could also influence student responses. A future study would have more controlled factors as well as become broader, so that we could further generalize our results to the literacy community.
The findings of our study lead us to suggest that in school A, the teachers and administrators continue their AIS program as it is currently implemented. Student reading attitude increased as students progressed from grades one through three with a drop at grade two. The overall increase in AIS student reading attitude leads us to believe that the current AIS program is effective in fostering positive attitudes towards reading in these students with lower reading abilities perhaps because School A uses a more balanced approach, sharing time between pull-out and push-in instruction.
While the attitudes of students in School B who do not receive AIS instruction increased from first through third grade, the attitudes of students who do take part in the AIS program dropped significantly. Perhaps using a more balanced model in terms of push-in and pull-out AIS instruction would be more effective in this school. This would allow these particular students to work in small groups with the reading specialist but also provide time where the reading specialist is able to work in the classroom with all students. This would allow for less singling out of students because the AIS provider would be able to work with any students who struggle with a specific strategy or concept rather than focusing solely on the students who qualify for intervention services. A more balanced approach would also help students to view the AIS providers as “regular” classroom teachers, so it would not be as bothersome when the students leave the classroom to work with these teachers. As teachers, we plan to use our findings to help encourage students who have poor attitudes toward reading; providing text that is at the individual students’ reading level will ensure that students encounter less frequent frustrating reading situations.