Abstract
Effective classroom reading instruction leads to better outcomes for all students (Preston et al., 2016). Well-implemented classroom reading instruction should result in at least 80% of the students meeting grade level reading expectations without additional intervention (Al Otaiba et al., 2011; Harlacher et al., 2015). Although research has shown that effective classroom instruction paired with early reading intervention can prevent reading difficulties (Scanlon et al., 2005; Torgesen et al., 2007; Wanzek et al., 2016), many schools struggle to produce the desired results (Balu et al., 2015; Berkeley et al., 2020; Porter et al., 2022). When classroom instruction fails to meet the needs of 80% of students, schools may not be able to provide intervention to support all students who need it due to limited resources (Harlacher et al., 2015; Lane et al., 2018; Maki & Adams, 2020). Effective classroom reading instruction is the “foundation” that is necessary to allow a school to prevent reading difficulties effectively for nearly all students (Al Otaiba et al., 2011, p. 3).
At a rural Title 1 elementary school in Virginia, over 40% of K-2 students and 30% of third-grade students were identified as having a high risk of future reading difficulties by the state early reading screener. This indicates a potential problem with the classroom reading instruction because effective reading instruction should result in fewer than 20% of students needing additional support (Harlacher et al., 2015; Vaughn & Fletcher, 2012).
This capstone study investigated how K-3 classroom teachers support students who are identified as having a high risk of reading difficulties with word recognition skills. Additionally, the study identified factors that facilitate or hinder efforts of classroom teachers to provide word recognition instruction for high-risk students. Findings from the study informed recommendations for administrators to help support teachers’ efforts to meet the needs of students identified as having a high risk of reading difficulties.
