The author administered assessments to a 6th grade student named Joshua to determine his strengths and weaknesses in reading. Analysis showed Joshua's primary needs were in phonics, vocabulary, spelling, and fluency. The author provides 3 strategies for each area of need, including motivation and comprehension. Strategies include word sorts, personal word walls, guided reading, and repeated reading. The author reflects on challenges administering and analyzing assessments but feels more prepared to support a range of learners.

1. Running Head: Assessment Strategies and Reflection 1
Assessment Strategies and Reflection
Megan Waldeck
National University

2. Running Head: Assessment Strategies and Reflection 2
Abstract
The author first reflects on the evidence gained from analyzing the assessments she administered
to a 6th grade student named Joshua. She uses her analysis to determine that his primary areas of
needs come from the reading/literacy areas of phonics, vocabulary, spelling and fluency. In
addition to giving her recommendation for these areas of need, the author also gives three
different strategies that Joshua could benefit from in the areas of motivation and comprehension.
For every area of need, the author describes how the strategies she suggests be used to help the
student improve will actually be of great benefit to the student. She ends her recommendation
with a reflection on the entire process of administering, analyzing and implementing
recommendations for a student who is slightly below his grade level in varied reading areas.

3. Running Head: Assessment Strategies and Reflection 3
Recommendations
As noted by his teacher Mrs. Ramseyer, the student I assessed, Joshua, is a good student
who tries hard, but is slightly below grade level in a few reading/literacy areas. She told me that
vocabulary tends to be an area of struggle for Joshua but that he shines bright when orally
recalling information he reads in books. After thoroughly reviewing the evidence from the
assessment I administered, I would say I agree with Mrs. Ramseyer’s opinions on Joshua’s
strengths and areas of need. This assignment is asking that I discuss 3 strategies for each area of
need for Joshua, being sure to also include the areas of motivation and comprehension even if
this was a determined strength. Therefore, I will first be discussing the areas of motivation or
interest and comprehension, though I believe Joshua did very well in these areas. In addition, I
will also be providing strategies for the four remaining areas I deemed to be areas of struggle,
which are phonics, spelling, vocabulary and fluency.
Interest & Motivation
There are many different strategies teachers can use in an effort to increase the
motivation/interest of individual students or their class as a whole. For Joshua, I want him to
improve in reading, so in order to keep him interested in doing so, I would recommend or give
him books that revolved around topics in which he was interested. For example, I might give him
stories about soccer or articles on real life soccer players to ensure that keeps enjoying what he is
reading. For Joshua, I would also keep my expectations high and make them known to him. I
would reinforce the notion that he can improve in his areas of need with practice and
determination. I would even share my own story of reading struggle in school in hopes that he
will feel motivated and encouraged to keep practicing. This strategy is used to get Joshua to
think that he himself can control his learning outcomes, but that I am also by his side believing in

4. Running Head: Assessment Strategies and Reflection 4
him all the way. One final strategy I would use to assist Joshua in his areas of need would be
letting him make his own choices wherever suitable. Giving Joshua some control or autonomy
will not only make him feel that his opinions are valued, but increasing his responsibility will
also increase his motivation for his own learning.
Comprehension
Comprehension, as I noted above, was actually an area of strength for Joshua. That being
said, I do see the value in suggesting different strategies that could make Joshua even stronger in
this area, for comprehension is the reason and the purpose of reading. The first comprehension
reading strategy that I would suggest to use would a directed reading thinking activity (DRTA).
This method requires students to think about the story, article, or textbook, before, during and
after reading actually takes place. Additionally, it can be adjusted by the teacher to focus on a
skill they want the student to learn, but all revolves around increasing a students critical thinking
and comprehension skills. As my second suggestion, I would utilize a story map/graphic
organizer during individual, small group, or whole class readings. This method can once again be
adjusted by the teacher, and is great to help students organize their thoughts or the information
they are learning more efficiently. At any age that this strategy is used, a student will have to
stop, think, and short out their own thoughts on what the story is telling them. My final strategy
suggestion for Joshua in the area of comprehension is utilizing ReQuest reading. This could be
done one-on-one, in small groups, or even with the class as a whole. Here though Joshua would
be tasked with taking on the role of the teacher by reading the selected material and determining
discussion questions to ask the teacher. This method is better for someone of Joshua’s age,
because it makes the student go deeper and go beyond simply reading to instead analyze the text
and therefore, improve comprehension skills.

