Collaborative retrospective miscue analysis: Implementation of an instructional tool to revalue fourth-grade readers in trouble

Abstract

Collaborative Retrospective Miscue Analysis (CRMA) is an instructional strategy designed to assist readers who are struggling with reading within the school environment. Procedures include the administration of the Reading Interview at four intervals, the creation of a baseline Reader Profile for each troubled reader using the Reading Miscue Inventory Procedure I, and the use of audiotapes of participants reading during a group discussion of the readers' miscues. The research group was composed of 4 girls. The research design incorporated individual case studies of two readers designated as troubled and a separate case study of the group interaction. A total of 15 discussions focused on 5 different audiotapes of each of the troubled readers. The researcher stayed with the group during the first 11 sessions, facilitating the introduction of terminology, and helping the group develop new understandings of the reading process. Transactional socio-psycholinguistic reading process was introduced using appropriate terminology for fourth graders, and the group was encouraged to help the troubled readers focus on meaning. Time was spent helping each reader develop positive strategies to move them toward the creation of meaningful text. Each discussion was audiotaped, transcribed and analyzed for topics focused on monitoring text for meaning and building positive self-images. Changes in self-esteem and reading performance as measured by the Reading Miscue Inventory: Procedure I were analyzed Statistics are displayed through a reader profile based on the Procedure I Inventory and analysis of changes in responses to the reading interview. Research findings indicate that each troubled reader was able to significantly improve her meaning construction, experience positive changes in self-esteem, and define her concept of reading as bringing meaning to text through personal transaction.