Reader Case Study - Manchester Universityusers.manchester.edu/student/amgallahan/profweb/ReadingCaseStudy.pdfReader Case Study 9 assessment, the researcher has decided to continue

Reader Case Study

Allison Gallahan

4 December 2010

Doctor Eastman

Education 301

Reader Case Study 2

Table of Contents Part I: Background Information Student Information Pages 4-5 Assessment Information Pages 5-6 Assessment Database Page 7 Part II: Screening Assessment

Interpretation of Screening Assessment Pages 8-9 Plan of Action: Text Information Pages 9-10 Plan of Action: Lesson Plans Pages 10-15 Plan of Action: Parent/Teacher Letter Page 15

Part III: Lessons Lesson 1 Pages 16-17 Lesson 2 Pages 17-19 Lesson 3 Pages 19-21 Lesson 4 Pages 21-22 Lesson 5 Pages 22-23 Part IV: Impact on Learning Interpretation of Assessment Results Pages 24-25 Interpretations of Student Work Samples Page 25 Interpretations of Student’s Behavior Changes Page 25 Part V: Researcher’s Growth Reflections Changes in Teaching Page 26 Relationship between Assessment and Instruction Page 26

Ability to Analyze and Interpret Data Page 27 Ability to Utilize Data in Instruction Page 27 Ability to Analyze and Interpret Student Work Page 27 Ability to Design Effective Reading Instruction Page 28 Future Goals Relating to Reading Instruction Page 28

Supplements Pages 29-37 References Page 38

Reader Case Study 3

Abstract

The following case study documents the work of one researcher who spent time teaching

five, intensive reading lesson aimed at improving a second grade, female student’s fluency

ability. The researcher will outline and explain all of the steps of instruction planning and

implementation. The research will also reflect on the data created from this study as well as the

how the student changed after implementation of instruction. Lastly, the research will reflect on

her own professional growths attained from this case study.

Reader Case Study 4

Part 1: Background Information

The following section will provide the needed background information. The researcher

divides the material into two categories: student and assessment. Data on the student will

involve grade level, socio-economic status, matter related to family history, the reader’s hobbies,

and data taken directly from the student’s school reading file. Information about the assessments

will consist of goal of the test, date the test will be given, and an explanation of why each the test

was selected. An understanding of the components of this section will allow readers to grasp the

material throughout the rest of the case study easily.

Part 1: Student Background Information

For this case study, the researcher, with help from the student’s classroom teacher,

selected a seven-year-old female to undergo intensive reading instruction. The second grader

comes from a large family. She has five siblings, some who are older and some younger than the

subject. Her family will grow in a few months when her mother remarries and three additional

brothers will join her family. The family resides in a house in the city limits of North

Manchester and participates in the free/reduced lunch program. In her spare time, the subject

enjoys riding her bike and playing with dolls.

When the researcher asked the student how she felt about reading, the information she

received was positive. The student enjoys reading and while her teacher suggests fluency be the

main area of concentration, the student did not feel she had any profound weakness in the

subject. After obtaining written permission from the student’s mother, the research was able to

look at and make a copy of the student’s Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) results

from her second grade year as well as other diagnostic tests (Figure 1). Her scores indicate that

this student is in the first percentile with a RIT score of 152 in reading. The area in which her

Reader Case Study 5

reading scores were the highest was comprehension while her area of weakness was word

recognition and vocabulary. While I will use this information of the students weakness to add

depth to my lessons. The primary focus will be fluency because that is what the teacher has

requested I center my attention on in my lessons.

Part 1: Assessment Background Information

As mentioned previously, the key focus of the student’s intervention will be fluency, the

research will however, add vocabulary building and comprehension into the lessons in order to

create depth and protect the student from becoming only a word caller. Increasing the student’s

fluency will be the primary goal of the intervention. While the screening and outcome-based

assessments will include a comprehension check, the progress monitoring as well as core of the

lessons will center on increasing fluency.

