5. Student 1 Student 2 Student 3
Improve Oral
Reading Fluency
through
modeling and
Read Naturally
Strategies.
Improve Oral
Reading Fluency
through multiple
reads and Read
Naturally
Strategies
Improve
Reading
Accuracy
through explicit
phonics
instruction.
Improve Reading
Comprehension
through
improved oral
reading skills.
Improve Reading
Comprehension
through
improved oral
reading skills.
Improve reading
comprehension
through
increased
decoding skills
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY
6. Student1
• Paired
Reading
• Multiple
Reads
• Read
Naturally
Student2
• Paired
Reading
• Multiple
Reads
• Read
Naturally
Student3
• Spalding
phonogram
card
practice
• Instruction
in syllables
• Syllabication
practice
with
multisyllabic
words
7. Assessment: ARI
Grade Level: 9th (test top out score)
Fluency increase 0.5%
Comprehension Increase: 12%
Grade Level increase: definite
instruction to independent
1
82
84
86
88
90
92
94
96
98
100
102
Fluency Comprehension
Student 1 Growth
Initial Final
8. Assessment: ARI
Grade Level: 9th (test top out score)
Fluency increase 2.6%
Comprehension Increase: 25%
Grade Level increase: none but student moved
from the low end of definite instructional to the
top of the independent level.
2
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Fluency Comprehension
Student 2 Growth
Initial Final
9. 0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Fluency Comprehension
Initial Final
3
Assessment: ARI
Grade Level: 9th (test top out score)
Fluency increase 0.97%
Comprehension Increase: 1%
Grade Level increase: 7th grade definite
instructional to 9th grade definite
instructional level
2 full grade levels growth!
10. Student 1 Student 2 Student 3
continue with
classroom
instruction
and
opportunities
to read orally
in class.
continue with
in class
instruction and
opportunities
to re-read,
when needed.
Continue with
practice in
phonogram
fluency to
100% on a
consistent
basis.
Continue with
small group
practice and
instruction in
syllabication
rules.
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC
11. Determine purpose (Hirsch, 2017)
Establish Norms (Hirsch, 2017)
Ensure all teachers had adequate resources
through use of collaborative documents and
communication with all student services teachers
including general education, reading specialist,
mentor and gifted specialist (Hirsch, 2017).
13. to Develop,
Implement and
Evaluate Instructional
Practices
Develop
Instructional
Practices
• Goal setting
• Research
Implement
Practices
• Share with
teacher
• Review teacher
responses
Evaluate
practices and
curriculum
• Use data to hold
practices
accountable and
determine
success (Hirsch,
2017)
14. • Individualized
Instruction
• One on One
Instruction
• Small Group
Practice
• Individual Practice
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15. •What does the research say about my chosen practices? Are they
evidence-based? Can I argue their necessity with research?Pedagogical (Day, 2000)
•What is the end goal of this? What is the specific goal? Does this meet
that goal?Holistic (Day, 2000)
•Am I nurturing the growth of the staff I am working with? Am I nurturing
the growth of the students I am working with?Interpersonal (Day, 2000)
•What is my strategy for networking with others to achieve a common
goal? Is that an effective strategy?Strategic (Day, 2000)
•What am I doing to grow myself? What am I doing for my own personal
development? What I am doing for my own professional development?Intrapersonal (Day, 2000)
16. Day, C. (2000). Effective Leadership and Reflective Practice. Reflective
Practice, 1(1), 113–127. https://doi-org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.1080/713693134
Gipe, J., & Richards, J., (2017). Multiple paths to literacy: Assessment and
differentiated instruction for diverse learners K-12. Pearson, Boston, MA
Hirsh, S. (2017). Let’s make the most of teachers’ time together. Learning
Professional, 38(6), 8
Puig & Froelich (2010). The literacy coach: Guiding in the right direction.
Pearson Education, Boston MA
Editor's Notes
Hello, I am Kristen I have been teaching with the district for the last 6 years. Thank you for your assistance and faith in me as I have completed this literacy work sample to better the progress of our students. I would like to show you what this process looked like for our students and show you their progress.
