The Same but Different: Making Meaning from Modified Texts with Cross-cultural Themes

Reader response theory provides the framework for the present study that explored literary elements and cultural responses of fifth-grade students to two modified versions of a cross-cultural text, Homesick: My Own Story by Jean Fritz. One group of students read the first chapter of the book and another group read a modified basal reader version that had deleted cultural information. Group discussions of the texts were videotaped and transcribed. Through constant comparative analysis of field notes and transcripts, two themes emerged: (a) personal interest and connections to stories and (b) cultural implications and misinterpretations.

Intervention after Grade 1: Serving Increased Numbers of Struggling Readers Effectively

The present study replicated the original evaluation of the Howard Street tutoring model (Morris, Shaw, & Perney, 1990), an intervention for struggling readers in second and third grade. It also evaluated the effectiveness of supervised paraprofessionals (Title I aides) in delivering that tutorial. For an entire school year, teachers or paraprofessionals, working under the supervision of a reading specialist, tutored 40 struggling readers twice per week for 45 minutes per session. The tutored group's instruction included guided reading in leveled texts with controlled vocabulary, word study, and reading for fluency. The control group's instruction, which was provided daily in a small-group context, featured guided reading and phonics work in the classroom basal reader. Analysis of covariance was used to compare the performance of the two groups on several end-of-year reading measures. Results showed that, overall, the tutored group outperformed the control group on each of the posttest reading measures (standardized and informal). In addition, the subset of students tutored by paraprofessionals outperformed the control students. In fact, results indicated that in the structured tutoring context, paraprofessional tutors were almost as effective as certified teachers.