Degree Date

6-2019

Document Type

Dissertation - Public Access

Degree Name

Ed.D. Doctor of Education

Academic Discipline

Reading, Language and Literacy

First Advisor

Sophie Degener

Abstract

This research sought to understand how a formative assessment framework created by the researcher (called the Sources of Missed Understanding construct) would be used by teachers to diagnose students’ reading comprehension challenges during authentic reading instruction, and to understand the context and supports teachers needed to use the tool effectively. A design experiment methodology was used to follow the diagnostic processes of five reading specialist candidates, each working one-to-one with an upper elementary or middle school reader during a five week summer university-based tutoring setting, resulting in five case studies and cross case analysis. This study shows that teachers who used the Sources of Missed Understanding construct and received support were successful at formatively assessing causes of student comprehension breakdown and adapting instruction accordingly. It also revealed that teachers needed two levels of support to use the tool effectively. First, teachers needed knowledge building about the common categories of comprehension breakdown and where they fall in the comprehension process illuminated by the construct. It was this knowledge that enabled teachers to analyze what meaning their readers were (or were not) gleaning from a text and hone in on the cause. Second, teachers needed “thinking-partner” support to become aware of their own diagnostic processes. With support, teachers became attentive to what they observed, and how to set up instruction to detect and ultimately address sources of missed understanding.

Comments

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT.................................................................................................................. iv

LIST OF TABLES......................................................................................................... ix

LIST OF FIGURES........................................................................................................x

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION.............................................................................. 1

Statement of the Problem............................................................................................. 2

Research Purpose and Questions................................................................................ 7

Defining Terms............................................................................................................ 10

Significance................................................................................................................ 13

CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE................................................. 16

Outside the Scope of the Study.................................................................................. 17

Theoretical Foundations............................................................................................. 22

How We Comprehend in the Head, During Reading.................................................. 26

Comprehension Instruction......................................................................................... 31

Content Approaches................................................................................................ 31

Strategies Approaches............................................................................................. 37

Comparing Content and Strategies Approaches...................................................... 46

Instructional Choices and Adaptive Instruction...................................................... 50

Reading Comprehension Assessment....................................................................... 52

Recent Developments in Reading Comprehension Assessment.............................. 52

Formative Classroom Assessment During Authentic Learning............................... 56

Determining What to Assess: Sources of Comprehension Breakdown................... 55

van den Broek and Kremer’s model.................................................................. 61

Perfetti and Adolf’s pressure points................................................................ 65

Conclusion.................................................................................................................. 70

CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY................................................ 73

Research Premise and Questions..................................................................................... 74

Design Experiment Approach..................................................................................... 77

Designing Research for Methodological Rigor......................................................... 79

Prospective design............................................................................................ 79

Data collection.................................................................................................. 80

Conducting retrospective analysis.................................................................... 80

Limitations of Design Experiments.......................................................................... 81

Research Design........................................................................................................ 82

Participants.............................................................................................................. 82

Setting/Practicum..................................................................................................... 84

Role of the Researcher............................................................................................. 85

Description of the Intervention: Planned (and Unplanned) Components............... 86

Adaptations to the Research Design........................................................................ 88

Mapping individual diagnostic processes......................................................... 88

Thinking-partnering.......................................................................................... 89

Accommodating shift away from official recording forms................................ 90

Data Sources............................................................................................................ 90

Outline of Implementation....................................................................................... 93

CHAPTER FOUR: FINDINGS.................................................................................... 97

Case Studies.............................................................................................................. 98

Amy: Dogged Diagnostician…and the Need for Explicit Instruction...................... 98

Beth: Sticky Issue, Tricky Student and How Emotions Impact Comprehension. 109

Holly: Balancing Wait Time and Pressure to Get Through Material..................... 121

Nina: Diagnostic Listening and Intertwined Sources of Missed Understanding.... 132

Elena: Finding the Right Support for the Tutor and the Tutee.............................. 145

Case Study Conclusion.......................................................................................... 156

Cross Case Analysis................................................................................................. 157

Contextual Experience Counts............................................................................... 158

Tutor Stance Matters............................................................................................. 159

Reader Characteristics............................................................................................ 160

Diagnostic Process Made Visible........................................................................... 161

Thinking-Partner Preferred.................................................................................... 162

After the Diagnosis: Instructional Plan Support................................................... 163

Training Materials Used – And Improvements Suggested.................................... 164

Middle Schoolers Complicated.............................................................................. 165

Guidance for Unanswerable Questions.................................................................. 166

Cross Case Study Conclusion................................................................................ 167

CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION............................................................................... 170

Research Premise and Questions............................................................................ 170

Interpretation of Findings.......................................................................................... 171

Knowledge Building: Understanding the Sources of Missed Understanding Framework 172

Becoming Diagnostic Teachers: Using the Sources of Missed Understanding Framework 174

Contextual Elements.............................................................................................. 176

Notion of Scalability.............................................................................................. 178

Limitations............................................................................................................. 179

Future Research..................................................................................................... 180

Conclusion..................................................................................................................... 181

REFERENCES.............................................................................................................. 182

APPENDIX A: Letters of Consent............................................................................. 204

APPENDIX B: Initial Training Presentation............................................................... 208

APPENDIX C: Sources of Missed Understanding Recording Form......................... 218

APPENDIX D: Pre- and Post-Survey Questions for Tutors 219

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