The Literacy Work Sample process began with taking a deep dive into the historical data on each student. This took into account not only grades, and scores, but teacher observations and comments throughout the year. During this time I tried to come to an understanding of the history of each child. Was there something different this year, was there anything that may be affecting the student in other areas. Next, I looked for any patterns between the historical and current data as well as looking at trends within the data that was available for each student.
Once I felt as though I had an adequate understanding of the child, I communicated with the homeroom teachers of each student to add into my assessment of the child, any additional information or observations from their teacher. This proved to be very insightful as each to where the areas of concern were for these three gifted students.
Finally, a pre-assessment was determined based upon the availability of district resources as well as the assessment type to identify the specific needs of the students. Because each of the students appeared to be having struggles, yet were passing all of their quantitative measures without issues, it was determined that a qualitative assessment was the best way to begin. The Analytical Reading Assessment was selected based upon it’s ability to give qualitative and quantitative results.
Upon reviewing the results of the ARI, I identified the strengths and weaknesses of each student. Then I presented this information to my mentor teacher and we discussed my thinking and plans for student goals.
From there research was done to determine interventions that were likely to improve the specified goals.
After the completion of each intervention, I met again with the team (mentor teacher and myself) to determine what the next appropriate goal would be. Each new or adjusted goal was researched for further intervention strategies, which were implemented and recorded with data and observations.
This process of goal setting, Interventions, and research is completed for each intervention cycle.
Once the interventions have been completed for a given period of time, the student will be given a post-assessment. Dependent upon the results, this assessment may serve as the pre-assessment for the next round of interventions as future planning and next steps for the student are determined by the collaborative team.
Each week the basic of the student goals were adjusted so that they aligned to the student’s changing needs. This allows the student to continuously move forward in their progress. The goals shown above shows what the total of goals were for the students. Each week one section of the goals were used. For example, each week student 1 worked on their oral reading fluency through modeling of the standard. The next week they worked on reading comprehension through repeated readings strategies and then finished with Read Naturally strategies.
Interventions for each student were researched each week by looking at the recommended interventions for students within a given area. Considerations that were taken when designing interventions included both quantitative and qualitative information. Student needs such as giftedness or anxiety were also taken into account and discussed with the team to identify which interventions, based on the research, had the best chance of moving the child forward.
Student 1 was given the ARI level 9 assessment as a post test. This assessment is both a qualitative and quantitative assessment to identify areas of need with all student populations. Student 1 was given Form C of this test which features a different passage than the pre-test, Form A. This was done due to the short length of time in which the student engaged in reading interventions. Student 1 scored at the 9th grade level with 99.1 percent accuracy. This is an improvement of 0.5% in reading fluency. He scored 100% in reading comprehension for an increase of 12%. This also moved him from instructional 9th grade level to an independent 9th grade level.
Student 2 was given the ARI level 9 assessment according to her word list placement. This assessment measures both qualitative and quantitative aspects of reading.
Student 2’s pre-test scores placed her at the 9th grade reading level with a fluency of 96% accuracy and comprehension of 75%. Her posttest scores were 98.6% accuracy and 100% in the reading comprehension. The strategies that were implemented helped her to grow to 100%, a 25% gain, in comprehension and increase her accuracy by 2.6%.
Student 3 made tremendous growth over the three-week intervention. By adjusting the intervention to include a continuous path of support, Student 3 was able to make small gains in fluency and comprehension as a percentage but made 2 full years of growth in grade level text complexity as is measured by the Analytical Reading Inventory. As is shown in the chart before you, Student 3 grew from 97% to 97.7% in her reading fluency as measured by percentage of correct words read. She maintained good prosody and speech inflections as she read, demonstrating an understanding of the story. Her comprehension increased only slight percentage wise, but again this is due to the great gains she made between grade levels I believe that the reading intervention support is needed to continue as there are still areas Student 3 struggles to achieve when looking at her independent reading skills. These may be due to a lack of confidence in her ability, as she does do better when she is unaware that she is being tested. Based upon student data, I believe that continuing intervention support will help her to achieve equal to her cognitive abilities.
Student 1 met all of his goals, as can be measured by this assessment. Next steps for him would be to continue in vocabulary instruction, oral reading practice, reading comprehension practice within the scope of the regular classroom only. No further interventions are recommended for Student 1 at this time.
