Item – Theses Canada

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OCLC number
1334504401
Link(s) to full text
LAC copy
Author
Iwenofu, Linda.
Title
Improving the Reading Achievement of Language Minority and Disadvantaged Youth At Risk of Academic Failure.
Degree
Ph.D. -- University of Toronto, 2019.
Publisher
[Toronto, Ontario] : University of Toronto, 2019
Description
1 online resource
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Variability in individuals' response to intervention can contribute to smaller intervention effects. Integration of quantitative and qualitative findings can be instrumental in elucidating person-level and broader contextual issues related to differential intervention efficacy and inform overall intervention utility. In order to assess ecological factors implicated in differential response to intervention, three studies were conducted that together comprised a comprehensive program evaluation of the Vocabulary Learning Project, a manualized reading intervention targeting the vocabulary and reading comprehension skills of academically at-risk language-minority and economically disadvantaged high-school aged youth. METHODS: A sequential embedded quasi-experimental mixed methods research design consisting of three distinct yet interrelated phases was used. Across the three research phases, mixed analyses of variance, hierarchical linear regression and multi-case study analyses were conducted to assess intervention effects, factors predictive of outcome gains and contextual factors differentiating outcomes, respectively. RESULTS: Findings from the first two studies indicated that the intervention was differentially effective based on multiple factors at various contextual levels. At the person-level context, pre-intervention language comprehension skills, pre-intervention motivation to read, achievement orientation, academic self-concept and sense of future aspirations were implicated factors. At the intervention program level, investment in positive program outcomes, tutoring group climate and participant resourcefulness were identified factors. Within the peer and family social context, reliance on peers and nature of parental support were differentiating factors. At the broader school, community and cultural context, school perceptions, school and community engagement, as well as youths' sense of cultural identity were factors that differentiated program effects. Findings from the third, integrative study resulted in the identification of a unifying meta-theme of motivation as a key factor underlying the differential responses to the VLP intervention. CONCLUSIONS: Consideration of the multiple contexts navigated by culturally and linguistically diverse youth is critical for maximizing intervention effects. IMPACT: This study provides multiple insights about opportunities worthy of consideration in optimally designing instructional interventions targeting marginalized youth populations in the Canadian context, and suggests a useful methodological approach for evaluating such programs.
Other link(s)
tspace.library.utoronto.ca
hdl.handle.net
Subject
at risk
immigrant
intervention
mixed methods
reading comprehension
reading in a second language