Struggling Readers and Content Area Text: Interactions with and Perceptions of Comprehension, Self, and Success

By: Leigh A. Hall

This year-long case study examines how a struggling reader in a sixth-grade social studies class, a seventh grade mathematics class, and an eighth grade science class “transacted” with the reading task demands of her specific classroom. Through regular classroom observations and interviews, the researcher documents how each student responded to and worked with text and reading instruction provided by her respective content area teacher.

The results suggest that each student attempted to be engaged with text as much as possible and was interested in learning course content. However, the ways in which the students approached text was heavily influenced by how she saw herself as a reader. Students who believed they could comprehend a piece of text were more willing to engage with it than if they believed it was too difficult. However, even when a student chose not to read a portion of text, she considered other ways in which she might learn the content being presented. Overall, the results suggest that there is more to working with struggling readers than considering the type of instruction they need. The case presented here suggests that teachers and researchers need to find ways to understand the connections between identity and instruction.

Published in Research in Middle Level Education Online , 2005

Privacy Overview

Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Assignments

  • Annotated Bibliography
  • Analyzing a Scholarly Journal Article
  • Group Presentations
  • Dealing with Nervousness
  • Using Visual Aids
  • Grading Someone Else's Paper
  • Types of Structured Group Activities
  • Group Project Survival Skills
  • Leading a Class Discussion
  • Multiple Book Review Essay
  • Reviewing Collected Works
  • Writing a Case Analysis Paper
  • Writing a Case Study
  • About Informed Consent
  • Writing Field Notes
  • Writing a Policy Memo
  • Writing a Reflective Paper
  • Writing a Research Proposal
  • Generative AI and Writing
  • Acknowledgments

A case study research paper examines a person, place, event, condition, phenomenon, or other type of subject of analysis in order to extrapolate  key themes and results that help predict future trends, illuminate previously hidden issues that can be applied to practice, and/or provide a means for understanding an important research problem with greater clarity. A case study research paper usually examines a single subject of analysis, but case study papers can also be designed as a comparative investigation that shows relationships between two or more subjects. The methods used to study a case can rest within a quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-method investigative paradigm.

Case Studies. Writing@CSU. Colorado State University; Mills, Albert J. , Gabrielle Durepos, and Eiden Wiebe, editors. Encyclopedia of Case Study Research . Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2010 ; “What is a Case Study?” In Swanborn, Peter G. Case Study Research: What, Why and How? London: SAGE, 2010.

How to Approach Writing a Case Study Research Paper

General information about how to choose a topic to investigate can be found under the " Choosing a Research Problem " tab in the Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Paper writing guide. Review this page because it may help you identify a subject of analysis that can be investigated using a case study design.

However, identifying a case to investigate involves more than choosing the research problem . A case study encompasses a problem contextualized around the application of in-depth analysis, interpretation, and discussion, often resulting in specific recommendations for action or for improving existing conditions. As Seawright and Gerring note, practical considerations such as time and access to information can influence case selection, but these issues should not be the sole factors used in describing the methodological justification for identifying a particular case to study. Given this, selecting a case includes considering the following:

  • The case represents an unusual or atypical example of a research problem that requires more in-depth analysis? Cases often represent a topic that rests on the fringes of prior investigations because the case may provide new ways of understanding the research problem. For example, if the research problem is to identify strategies to improve policies that support girl's access to secondary education in predominantly Muslim nations, you could consider using Azerbaijan as a case study rather than selecting a more obvious nation in the Middle East. Doing so may reveal important new insights into recommending how governments in other predominantly Muslim nations can formulate policies that support improved access to education for girls.
  • The case provides important insight or illuminate a previously hidden problem? In-depth analysis of a case can be based on the hypothesis that the case study will reveal trends or issues that have not been exposed in prior research or will reveal new and important implications for practice. For example, anecdotal evidence may suggest drug use among homeless veterans is related to their patterns of travel throughout the day. Assuming prior studies have not looked at individual travel choices as a way to study access to illicit drug use, a case study that observes a homeless veteran could reveal how issues of personal mobility choices facilitate regular access to illicit drugs. Note that it is important to conduct a thorough literature review to ensure that your assumption about the need to reveal new insights or previously hidden problems is valid and evidence-based.
  • The case challenges and offers a counter-point to prevailing assumptions? Over time, research on any given topic can fall into a trap of developing assumptions based on outdated studies that are still applied to new or changing conditions or the idea that something should simply be accepted as "common sense," even though the issue has not been thoroughly tested in current practice. A case study analysis may offer an opportunity to gather evidence that challenges prevailing assumptions about a research problem and provide a new set of recommendations applied to practice that have not been tested previously. For example, perhaps there has been a long practice among scholars to apply a particular theory in explaining the relationship between two subjects of analysis. Your case could challenge this assumption by applying an innovative theoretical framework [perhaps borrowed from another discipline] to explore whether this approach offers new ways of understanding the research problem. Taking a contrarian stance is one of the most important ways that new knowledge and understanding develops from existing literature.
  • The case provides an opportunity to pursue action leading to the resolution of a problem? Another way to think about choosing a case to study is to consider how the results from investigating a particular case may result in findings that reveal ways in which to resolve an existing or emerging problem. For example, studying the case of an unforeseen incident, such as a fatal accident at a railroad crossing, can reveal hidden issues that could be applied to preventative measures that contribute to reducing the chance of accidents in the future. In this example, a case study investigating the accident could lead to a better understanding of where to strategically locate additional signals at other railroad crossings so as to better warn drivers of an approaching train, particularly when visibility is hindered by heavy rain, fog, or at night.
  • The case offers a new direction in future research? A case study can be used as a tool for an exploratory investigation that highlights the need for further research about the problem. A case can be used when there are few studies that help predict an outcome or that establish a clear understanding about how best to proceed in addressing a problem. For example, after conducting a thorough literature review [very important!], you discover that little research exists showing the ways in which women contribute to promoting water conservation in rural communities of east central Africa. A case study of how women contribute to saving water in a rural village of Uganda can lay the foundation for understanding the need for more thorough research that documents how women in their roles as cooks and family caregivers think about water as a valuable resource within their community. This example of a case study could also point to the need for scholars to build new theoretical frameworks around the topic [e.g., applying feminist theories of work and family to the issue of water conservation].

