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The Effects of Preservice Students’ Tutoring on Struggling Second Grade Readers
Problem Statement
A basic assumption in a student’s education is that he or she will master the content
presented with reasonable facility as long as that content is presented effectively at the
appropriate level and pace. Unfortunately, that assumption is all too often proven to be
inaccurate. Proponents of direct instruction define effective teaching as a highly structured
approach that provides students with a high degree of predictability, routine, practice, feedback,
and evaluation. Proponents of Whole Language argue that effective instruction should be highly
student centered and knowledge should be build on what students are already familiar with.
Instruction should be based on holistic themes that expand and enhance students’ language
development. Effective instruction is a construct validated only by pupil progress. It is therefore
crucial for teachers to validate instructional techniques for theirs students on an individual basis.
The purpose of this research will be to use curriculum-based measurement (CBM) as a technique
for validating the instructional practices being used by the student teachers at the Curry School
of Education by measuring pupil progress on a frequent basis using specific and prescribed
practices.
Related Work
Curriculum-based measurement is a systematic and prescribed program for collecting
pupil progress data, which is then represented in visual format that shows a longitudinal trend of
progress toward a predetermined goal (Deno, 1985). Previous research has demonstrated that
CBM is a form of formative evaluation that has shown significant gains in pupil progress in the
areas of reading (Fuchs, Fuchs, Hamlett, & Ferguson, 1992), spelling (Fuchs, Fuchs, Hamlet, &
Allinder, 1991), and mathematics (Fuchs, Fuchs, Hamlett, & Stecker, 1991). Allinder (1995)
conducted a study that examined the extent to which differences in the degree to which personal
and teacher efficacy mediate teachers’ use of CBM and student achievement. Their findings
indicated that teacher with high efficacy set higher goals for their students and affected
significantly greater growth with their students. The variable that has not been accounted for is
CBM as a motivator. As students see their gradual trend of growth, there is an increased
likelihood that they will expend effort in the future and take additional risks. Additionally, as
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teachers collect data that consistently validates their instruction, it is likely that their personal and
teacher efficacy will increase as a result.
Questions/Hypothesis
Fifty student teachers enrolled in EDIS 388 field practicum experience at the Curry
School of Education for the Spring semester in the 2003-4 school year will be providing
instruction to 2nd grade students twice a week in the areas of reading fluency, spelling, and
vocabulary development with their pupils as a course objective. This study is designed to
measure the impact of the pre-service teachers’ tutoring on pupil progress as measured by CBM.
The study will introduce pre-service teachers to a systematic program for collecting data based
on pupil progress for the purpose of making instructional decisions based on student outcomes.
The study will also investigate the impact of CBM on personal and teacher efficacy. Pre-service
students will be asked to fill out a teacher efficacy survey at the beginning and end of their field
practicum experience.
Question1: What is the impact of instruction provided by elementary education students on
pupil progress?
Hypothesis Statement 1: Pupils’ reading fluency will increase according to the criteria specified
in instructional objectives as measured by curriculum-based measurement.
Hypothesis Statement 2: Pupils’ spelling will increase according to the criteria specified in
instructional objectives as measured by curriculum-based measurement.
Hypothesis Statement 3: Pupils’ vocabulary development will increase according to the criteria
specified in instructional objectives as measured by curriculum-based measurement.
Question 2: What is the impact of curriculum-based measurement on personal and teacher
efficacy?
Hypothesis Statement 4: Student teachers’ personal and teacher efficacy will increase as a result
of the use of curriculum-based measurement as a tool for validating their instructional
techniques.
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Procedures for Collecting Information
Student Teachers will be instructed on the use of CBM through their course work in EDIS 388,
which is a 1-credit course. The student teachers will be assigned to tutor pupils at Venabale
Elementary School once a week in the area of reading. Because there are 50 student teachers
enrolled in the course and 20 students to be tutored, the student teachers will collaborate on their
instruction.
Graduate assistants (GA) will be trained before the semester begins on the use of CBM. Each
GA will be assigned to mentor 11-12 student teachers throughout the semester. The Graduate
Assistants will meet with their student teachers at Venabale at 8:00 am twice a week to assist
them with setting up objectives, planning lessons, collecting data, and evaluating instruction.
The Principle Investigators will meet once a week with the Graduate Assistants to evaluate
students’ progress.
Once instruction has begun, the student teachers will collect date to verify their students’
progress using to following procedures:
1. To verify pupil progress, student teachers will collect assessment data using curriculum-based
measurement in the areas of reading fluency, spelling, and vocabulary development. Probes in
each area will be administered a minimum of twice a week for ten weeks. The following
procedures will be followed in the process of collecting data:
1. A measurable objective based on the students pending curriculum will be written for each
content area being addressed.
2. A criteria for mastery, or goal, will be established with the pupils’ involvement based on
the given objective.
3. Probes will be created based on the content pulled from the curricular analysis.
4. The pupil’s present level of performance will be established by collecting baseline data
prior to instruction.
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5. The student teachers will begin instruction once a stable baseline has been established.
6. Probes will be administered a minimum of twice a week. The data will be plotted on
graph format using Excel.
7. Student teachers will monitor their pupil’s trend of progress toward the goal using the
graph by creating a trend line.
8. Adjustments to instruction will be made according to the pupil’s trend of progress as
needed.
2. To measure instructional decision-making, students will be required to record brief journal
statements following each instructional session in which they respond to the following questions:
a) Did the assessment technique/format match my instructional approach?
b) What was the student’s level of performance prior to instruction?
c) Did the student master the content presented? How do you know?
d) If the student did not master the content presented, how will you change instruction to
better meet the student’s needs?
e) If the student did master the content presented, how will you ensure that the student
achieves maintenance and generalization?
3. To validate increases in efficacy, student teachers will complete a teacher efficacy scale at the
beginning of the semester and will repeat the scale at the end of the semester for mean score
comparison.
Analyses
Quantitative Measures
1. As a measure of pupil progress, student teacher’s graphs and instructional probes will be
collected for analysis of pupil progress in each content area.
2. As a measure of teacher efficacy, mean scores on the Gibson and Dembo (1985) Scale of
Teacher Efficacy will be compared for students’ growth at or near the end of the
semester.
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3. Pre- and posttest measures will be collected and analyzed for pupil growth for the
comparison group of students not involved in the tutorial.
Qualitative Measures
2. As a measure of student teachers’ instructional decision making, reflective journals will be
analyzed for growth in goal setting and decision-making.
Expected End Product
This research will accomplish the following objectives:
1. Quantitative and qualitative data will be collected that will validate the effectiveness of
the training students receive at the Curry School of Education as compared to a control
group.
2. Data will be collected that will quantify the impact of CBM on pupil progress.
3. Data will be collected that will verify the impact of CBM on personal and teacher
efficacy.
This research is likely to impact teacher effectiveness in two ways: (a) as pre-service teachers
collect and reflect on information that validate their own instruction, their sense of empowerment
will be greatly enhanced, which will positively impact their instructional decision-making, and
(b) as teachers become more systematic in their planning and monitoring of student progress,
communication with other professionals as well as with families and community members is
greatly enhanced.
Personnel
Co-Principal Investigators:
Patricia M. Crawford, Ph.D.
Ellie Wilson, Ph.D.
2 Graduate Assistants (to be named at a later date)