Again, the three stages of assessment are screening, progress monitoring, and outcome-

based. Each assessment has its own purpose and goal, however, all are similar enough that the

researcher will be able to compare and contrast the results without skewing or misrepresenting

the data when creating a graph utilizing excel spreadsheet. The goal of the screening assessment

will be to provide a baseline for the intervention. The researcher needs to be able to prove that

the required instruction is beneficial and that the student receiving the assistance develops her

skills, to do this the establishment of a baseline is necessary. The second form of assessment,

the progress monitoring, is also essential to the outcome of this case study. The student’s time in

valuable and therefore, accurate progress monitoring will allow the research to prove the

instructional time is not being wasted. This assessment is simple and fast enough that testing

will occur after each session. The third assessment is the outcome-based assessment. This test

will be the same type of analysis as the baseline assessment. This will clearly show how much

Reader Case Study 6

the student grew in her fluency skills over the course of five lessons. Each of the three types of

assessment play an integral role in the effective of this study and specific explanations of each

assessment are in the following paragraphs.

The assessments the research choose to use for both the screening and outcome based

tests are the same. The student will read a short seventy-one word passage for time and then

answer questions about comprehension and vocabulary. While the student is reading, the

researcher will also be conducting a running record. As a way to demonstrate significant student

growth, the researcher will use a first grade reading level for the first assessment and a second

grade reading level passage for the outcome based. The researcher will quickly be able to see the

student’s skills and/or deficiencies in fluency as well as the other sub- concentrates by timing

how long it takes for the student to read the passages as well as by asking comprehension and

word-based questions. The research selected this type of assessment because it would quickly

provide the necessary information. Time with this student is critical because of how

arrangements with the teacher occurred; therefore, it was imperative that the assessments chosen

would provide quick feedback. The dates of the tests are as follows: Screening—September 21,

2010 and Outcome Based— October 1, 2010.

The assessment chosen by the researcher to monitor progress is solely based on time. The

student will again read a short passage of seventy-one words at a second grade reading level.

The researcher will focus only on how quickly the student can read the passage and will ask no

questions about the text. This test will be ongoing and repeated using the same passage each

time. The dates for this assessment are September 23, 28, and the 30th.

Reader Case Study 7

Part I: Assessment Database R

efer

ence

In

form

atio

n

(Ras

insk

i, 20

04)

(Ind

ivid

ual

fluen

cy

asse

ssm

ent)

(Wol

lman

)

Info

rmat

ion

Prov

ided

This

will

tell

the

teac

her w

hat t

he

stud

ent’s

read

ing

leve

l is w

hen

it co

mes

to fl

uenc

y.

This

will

tell

the

teac

her t

he

read

ing

leve

l of

the

stud

ent a

s w

ell a

s his

/her

re

adin

g sp

eed.

This

will

tell

the

teac

her

whe

re th

e st

uden

t sta

nd in

co

rrel

atio

n to

hi

s/he

r pee

rs.

Whe

n to

Use

This

shou

ld

be d

one

thre

e tim

es a

yea

r: be

ginn

ing,

m

iddl

e, a

nd

end.

This

shou

ld

be d

one

each

gr

adin

g pe

riod.

This

shou

ld

be d

one

thre

e tim

es a

yea

r; in

the

fall,

w

inte

r, an

d sp

ring.

How

to U

se

OFA

shou

ld b

e ad

min

iste

red

one-

on-o

ne

usin

g gr

ade-

leve

l pas

sage

s. T

he te

ache

r w

ill ti

me

for o

ne m

inut

es st

artin

g w

hen

the

stud

ent b

egin

s, th

ree

diff

eren

t tim

es a

nd

mak

ing

the

sam

e ru

nnin

g re

cord

not

es.

Then

, the

teac

her w

ill fi

nd th

e m

edia

n of

th

e sc

ores

, whi

ch w

ill te

ll if

the

stud

ent i

s ab

ove,

bel

ow, o

r on

grad

e le

vel.

Stud

ents

will

read

as m

uch

of th

e pa

ssag

e as

pos

sibl

e in

a tw

o m

inut

es.