Eisenhardt, Kathleen M. “Building Theories from Case Study Research.” Academy of Management Review 14 (October 1989): 532-550; Emmel, Nick. Sampling and Choosing Cases in Qualitative Research: A Realist Approach . Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2013; Gerring, John. “What Is a Case Study and What Is It Good for?” American Political Science Review 98 (May 2004): 341-354; Mills, Albert J. , Gabrielle Durepos, and Eiden Wiebe, editors. Encyclopedia of Case Study Research . Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2010; Seawright, Jason and John Gerring. "Case Selection Techniques in Case Study Research." Political Research Quarterly 61 (June 2008): 294-308.

Structure and Writing Style

The purpose of a paper in the social sciences designed around a case study is to thoroughly investigate a subject of analysis in order to reveal a new understanding about the research problem and, in so doing, contributing new knowledge to what is already known from previous studies. In applied social sciences disciplines [e.g., education, social work, public administration, etc.], case studies may also be used to reveal best practices, highlight key programs, or investigate interesting aspects of professional work.

In general, the structure of a case study research paper is not all that different from a standard college-level research paper. However, there are subtle differences you should be aware of. Here are the key elements to organizing and writing a case study research paper.

I.  Introduction

As with any research paper, your introduction should serve as a roadmap for your readers to ascertain the scope and purpose of your study . The introduction to a case study research paper, however, should not only describe the research problem and its significance, but you should also succinctly describe why the case is being used and how it relates to addressing the problem. The two elements should be linked. With this in mind, a good introduction answers these four questions:

  • What is being studied? Describe the research problem and describe the subject of analysis [the case] you have chosen to address the problem. Explain how they are linked and what elements of the case will help to expand knowledge and understanding about the problem.
  • Why is this topic important to investigate? Describe the significance of the research problem and state why a case study design and the subject of analysis that the paper is designed around is appropriate in addressing the problem.
  • What did we know about this topic before I did this study? Provide background that helps lead the reader into the more in-depth literature review to follow. If applicable, summarize prior case study research applied to the research problem and why it fails to adequately address the problem. Describe why your case will be useful. If no prior case studies have been used to address the research problem, explain why you have selected this subject of analysis.
  • How will this study advance new knowledge or new ways of understanding? Explain why your case study will be suitable in helping to expand knowledge and understanding about the research problem.

Each of these questions should be addressed in no more than a few paragraphs. Exceptions to this can be when you are addressing a complex research problem or subject of analysis that requires more in-depth background information.

II.  Literature Review

The literature review for a case study research paper is generally structured the same as it is for any college-level research paper. The difference, however, is that the literature review is focused on providing background information and  enabling historical interpretation of the subject of analysis in relation to the research problem the case is intended to address . This includes synthesizing studies that help to:

  • Place relevant works in the context of their contribution to understanding the case study being investigated . This would involve summarizing studies that have used a similar subject of analysis to investigate the research problem. If there is literature using the same or a very similar case to study, you need to explain why duplicating past research is important [e.g., conditions have changed; prior studies were conducted long ago, etc.].
  • Describe the relationship each work has to the others under consideration that informs the reader why this case is applicable . Your literature review should include a description of any works that support using the case to investigate the research problem and the underlying research questions.
  • Identify new ways to interpret prior research using the case study . If applicable, review any research that has examined the research problem using a different research design. Explain how your use of a case study design may reveal new knowledge or a new perspective or that can redirect research in an important new direction.
  • Resolve conflicts amongst seemingly contradictory previous studies . This refers to synthesizing any literature that points to unresolved issues of concern about the research problem and describing how the subject of analysis that forms the case study can help resolve these existing contradictions.
  • Point the way in fulfilling a need for additional research . Your review should examine any literature that lays a foundation for understanding why your case study design and the subject of analysis around which you have designed your study may reveal a new way of approaching the research problem or offer a perspective that points to the need for additional research.
  • Expose any gaps that exist in the literature that the case study could help to fill . Summarize any literature that not only shows how your subject of analysis contributes to understanding the research problem, but how your case contributes to a new way of understanding the problem that prior research has failed to do.
  • Locate your own research within the context of existing literature [very important!] . Collectively, your literature review should always place your case study within the larger domain of prior research about the problem. The overarching purpose of reviewing pertinent literature in a case study paper is to demonstrate that you have thoroughly identified and synthesized prior studies in relation to explaining the relevance of the case in addressing the research problem.

III.  Method

In this section, you explain why you selected a particular case [i.e., subject of analysis] and the strategy you used to identify and ultimately decide that your case was appropriate in addressing the research problem. The way you describe the methods used varies depending on the type of subject of analysis that constitutes your case study.

If your subject of analysis is an incident or event . In the social and behavioral sciences, the event or incident that represents the case to be studied is usually bounded by time and place, with a clear beginning and end and with an identifiable location or position relative to its surroundings. The subject of analysis can be a rare or critical event or it can focus on a typical or regular event. The purpose of studying a rare event is to illuminate new ways of thinking about the broader research problem or to test a hypothesis. Critical incident case studies must describe the method by which you identified the event and explain the process by which you determined the validity of this case to inform broader perspectives about the research problem or to reveal new findings. However, the event does not have to be a rare or uniquely significant to support new thinking about the research problem or to challenge an existing hypothesis. For example, Walo, Bull, and Breen conducted a case study to identify and evaluate the direct and indirect economic benefits and costs of a local sports event in the City of Lismore, New South Wales, Australia. The purpose of their study was to provide new insights from measuring the impact of a typical local sports event that prior studies could not measure well because they focused on large "mega-events." Whether the event is rare or not, the methods section should include an explanation of the following characteristics of the event: a) when did it take place; b) what were the underlying circumstances leading to the event; and, c) what were the consequences of the event in relation to the research problem.

