Teacher family cooperation in developing reading skills: An action research

The aim of this study is to examine the effect of reading activities based on teacher-parent collaboration on improving reading skills in second-grade primary school students with poor reading skills. The study was designed as an action research study. The study was conducted over a period of eight weeks with six students and their parents at a primary school in Şanlıurfa province in the autumn term of the 2021-2022 academic year. The study participants were six second-grade primary school students with poor reading skills, selected using criterion sampling, and their volunteer parents. A video and audio recorder, researcher diary, semi-structured interview form, and running record were used as data collection tools in the study. The paired reading method was selected to eliminate students' deficiencies in reading, and activities were carried out at home and at school using this method. In the study, parents were given a seminar about paired reading by the researcher, and they were asked to practise paired reading with their children at home. Using three selected story books, the researcher and student performed a total of 24 paired readings at school, while the parent and student performed a total of nine paired readings at home. At the end of the intervention, semi-structured interview forms were administered to the parents and data regarding their opinions after reading were collected. Data obtained about the problems encountered by the researcher and the changes in students' reading skills and behaviours were analysed using content analysis. Students' reading levels before and after the intervention were analysed using descriptive analysis. As a result of the analyses, improvements were observed in students' reading speed and reading comprehension skills both during and after the reading activities based on teacher-parent collaboration, the students began to write longer sentences, and they began to enjoy reading as their desire to read increased. It was determined that all students' reading levels increased from frustration level to instructional level. As a result of the study, it was concluded that six second-grade primary school students with poor reading skills (experiencing reading problems) showed improvement in their reading skills.