Each

par

agra

ph o

f the

pas

sage

co

rres

pond

s to

a gr

ade

leve

l; th

e fir

st

para

grap

h is

firs

t gra

de, t

he se

cond

is

seco

nd g

rade

, etc

. Th

e te

ache

r mar

ks

the

pass

age

as h

e/sh

e w

ould

a ru

nnin

g re

cord

.

Stud

ents

’ flu

ency

and

com

preh

ensi

on sk

ills

are

asse

ssed

thro

ugh

dire

ct a

sses

smen

t of

basi

c sk

ills.

Gra

de

1st-8

th

Gra

de

1st-7

th

Gra

de

1st-8

th

Gra

de

Nam

e

Ora

l Flu

ency

A

sses

smen

t

“Pet

s” F

luen

cy

Ass

essm

ent o

r In

divi

dual

Fl

uenc

y A

sses

smen

t

Cur

ricul

um

Bas

ed

Mea

sure

men

t

Reader Case Study 8

Part II: Screening Assessment

After interpreting the results of the screening assessment given on September 21, 2010,

the researcher will provide a plan of action for the intervention lessons designed especially for

the second grade student, currently scoring greatly below grade level in reading. The lessons

will center on a text, which the researcher will go into detail about in the following part. In

addition, the included graphic organizer breaks the text down into smaller, individual lessons.

Lastly, as part of the researcher’s goal to keep in close contact with both the parents and teacher

of the student, the intentions, and purpose of a letter are included.

Part II: Interpretations of Screening Assessment

The researcher found that fluency is indeed a weakness for the student. Reading the

seventy-one word passage took three minutes and forty-five seconds to complete. This said, the

research concluded that the student averaged about nineteen words per minute. Nineteen words

per minute signifies a significant weakness. According to Reading Rockets, a well-known

reading resource for reading instruction, by the end of first grade students should be able to read

about sixty words per minute. The fact that this student was unable to read even half of that

indicates to the researcher that the teacher was correct in asking that fluency become the key

focal point of this study.

The other goal of the screening assessment was to check comprehension and overall

reading level of the student. The researcher found that reading the first grade passage level was

also at independent reading level. While the student did not read the material quickly, she read it

with a high rate of accuracy. She answered four out of five comprehension questions correctly

and only made four errors, two of which she self-corrected. After reviewing the results of this

Reader Case Study 9

assessment, the researcher has decided to continue with the prior plans to use a second grade

level passage for the progress monitoring and outcome based assessments.

The researcher has decided to scan the screening assessment in the supplemental section

of this case study, located under the heading of Figure 2. When analyzing the screening test, the

research found that the student did indeed read extremely slowly. However, she did read the

words correctly and had no major comprehension problems. This screening shows the need for

fluency skill practice and the researcher has created a plan of action for the intervention lessons.

Part II: Plan of Action: Text Information

As mentioned above, the researcher will use one text as a foundation for the lessons.

Instead of focusing on a trade book, the researcher chose to use a readers’ theater, entitled Doris:

A Dog’s Life. This choice was rooted in research suggesting readers’ theater have a profound

effect on increasing fluency (Jennifer O. Prescott, 2003). The bullets below highlight this

information.

• Title: Doris: A Dog’s Life from Yo, Aesop! Get a Load of These Fables

• Author: Paul Rosenthal

• Copyright: Not Available

• Summary: This is a readers’ theater based on one of Aesop’s fables. Readers begin to

follow Dog when a young girl, named Doris, adopts him. However, instead of taking

care of the animal the girl does nothing. Things start to change for Dog when he his fur

becomes full of flees and he finally manages to knock one out of his fur. While Dog’s

first instinct is to kill Flee, however, Flee convinces the dog he can be helpful. The first

thing Flee does is makes Dog laugh. Then, Flee saves Dog from the pound. By the end

Reader Case Study 10

of the play, Dog decides that while Flee may be small, he is a great friend and can be

much help.