If your subject of analysis is a person. Explain why you selected this particular individual to be studied and describe what experiences they have had that provide an opportunity to advance new understandings about the research problem. Mention any background about this person which might help the reader understand the significance of their experiences that make them worthy of study. This includes describing the relationships this person has had with other people, institutions, and/or events that support using them as the subject for a case study research paper. It is particularly important to differentiate the person as the subject of analysis from others and to succinctly explain how the person relates to examining the research problem [e.g., why is one politician in a particular local election used to show an increase in voter turnout from any other candidate running in the election]. Note that these issues apply to a specific group of people used as a case study unit of analysis [e.g., a classroom of students].

If your subject of analysis is a place. In general, a case study that investigates a place suggests a subject of analysis that is unique or special in some way and that this uniqueness can be used to build new understanding or knowledge about the research problem. A case study of a place must not only describe its various attributes relevant to the research problem [e.g., physical, social, historical, cultural, economic, political], but you must state the method by which you determined that this place will illuminate new understandings about the research problem. It is also important to articulate why a particular place as the case for study is being used if similar places also exist [i.e., if you are studying patterns of homeless encampments of veterans in open spaces, explain why you are studying Echo Park in Los Angeles rather than Griffith Park?]. If applicable, describe what type of human activity involving this place makes it a good choice to study [e.g., prior research suggests Echo Park has more homeless veterans].

If your subject of analysis is a phenomenon. A phenomenon refers to a fact, occurrence, or circumstance that can be studied or observed but with the cause or explanation to be in question. In this sense, a phenomenon that forms your subject of analysis can encompass anything that can be observed or presumed to exist but is not fully understood. In the social and behavioral sciences, the case usually focuses on human interaction within a complex physical, social, economic, cultural, or political system. For example, the phenomenon could be the observation that many vehicles used by ISIS fighters are small trucks with English language advertisements on them. The research problem could be that ISIS fighters are difficult to combat because they are highly mobile. The research questions could be how and by what means are these vehicles used by ISIS being supplied to the militants and how might supply lines to these vehicles be cut off? How might knowing the suppliers of these trucks reveal larger networks of collaborators and financial support? A case study of a phenomenon most often encompasses an in-depth analysis of a cause and effect that is grounded in an interactive relationship between people and their environment in some way.

NOTE:   The choice of the case or set of cases to study cannot appear random. Evidence that supports the method by which you identified and chose your subject of analysis should clearly support investigation of the research problem and linked to key findings from your literature review. Be sure to cite any studies that helped you determine that the case you chose was appropriate for examining the problem.

IV.  Discussion

The main elements of your discussion section are generally the same as any research paper, but centered around interpreting and drawing conclusions about the key findings from your analysis of the case study. Note that a general social sciences research paper may contain a separate section to report findings. However, in a paper designed around a case study, it is common to combine a description of the results with the discussion about their implications. The objectives of your discussion section should include the following:

Reiterate the Research Problem/State the Major Findings Briefly reiterate the research problem you are investigating and explain why the subject of analysis around which you designed the case study were used. You should then describe the findings revealed from your study of the case using direct, declarative, and succinct proclamation of the study results. Highlight any findings that were unexpected or especially profound.

Explain the Meaning of the Findings and Why They are Important Systematically explain the meaning of your case study findings and why you believe they are important. Begin this part of the section by repeating what you consider to be your most important or surprising finding first, then systematically review each finding. Be sure to thoroughly extrapolate what your analysis of the case can tell the reader about situations or conditions beyond the actual case that was studied while, at the same time, being careful not to misconstrue or conflate a finding that undermines the external validity of your conclusions.

Relate the Findings to Similar Studies No study in the social sciences is so novel or possesses such a restricted focus that it has absolutely no relation to previously published research. The discussion section should relate your case study results to those found in other studies, particularly if questions raised from prior studies served as the motivation for choosing your subject of analysis. This is important because comparing and contrasting the findings of other studies helps support the overall importance of your results and it highlights how and in what ways your case study design and the subject of analysis differs from prior research about the topic.

Consider Alternative Explanations of the Findings Remember that the purpose of social science research is to discover and not to prove. When writing the discussion section, you should carefully consider all possible explanations revealed by the case study results, rather than just those that fit your hypothesis or prior assumptions and biases. Be alert to what the in-depth analysis of the case may reveal about the research problem, including offering a contrarian perspective to what scholars have stated in prior research if that is how the findings can be interpreted from your case.

Acknowledge the Study's Limitations You can state the study's limitations in the conclusion section of your paper but describing the limitations of your subject of analysis in the discussion section provides an opportunity to identify the limitations and explain why they are not significant. This part of the discussion section should also note any unanswered questions or issues your case study could not address. More detailed information about how to document any limitations to your research can be found here .

Suggest Areas for Further Research Although your case study may offer important insights about the research problem, there are likely additional questions related to the problem that remain unanswered or findings that unexpectedly revealed themselves as a result of your in-depth analysis of the case. Be sure that the recommendations for further research are linked to the research problem and that you explain why your recommendations are valid in other contexts and based on the original assumptions of your study.

V.  Conclusion

As with any research paper, you should summarize your conclusion in clear, simple language; emphasize how the findings from your case study differs from or supports prior research and why. Do not simply reiterate the discussion section. Provide a synthesis of key findings presented in the paper to show how these converge to address the research problem. If you haven't already done so in the discussion section, be sure to document the limitations of your case study and any need for further research.

