Effects of Culturally Relevant Materials on the Reading Performance of Second-Grade African Americans with Reading/Special Education Risk
The use of culturally relevant material for urban students with special education/reading risk is frequently promoted in the literature; however, the empirical evidence appears limited. This study included eight African American urban second-grade students who scored within the at-risk range on the DIBELS Oral Reading Fluency measure. The students read culturally relevant and non-culturally relevant passages to assess differences in reading fluency, comprehension, and passage likeability. Results from an alternating treatment design and the Wilcoxon test indicated that students were more fluent on passages that were culturally relevant. Comprehension and passage likability assessments favored the culturally relevant passages but were not statistically significant. Findings are discussed relative to the beneficial effects of culturally relevant materials for culturally diverse populations.
Contributor Notes
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Gwendolyn Cartledge, Ph.D., is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Educational Studies at The Ohio State University.
Susan Keesey, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Special Education in the College of Education and Behavioral Sciences at Western Kentucky University.
Jessica Bennett, M.Ed., is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Educational Studies at The Ohio State University.
Dorinda J. Gallant, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Quantitative Research, Evaluation, and Measurement in the Department of Educational Studies at The Ohio State University.
Rajiv Ramnath, Ph.D., is a Professor in Computer Science Engineering at The Ohio State University. His research interests include human-computer interfaces and software engineering of large-scale systems.