5. Running Head: Assessment Strategies and Reflection 5
Phonics
Joshua’s first actual area of need, from what I discovered after reviewing his assessments,
is the area of phonics. He scored in the frustration level for 6th grade during the San Diego
Quick, therefore suggesting that he would have trouble reading grade level material. For more
specifics on the data collected, please see the other attachment titled: Assessment Assignment
Details File. It’s also important to note here, that many of the areas of need for Joshua are
realistically quite intertwined. I will be talking about them as separate areas of reading/literacy,
but in all actually they heavily influence one another. This means that strategies suggested for
one area could also easily improve Joshua’s abilities in another area as well. As stated by Bear
and his co-authors, as students learn, many areas “develop in a symbiotic fashion” (2016).
Although I believe there to be many useful strategies to help Joshua improve in the area of
phonics, I would first help him review different vowel and consonant patterns via word sorts. In
the text Words Their Way, there is an entire section dedicated to phonics strategies for students in
the Within Word Pattern Stage, where Joshua happens to be. Here there are two types of sorts
recommended, Teacher-Directed Two Step Sort for Long Vowels and Picture Sorts to Contrast
Long and Short Vowels. These specific activities will encourage Joshua to rethink about patterns
in words, which in turn will help with his decoding of unknown words. Another word study
strategy that I would work on with Joshua is called Cover and Connect. This is a strategy in
which a teacher models, and then a student practices, covering word parts, “saying the remaining
portion and then connecting that segment with the rest of the word when it is uncovered” (Bear,
2016, p. 83). My final recommendation for phonics improvement would be teaching Joshua to
use the reading strategy called reading by analogy. This strategy’s purpose is to help readers
figure out unknown words by breaking them up into known chunks or patterns they recognize.

6. Running Head: Assessment Strategies and Reflection 6
This helps students grow in their reading abilities, because they aren’t trying to decode words
letter by letter. All of the three aforementioned strategies would help Joshua, and could actually
be used together for maximum benefits. Together they would encourage Joshua to look at big or
unknown words for chunks or patterns that he recognized from the sorts. He could then use what
he learned from cover and connect to work through decoding and formulate the proper
pronunciation.
Spelling
The first strategy that I will be suggesting for Joshua is a broad, and in many ways, all
encompassing literacy strategy. The strategy is word study, and is classified as an alternative
means of spelling instruction. It focuses on learning word patterns instead of studying a bunch of
words as individual units. According to Bear, word study “teaches students how to look at and
analyze words so that they can construct an ever-deepening understanding of how spelling works
to represent sound and meaning” (2016). I should note here, that the results of Joshua’s ESI
places him in the Common Long Vowels area of the Within Word Patter spelling stage, and
because of this, all strategies suggested here will revolved around methods for this specific
spelling stage. For example, to help Joshua with his spelling needs, I would use the reading by
analogy strategy mentioned in the previous paragraph. However, it would primarily be focused
on additional practice with recognizable long vowel patterns in which Joshua clearly needs more
practice with. Joshua is a smart kid despite his struggles in a few reading/literacy areas, and
because of this I want to give him plenty of repetition in an area he needs, but with a strategy that
he will be able to use as he continues learning year after year. My final strategy recommendation
for Joshua in the area of reading would be to have him use a personal word wall or journal. Here
Joshua would add words to his journal or notebook weekly which are “common” or should be

7. Running Head: Assessment Strategies and Reflection 7
high frequency words for someone in 6th grade, but which Joshua misspells. Joshua should also
be looking over these words once a day, and be sure to open and use his notebook during writing
to help him remember the proper spelling.
Vocabulary
As mentioned in the last paragraph, I would also use a personal word wall as a means to
help increase Joshua’s vocabulary. This area of struggle is especially important for Joshua
because, as noted by his teacher, his lack of sufficient 6th grade vocab knowledge also hinders his
ability to read fluently at a 6th grade level. A personal word wall, with words added weekly and
reviewed daily, would help increase Joshua word recognition (sight words). This use of a
personal word journal would also be even more beneficial by including a sentence or definition
to go with the word for additional context for Joshua. Joshua could also benefit greatly from
daily reading aloud or other reading strategies, such as echo reading. Reading aloud to a student
is beneficial no matter the age, grade or reading ability of the student, because “reading aloud
continues to provide a rich source of new vocabulary as well as complex sentence structures”
(Bear, 2016, p. 151). Additionally with echo reading, students who echo or mimic the reading of
the teacher are being exposed to new vocabulary while simultaneously increasing their sight
vocabulary. One final strategy that I will mention that will give Joshua additional practice with
vocabulary learning is Cloze reading. This is an “instructional strategy where users are required
to fill in the blanks within a passage with correct words from a word bank” (Meador, 2018). Here
Joshua would be able to, on his own, practice with vocabulary and how word meaning can be
different based on context of a story. During our assessments I asked Joshua what the word
“irritate” meant in terms of context of the story. He thought and said, “annoying” which though
is a meaning of irritate, wasn’t the meaning used in the story. Joshua didn’t realize that the

