Publication Date

10-2008

Type of Culminating Activity

Dissertation

Degree Title

Doctor of Education in Curriculum and Instruction

Department

Curriculum, Instruction, and Foundational Studies

Supervisory Committee Chair

Dr. Lee Dubert

Abstract

Under federal law No Child Left Behind (NCLB, 2002), each state must annually increase the percentage of students proficient on their achievement tests. They must also have a plan to ensure school districts adequately train and evaluate paraeducators or possibly face losing them as instructional assistants. The study was a descriptive design using quantitative analysis from information gleaned from Idaho’s school district Title I Directors and principals statewide who responded to Qualtrics web-based survey with data about their elementary schools’ models of Title I program service delivery, instructional staff and their training. It examined the relationship between the five most common school models of delivery in and improvement in fourth grade reading proficiency as measured by the spring Idaho Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) published by the State Board of Education (ISBE, 2007c). The results were analyzed to identify the relationship between school models of delivery and relative gain (or loss) in student reading proficiency from grade three to four. Statistical significance was found in the pullout model of paraeducator instructed groups under the supervision of a teacher controlling for school size and the percent of Free or Reduced Lunch (FRL). There was a high statistical significance found in the percent of FRL. Other factors gleaned from the survey were discussed as they influenced the program delivery model. The literature review discusses changing roles of teachers and paraeducators, teaming strategies, effective intervention strategies, effective tools for reading instruction, program models, as well as the five most common models reviewed in the study.

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