Date Approved

1-11-2021

Embargo Period

1-12-2021

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.A. Reading Education

Department

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Education

College

College of Education

Advisor

Lee, Valarie

Committee Member 1

Browne, Susan

Committee Member 2

Madden, Marjorie

Subject(s)

Culturally relevant pedagogy; African American boys; Reading

Disciplines

Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education | Language and Literacy Education

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to determine the effects of using culturally relevant texts to motivate and engage African American adolescent boys who read below grade level to read while also improving their current reading levels. The participants for this study were two twelve-year-old African-American adolescent males in the seventh grade. The study was conducted during a 30-minute independent reading segment and after school. The participants read a book for 15-20 minutes a day followed by a ten minute response to reading assignment about their book. The participants in this study were assigned culturally relevant texts to read during independent reading and engaged in conversation with the researcher about each book. Data collected included a teacher's research journal, an anecdotal notes notebook, students' written responses to reading documents, benchmark assessments, surveys, questionnaires, and audio recordings. The data collected from the study was analyzed using a coding method and themes were triangulated across the data sets. The boys were assessed on their current reading levels and their perspectives after reading culturally relevant material. Based on the data, the use of culturally relevant texts kept the participants engaged in the text and motivated them to read similar texts during independent reading. This study was proven to be effective and educators who use this pedagogy will notice positive results in their African American adolescent male students.

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