8. Running Head: Assessment Strategies and Reflection 8
context of the story gave that vocabulary word a different meaning. Therefore, I believe Cloze
reading would be quite useful for Joshua to improve in the reading area of vocabulary.
Fluency
Fluency is more than just speed. Fluency is speed, accuracy, expression, and
comprehension, and can be influenced by a student’s abilities in phonics, word recognition,
vocabulary and more. To help Joshua improve and to get to a 6th grade reading level where he is
either in the instructional or independent level, I recommend the following reading strategies.
Firstly, Joshua could benefit from choral reading where he reads in unison with another to
practice fluency. This gives his teacher or a fellow student the ability to model fluency while
Joshua gages and build his own fluency. In many ways, this strategy also helps build a student’s
confidence in their own reading ability and in return makes them motivated to read more. Other
guided reading that could benefit Joshua could take place using the Reader’s Workshop method.
Here Joshua’s teacher can give direct and differentiated instruction to Joshua, as well as
immediate feedback. This workshop would include a multitude of different reading activities,
such as recorded reading, radio reading, reader’s theater, paired repeated reading (Bear, 2016).
One final reading strategy to help Joshua improve in his reading fluency would be daily SSR or
DEAR. In addition to having this time for Joshua to practice his reading, his teacher must be sure
that he is reading text at a level that is appropriate to him. If he is reading something much too
easy or much too difficult, Joshua is gaining much less than he could be from this time. It might
help to pick out a book for Joshua, or give him a number of books to choose from, so he still
feels interested in the story and motivated to keep reading.

9. Running Head: Assessment Strategies and Reflection 9
Reflection
Thinking back to the actual administering of the assessments I gave, I recall being
focused but nervous that I might not mark everything down to review later. I believe this is an
area where I can improve in the future. I felt a little flustered during a few assessments (mainly
the San Diego Quick and the IRIs) when trying to write down mispronunciations while
simultaneously listening for more to occur. Despite the fact that my assessments were taking
place in a library setting, I still believe that in the future I could also benefit from speaking more
loudly and clearer. I want to make sure that the student can fully understand me, and that any
mistakes made by the student aren’t a cause of something I did or didn’t do well enough. I
believe simply having more practice administering assessments will help me improve in my own
areas of weakness. Besides administering the assessments, I also found some difficulty in the
analysis of the assessments as well. Analyzing the Writing Inventory was difficult at first,
because I wasn’t sure how to gage my student’s work to what was typical for a student of his
age. I didn’t have prior knowledge in this area, and finding it online was quite unhelpful.
Additionally, analyzing and determine a students comprehension level was a bit challenging as
well. I found some sources suggesting a student must score 70% or higher to be comprehending
at an “independent level,” while other sources suggested they score a 75%. On top of this, I was
also unsure how to properly score my student in comprehension when he was retelling a story to
me. In this case there wasn’t anything suggesting what indicates that he remembered the story
with 70/75% percent accuracy. I realized however, that assessments do have some gray areas and
as a new teacher, I must do the best I can in cases like these. I am certain though that over time,
with additional practice, and with the help of online resources that are available to me at a click
of a button, that I will feel more secure and confident in analyzing these assessment areas.

10. Running Head: Assessment Strategies and Reflection 10
During this course I was given the task of administering my very first assessments. I
knew very little about specific assessments that fell under diagnostic assessments, but thankfully,
I learned quickly with the help of the course resources that were provided to me. I can now tell
you which assessments to use and how to evaluate the results in order to determine a student’s
strengths and weaknesses in different reading/literacy areas. I feel confident moving forward that
I have a better grasp at how to assess students in my own classroom, and how these assessments
will help me pinpoint and then provide the additional needed support to my range of learners.

11. Running Head: Assessment Strategies and Reflection 11
Resources
Bear, D., Invernizzi, M., Templeton, S., & Johnston, F. (2016). Words Their Way, Word Study
for Phonics, Vocabulary, and Spelling Instruction. 6th ed. Boston: Pearson.
Meador, D. (2018). Cloze Reading Can Help Students Cement Newly-Learned Information.
Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/cloze-reading-can-be-used-to-solidify-
learning-3194249