Module 3 Case Study Meagan Ireland EDU 741 Literacy Assessment As Teaching Tools Dr.

. Grania Holman Sunday, July 22, 2012

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Module 3 Case Study

Asher August 22, 2000 - Grade Six Asher (a pseudonym) was born August 22, 2000. He is about to enter grade six. He has been a student at our school since kindergarten. Asher and his family are members of the Yellowknives Dene First Nations. This is an Aboriginal group that has traditionally made their homes around the Yellowknife area until land-based living was no longer viable and they settled in the past 50 years close to the capital city. I had the pleasure of teaching Asher in grade one then again in grade three and four. Asher can be an extremely helpful and hard-working student. When he understands a task, he will work until its completion occasionally even asking to miss recess to finish something. He is a highly organized student, who likes his desk and locker clean and depends on the visual schedule to know what is coming next. Asher can usually be counted on to help and most of the time trusted with bigger tasks such as returning gym equipment and errands to the office. Asher favourite subject is mathematics, where he is working close to grade level with some accommodations for difficulty. As well, he also enjoys physical education and team sports. This is an area that Asher excels at; he has a great love for soccer and basketball. Literacy learning has always been a struggle for him. According to our assessments, he is functionally reading and writing at a grade two level. However, he continues to work hard at literacy development, usually willing to participate in guided reading and completing his writing assignments to the best of his abilities. He often needs encouragement to contribute to larger group tasks. Asher has a student support plan in place that details accommodations that work best for him. For example, he benefits from using a personal dictionary that focuses on sight words, having directions read to him and discussed independently and being put into positive leadership roles such as being in charge of the visual schedule. He works best in small cooperative groups as he has good ideas to contribute and keeps the group on task. As well, he is a good independent worker as he puts his heart into everything he does.

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Module 3 Case Study

While the majority Ashers days are positive and productive, he occasionally struggles with his behavior. He is currently on medication for attention deficit disorder and oppositional defiant disorder. In kindergarten, this behavior often took the form of temper tantrums, resulting in Asher being removed from the classroom until he would longer be harmful to himself or others. Presently, when his routine is disrupted or he has experienced some kind of trauma, he refuses to work, participate in class activities or engage in a respectful manner. When asked to join the class or leave respectfully, he will push over chairs, rip work and refuse to comply. This behavior is most often seen when he comes to school late, but there can be other triggers such as little sleep the night before and issues with home life. Asher greatly depends on his routines and we have worked diligently to ensure his school routines remain consistent. These behaviors greatly affect his motivation and his ability to learn. When Asher receives his medication regularly, he is more like the child described in the prior paragraph. During these times, he is engaged, creative, helpful and a pleasure to have in the classroom. Asher currently lives with his mother, her boyfriend, his half sister, and his new half brother (a child from his mothers new relationship). His mother was 16 years old when she became pregnant with him and has been in several different relationships throughout his life. His family is living in subsidized housing due to low income. His home life can be turbulent which greatly affects his moods. His mothers boyfriend works out of town at a small mine on a two week on, two week off cycle. When he is in town, the couple often indulges in partying behavior. During these times, Asher and his sister will stay with his maternal grandmother. His grandmother has eight children living in a small three bedroom house. This disruption in living routine can result in negative behaviors for Asher. While Asher is well liked in the classroom, he tends to spend most of his time with cousins and family members. Due to income, he does not participate in extra-curricular activities outside of school. Asher does participate in activities through our schools afterschool program; he enjoys soccer and swimming. As well, he regularly attends hands games practice (a traditional Aboriginal game for this 3

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Module 3 Case Study

area) that is run through the community centre. During these times, Asher is motivated to do well and participates fully.

Assessments Developmental Reading Assessment As mandated by my school district, the Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA) is used twice a year for each student. The DRA is a comprehensive, formative assessment that gives teachers insight into their students reading engagement, comprehension, print awareness and fluency. It is administered one-on-one by the classroom teacher while the other students are working independently in learning centres or on other lessons. This is a leveled assessment that starts at preschool and goes to grade eight with two books at each level to provide students with the element of choice. The assessment begins by choosing then previewing the text. After the student has shared their predictions with the teacher, they then silently read the books to themselves. When finished, the teacher asks the student to retell the story. If important information is left out, the teacher can ask a series of questions to determine their understanding of the text. As well, there are series of preference questions to establish what kinds of books the student likes to read and when they read. To finish off this assessment, students read aloud for a running record to help determine fluency and decoding strategies. Each students performance is marked on a rubric which follows them from their first assessment in kindergarten to the end of grade three when the assessment tool changes to accommodate older students. In June of this year, Asher completed a level 28 DRA with his classroom teacher. He had a score of 18 out of 24 for reading comprehension. While he demonstrated a good understanding of what he read, he needed several prompts to encourage him to discuss the main ideas. During the running record, Asher reader with an accuracy of 97% using shorter phases most of the time and read with some 4

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intonation. While this assessment was given at the end of the school year, it can be viewed as both formative and summative. It provided the teacher with valuable data to report to his mother about Ashers progress. However, it gives next years teacher valuable information in which to continue instruction. Based on this current information, I would recommend that Asher receive specific interventions to help his fluency and comprehension so he can find the main idea more independently.