• Graphic Organizer: (See figure 6) The goal of the graphic organizer is to help the student

understand and remember the story. The student is familiar with using graphic organizers

to help make sense of the story; therefore, time will not need to be spent teaching the

student how to use one. While the researcher’s goal is to be able to read the entire story

at one point, however it may not occur because of time. Additionally, the graphic

organizer will be an important tool for the student to remember the story line between

meetings. It will also help the student to read between the lines and understand the moral

of this short play. This graphic organizer will be used throughout all of the lessons.

Part II: Plan of Action: Lesson Plans

Lesson One

Outline:

Familiar Reading: The Ocean by Michele Dufresne

Mini Lesson: The strategy for this lesson is echo reading. The researcher will use

a think aloud from this text and having the student read the same section back.

The researcher will also comment on any words that may be difficult and figure

out how to pronounce the words correctly prior to reading.

Practice Time: The researcher will have the student use the book The Ocean for

this task. The researcher and the student will take turns echo reading until the

researching is comfortable reading the material. When the student finishes

reading after a few minutes the researcher will have the student reflect on whether

or not this strategy is useful or not and explain why.


Introduce New Text: The researcher will introduce the readers’ theater, Doris: A

Dog’s Life. The researcher and student will read the first page to reinforce the

idea of echo reading and reading quickly to make the story make sense.

Give Assignment: The researcher asked the student to read aloud for at least

fifteen minutes and concentrate on reading fluently, even if that meant rereading a

sentence until it sounded smooth.

Goals:

+ Student will become familiar with the layout and goals of the lessons.

+ Student will begin to use and become familiar with the previewing strategy to increase

fluency.

Lesson Two

Outline:

Familiar Reading: Doris: A Dog’s Life (Readers’ Theater)

Mini Lesson: The strategy for this lesson will be previewing the text. The

researcher will use a think aloud for this text by looking over the book while the

student watches. The researcher will also comment on any words that may be

difficult and figure out how to pronounce the words correctly prior to reading.

Practice Time: For the practice time this time, the student will use the progress

monitoring assessment. The researcher believes that this is not too soon because

this progress monitoring will be given multiple times throughout the lessons. The

student will be given a few minutes to preview the text and ask any questions she

has. Then, when she is ready, the researcher will time how long it takes her to

read the passage.


Introduce New Text: The researcher and student will continue to read, Doris: A

Dog’s Life. While reading, the researcher will give the student more guided

practice time in using both reading strategies. The researcher and student will

discuss and fill in the characters and setting portion of the graphic organizer after

reading the second page. Which the student should be able to do because all of

the characters have been introduced and the students has shown no problems with

her comprehension skills.

Give Assignment: The researcher asked the student to read aloud for at least

fifteen minutes and concentrate on reading fluently, even if that meant rereading a

sentence until it sounded smooth.

Goals:

+ Student will continue to use and become more familiar with the previewing strategy

when it comes to increasing fluency.

+ The researcher will see give the progress based monitoring assessment and the student

will increase her words per minute.

Lesson Three


Mini Lesson: The strategy for this lesson will again be previewing the text. The

researcher will use a think aloud for this text by looking over the book while the student

watches. The researcher will also comment on any words that may be difficult and figure

out how to pronounce the words correctly prior to reading.


monitoring assessment. The student will be given a few minutes to preview the text and


ask any questions she has. Then, when she is ready, the researcher will time how long it

takes her to read the passage. Upon completion of this assessment, the researcher will

take a few moments to revisit the text and have the student echo read any areas of the text

where she did not read with appropriate phrasing, structure, or expression.

Introduce New Text: The researcher and student will continue to read, Doris: A Dog’s

Life. While reading, the researcher will give the student more guided practice time. The

researcher and student will discuss and fill in the setting portion of the graphic organizer

after reading the third page.

Give Assignment: The researcher asked the student to read aloud for at least fifteen

minutes and concentrate on reading fluently, even if that meant rereading a sentence until

it sounded smooth.

Goals:


when it comes to increasing fluency and be able to explain when it should be used.