The function of your paper's conclusion is to: 1) reiterate the main argument supported by the findings from your case study; 2) state clearly the context, background, and necessity of pursuing the research problem using a case study design in relation to an issue, controversy, or a gap found from reviewing the literature; and, 3) provide a place to persuasively and succinctly restate the significance of your research problem, given that the reader has now been presented with in-depth information about the topic.

Consider the following points to help ensure your conclusion is appropriate:

  • If the argument or purpose of your paper is complex, you may need to summarize these points for your reader.
  • If prior to your conclusion, you have not yet explained the significance of your findings or if you are proceeding inductively, use the conclusion of your paper to describe your main points and explain their significance.
  • Move from a detailed to a general level of consideration of the case study's findings that returns the topic to the context provided by the introduction or within a new context that emerges from your case study findings.

Note that, depending on the discipline you are writing in or the preferences of your professor, the concluding paragraph may contain your final reflections on the evidence presented as it applies to practice or on the essay's central research problem. However, the nature of being introspective about the subject of analysis you have investigated will depend on whether you are explicitly asked to express your observations in this way.

Problems to Avoid

Overgeneralization One of the goals of a case study is to lay a foundation for understanding broader trends and issues applied to similar circumstances. However, be careful when drawing conclusions from your case study. They must be evidence-based and grounded in the results of the study; otherwise, it is merely speculation. Looking at a prior example, it would be incorrect to state that a factor in improving girls access to education in Azerbaijan and the policy implications this may have for improving access in other Muslim nations is due to girls access to social media if there is no documentary evidence from your case study to indicate this. There may be anecdotal evidence that retention rates were better for girls who were engaged with social media, but this observation would only point to the need for further research and would not be a definitive finding if this was not a part of your original research agenda.

Failure to Document Limitations No case is going to reveal all that needs to be understood about a research problem. Therefore, just as you have to clearly state the limitations of a general research study , you must describe the specific limitations inherent in the subject of analysis. For example, the case of studying how women conceptualize the need for water conservation in a village in Uganda could have limited application in other cultural contexts or in areas where fresh water from rivers or lakes is plentiful and, therefore, conservation is understood more in terms of managing access rather than preserving access to a scarce resource.

Failure to Extrapolate All Possible Implications Just as you don't want to over-generalize from your case study findings, you also have to be thorough in the consideration of all possible outcomes or recommendations derived from your findings. If you do not, your reader may question the validity of your analysis, particularly if you failed to document an obvious outcome from your case study research. For example, in the case of studying the accident at the railroad crossing to evaluate where and what types of warning signals should be located, you failed to take into consideration speed limit signage as well as warning signals. When designing your case study, be sure you have thoroughly addressed all aspects of the problem and do not leave gaps in your analysis that leave the reader questioning the results.

Case Studies. Writing@CSU. Colorado State University; Gerring, John. Case Study Research: Principles and Practices . New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007; Merriam, Sharan B. Qualitative Research and Case Study Applications in Education . Rev. ed. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1998; Miller, Lisa L. “The Use of Case Studies in Law and Social Science Research.” Annual Review of Law and Social Science 14 (2018): TBD; Mills, Albert J., Gabrielle Durepos, and Eiden Wiebe, editors. Encyclopedia of Case Study Research . Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2010; Putney, LeAnn Grogan. "Case Study." In Encyclopedia of Research Design , Neil J. Salkind, editor. (Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2010), pp. 116-120; Simons, Helen. Case Study Research in Practice . London: SAGE Publications, 2009;  Kratochwill,  Thomas R. and Joel R. Levin, editors. Single-Case Research Design and Analysis: New Development for Psychology and Education .  Hilldsale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1992; Swanborn, Peter G. Case Study Research: What, Why and How? London : SAGE, 2010; Yin, Robert K. Case Study Research: Design and Methods . 6th edition. Los Angeles, CA, SAGE Publications, 2014; Walo, Maree, Adrian Bull, and Helen Breen. “Achieving Economic Benefits at Local Events: A Case Study of a Local Sports Event.” Festival Management and Event Tourism 4 (1996): 95-106.

Writing Tip

At Least Five Misconceptions about Case Study Research

Social science case studies are often perceived as limited in their ability to create new knowledge because they are not randomly selected and findings cannot be generalized to larger populations. Flyvbjerg examines five misunderstandings about case study research and systematically "corrects" each one. To quote, these are:

Misunderstanding 1 :  General, theoretical [context-independent] knowledge is more valuable than concrete, practical [context-dependent] knowledge. Misunderstanding 2 :  One cannot generalize on the basis of an individual case; therefore, the case study cannot contribute to scientific development. Misunderstanding 3 :  The case study is most useful for generating hypotheses; that is, in the first stage of a total research process, whereas other methods are more suitable for hypotheses testing and theory building. Misunderstanding 4 :  The case study contains a bias toward verification, that is, a tendency to confirm the researcher’s preconceived notions. Misunderstanding 5 :  It is often difficult to summarize and develop general propositions and theories on the basis of specific case studies [p. 221].

While writing your paper, think introspectively about how you addressed these misconceptions because to do so can help you strengthen the validity and reliability of your research by clarifying issues of case selection, the testing and challenging of existing assumptions, the interpretation of key findings, and the summation of case outcomes. Think of a case study research paper as a complete, in-depth narrative about the specific properties and key characteristics of your subject of analysis applied to the research problem.

Flyvbjerg, Bent. “Five Misunderstandings About Case-Study Research.” Qualitative Inquiry 12 (April 2006): 219-245.

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Case Study Struggling Reader

Working with the individual child in my case study was definitely enlightening in terms of understanding the struggling reader more generally. I think probably the most salient fact I learned about Jake — the one which really occasioned the most generalized breakthrough in terms of my own understanding about this sort of educational difficulty — was to observe specifically and intimately the differences in Jake’s experience.

