The effects of literature stations on literacy proficiency, interest, and engagement among middle school students receiving academic instruction services

Abstract

With the amplified rigor of the Common Core state standards, the number of students who qualify for academic intervention services (AIS) is increasing. According to the New York State Education Department in 2015, 69% of students who participated in the New York State assessments in 2015 are not proficient. In the school setting of this study, almost 40% of the 7th graders receive academic intervention services. It is imperative to find an effective strategy that will increase these students' literacy skills and transition them out of intervention programs. This study examined how instruction through literacy stations affects the proficiency, reading interest, and engagement of middle school students in a rural AIS classroom in Western New York. Six students took part in this study at one school district in Chautauqua County. The data for this study was collected through a pre and post assessment test, pre and post reading survey, engagement tracker, and 1:1 interviews with the participants. Results were varied and showed that the integration of literacy stations did increase students' proficiency scores and kept them engaged in the lessons, yet they also indicated that reading interest is difficult to teach and or change and the instructional tool did not change the students' negative feelings about reading. Implications are discussed with regards to teachers and their classroom practices in the Academic Intervention classroom. [from abstract]