Lesson Four


Mini Lesson: The strategy for this lesson will again be previewing the text. The student

will do the think aloud this time. The student will ask questions of the text while she is

looking it over and when she is finished the researcher will answer any questions she was

unable to answer or point out anything she felt was missed.


Practice Time: For the practice time this time, the student will again use the progress



takes her to read the passage.



researcher and student will discuss and fill in the “What happens” portion of the graphic

organizer after reading the forth page.



it sounded smooth.

Goals:

+ Student will continue to use and become more familiar with the previwing strategy

when it comes to increasing fluency and be able to explain when it should be used.



Lesson Five







Practice Time: For the practice time this time, the student will use the readers’ theater.

The researcher and student will continue to try to work through the theater until they

finish it.



researcher and student will discuss and fill in the “What is the author trying to say”

purpose portion of the graphic organizer after reading the fifth page.



it sounded smooth. The researcher will also give the student the readers’ theater as well

as the graphic organizer to take home and share with her family.

Goal:


when it comes to increasing fluency.


Part III: Lessons

While the researcher had created a plan for the intervention lessons with the second grade

student, many changes had to occur. For example, while the student’s teacher had given the

researcher contact with the student for twenty-five minutes, the actual time with the student was

closer to fifteen by the time the student got through the breakfast line. Another problem, the

researcher ran into was that while the goal of the time was for the researcher and student to work

on increasing fluency, the researcher also had to allow time for the student to eat breakfast.

These two matters complicated the lessons however, as evident by the outcome-based

assessment; the student did increase her fluency. Below are the actually outlines for each lesson

as well as the researchers quick reflection.

Part III: Lesson 1

Actual Lesson Outline:

Familiar Reading: The Ocean by Michele Dufresne

Mini Lesson: The strategy for this lesson is echo reading. The researcher will use a think

aloud from this text and having the student read the same section back. The researcher

will also comment on any words that may be difficult and figure out how to pronounce

the words correctly prior to reading.

Practice Time: The researcher will have the student use the book The Ocean for this task.

The researcher and the student will take turns echo reading until the researching is

comfortable reading the material. When the student finishes reading after a few minutes

the researcher will have the student reflect on whether or not this strategy is useful or not

and explain why.


Introduce New Text: The researcher will introduce the readers’ theater, Doris: A Dog’s

Life. The researcher and student only had time to look at the script. There was not time

to read any part of it.

Give Assignment: The researcher asked the student to read out loud for at least fifteen


it sounded smooth.

Student Work Sample: The researcher asked the student to write an answer to the question

below. (See figure 5)

Question: What is you reading goal?

Answer: My reading goal is to read faster.

Reflection:

The researcher ran short on time for this lesson and would have liked to do more with the

readers’ theater. Next time, the researcher will be giving the first progress monitoring

assessment so it is possible that time will again run short. Additionally, the student was

shy and quiet. It was difficult to get her to answer questions. It is the researcher’s hope

that she will open up and relax as the lesson progress. Lastly, the student did not seem to

like echo reading. The researcher will try a new strategy, previewing the text, for the

next lesson with hopes that it is more attractive for the student.

Progress Monitoring Comments:

The progress monitoring assessment was not given as part of this lesson.

Part III: Lesson 2




Mini Lesson: The strategy for this lesson will be previewing the text. The researcher will

use a think aloud for this text by looking over the book while the student watches. The

researcher will also comment on any words that may be difficult and figure out how to

pronounce the words correctly prior to reading.


monitoring assessment. The researcher believes that this is not too soon because this

progress monitoring will be given multiple times throughout the lessons. The student will

be given a few minutes to preview the text and ask any questions she has. Then, when

she is ready, the researcher will time how long it takes her to read the passage.


Life. While reading, the researcher will give the student more guided practice time in

using both reading strategies. The researcher and student will discuss and fill in the

characters and setting portion of the graphic organizer after reading the second page.

Which the student should be able to do because all of the characters have been introduced

and the students has shown no problems with her comprehension skills.



it sounded smooth.