Vlach and Bursie (2010) emphasize the importance of “narrative” in for students in Jake’s position — my close observation really brought their conclusions home to me in an unexpected way, as it revealed the importance of narrative for educators as well. To clarify, “narrative” in this sense refers to the individual student’s narrative, the way in which the story of the student’s own process of learning to overcome reading difficulty is described and indeed internalized by the student himself or herself. The importance of narrative in this sense is that very often frustration and failure in this process can come from the student’s internalization of the wrong or discouraging narrative. This is, quite obviously, a large factor that can make or break a student’s motivation and can have lifelong effects on self-esteem as well. What Vlach and Bursie’s article does not emphasize, but that was probably the chief lesson learned by me in studying an individual child, is how these narratives can affect and be internalized by an educator as well. When educators have not studied a child in depth but rely instead upon learned disquisitions rife with statistics and brimming with methodology, it is all too easy to let the shorthand of our classification systems replace our real-world sense of what the actual struggling reader (in my case a likeable and enthusiastic twelve-year-old boy ) is like. What do I mean by this? I mean that, in this specific instance, Jake’s Critical Reading Inventory registers his level of comprehension and fluency as being at a “second grade level,” although Jake is in the seventh grade. Studying Jake in depth, and getting to observe him as a student and as a reader and (perhaps most crucially) as a human being also led me to observe an easy trap into which educators can fall: confusing the human being with the numbers and statistics. The simple fact is that the ultimate statistical gradation that is applied to Jake’s Critical Reading Inventory is extraordinarily different, and vastly less complex, than the reality of observing Jake in the act of reading. On the most basic level, I got to see that Jake is actually a very good student — he’s the kind of student most classroom teachers would be thrilled to have. He is not distractible or a behavioral problem: in point of fact he is extremely well-behaved and respectful. To read the statistical designation of “second grade level” on a pre-printed form is very different from observing the real person, who tries with genuine effort and focus, and who is actually able to achieve adequate comprehension given enough time and effort.

In some sense, the close observation of Jake is something that I can extrapolate from and apply more generally in my future practices as a teacher. It is unwise to let convenient shorthand designations (“second grade level”) substitute for actual close observation, and sensitivity to human realities, when dealing with a struggling reader. On the most basic level, before this experience I might have looked at a Critical Reading Inventory result, saw that a seventh grader had been registered at reading on a second grade level, and I would have assumed that (in some level) this was a bad student, and that the low performance reflected the student’s own behavior, motivation, or “agency,” to use the term favored by Vlach and Bursie (2010, 522). Now that I have completed this sort of close observation, I understand that the real issues are vastly more complex, and that it would actually do Jake a serious disservice to reduce him to his test results. The best way to teach Jake how to read better involves an increased sensitivity to Jake’s own narrative, and less reliance on the tools of the trade (like the Critical Reading Inventory) that can all too quickly degenerate into a sort of pigeonhole in which the student can be placed.

2. The individual case study project definitely helped me as an educator to explore new strategies and resources that would be tailored to this particular student. As noted above, part of what made this seem necessary to me was the realization that this particular student is motivated and a hard worker: he wants to improve his reading skills. So the question becomes whether his reading skills have been impeded because of the methodology of instruction. Of course within Jake’s own lifetime there has been a technological revolution, and it would be foolish not to take advantage of this technology for his betterment — his age makes him a “digital native,” as the current buzzword defines it, and the simple fact is that his hard work and determination, his acknowledged desire to be a better reader, makes it seem more likely that the various forms of technological assistance that can be brought to teaching him to read might actually have a positive impact. There are so many more resources available now than there even were in the year that Jake was born — it would be unwise not to enlist any and all of these resources in the attempt to find a workable program for Jake.

3. In terms of how the individual case study was able to better enhance my own teaching, I think it was largely a matter of learning what to look for more generally by studying one particular student in detail. The most interesting facts about Jake were not available on his list of Critical Reading Inventory results — instead they were gained by observation and practice. Noting that Jake declined every offered opportunity to take a break, for example, made me realize that in some profound sense he was trying to demonstrate his own commitment to becoming a better reader, to demonstrate it to himself if not to me.

Knowing the genuine value of what I learned from observing this particular student at close quarters begs for a way in which such practice can be integrated into actual daily teaching life. This is where the situation becomes more complicated, however, because it is not always possible to get this amount of one-on-one close observational time with a student when there is a classmate full of students vying for the instructor’s attention. This led me to wonder how the basic skills I learned from this exercise could best be integrated into teaching life, and I recognize that to a certain degree the answer entails building up a substantial career-long experience . This is the first chance I have had to study a specific child’s learning strategies up close. My hope is that in future, greater additional experience will permit me to recognize and know the relation between specific prescriptions and their execution. But for students specifically with reading problems, the close examination allowed me to realize how dedicated and hard-working some students can be: for today’s digital natives, not being able to read is tantamount to not being able to socialize. The motives for attaining competency and fluency are stronger for a student today than they ever have been.

4. I do think that the case study brought home to me the need for differentiated instruction, for reasons I touched upon earlier: it became very obvious very quickly that reducing this student to the bare facts of his Inventory and the statistical summations gave a poor picture of what he actually looked like when in the room with me. He was actually a very hard worker and applied himself intensively to the tasks at hand. But obviously in a large class full of students, these issues become even more important — although it is astounding how resistant many educators are to the notion of a differentiated curriculum, especially considering how respectful of, and attentive to, diversity those same educators can be under other circumstances. In some sense, a differentiated curriculum should simply be considered as a basic issue of diversity and handled accordingly: it allows different students with different methods of learning an equal access to the curriculum, and the capability of approaching the work in their own way with equivalent means of attaining and measuring success.

