The Collaboration Model and Reading Improvement of High School Students With Learning Disabilities

In the field of reading research, studies that focus on improving the reading achievement of high school students with learning disabilities are lacking. Although collaborative interventions for elementary age students have been shown to be effective, a gap exists in the current research regarding effective collaborative reading interventions for high school students with learning disabilities. The theoretical framework of this study was based on auditory processing deficits contributing to reading disabilities as proposed by Tallal. A quasi-experimental research design was conducted that included a collaborative model group of 52 high school students who participated in a collaboration model within a special education resource specialist program and a comparison group of 52 high school students without collaboration. A secondary analysis from archival data during the years of 2009 to 2013 from the California Standards Tests English language arts scores for the population was conducted. No differences between the two groups 1 year of participation in the collaboration model was observed. Also, the Friedman test for repeated measures was conducted to assess the effect of the collaboration model for learning disabled students over three years and found a significant decrease on performance on the California Standards Tests reading scores. This study is an important contribution to the existing literature for consideration in monitoring instructional services for high school students with learning disabilities. The current study of the collaboration model assists with the approach to social change by determining the effectiveness of reading strategies for high school students.