Promoting Reading Achievement and Countering the ‘‘Fourth-Grade Slump’’: The Impact of Direct Instruction on Reading Achievement in Fifth Grade
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Date
2010-08-06
Authors
Stockard, Jean
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Taylor & Francis Group
Abstract
Previous research has documented a substantial decline of standardized test scores of children from
low-income backgrounds, relative to more advantaged peers, in later elementary grades, the so-called
‘‘fourth-grade slump.’’ This article examines changes in reading achievement from first to fifth grade
for students in a large urban school system with a high proportion of students from economically
deprived backgrounds. Students received first-grade reading instruction from Direct Instruction
(DI), Open Court, or a mixture of reading curricula. Results indicate that students in schools using
DI had significantly greater gains in both reading vocabulary and comprehension than students in the
two other settings and that their average levels of achievement in fifth grade were above the national
norms, thus countering the fourth-grade slump.
Description
23 pages
Keywords
Direct Instruction, Open Court, Decline in Test Scores, Low-income Background
Citation
Stockard, J. (2010). Promoting Reading Achievement and Countering the ‘‘Fourth-Grade Slump’’: The Impact of Direct Instruction on Reading Achievement in Fifth Grade. Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk, 15, 218- 240. https://doi.org/10.1080/10824669.2010.495687