Date of Award
6-26-2025
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Educational Leadership, Ed.D.
First Advisor
Amany Saleh
Committee Members
Jeonghee Choi; Ryan Kelly; Tonja Fillippino
Call Number
ISBN 9798280759831
Abstract
The Arkansas Reading Initiative for Student Excellence [RISE] works to build a culture of reading for students in Arkansas through the coordination of a statewide reading campaign that utilizes the Science of Reading, which incorporates a wide body of scientifically-based research that informs stakeholders of how students can effectively learn to read. In addition, tenets of the RISE Initiative encourage building a community of partners and teachers to establish the importance of reading in homes, schools and communities. This mixed-method study explored teacher perceptions of the Arkansas RISE Initiative regarding its effectiveness in terms of students’ reading achievement, as well as how effective the mandatory training was in preparing teachers to implement this initiative. Quantitative research was conducted to explore the perceptions of each of the tenets of RISE, as well as the effectiveness of the teacher training they received for RISE. In addition, teacher perceptions were explored in the area of RISE’s training effectiveness in preparing them to address diverse students’ needs. Quantitative findings suggest that the Science of Reading tenets, as well as the teacher training tenets of the Science of Reading are significant. In addition, quantitative findings suggest that evidence-based instruction, in building a culture of reading and encouraging community collaboration are significant. Qualitative research was conducted to examine teachers’ perceptions of the RISE Initiative, as they have implemented it into their instructive practices. The analysis revealed main themes that illustrate their perceptions of the impact of the RISE Initiative within the classroom setting. Qualitative themes suggest improvement in student skill levels in the area of phonics and phonemic awareness, but no improvement in the skill level of reading comprehension for student populations. Another theme of inability to implement evidence-based reading practices with a need for specific teaching practices in the area of reading comprehension and a need for follow up training was noted. The goal of this study was to examine the effectiveness of the Arkansas RISE Initiative according to the teachers of Arkansas and to bring awareness of areas of the RISE Initiative that are successful and unsuccessful. This knowledge could be used to update the RISE Initiative, as well as address areas that are in need of improvement, such as the need for a greater emphasis on specific evidence-based practices in reading comprehension and specific strategies and methods to teach those evidence-based practices.
Rights Management
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Lawrence, Susan Hoffman, "Teacher Perceptions of the Arkansas Rise Initiative Regarding Student Performance and Teacher Training" (2025). Student Theses and Dissertations. 1075.
https://arch.astate.edu/all-etd/1075
