Running head: DATA ANALYSIS
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Data Analysis List
Team A
Ronni Clark, Michelle Johnson, Abigail Kellar, Misty Roark
RDG/530
April 2, 2012
Professor John Snell
DATA ANALYSIS
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Data Analysis List
Reading assessments are crucial for instructors to identify the strengths and weaknesses
of their students as readers. Assessments allow instructors to plan and devise strategies that
support the continual growth of readers and directly address their strengths and weaknesses. It
helps teachers make decisions about the kinds of reading skills that need to be addressed during
instruction, materials that can be used, the stride of instruction, and the correct areas of focus
needed for guided instruction.
Members of Team A have combined tutoring client information obtained through
assessments, to identify strengths and weaknesses, and develop strategies, that will be applied to
help grow the reading skills of our clients.
Ronni’s Client
Client: Jaylen Lee
Age: 10 years
Grade: Fifth
Tutor: Ronni
Strengths
This student has a great
attitude and is willing to work
on his reading deficiencies.
Weaknesses
This student has very few
sight words in his repertoire.
This student tries quite hard to The student’s confidence
discern text from looking at a hinders his ability to ask for
picture.
help or admit he is unable to
do it.
Jaylen has already begun to
speak more clearly through
the use of a syllabic visual, to
which the tutor points as
Jaylen speaks.
Jaylen is not able to
comprehend expressively
what he has just heard.
Strategies
Work on sight word drills
with the Pre-Primer sight
word list as well as cloze
activities with word banks.
Read simple BOB books and
kindergarten level books
about sports that will not only
increase his motivation for
reading but will also increase
his confidence.
Use cloze exercises that
practice using context to fill in
sentences with a word bank
from which to choose.
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Summary of Jaylen’s performance:
Jaylen did not get very far on the assessments we conducted. He read an average of 29%
of the Durr Sight Words from lists 1-5. When reading the Sentences for Initial Passage
Selection, he read very few words correctly and only read one full sentence, (i.e., The boy was
jumping). We began with the Pre-Primer Narrative Passage, and Jaylen described the pictures
with quite simple sentences (i.e., “The girl is riding”) related to the pictures. With regard to the
Primer Level, he used the pictures to read the passages, but his reading was only accurate for the
first of the four pictures. With the Phonics Competency Test, Jaylen read 40% of the CVC
words in the first paragraph, and only 5% of the Consonant clusters-short vowel words in the
second paragraph. When assessing Jaylen’s knowledge of the basic letter sounds, he was able to
respond correctly for each letter. When adding letters to words he knew (i.e., “it” became “kit”
and “fit”) Jaylen did not read the words accurately and continued to use substitutions.
The client read words he knew in isolation more accurately than when they were within
text. When he came across a word he did not know, he would substitute it for a word he knew
that often began with the same letter. The student displays no knowledge of phonics rules and
does not attempt to sound out words unless prompted to do so. The words he used to substitute
did not make sense in the sentence or paragraph. With regard to comprehension, the student
answered very few questions correctly. The questions he could answer accurately related to
simple Wh questions, such as, “Who was the story about?”
The attitude/interest survey revealed that the student either, did not know he was a poor
reader, or he did not wish to admit it. It also showed that he does very little reading at home and
enjoys spending his time playing sports and watching television. He says his teacher helps him a
lot in school with reading and writing. Writing is also a non-preferred activity, and it is easier
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when the student writes about a subject of interest. Finally, Jaylen mutters his words by not
moving his mouth when he speaks, speaking in a low tone, and running his words and sounds
together.
Michelle’s Client
Client: Evelyn
Age: 9 years
Grade: Fourth/Special Ed.
Tutor: Michelle Johnson
Strengths
Self-Motivated
Does not give up/Pushes on
Has a positive attitude toward
school
Weaknesses
Evelyn is unfamiliar with
correct vowel usage and
proper word endings.
Evelyn has comprehension
difficulties. She can tell
details of a story, but not in
the correct order.
ESL learner/language barrier
issues impede fluency and
speed of reading.
Strategies
Provide rules of vowel usage
worksheet. Supply vowel
worksheets for practice.
