Academic
Achievement of Elementary Students (Grades K-6) While at Mesquite ISD’s DAEP
Mesquite ISD regularly
examines student data. Special meetings after curriculum based assessments
(CBAs) were developed to assist campuses in data interpretation. Since the DAEP
is not a school of record, it was difficult to determine whether students were
being successful or not. A team was assembled to determine ways to gather and
disseminate appropriate forms of student data. This was easily accomplished at
the middle school and high school levels, as CBAs from the district were given
at the DAEP. These were compared to previous CBAs that the Learning Center
students had taken. Elementary students were more of a challenge. After much discussion it was determined that
iStation is a program that could be used to determine student growth in reading
for grades K-6). Additionally, there was a plan to use Think Through Math for
grades 3-6 to determine growth in math. However, the program has been wrought
with technical glitches which are still being worked through. Information
collected will include grade level, gender, and data results.
While at the DAEP, elementary
students (K-6) will be academically successful. It was determined that data
needed to be collected on students while at the DAEP. Administrators and teachers at the Learning
Center worked with district curriculum personnel to determine what assessment
tools would be appropriate. A decision was made to use a reading program called
iStation to assess the progress of elementary students in grades K-6 while at the
DAEP. The campus is attempting to assess math in grades 3-6 using a program
called Think Through Math. The reading
assessments are currently underway for all elementary grade levers. However,
Think Through Math has experienced multiple technical issues. If these can be
worked out, data will be gathered and assessed.
Students struggling with
reading in elementary school is currently a big concern to many educators. It has been shown that “when students get off
to a poor start in reading, they rarely catch up” (Campbell & Kelly, 2010). Theses students often face grade retention,
long term remediation, etc. Also, as
they progress through grade levels their reading gap gets larger and larger. In order to lessen this gap and help
struggling readers it is important to “consider essential instruction for at
risk readers” (Campbell & Kelly, 2010).
The goal of these programs like iStation is to “help students acquire
literacy skills” such as phonics, listening, reading comprehension, tutoring,
etc. (Campbell & Kelly, 2010). Research suggests that “reading problems are
preventable for the vast majority of students who encounter difficulty in
learning to read, if these students receive extra support in the form of an
early intervention program” (Pikluski, 1994).
The early intervention instruction that students receive should be in
addition to (not a substitute for) the instruction they receive through through
their regular classroom reading program. Early intervention programs should
“reflect a model of reading as an active, meaningful, and constructive process”
where students are”taught to monitor their reading” (Pikluski, 1994). These programs should also “offer students
special instruction on a daily basis for periods ranging from 20 to 45 minutes”
in order to ensure that “progress is steady” and also because it allows
“teachers to become very familiar with students and their strengths and needs”
(Pikluski, 1994). Results from many
successful early intervention programs show that in many cases reading problems
are preventable. The program that my DAEP is using, iStation, is mimicking best
practices. Providing reading remediation
starting early on is essential. These
early intervention programs also allow the teacher to stay up to speed on where
the child is by assessing the students different reading skills (vocabulary,
fluency, phonics, comprehension, etc.) at set intervals and any time necessary. The fact that the programs gives teachers the
ability to assess the students reading skills at any time is part of the reason
that it was decided that this program would be implemented at the Learning
Center. The early intervention program
that we use is a great indicator of growth in all areas of reading. It was
determined by central administration that we would use this program on our
campus not only to measure growth, but also because many of our students will
benefit from its use. Every student deserves to be afforded the ability to
develop into a competent reader!
I communicated plans for my
action research project to the staff at the DAEP by informing them of the need
to collect specific data. I described the program and how it was supposed to
work. The district curriculum coordinator for reading came to our campus and
gave a step-by-step demonstration on how to use iStation. She also gave each
individual a hand out with explicit instructions on how to use the program and
run data reports on each student. Because iStation is a district-based
assessment program, parents are normally informed of student growth through
progress reports and six weeks report cards. The DAEPs’ student parents receive
weekly progress reports and daily reports upon request. The scope of this
project is not community based. Students are able to visually see whether or
not they are increasing their skills in reading. This is done through the use of bar graphs
that show where each student is at on each skill level compared to the previous
time the skill was assessed.