Work Sample:

Graphic Organizer: Characters portion (See Figure 6)

Reflection:

The researcher was able to fit most of the outline into the lesson. The only part that was

cut short was the reading. Instead of being able to read both page one and page two, they


were only able to read page one. The researcher hopes that there will be extra time in

another lesson and the researcher will be able to catch up with the lessons. The student

responded much better to previewing the text than she did to echo reading. However, the

researcher will return to echo reading next week so she learns that echo reading can be

used for different types of text. The researcher is very pleased with how well the progress

monitoring went and believes that previewing the text placed a large part in the high

results.


The student was able to read the text in two minutes and seven seconds. The student was

able to cut over a minute and forty seconds off her time by previewing the text prior to

reading. The words she asked questions about were “Marco,” “Teresa,” “cartoons,” and

“remember.” She read at a rate of thirty-six words-per-minute.

Part III: Lesson 3



Mini Lesson: The strategy for this lesson will again be echo reading and previewing. The

researcher will use a think aloud for this text by looking over the book while the student

watches. The researcher will also comment on any words that may be difficult and figure

out how to pronounce the words correctly prior to reading. The student will also do

some echo reading.








researcher and student will discuss and fill in the setting portion of the graphic organizer

after reading the third page.



it sounded smooth. The student was also asked to finish the sentence: My reading goal is.

Work Sample:

Graphic Organizer: Setting Portion (See Figure 6)

Student Work: (Researcher served as a scribe.) (See Figure 5)

Question: Did this lesson help? Did you enjoy it more than echo reading?

Answer: Yes. It’s boring. Do we [researcher and student] have to keep doing it?

Reflection:

Overall, this lesson went well. Time was once again short however, everything that

needed to be accomplished was. The graphic organizer is a great took for these lessons

because it helps the student remember what the previous pages were about in the readers’

theater. This will also be the last time that the student is asked to echo read as part of

these lessons. She does not like to do it and I do not believe it helps her much. She has

no problem reading with expression when she knows what she is reading.



The student increased her speed. This time it took her only one minute and forty-nine

seconds to read the passage, which is over twenty seconds faster than her first time. The

student only asked about the words “cartoon” and “remember.” Her reading speed was

forty-two words-per-minute.

Part III: Lesson 4







Practice Time: For the practice time this time, the student will again use the progress






researcher and student will discuss and fill in the “What happens” portion of the graphic

organizer after reading the forth page.



it sounded smooth.


Work Sample:

Graphic Organizer: “What Happens” Portion (See Figure 6)

Reflection:

Today was a very good day. The student is enjoying the readers’ theaters and is using

more expression, speed, and accuracy when reading. She is also able to follow the story

very well even though we have to stop after each page. The researcher is thankful that

the lessons are close together or the student may have a much harder time remembering

everything.


The student again increased her speed. This time it only took her one minute and ten

seconds to read the passage. The student did not need help with any of the words prior to

reading. This time the student read sixty-five words-per-minute.

Part III: Lesson 5







Practice Time: For the practice time this time, the student will use the readers’ theater.

The researcher and student will continue to try to work through the theater until they

finish it.




researcher and student will discuss and fill in the “What was the author trying to say”

portion of the graphic organizer after reading the fifth page.



it sounded smooth. The researcher will also give the student the readers’ theater as well

as the graphic organizer to take home and share with her family.

Work Sample:

Graphic Organizer: “What was the author trying to say” (See Figure 6)

Student Word: The researcher asked the student to write an answer to the question below.

(See figure 5)

Question: What are two ways you can work on fluency alone?

Answer: 1.) read fast 2.) learn how to read

Reflection:

The researcher was very pleased with this lesson and believes the student is ready for the

post assessment. The student shows growth in her reading ability as well as her attitude

towards reading. The student commented today, that is sad that the extra reading time is

almost over. The only troubling part for the research is that the student does not seem to

believe she can read. When the researcher asked the student about her answer, she

responded that she needed to continue to work so that she knew more words when she is

reading.


