The Effectiveness of a Remedial Reading Program for Underachieving Aboriginal Students in Taiwan

Shu-Li Chen　(Dept. of Education, National Taitung University)
Shin-Jay Tzeng　(Dept. of Special Education, National Taitung University)
Li-Yu Hung　(Dept. of Special Education, National Taiwan Normal University)

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of an 11-week reading remedial program for 2nd- and 3rd-grade underachieving aboriginal students in Taiwan. Seventy-eight low-achieving aboriginal students from Taitung City participated in the study. They were divided into two groups, with 47 in the experimental group and 31 in the control group. The researchers provided seventy-five 40-minute sessions for a total of eleven weeks. The program was conducted in small groups.
The four major findings are as follows: 1. The reading ability of the participants in the experimental group improved significantly as a whole; the 2^nd-graders improved in the recognition of low-level characters, while the 3^rd-graders improved in high-level dictation skills and reading comprehension. 2. The experimental group outperformed the control group with regard to scores of all reading skills; however, when pretests were used as a co-variate, the former significantly outperformed the latter only with regard to high-level composition writing skill. 3. After the remedial program, 11 (23.4%) out of 47 experimental group students achieved the reading level of their same-age peers. Furthermore, if children with disabilities were excluded from the experimental group, 40% of this group achieved the reading level of the same-age group. 4. A cost-effectiveness analysis revealed that, compared with the cost of referral to special education for these students, the pre-referral remedial reading program is feasible, and should be implemented as soon as possible to give much-needed help to these children.

Key Words

underachievement, aboriginal primary students, remedial instruction, reading abilities　　《Full text》