This document discusses investigating mid-year reading growth data. It emphasizes that data represents students and teachers should treat data ethically. When analyzing data, teachers should ensure assessments are scored correctly and look at multiple sources to understand what the data means. The example of student Reese shows how a teacher used running records, homework logs, observation, and a student conference to discover the real issue was Reese reading books above her level, not just inference questions. This demonstrates triangulating data to best understand student needs and determine the proper instructional response.

1. INVESTIGATING MID-YEAR DATA – READING GROWTH

2. The numbers in your trackers are more
than just numbers
They represent the
achievements of
the young men
and women you
teach. They
represent people.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Student_in_Class_(3618969705).jpg

3. As you use these data it is incumbent on you to
think about what those numbers stand for
And as you act
upon data it is
your obligation to
take ethical and
responsible
actions
https://www.jisc.ac.uk/blog/enhancing-student-services-with-digital-engagement-11-jun-2015

4. In addition to treating your data with care, mid-year is a great
time to step back and deepen your understanding of your data

5. How do you know your
data are signaling the
right message?

6. Let’s keep looking at reading growth data.
But where did these data come from?

7. to understand your data
is to understand the
quality of your
assessment scoring

8. A data-literate teacher may ask…
How well have our
running records been
scored according to
testing guidelines?
http://readingandwritingproject.org/resources/assessments/running-records

9. Only to find that…
a few students have
“passed” reading
levels with almost
right comprehension
question answers.
http://readingandwritingproject.org/resources/assessments/running-records

10. A data-literate teacher may ask…
Who has
administered all of
my assessments?
http://readingandwritingproject.org/resources/assessments/running-records

11. Only to find that…
multiple teachers
administered the
assessments, and that
these teachers were
slightly off in their score
norming.
http://readingandwritingproject.org/resources/assessments/running-records

12. A data-literate teacher
uses this information to
improve future scoring of
her assessments, and
deepen her
understanding of the
data in her tracker

13. Your assessment template provides guidance for
how you can investigate the quality of your data

14. If we are trying to discern
if our data are signaling
the right message, we
probably also want to
look beyond our trackers
and assessments

15. Let’s look at some reading growth data,
focusing in on individual student performance
Reese is struggling. Her reading level didn’t increase during the last round, even though
she was made progress earlier this year.

16. What could be going on
here?

17. A closer look at Reese’s running records show that
comprehension is what is holding her back
An even closer look at her assessments shows that Reese is struggling with inference
questions.
http://connect.readingandwritingproject.org/file/download?google_drive_document_id=0B7BccMltK6LqendPTFBGSzB3Rmc

18. Sounds like Reese
needs more help with
inference questions…

19. Or does it?
Or does it?

20. Reese’s teacher decided to look at other
assessment data to see what was going on
A review of Reese’s daily reader’s response journals shows a limited understanding of
what she has read each day.
https://www.pexels.com/photo/girl-reading-a-notebook-6342/

21. Reese’s teacher also looked to other sources
of quantitative data to learn more
A review of Reese’s homework logs shows that she hasn’t been reading a full 25
minutes each night at home. Maybe the issue isn’t inference questions specifically,
maybe Reese simply needs to spend more time reading each day.

22. Finally, Reese’s teacher considered
qualitative data to better understand
Reese’s teacher observed Reese during independent reading time over the next two
days. During her observations she noticed Reese was quietly looking at her book, but
that she didn’t seem to be reading the pages. Reese’s teacher hadn’t noticed this
before, since she usually conferences with students one-on-one during independent
reading time.
https://www.emaze.com/@AOTZZCCZ/ICT-to-enhance-learning

23. Reese’s teacher scheduled a reading conference
with her the next day
During that conversation she learned that Reese had been checking out books from the
class library that were above her reading level. Reese wanted to read the same book
series as her other friends in the class, but these books were above her independent
reading level. As a result, Reese hasn’t been able to comprehend what she was reading,
and hasn’t been building her own reading ability.
http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=123061&picture=glasses-on-a-school-desk

24. The real intervention
Reese needed wasn’t re-
teaching of inference
questions, it was
spending more time
reading books on her
level.

25. This is what we call triangulating data
Your tracker and assessment data are a great
start. However, data-literate teachers also look
to other sources of quantitative and qualitative
data to understand what those data mean, and
to use those findings to inform their
instructional responses.

26. Now that you can answer the
question how do I know? It’s
time to answer our next
question:
What needs to happen to
reach our goals by the end-
of-year?