Defense Date

5-11-2023

Graduation Date

Summer 8-5-2023

Availability

Immediate Access

Submission Type

dissertation

Degree Name

PhD

Department

Counseling, Psychology, & Special Education

School

School of Education

Committee Chair

Reva Mathieu-Sher, Ed. D, BCBA.D.

Committee Member

Ara Schmitt, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Elizabeth McCallum, Ph.D.

Keywords

Story-Mapping, Reading Comprehension, Specific Learning Disabilities

Abstract

Students with specific learning disabilities (SLD) represent between 5% and 10% of the total number of students in public schools in Saudi Arabia (Abu Nayyan, 2015). Further, 80-90% of students with SLD exhibit reading difficulties including difficulties in reading comprehension (Mercer & Pullen, 2009). Although there is a large number of students with SLD that exhibit reading difficulties in Saudi Arabia, there is a dearth of research attempting to understand the specific effectiveness of strategies to improve reading challenges for students with SLD, particularly in the area of comprehension. The current study aimed at investigating the effects of the use of a story-mapping intervention on three students with SLD in Saudi Arabia. The current study employed a single-subject design, specifically, A-B designs, each with a follow-up maintenance phase. Results indicated that the story-mapping intervention was effective in increasing reading comprehension for all three participants. The three participants also maintained their improvement during the maintenance phase. In addition, the participants and the SLD teacher's responses on the social validity questionnaires, revealed an acceptable social validity rating indicating that the intervention made an impact on the students lives. The limitations of the current study include the small sample size of participants, the absence of face to face instruction, and the absence of standardized reading comprehension measures. Future studies should be conducted to replicate the current study with female students with SLD and students with other types of disabilities which include reading based-challenges in Saudi Arabia (e.g., autism, mild intellectual disabilities, and potentially behavioral disorders).

Language

English

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