In terms of what I learned specifically from my study of Jake and his reading level, I think the gulf between his low performance and high levels of motivation and effort under observation demonstrates something additionally important: educators can be so focused on teaching “to the test” that they may sometimes neglect the actual learning process. The Critical Reading Inventory is obviously quite different from the state-instituted standards which have affected the educational process nationwide, but it is nonetheless a measurable standard by which Jake is underperforming. But the correct way of getting Jake to be a better reader is not to obsess over how he could improve specifically his approach to this artificial standard — the way of getting Jake to be a better reader is close observation of Jake’s own needs and abilities.

5. My course work at this college has indeed prepared me to conduct this case study in an objective and informed manner. I have deliberately chosen to emphasize Jake’s personal qualities and the admirable things about his scholarship that do not necessarily appear on a test, but I am not doing this out of some sense of bias — instead I want to make it clear that the learning process necessarily includes a human element, and sensitivity to the specific personal nature of the struggle that every struggling reader undergoes. The story is not the same for every student like Jake, and I wanted to validate the specifics of this story as a way of asserting the fact that specifics are important. But at the same time, I am fully capable of generalizing in a scientific fashion about what I have learned doing this case study. It is a generalization to say that diversified and differentiated instruction produces better results than a one-size-fits-all approach — however this is a generalization that ultimately warns us about the limited utility of generalization itself as a pedagogical tool.

6. Fulfilling this case study assignment is ultimately a useful way of improving my own performance as an educator. It certainly gives an awareness of the human costs and human drama of the struggle to learn to read, a sort of awareness that can only help me be more flexible and sensitive in the classroom after. This kind of intimate observation is simply not possible (or responsible) when a teacher has a classroom of thirty students to shepherd through this process. But knowing what the actual facts of a struggling reader can be like, through close observation and analysis, are an excellent way of preparing to approach the problem through a panoply of different resources. If, in the actual classroom, personal time and connection with a student like Jake become more difficult to achieve, at the same time knowing what kinds of technological resources can be allocated to a student like him becomes vital. Moreover, the basic lesson here is one in which indeed no child will be left behind, because the educator becomes sensitized to the different types of struggles that readers can undergo. Not all struggling readers will be as well-behaved or strongly motivated as Jake was: I understand that as well.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Berkeley, S. & Lindstrom, J.H. (2011). Technology for the Struggling Reader: Free and Easily Accessible Resources. TEACHING Exceptional Children, 43(4), 48-55. Retrieved from http://www.editlib.org/p/52968

Berkeley and Lindstrom approach the problem of the struggling reader in terms of the larger community surrounding the student — including parents and educators, assuming these are all on board with the process of helping the struggling reader attain greater proficiency. Berkeley and Lindstrom assert that there are far too few professional guidelines or indicators that can assist the educational community in assessing what sort of technological solutions are available to provide assistance and support to a student, particularly when the struggling reader may be undergoing a problem which is not physical in nature, but rather cognitive (i.e., something like “specific learning disability,” to use their terminology).

Berkeley and Lindstrom assess the utility of the resources offered by the National Center on Accessible Instructional Materials (AIM). This site offers an analysis of what they describe as “AT” or “Assistive Technology” of the sort that can be provided to a struggling reader via online means or outside of the basic (and often intimidating) format of books and printed matter. They emphasize that reading and comprehension can be greatly improved by the use of technology, but the educational establishment often has little awareness of where to find such assistance, or of what sort of technology is appropriate for what sort of reading disability. As the technological tools surveyed by Berkeley and Lindstrom in the article are all available free of charge, this is a particularly useful article for any educator who is in need of additional resources.

Dalton, B. And Jocius, R. (2013), From Struggling Reader to Digital Reader and Multimodal Composer, in Evan Ortlieb, Earl H. Cheek (ed.) School-Based Interventions for Struggling Readers, K-8 (Literacy Research, Practice and Evaluation, Volume 3), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, pp.79-97

Dalton and Jocius are approaching the question of the struggling reader in terms of the vast technological shift that is occurring at this very moment: they wish to expand the notion of literacy to a larger idea of digital literacy, in order to enable education professionals to help their struggling readers attain competency in the new forms of reading which are (arguably) most crucial to the generational and cultural environment of these students. Dalton and Jocius begin by arguing for the necessity of making technology and digital literacy part of what the struggling reader should be encouraged and educated to approach, although they do not ultimately address all ways in which the integration of this into existing curricula can or should be accomplished. Instead, they emphasize priorities where the struggling reader may be most positively impacted by the integration of technology into the educational process.

Dalton and Jocius additionally provide the results of specific research conducted into how technological assistance and support can be used to bring struggling readers up to grade-level literacy, while improving skills in written composition and in reading comprehension, and incorporating multi-media strategies to assist the struggling student in the process. They emphasize that educational professionals need to better understand the importance of bringing technology to bear on the problem of the struggling reader, because it will help not only in terms of student achievement but also in terms of student engagement and interest.

Le Cordeur, M. (2011). The struggling reader: Identifying and addressing reading problems successfully at an early stage. Per Linguam, 26(2). doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.5785/26-2-23

Le Cordeur’s study focuses on English-language instruction for struggling readers in a country that is not America. This is vital for anyone who is concerned that standardized testing and curricular reforms in America may be skewing the process of how students and more specifically struggling readers are being educated. Le Cordeur focuses on struggling readers in South Africa, and focuses on a student population that is roughly the same age (a year younger) than the student observed in the case study.

