Abstract
The purpose of this study was to determine whether the actual number of words read by students and time spent in independent reading has a correlation to reading achievement. In addition, the relationship between instructional practices and reading achievement was examined. Since the National Reading Panel deemed independent reading practice as a strategy with insufficient evidence to suppot1 as a best practice, laws have been enacted to promote research-based strategies and to mandate the implementation of systematic and explicit reading instruction rather than independent reading practice. This study uses the regression model to examine the relationship between the amount of words read by students as documented by the Accelerated Reader Program and reading achievement as measured by FCAT 2.0. Time spent on independent reading within the classroom was also analyzed for relationships to reading achievement. The data utilized were archived from the 2011-2012 school year for students in grades three through five in a small rural town in Southwest Florida. There were 688 student participants with data that met the criteria and 16 out of 3 8 teacher participants returned surveys for the quantitative and qualitative portions. Questions about time spent on independent reading practice within the school day were asked along with which instructional strategies teachers employed. Results concluded that the amount of words read has a strong significant correlation to reading achievement and time spent on reading did not have significance for correlation to reading achievement. Lack of teacher participation in the questionnaire/survey led to inconclusive findings in the relationship between predominant instructional strategies and reading achievement.
