Lockard Problem of Practice Script

SLIDE 1
My Problem of practice focused on evaluating early reader instruction through the use of
Letterland programing. Our school has been requiring teachers to use Letterland for a
few years now in both kindergarten and 1st grade and has provided it to second grade
teachers as an instruction option.

SLIDE 2
My evaluation focused on Kindergarten and 1st grade, since second grade was not
consistently implementing the program. Ultimately I wanted to see if Letterland was truly
improving the reading ability of students. To do this I identified the schools strategies,
desired teacher outcomes, and student outcomes.
 
SLIDE 3
The three strategies that the school implemented involved providing the teachers with
professional development through the district or Letterland, the Letterland materials
themselves, and allowing for teachers to have an uninterrupted block in the day for
Letterland instruction.
 
SLIDE 4
The teachers were given the autonomy to follow the curriculum as appropriate for their
classroom in regards to their scheduled and length of Letterland instruction. During their
instruction block they were to use the the Letterland materials such as characters,
blending strategies, and action tricks within the classroom.
 
SLIDE 5
The teachers use of the Letterland characters, blending strategies, and action tricks
would lead to several student outcomes. These outcomes were increased letter
recognition, phonic skills, and improved word building. Which ultimately leads to
increased reading ability.
 
SLIDE 6
Several data sources were needed in order to determine if the strategies and outcomes
were effective. The data sources for this evaluation involved both student and teacher
surveys through the use of google forms for qualitative data and components of mClass
testing for quantitative data.
 
SLIDE 7
When evaluating the strategies I found that the majority received training and found it
useful. I sought additional informational about why some were not trained and found
that mid year hires did not get training and there were also inconsistencies into when
teachers received the training as well.
 
SLIDE 8
The majority of the teachers found the materials easy to use when they had them. Only
55% of the teachers received all of the materials. After seeing this data I asked some
additional questions and determined that there was no inventory done when collecting
the items the previous years.

 
SLIDE 9
The teachers all had block of instruction for letterland but were not given set time
parameters for this block. As a result there were vast differences across the classrooms
in terms of Letterland instructional time. Some classrooms exceeded 2 hours and others
had just over a half hour.
 
SLIDE 10
The majority of the teachers stated that the characters, blending strategies, and action
tricks were used on a regular basis within the classroom. The vast majorty of teachers
found the blending strategies and characters effective. However, there were some
teachers that disagreed on the action tricks.
 
SLIDE 11
When looking at mClass data for the student outcomes there was some clear increases
in tests that correspond to phonics skills for both grades, teacher and student responses
agreed this. However, there was a decline that revolved around the ability to identify
sounds within a word.
 
SLIDE 12
The majority of teachers and students both felt that the use of letterland instructional
strategies resulted in improved student ability to recognize letters. This was reinforced
by the mean score more than doubling in kindergarten from beginning of the year to the
middle of the year.
 
SLIDE 13
The students abilities to recognize letters and letter sounds ultimately led to increases in
the ability to sound out and read words as evidenced in the increases in mClass
tests. As a result the students overall composite reading scores improved for both
kindergarten and first grade students.
 
SLIDE 14
While we saw some considerable increases in student reading ability and we could say
letterland is mostly effective. We cannot say that it has been implemented with fidelity
within the school. As a result we need to make some changes to the implementation to
ensure its future success.
 
SLIDE 15
As a result there are a few recommendations that I would institute at the school to
increase the programs effectiveness. Informing the teachers and having consistent
expectations for letterland is needed, as well as a clear PD plan for teachers, and
accountability tools for instruction and materials.
 
SLIDE 16
The teachers were given autonomy in the implementation of letterland. For future years
there is a need to communicate minimal expectations to ensure our students are being
served with fidelity. Specifically at minimum a clear block of time needs to be set and
incorporated in the master schedule.

 
SLIDE 17
As an administrative team we need to have a detailed plan to ensure our teachers are all
trained before or early in the school year. This year some teachers received training in
the middle of the year, which allowed for infidelity in implementation. We also have to
have a plan to ensure that new hires get trained as well.
 
SLIDE 18
Multiple forms of accountability must occur in order to ensure the program is being
implemented with fidelity and is sustainable for future years. First and foremost a
system or checklist for turning in or receiving the materials is necessary. Frequent
walkthroughs need to occur as well.
 
SLIDE 19
One thing I learned from this experience is that teachers are willing to offer up the story
behind their data when you ask questions after your analysis is completed. For instance
after my initial data collection and analysis, I found out teachers choose their own times
for letterland instruction.
 
SLIDE 20
Finding data sources is the easy part of the process, schools have so many data
sources that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. However, sometimes when using
existing sources there may be gaps or times when certain groups don’t have to test,
which impacts you evaluation plan.