Le Cordeur offers an extremely broad overview of reasons why intermediate readers may be struggling: these start with the most obvious which are special learning needs (i.e. problems of a neurological nature) and diverse cultural backgrounds (i.e., the multilingual struggling reader), but then offers a highly useful catalogue or checklist of other reasons, including previous instruction that does not adequately emphasize reading strategy, the student’s own internal sense of motivation, issues of socioeconomic status, and an overall culture of neglect. Le Cordeur’s ultimate findings are fairly sensible and straightforward. He emphasizes that struggling intermediate readers need to have the focus placed on school instruction, because they do not include reading as an extracurricular activity and thus do not improve through activity outside school. He notes that struggling readers need specific instruction in the use of comprehension strategies, and that teachers can do a lot to help in this regard. He also crucially notes that the best predictor of reading achievement is vocabulary, even though vocabulary has traditionally been regarded as difficult to teach: thus it should be emphasized more saliently.

Paterson, P.O. And Elliott, L.N. (2006), Struggling Reader to Struggling Reader: High School Students’ Responses to a Cross-Age Tutoring Program . Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 49: 378 — 389. doi: 10.1598/JAAL.49.5.2

Paterson and Elliott present an intriguing proposition — they examine the structure, the perceptions and the overall results and responses of a tutoring program in which struggling readers tutor other struggling readers, in this case high schoolers (ninth grade) are tutoring elementary schoolers (second and third grade) in learning to read.

If the concept sounds unusual, Paterson and Elliott explain that the structure of the program was established to address one specific issue in the educational improvement of older (high school age) struggling readers. By this point, the idea of remedial reading has, for the high school student, become almost a form of social stigma — to subject these ninth graders to similar remedial processes they have undergone in the past actually produces diminishing returns. Paterson and Elliott proposed to increase these students’ sense of agency by putting them in the leadership role.

The results of the program were overall positive. Paterson and Elliott note that the older struggling readers fell into good strong pedagogical relationships with the younger struggling readers, and were able to assist them largely due to their sense of identification and community. But more crucially the older struggling readers were indeed positively impacted in the way that Paterson and Elliott had hypothesized, as they began to view themselves as capable and accomplished tutors. Paterson and Elliott remark upon the “powerful positive attitudinal effects” that tutoring had for the older struggling readers. They note, moreover, that the tutoring program designed is a low-cost and effective addition to the educators’ arsenal of means to combat reading deficiencies.

Vlach, S. And Burcie, J. (2010), Narratives of the Struggling Reader. The Reading Teacher, 63: 522 — 525. doi: 10.1598/RT.63.6.10

In some sense, Vlach and Burcie provide the most useful article presently under review here. Vlach and Burcie are interested largely in the psychology of the struggling reader, and in understanding the basic psychological issues in such a way that would enable education professionals to better assist the students. Therefore Vlach and Burcie introduce two basic terms that provide structure to their argument. The first term they use is agency. As they define it, agency is “a sense that if you act, and act strategically, you can accomplish your goals” (522). Obviously the value of this for the struggling reader is immense: we may assume that the struggling reader would like to be able to read, and this merely structures the approach, so that the struggling reader can see improvement as a strategic and goal oriented process. The goal of this entails the seond term Vlach and Burcie wish to introduce, which is narrative. Narrative is, essentially, how the struggling reader comes to understand his or her own story. To say that one is in seventh grade but only reading at a second grade level, for example, is a narrative that can be potentially vastly discouraging, and can also negatively impact the struggling reader’s sense of agency. Fortunately, as Vlach and Burcie argue, the “teacher has a unique opportunity to intervene in the narrative of the struggling reader” (522). In other words, the teacher can help to maintain the student’s sense of agency which can be negatively impacted especially if the student is removed from the age group in order to receive special remedial instruction. The article focuses on ways in which education professionals can help to nurture the sense of agency in the struggling reader, and can help to repair those students’ personal narratives.

Paterson, P.O. And Elliott, L.N. (2006), Struggling Reader to Struggling Reader: High School Students’ Responses to a Cross-Age Tutoring Program. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 49: 378 — 389. doi: 10.1598/JAAL.49.5.2

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IMAGES

  1. Struggling readers assignment.docx

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  2. Teaching Struggling Readers: 8 Steps to Effective Instruction

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  3. How to Help Your Struggling Readers

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  4. Case Study for reading difficulties

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  5. Case Study Struggling Readers Assignment Instructions.docx

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  6. Case Study on Struggling Reader 2 .docx

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  1. ASSIGNMENT CASE STUDY DIAGNOSTIC AND TROUBLESHOOTING GROUP 6 (AIR COMPRESSOR)

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COMMENTS

  1. PDF Case Study of Struggling Readers

    about speaking it, and speak Armenian in the home. He is the eldest child and lives with his mom, dad, and younger brother. At home, Armando reads with his family for 20 minutes a night during the week, but nothing on the weekends. He reads both fiction and nonfiction books. They know he struggles in.

  2. Module 6 Case Study.docx

    2 Case Study: Struggling Readers Assignment Background Jeff is a 5.9-year-old boy in Kindergarten who is an active and engaging student and a class helper (Sayeski & Paulsen, 2003, pg. 29. Most math skills have been mastered, and he enjoys hands-on science and art activities. However, Jeff is behind and takes more time to master reading skills than his classmates.

  3. Case Study- Struggling Readers

    Case Study: Struggling Readers. Aimee Hulseberg Liberty University EDSP 360-B Susan Stanley 02/19/ A first-grade reading book will serve as the basis for 15 of 20 oral reading examinations for Nathan, who will exhibit fluency and comprehension in reading by applying appropriate pronunciation, rhythm, and emotion.

  4. PDF Engaging Struggling Readers in Literacy at the Elementary Level

    This case study is an investigation into the different ways we as educators can effectively engage struggling readers in literacy at the elementary level. This study takes place at a rural school district 80 miles South of Rochester, in the Finger Lakes area and was conducted over a ten-week period. This case study offers insight into the

  5. CASE STUDY- STRUGGLING READERS ASSIGNMENT (docx)

    Sociology document from Liberty University, 4 pages, EDSP 360 CASE STUDY: STRUGGLING READERS ASSIGNMENT Donna Hobbs Dr. Mary Garzon - EDSP360 June 26, 2023 EDSP 360 Abstract Nine-and-a-half-year-old Nathan, who likes school, is in the fourth grade. He does well in the areas of science and social studies wh

  6. PDF Using a Case Study Assignment in a Reading Methods Course

    reading professionals (Brown, Collins, & Duguid, 1989; Lave & Wenger, 1991). The case study assignment is the primary vehicle for this work as students connect their growing understanding of literacy development and the reading process with their work with a struggling reader in their field placement.

