The effects of a story fact recall quiz and game on off-task behavior during Sustained Silent Reading (SSR) and the number of story facts recalled following SSR for secondary students with disabilities.

摘要

Motivating students to read for pleasure challenges many educators. Sustained Silent Reading (SSR) is a strategy used by many teachers to provide children with a regular opportunity to read. The classroom teacher designates a time during the day during which students can read books, magazines or newspapers for pleasure. The purpose of SSR is to give students an opportunity to practice reading and to increase their enjoyment for literature (McCracken, 1971). One of the major concerns with SSR is that students are not held accountable for what they read during the SSR period and are often engaged in other tasks besides reading. The National Reading Panel (2000) reported there is insufficient research to support the use of SSR and that it has very little effect on student achievement and fluency.; The purpose of this study was to replicate and extend the research by Brame (2001) to secondary students with disabilities. This study evaluated a modified version of SSR using story fact recall quizzes, a story fact recall game, and a story fact recall game with a bonus incentive on the off-task behavior during SSR and number of story facts recalled on 5-question quizzes following SSR by secondary students with disabilities. Additionally, students' pre- and post-SSR attitudes about reading were assessed at the beginning and end of the study.; Twelve 11th grade special education students enrolled in two developmental language arts classes participated in this study. Six students identified by their classroom teacher as exhibiting elevated levels of off-task behavior were targeted for observation of off-task behavior. Over the course of the study all six target students reduced their levels of off-task behavior to near zero levels. Ten of the 12 students had higher mean scores on story fact quizzes during the game condition over the quiz-only condition. Social validity data from both the classroom teacher and students indicate that a modified SSR can be beneficial to high school students with disabilities.; The results of the study further support the need for more research surrounding SSR. Future research should address the concerns of increasing student motivation to read for pleasure but also seek methods for increasing achievement during SSR so that valuable instructional time is not lost.