In order to implement my
action research project I talked with the administrative officer of the Learning Center and determined that there was a need to assess
student success at our DAEP. Next, I communicated with the district curriculum
coordinator for reading and asked her to come to the campus to train the elementary
team on how to use iStation effectively and continuously run data reports on
students. I delegated myself to be the data collector and to give help to
teachers using iStation when necessary. I communicated to each teacher the
importance of running data reports on each student and making sure that the
report gets to me. I will also be disagregating and assessing the data once it
has all been collected. I will do so by putting the information into a spread
sheet with the an assigned student number, grade level, gender, and reading
data collected from start to finish while at the Learning Center. I also made
sure that the teachers know that is mandatory to have every student on iStation
each day for a minimum of 20 minutes. 20 minutes is the minimum amount of time
students can be on iStation daily in
order for the program to collect data. This project did not require additional
district funds or materials. All elementary students placed at the DAEP for
15-30 days will be assessed by their assigned campus teacher. There are six elementary teacher at the DAEP
campus responsible for collecting student data. The entire intent of this
action research project is to establish that student achievement is a priority
at the campus even though it is a student DAEP. There are no safety concerns
involved in this research project.
Communication and
collaboration were the key strategies used lead the operations of the project. I
was made aware of the need by the district and campus personnel. The need became apparent last year when the DAT group
met and began to determine that we needed to assist the elementary group with
gathering daily data on our students. I found out about that need and
decided to assist in getting out the information to all parties concerned,
getting folks trained, and monitoring and eventually sharing the information.
The elementary group at my campus meets every few weeks to discuss current and
upcoming issues. We all work together collaboratively in our DAEP program so it
was very easy to talk to the group during one of our elementary meetings about
the build consensus for using iStation and collection the necessary data. I also developed the idea by working with
district administrators and campus administrators. It was approved by both. To date, there
has been no conflict that has needed to be resolved. If something comes
up, I will discuss it with leaders first (campus and district) and then gather
the elementary team to find a solution.
This action research project will benefit
and serve the needs of all students involved. It will also benefit parents to
know whether their child is progressing or not. Also, it immediately
benefits the teacher in knowing specifically where students struggle. Knowing where a student is struggling and what
skills he/she is low in allows the teacher to individualize the instruction for
that particular student and fill in the targeted gaps. It
will allow them to focus on specific areas that they can target in their
individual lessons. This gives the teachers at the DAEP the chance to
give some one-on-one or small group instruction that campus classroom teachers
cannot easily offer. In this respect, the DAEP teachers have the
opportunity to add value to a struggling or behind student. All students
should benefit!
References
Campbell, M., & Kelly C. (2010). Helping Struggling
Readers. New Horizons for Learning.
Education Office of Research Consumer
Guide. (1992). Reading recovery. Retrieved from http://www.ed.gov/pubs/OR/ConsumerGuides/readrec.html
Gough, P.B. (1996). How children learn to
read and why they fail. Annals of Dyslexia, 46, 3-20. Juel, C. (1996).
What makes literacy tutoring effective?. Reading Research Quarterly, 31(1),
268-289.
Juel, C. (1996). What makes literacy
tutoring effective?. Reading Research Quarterly, 31(1), 268-289.
Mastropieri, M.A. & Scruggs, T.E.
(1997). Best practices in promoting reading comprehension in students with
learning disabilities: 1976-1996. Remedial and Special Education, 18, 197-213.
Pikluski, J. (1994). Preventing reading
failure: A review of five effective programs. The Reading Teacher, 48(1), 30-39.
Rashotte, C.A., Toregesen, J., & Wagner, R. (1997). Growth in
reading accuracy and fluency as a result of intensive intervention. Miami, FL:
International Dyslexia Association.