  7. Building Their Stories: Electronic Case Studies of Struggling Readers

    Electronic Case Studies of Struggling Readers Terry S. Atkinson Sarah C. Williams East Carolina University Ten university graduate students created electronic case studies describing the learning of struggling readers as a part of this study designed to yield insights about literacy education and the efficacy of

  8. William Finds His Base: A Student Case Study

    Student: 2nd grade, age 7, July Birthday. School: Hemenway Elementary School, Framingham, MA. Teacher: Stacey Soto. Class Size: 24 Students. "I remember the first book we read, and William said, 'I can read this whole thing!'. All of a sudden, a light bulb went on. His writing increased, his mechanics increased, his reading increased; his ...

  9. PDF READER CASE STUDY

    The reader case study is an important part in helping struggling readers. For this assignment, the researcher has chosen to work with a fourth grade female student. The reader is on the free and reduced lunch program offered by the school. The reader lives at home with her mom and two brothers.

  10. Families of Struggling Readers in the Accountability Era: A Collective

    This collective case study uses ethnographic methods to explore the literacy engagement and school interactions of two families of struggling adolescent readers within the accountability era following the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, a time period where there have been as yet few studies (e.g. Compton-Lilly, 2009) focused on family literacy.

  11. Struggling Readers and Content Area Text: Interactions with and

    This year-long case study examines how a struggling reader in a sixth-grade social studies class, a seventh grade mathematics class, and an eighth grade science class "transacted" with the reading task demands of her specific classroom. Through regular classroom observations and interviews, the researcher documents how each student ...

  12. Struggling readers assignment.docx

    1 Case Study: Struggling Readers Assignment Kayla Kramer School of Education, Liberty University EDSP 360: Learning and Behavior Problems Professor Sheldrake August 9 th, 2021 2 Scenario Nathan is an active fourth grader who enjoys school and who does well in the areas of science and social studies when materials are read loud and hand-on ...

  13. PDF Insights From a Literacy Tutor: A Case Study of Critical Reading and

    document the reading and writing events of this yearlong tutorial experience. They report on the power of critical literacy to engage a developing reader and improve her comprehension. These findings suggest that taking a critical literacy lens encourages struggling readers to use their strongest assets—the power of listening and speaking.

  14. Struggling readers case study.docx

    EDSP 360 School of Education, Liberty University Case study: Struggling readers Nathan is a fourth-grade student. Nathan has great abilities in science and social studies. He does well with reading out loud as well as hands-on activities. Nathan has some challenges in his reading class. He is reading at 55 words per minute when in fourth grade he should be

  15. Case Study

    Struggling Readers Case Study Nathan is a 9-year-old fourth grader who is active and enjoys school, excelling in science and social studies. Despite this, he is having difficulty in his reading class, struggling to decode unfamiliar words and some sight words.

  16. Mississippi State University Scholars Junction

    Title of Study: Struggling adolescent readers: A case study of teacher beliefs and practices using the How People Learn framework Pages in Study 226 Candidate for Degree of Doctor of Philosophy ... assignment for your class. Ok, I may have told a fib or three. I planned for those poems to be

  17. PDF fogarty gary a 200808 phd.pdf

    A CASE STUDY OF ONE STRUGGLING MALE READER AND THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY THAT HE LIVES IN by GARY FOGARTY (Under the Direction of Linda Labbo) ABSTRACT In this case study of a struggling male with a Specific Learning Disability who participated in a reading resource classroom, the community in which the student participated was examined.

  18. Following a Struggling Reader: A Case Study., 1997-Dec

    EISSN: N/A. Following a Struggling Reader: A Case Study. Niles, Karen. Using an emergent literacy perspective, a qualitative case study examined a child who struggled to become a reader. The study was based on data gathered during a 33-month tutoring intervention extending from the end of repeated first grade to mid-fourth grade.

  19. Case Study Struggling Readers Assignment Instructions.docx

    I NSTRUCTIONS For this assignment, you will interact with a struggling reader case study upon which you will determine the research-based strategies needed for the student to achieve reading success. In the IRIS Center Fluency and Word Identification: Grades 3-5 and the IRIS Center Early Reading case study units provided with this assignment ...

  20. Writing a Case Study

    A case study is a research method that involves an in-depth analysis of a real-life phenomenon or situation. Learn how to write a case study for your social sciences research assignments with this helpful guide from USC Library. Find out how to define the case, select the data sources, analyze the evidence, and report the results.

  21. Case Study Nathan OAGEE.docx

    Case Study: Struggling Readers Assignment: Nathan In this case study there is a little boy whose name is Nathan. He is nine and half years old and in fourth grade. Nathan does well in Science and Social Studies if items are read aloud or hands-on activities. His struggle subject however is reading.

  22. Case Study Struggling Reader

    Case Study Struggling Reader. Just from $6.9/Page. Order Essay. Vlach and Bursie (2010) emphasize the importance of "narrative" in for students in Jake's position — my close observation really brought their conclusions home to me in an unexpected way, as it revealed the importance of narrative for educators as well.

  23. Case Study Struggling Readers Assignment.docx

    1 Case Study: Struggling Readers Assignment Name Institution Date 2 Case Study: Struggling Readers Assignment Jeff is a young man, 5.9 years of age. At the age of 5, he is eager to assist the instructor and participate in-class activities.