Abstract:
This study examines the relationship between the implementation of the Reader’s
Writer’s Workshop and Words Their Way and students’ results on the Measures of
Academic Progress (MAP) test in reading comprehension and language usage over a
two-year period at a private school in Beirut, Lebanon. Two research questions
guided the study: How did the MAP results compare prior to and post
implementation of the Reader’s Writer’s Workshop and Words Their Way? How can
the relationship between these two programs and MAP testing be defined? This
quantitative longitudinal study follows the same cohort of elementary students over a
period of two years and examines their standardized testing scores pre, during, and post implementation of the programs. Results of data analysis using Microsoft Excel
sheets were presented in graphs to indicate correlations. Results portrayed that 100%
of student grades in the reading comprehension test increased from the first reporting
period when compared to the last. The general trend for the language usage average
is that there was a steady increase in the average from the period during Spring 2013 to Spring 2015. This signifies that the Reader’s Writer’s Workshop and Words their
Way have a positive impact on MAP test results. The study provided feedback on
school leadership decision to use these programs for improving teaching and
learning. However, future studies are suggested to address the cultural bias of the test
to deliver more credible conclusions.
