The Effects of Question-Answer-Relationship (QAR) Instruction on Standardized Reading Comprehension Test Scores of Third-Grade Students

Authors

  • Dr. Susan Green Rock Hill Schools (Rock Hill, SC)
  • Dr. Maryann Mraz University of North Carolina at Charlotte

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.56887/galiteracy.136

Keywords:

reading comprehension, reading proficiency, metacognition, QAR (question-answer relationship), historically underserved students, standardized reading tests, high-stakes standardized testing

Abstract

Despite many school reform initiatives designed to ensure reading proficiency for all students, recent reports from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reveal that only 37 percent of fourth-grade students and only 34 percent of eighth-grade students performed at or above the proficiency levels measured in reading (NAEP, 2017). This quantitative study used a non-equivalent control group design to examine the impact of direct instruction of the Question-Answer-Relationship (QAR) strategy on standardized reading test scores of third-grade students. It also specifically examined the impact of direct instruction of the QAR strategy on traditionally underserved students' standardized test scores. A two-way Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was conducted. Adjusted marginal mean post-test scores in the group receiving treatment of the QAR strategy (64.580) were higher than the mean post-test scores of students who did not receive QAR instruction (56.382). Adjusted marginal mean post-test scores of students who did not receive QAR instruction (56.382). Adjusted marginal mean post-test scores of historically underserved students showed no significant differences (60.05 and 60.90, respectively). In addition, adjusted marginal mean post-test scores of historically underserved and non-historically underserved students who received QAR instruction showed no significant differences (54.48 and 58.29).

Author Biographies

  • Dr. Susan Green, Rock Hill Schools (Rock Hill, SC)

    Dr. Susan Green, District Literacy Specialist, Rock Hill Schools, Rock Hill, SC; email [email protected]. Dr. Green has been an educator since 1993; she has served as a classroom teacher, a reading specialist, ESOL instructor, and a college instructor.

  • Dr. Maryann Mraz, University of North Carolina at Charlotte

    Dr. Maryann Mraz, Professor, Reading and Elementary Education Department, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC; email [email protected]. Dr. Mraz earned her Ph.D. from Kent State University and her B.A. and M.Ed. from John Carroll University, where she was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Educator Award in 2014.

QAR on Reading Comprehension Scores (Green & Mraz, 2024).pdf

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Published

05/15/2024

Issue

Section

Research and Practitioner Articles

How to Cite

Green, S., & Mraz, M. (2024). The Effects of Question-Answer-Relationship (QAR) Instruction on Standardized Reading Comprehension Test Scores of Third-Grade Students. Georgia Journal of Literacy, 46(1), 20–33. https://doi.org/10.56887/galiteracy.136

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