The progress monitoring assessment was not given as part of this lesson.


Part IV: Impact on Learning

As alluded to previously, the researcher did see an increase in the second graders speed

and fluency throughout the lessons, which demonstrate a positive impact on learning. The

researcher was able to analyze multiple elements over the course of the seven meetings in order

to best understand the impact of the student’s learning and growth. In the follow section, the

research will describe how the student saw vast growth in each of the following three areas,

assessment results, student work samples, and changes in student behavior.

Part IV: Interpretation of Assessment Results

The following interpretation of assessment results refer to the tables on figure 7.

The results of the overall study shows the teaching was effective. The student increased

her words-per-minute from nineteen to thirty-seven in just five lessons. While the student is still

reading slower than the sixty words by Reading Rockets, she is making progress. The researcher

believes if the student’s classroom teaching continues to work with the student and teach her

more strategies and if the student continues to read on her own, she will see an increase in

reading speed.

After creating the chart the researcher was also able to make some theories about why the

student experienced such a great leap from nineteen to thirty-seven words-per-minute. The

researcher believes that comfort played a key role in it. For example, the student was nervous

the first time she worked with the researcher and while they spent time getting to know each

other it may not have been enough. By the time it was appropriate to do the outcome based

assessment the student was excited to be the subject of a thirty plus page paper and therefore

much more comfortable about the researcher.


Another factor that played a role is the success of the learned strategies. The student took

to both strategies that were taught. She was already familiar with echo reading and was very

successful when practicing it. She also took quickly to the idea of pre-reading or skimming for

challenging words. By doing this in the lessons her perception of reading improved and she

enjoyed it more.

Part IV: Interpretations of Student Work Samples

The students work samples can be found on figure 5. Because of how the researcher had

to set up the intervention session with the student, the researcher and student were only able to

discuss the graphic organizer. The researcher served as a scribe as the student answered the

questions. The graphic organizer used during instruction can be found under Figure 6c and the

student work can be found.

Part IV: Interpretations of Student’s Behavior Changes

Throughout the sessions, the student became more open and excited for her encounters

with the researcher. At first the student was hesitant to try new things but by the second lesson

the student was excited to learn. She also quickly caught on to echo reading and was able to

successfully use the previewing skill we discussed. Additionally, the researcher is in the

classroom with the student once a week and has seen the student thrive. She is open to any

reading strategy suggested and is reading outside of school. While she is still behind many of

her peers she is catching up and is just one level behind where she should be as a second grader.

Both her mother and teacher are pleased with the progress she is making and believe that the

intensive reading instruction with the researcher is part of the reason for her success.


Part V: Researcher’s Growth Reflections

The student was not the only one to grow and develop over the course of this project.

The research also grew in many ways. The researcher was able to grow and test many teaching

philosophies and methods and gain a deeper understanding of the relationship between

assessment and instruction. The researcher was also able to strength her ability to analyze,

interpret, and utilize data and student work as part of the instructional process. Lastly, the

researcher has a better understanding of how to design and implement effective reading

instruction. Below are the researcher’s personal growth reflections involving numerous parts of

the study.

Part V: Changes in Teaching

The biggest thing the researcher learned was the need to be flexible when teaching. The

researcher had to work with the student during her breakfast time and could not keep her out of

class for very long. The student still benefited from instruction it was just vital for the researcher

to be flexible with her plans and very organized. There was no time to be unorganized because

the instruction time was already barely hitting the minimum. While the researcher is an

organized person generally, this project really pushed the researcher to stay organized constantly

and always remain flexible.

Part V: Relationship between Assessment and Instruction

This case study only reinforced the belief of the researcher that there is a strong

connection between assessment and instruction. By completing this project, the researcher was

able to see just how strong that link is. How well my student did on the assessment related

directly to how complete the instruction was.