District Wide Write The District Wide Write (DWW) is a formative, performance-based assessment created by my district and is mandated to be completed three times a year. While the process has changed over the years, students have been participating in DWW for the past nine years. In September, January and May, students at all grade levels are asked to write a personal narrative. In most classrooms, students were given the option to write about a shared experience, like a book or field trip. For example, Ashers class wrote about a culture camp that all students had participated in duck plucking. However, students may choose to write about whatever they would like. In September and January, release time is provided for each teacher to mark their writing samples in grade level groups across the district. Teachers work together to mark their students writing on a set of rubrics provided by the district office. They then use a tally sheet to look for trends in their students writing, set goals and collaboratively plan for instruction. The grade one to nine rubric looks at different levels of: content, organization, word choice, sentence fluency, voice and conventions that our based on our English Language Arts Curriculum. The DWW provides teachers with valuable information about their students writing abilities and helps them to plan the next steps in their instruction. For this performance-based assessment, Ashers teacher used a functional grade two level rubric. Since the January assessment to the most recent one in May, he did not show growth in terms of writing. For content, organization, sentence fluency and conventions, the rubric showed that Asher was 5

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fully meeting grade level. The two areas of struggle were word choice and voice where he was placed as minimally meeting grade level. In the future, I would recommend that Ashers work be examined with the next level of rubric (grade three) because he was already fully meeting the grade two outcomes in most areas in January. By moving on to the next level, we would have a clearer picture of what level Asher is working at and what are the next steps for his writing. The information will help his next teacher determine what literacy outcomes he needs to continue to work on. However, using the information provided Asher would benefit from mini-lessons and conferences that focus on developing his word choice and voice when writing. As well, including lessons that help him develop his personal opinion and preference will help develop his voice. Vocabulary development should also be a key component to Ashers language arts program, to help develop his awareness and encourage his use of new and interesting words.

Progress Monitoring 1. It is my recommendation to use monthly running records and retellings to monitor Ashers progress. Because he is working below grade level, it is essential to regularly monitor his progress to ensure that the classroom instruction is making a difference for him. By strategically listening to Asher read, the teacher will be able to monitor his fluency and whether or not he is able to summarize key ideas more independently. His teacher will also observe whether or not her instruction is making a difference in these areas and if changes are necessary. The running records and retellings will come from the National Geographics Windows on Literacy guided reading program. The forms should be maintained in Ashers assessment portfolio. 2. As an intervention, I am suggesting a computer program called Success Maker by Pearson. This program has a built in progress monitoring which can be used daily, weekly or monthly. To encourage students sense of responsibility and motivation, it is important to check scores as 6

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Module 3 Case Study

soon they have completed a session to hold them accountable. It is important to print a full report each month to monitor Ashers progress. This way it is possible to see areas of growth in vocabulary, spelling and comprehension. As a formative assessment, Success Maker can help determine which areas need more instruction or when to move Asher to the next level. Hard copies of these reports should be kept in his assessment portfolio.

Interventions Intervention #1 Precision Reading Precision Reading is a fluency and accuracy reading program that was developed by Dr. Rick Freeze from the Inclusive Special Education Department at the University of Manitoba in Canada. This daily, five minute intervention is used to increase students fluency and accuracy when reading. For seven to ten days, Asher will read and reread the same leveled passage for one minute. At the end of the reading, the teacher will count how many words were read. The number of words read is then put into a bar graph so Asher can see his progress. This visual reminder helps motivate students as they can see their growth. The goal of the program is concrete for students: to increase their fluency or read like they talk. On the first day of a new leveled passage, the teacher listens to the student read and makes note of any words that the students may have stumbled on. These words are then written on to flashcards. The student will read the flashcards to the teacher at the beginning and end of each session. When they have read these words easily and quickly during five sessions, the word is retired. New words can be added to the flashcards as the student increase their number of words with each read. Students are initially told to continue reading if they come to a word they do not know. While Precision Reading comes with set passages, in the past I have used its format to create my own passages to allow students to preview vocabulary for upcoming books that we are using in language arts, science and social studies. 7

