Abstract:
This experimental study examined the Voyager Passport Reading Journeysprogram and its impact on 9th grade reading achievement. The 9th grade students selectedfor the program had performed at the basic or unsatisfactory level on the Kansas readingassessment, and/or performed below the fiftieth percentile on the Iowa Test ofEducational Development, and/or received a Rasch Unit (RIT) score below 235 on theMeasure of Academic Progress (MAP) assessment. The established score of 235 isconsidered by the test’s authors to be below grade level. Ninety-five 9th grade studentswere recommended for the course. Of this number, 66 actually enrolled in the coursewith 29 selecting to not enroll. The students recommended and enrolled in the coursewere compared to those students recommended and not enrolled. In addition, acomparison was made between the students enrolled in the course and the students in 9thgrade honors English and a separate comparison examined those in regular 9th gradeEnglish. The 9th grade students took a pretest at the beginning of the school year and aposttest at the end of the school year. This study was quantitative and consisted of datacollected from the Measure of Academic Progress reading assessment. The simpleanalysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to analyze the reading scores. Within thisanalysis, the Bonferroni comparison provided the significant pair wise differencesbetween the groups contributing to the overall significant difference between all fourgroups. Data analyzed from this study gave appropriate feedback as to the overall impactof the Voyager Passport Reading Journeys program on 9th grade reading achievement. While there was some improvement in the reading scores of those students participatingin the program, the results were not significant.