Part V: Ability to Analyze and Interpret Data

The ability to analyze and interpret data was paramount in this case study. Without an

understanding of how to do these two things, instruction would have suffered greatly. Because

the researcher has not analyzed or interpreted data often, the researcher carefully chose a form of

assessment that would be easier to interpret. Doing this allowed the researcher to focus more on

the fundamental elements of this project rather than figuring out how to analyze or interpret data.

Party V: Ability to Utilize Data in Instruction

Other than for one other assignment, the research has never before utilized data to plan

instruction. As a future teacher, the researcher understands the importance of this and

appreciates the opportunities to practice these skills. The researcher used the data she learned

during the screening assessment to plan, design, and instruct. She also used data to make sure

her lessons were having the desired affect and not just wasting her time and the student’s time.

The ability to utilize data to drive instruction allowed this case study to be a positive, learning

experience for both the researcher and the student.

Part V: Ability to Analyze and Interpret Student Work

The researcher spent a great deal of time analyzing and interpreting the students work.

She learned how to look at errors with more scrutiny in order to discover why the student was

making the mistakes. Developing this skill has been very helpful because the researcher has

analyzed student work each day in her placement. She has spent time, just as she did during this

case study, trying to figure out why the students were making errors. Were they making errors

just because they were rushing or because they are missing a fundamental part of the learning

process. By completing this case study, the researcher has begun to develop the ability to

analyze and interpret student work.


Part V: Ability to Design Effective Reading Instruction

This was the researcher first real opportunity to design effective reading instruction for a

specific student. Overall, the experience went well and was successful for both the student and

the researcher however; the researcher believes that future reading instruction will go even

smoother. In fact, the researcher has drawn on what she learned during the process of writing

this case study when she teaches guided reading during her current placement. This research

document has given the researcher more of the background knowledge and skill-base that will

help her to become a successful teacher during reading instruction.

Part V: Future Goals Relating to Reading Instruction

Upon completion of this case study, the researcher is interested in learning more about

reading instruction. She wants to know how to and be prepared to be able to assist her students

in the best possible, quickest ways possible. That said the researcher is interested in attending

professional workshops and reading book about the subject.


Supplement Materials

Figure 1:


Figure 2:

Screening Assessment


Figure 3:

Progress Monitoring Assessment


Figure 4:

Outcome Based Assessment


Figure 5a: Lesson 1


Figure 5b: Lesson 2


Figure 5c: Lesson 3


Figure 6a

Graphic Organizer: Key


Figure 6b

Graphic Organizer Blank


Figure 6c

Graphic Organizer used for Instruction


Figure 7

Data Analysis

19

37

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Screening Outcome Based

Words per M

inute

Screening vs. Outcome Based

3642

65

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Time 2 Time 3 Time 4

Words per M

inute

Progess‐Monitoring Data


References

Fluency. (n.d.). In Reading Rockets: Reading comprehension & language arts teaching

strategies for kids. Retrieved November 28, 2010, from

http://www.readingrockets.org/firstyear/fyt.php?CAT=11

Individual Fluency Assessment. Teaching Reading Strategies. Retrieved November 28, 2010,

from http://penningtonpublishing.com/assessments/Fluency%20Assessment.pdf

The Power of Reader's Theater. (n.d.). In Scholastic.com. Retrieved November 28, 2010, from

http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/instructor/readerstheater.htm

Rasinski, T. V. (2004). Assessing Reading Fluency. Pacific Resources for Education and

Learning. Retrieved November 28, 2010, from

http://www.prel.org/products/re_/assessing-fluency.pdf

Silvaroli, J. & Wheelock, W. (2003). Classroom reading inventory. New York, NY: McGraw-

Hill Companies.

Wollman (n.d.). Fluency Assessment and Fluency Resources. In Mrs. Wollman's Kindergarten

Pages. Retrieved November 28, 2010, from

http://sw031.k12.sd.us/fluency_assessment_and_fluency_r.htm

Documents

Reader Case Study - Manchester Universityusers.manchester.edu/student/amgallahan/profweb/ReadingCaseStudy.pdfReader Case Study 9 assessment, the researcher has decided to continue