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Module 3 Case Study

This would be a tier 3 intervention as Asher would work one-on-one with his teacher or educational assistant. His DRA showed that he is reading shorter phrases most of the time. By focusing on fluency and accuracy, he will further increase his comprehension and feel more at ease when reading. Being able to preview new content area texts will help him develop the necessary vocabulary which will hopefully infuse his writing with better word choice. As well, the bar graph will help him visualize his progress and make it concrete thus keeping him motivated. As Asher is working well below grade level, this should be used as long as he is making progress. Precision Reading is much like a running record so this will be a streamlined connection to the progress monitoring that will be put into place.

Intervention #2 Success Maker Success Maker is an instructional computer program that can individualize learning for students in reading and math. The program is correlated to the Western and Northern Canadian Protocol standards (the curriculum that all western provinces and northern territories follow in Canada). It provides students with one-on-one instruction that is personalized based on their needs. Success Maker can be tailored to meet specific needs of students in an engaging manner that motivates them to learn. By tracking and monitoring student progress, the program provides teachers with data to inform instruction and ensures students are working at their level of understanding. When used regularly, Success Maker provides students with a continual review of necessary skills, this is important for students with cognitive delays. Students read leveled passages and answer different types of questions (multiple choice, true or false), spell words, fill in missing words and play word games. I am recommending that Asher complete three, 15 minute sessions of Success Maker weekly. Comprehension and vocabulary are two areas of struggle for this student and this computer program will provide him with the opportunity to reinforce what he is learning in class and small groups. He will 8

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Module 3 Case Study

benefit from the vocabulary, spelling and comprehension components to help maintain his current levels of understanding and provide him with practice of new skills. This would be a tier 3 intervention as Asher would complete it individually. Success Maker automatically tailors itself to each individual students needs, all students in the class could benefit from this program. It would provide the teacher with the necessary time to work with smaller groups. This data-driven program will provide Ashers teacher with updates so that classroom instruction can be focused or refocused based on his needs. Once again, this program will be used as long as Asher is demonstrating growth.

Intervention Plan for Asher Grade Level: Grade Six, functioning at grade three in Language Arts Subject: Language Arts Objective and Goals: to develop and apply vocabulary skills to develop and apply comprehension skills independently

Time: As long as necessary. We will monitor Ashers progress monthly to ensure he is making learning gains. His teacher will also use our districts mandated assessments to gain insight into the development of specific areas and observe his overall language arts development. Anticipatory Set: It is essential to Ashers success to provide time for the constant review of skills. By providing him with opportunities to make predictions, discuss his schema and review previously learned skills, his progress can be monitored and he will connect new information to older knowledge. As well, this time can be used to observe Ashers progress and determine which skills he has mastered or require more time with.

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Module 3 Case Study

Interventions: 1. Asher will work daily with an educational assistant to complete Precision Reading. This five minute intervention will allow Asher to develop his fluency and accuracy by rereading passages. As well, he will preview texts that will be used for his guided reading group, science and social studies. Daily progress monitoring is built into precision reading as the number of words read in a minute is recorded in a bar graph. In addition, a running record and retelling from National Geographics Windows on Literacy will be administered monthly to ensure that Asher is applying the skills learned in Precision Reading when reading different types of texts. 2. Asher will complete three, 15 minutes sessions of Success Maker weekly. This time will allow him to practice new skills learned and continually review older ones. Progress reports can be printed monthly to monitor Ashers progress. As well, he should be observed during guided reading to determine whether he is able to transfer these skills to different situations.

Assessment: We will continue to gain data regarding Ashers progress as he participates in the following language arts assessments: Developmental Reading Assessment and District Wide Write. These assessments are administered three times a year to help teachers learn important information about their students. This information will help with planning and provide insight into Ashers overall literacy development. Progress monitoring in the form of anecdotal observations, running records, retellings and skill reviews will also be used to ensure that Asher is responding to the instruction being provided. Hopefully the changes in Ashers programming will help him develop the necessary skills to become a confident reader and writer. The inclusion of formative assessment and progress monitoring will help us know if our instruction is effective and ultimately helping Asher grow.

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Module 3 Case Study

References Freeze, R. (2001). Precision reading: Instructors handbook. Winnipeg, MB: Freeze Educational Publications. http://www.precisionreading.com/

(2012). Success maker. Pearson Canada Incorporated. Retrieved from http://www.pearsoncanadaschool.com/index.cfm?locator=PS138y

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