Student 2 met all of her goals as measured by this assessment, The next steps for her are to continue reading orally in class and whenever feasible re-read portions of text to gain a better understanding. As the only needed support can happen fully within the context of the general education instruction, no further interventions are recommended at this time.
Student 3 should continue to work during small group or early finisher times to practice phonogram flash cards. She should also continue to use time in class to work on syllabication rules. As these standards are not yet mastered, continued classroom support is recommended. She does not need pull-out support for these as they are not holding her back anymore.
By clarifying the purpose of each meeting through establishing a set goal (Hirsch, 2017), the teachers and mentors are able to make productive use of time and stay focused ensuring that student goals are accomplished. Had norms not already been in place, it would have been important to establish what norms for the collaborative meetings would be (Hirsch, 2017). Since these were already in place, a quick review of district-wide collaborative norms was sufficient. It was important to make sure that all of the teachers who work with the students in an instructional capacity were aware of and on board with the proposed reading interventions. Once there had been a consensus on how to proceed for each student, the team ensured that each teacher who would be implementing these practices had adequate resources such as access to district curriculum (Hirsch, 2017), intervention plan for each student and phonogram flash cards as needed.
Once the initial interventions had begun it was important to follow up and assess the success of the interventions and instructional practices (Hirsch, 2017). This was done by looking at the data both quantitative and qualitative to determine the effectiveness of the interventions for each student. Once again all team members were informed of the data to ensure that forward movement was a team decision. Discussion of the possible next steps was conducted after review of the data in between each interventions. Needed changes were followed up with ensuring access and resources were available for the teachers (Hirsch, 2017).
When developing instructional practices to be used during these interventions it was important for the team to clarify their purpose for the interventions ( Hirsch, 2017). This was accomplished through goal setting for each student. By keeping the goal in mind for each student we were able to research to determine the most likely first intervention for success.
This led to implementation of the interventions. This required us to work with a solution-oriented mindset when bringing the rest of the teachers on board (Puig & Froelich, 2010). Before finalizing the plan, it was important that all teachers were on board. Any suggestions for improvement were taken into consideration before finalizing the plan.
Using the data provided by the interventions, the mentor and myself determined which practices were successful and which ones needed some adjustment. This accountability within the mentorship collaboration was important because it allowed us to determine whether or not there were better outcomes or more successes with the students as a result of the interventions and instructional practices (Hirsch, 2017). This evaluation of practices is a crucial step in every intervention plan, because every student is different and learns differently. This means that there is no one special protocol to follow that will solve every student’s learning needs. By being accountable to the data it is possible for the educator to determine whether or not they should continue to proceed on the same path or deviate for the child’s education.
Just as no two snowflakes are alike, neither are two students. Though there were many similarities between the students, each student responded uniquely to the interventions planned for them. To understand how to differentiate for each student it was helpful to know background, interests, and learning preferences. This allowed the team more success with planning interventions. For example, Student 2 had a strong interest in gymnastics, but not necessarily informational texts. So, using informational texts about gymnastics helped her to gain the motivation to keep her practicing outside of the interventions. In addition to customizing the instruction, each student was evaluated for specific needs. The instruction focused their specific area of need.
Each student was pulled one on one with a student specific plan. Due to the unique circumstance there was more individual instruction as a differentiated instructional strategy than any other strategy used. However, all students worked in a small group on reading aloud and comprehension at some point during the intervention process. Also, students worked on their strategies individually for practice as well.
During my reflection process I used first a Microsoft Word document to put my thoughts to each of these areas throughout the process as they applied. From there I organized them into reflection prompt answers and posted them into an online journal. This helped me to aide others who might be going through a reflective process as well. Reflection is a key element to a great leader (Day, 2000) and it is often the difference between good and great leaders. Each part of the reflective process answered specific questions within my own mind, being the most important part of reflection.
The pedagogical reflections answered questions about the methods in which I was approaching teaching students. The holistic looked at what were my goals or intended outcomes. Interpersonal reflections allowed me to look at how I help others, staff and students included. Strategic reflection let me work on the administrative side of the reading specialist looking at the nuts and bolts of bringing about a goal collaboratively. Finally intrapersonal reflection allowed me to take stock of my own development and ask the difficult questions such as, what am I doing to grow?