Persistent Reading Deficiencies in Early Education

Author

William Steven Reed, Abilene Christian UniversityFollow

Campus Location

Dallas Campus (Online)

Date of Award

1-2025

ORCID

https://orcid.org/0009-0006-8454-5869

Document Type

Dissertation

Department

Organizational Leadership

Degree Name

Doctor of Education

Committee Chair or Primary Advisor

Jamie Petrilla

Second Committee Member or Secondary Advisor

Timothy B. Jones

Third Committee Member or Committee Reader

Tim Stafford

Abstract

This qualitative case study investigated early reading teachers’ perceptions of the instructional practices they use to identify early elementary student reading proficiency, including unique challenges they face when addressing the development of early reading skills. The researcher investigated eight first and second grade teacher classrooms during the 2023–2024 school year through collective interviews, observations, and related school data. The researcher performed a qualitative analysis of the collected data to reveal varying themes that support recommendations to reduce persistent reading problems among early elementary students. Using purposeful sampling to select licensed, experienced participants, the insights of eight early elementary reading teachers and one reading specialist were collected. The researcher then utilized semistructured interviews and classroom observations to further investigate teacher perceptions of varying classroom instructional practices, strengths, and challenges associated with identifying early struggling readers.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Reed, William Steven, "Persistent Reading Deficiencies in Early Education" (2025). Digital Commons @ ACU, Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 850.
https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/etd/850