Provide literacy
comprehension worksheets in
varied formats for complete
books that are read. Provide a
tip sheet for best ways to
assist with comprehension.
Make time for student to read
orally each session. Give
feedback.
Summary of Evelyn’s performance:
Evelyn is a highly motivated student who enjoys school and learning. She took her time
and she seemed to do her best job on all activities in which she participated in, while we gathered
reading information crucial to tutoring instruction. In my initial session with Evelyn, I realized
she was struggling with English because it is not her native language. Her first language is
Spanish, and she is one of the only three members of her family that speaks English. Evelyn
comes from a very large family of 11 members, including extended family living with her. As a
result, Evelyn does not receive help or guidance with homework. In addition, this is the first year
that Evelyn has been in special education, instead of an ELL classroom. Concerning this, she has
moved beyond her peers in acquiring the English language.
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In evaluation Evelyn seemed to have some difficulty with pronunciation of certain letters
and sounds not used in her native language, such as the /th/ blend. Evelyn also struggled with
comprehension, possibly because of additional cognitive processing needed for language
translation. Overall, Evelyn did very well on all testing. She scored high marks on sight word
decoding, decoding all but three words from the entire list. She scored 100% accuracy on all
phonics tests except for vowel digraphs. She also did well on the Oral Language Observation,
only having problems with fluency speed and comprehension. I concluded that Evelyn is ready
to begin working at Flynt & Cooter, Reading Level 3, with modification to accommodate for
gaps in learning because of ESL background.
During the next several sessions, I will focus on helping Evelyn master vowel blend
pronunciation and understanding, through a variety of vowel worksheets, Dolch Noun Flash
Cards, and practice with Dolch Word List - 95 Nouns. To address her comprehension deficiency,
I will spend time during each session assisting Evelyn in completing a word map, story elements,
or story map sheet after each oral reading session. I will provide Evelyn with multiple types of
literacy material such as functional folders, at each session, in order to increase reading speed
and fluency, and increase fluency in English as her second language. Evelyn will read level
books daily and fill out comprehension sheets for each book she completes. I will incorporate
Amelia Bedelia reading material into some sessions, as this is Evelyn’s favorite series of books,
although they may be slightly below her reading level.
Abigail’s Client
Client: Laurel
Age: 9
Grade: 3rd
Tutor: Abigail
Strengths
Laurel is a strong reader who
Weaknesses
Laurel is not motivated to
Strategies
We will work on ways to
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has little help reading
independently.
read on her own in order to
practice and strengthen her
skills.
Laurel did well on lists 1-8 on
the Durr Sight Words with
little to no difficulty. She
recognized the areas and
words she did have troubles
with.
There were many words that
Laurel could explain the
meaning of in the reading
materials.
Laurel did have some minor
issues on list 9 of the Durr
Sight Words.
Laurel does have some minor
issues when it comes to
comprehension of words and
sentences.
make reading fun by using
games, finding new reading
material and using interactive
reading material.
We will work on mastering
the Durr lists. I would like
her to be able to have no
difficulties with the list and be
able to explain to a peer.
We will work to make sure
that Laurel not only can be a
strong reader, but that she has
comprehension skills as well.
Summary of Laurel’s performance:
Laurel is a 9-year-old girl in the 3rd grade at Smyrna Elementary School. She reports that she loves
school. She lives with her two biological siblings as well as her foster family, which includes the foster mother,
father, and two foster siblings. She loves to play outdoors and be involved in sports. She spends many
weekends at the soccer fields watching her older foster siblings play. Laurel loves the Twilight movies and
hopes to be able to read the books one day. She also aspires to be a veterinarian when she grows up.
Upon my initial session with Laurel, she was very bubbly and eager to learn. Laurel
reads well independently. It is reported by Laurel that she likes to read but sometimes she feels
like it is a chore. She had little trouble with the Phonics test. There was one area specifically
that she scored lower on than the others. This was part 10 (multi-syllabic nonsense words). On
the Durr test, she had little difficulty with list 1-8 but had slight difficulty with list 9.
Information of Assessments:
I concluded that Laurel is overall a strong reader and has only minimal areas where she
needs assistance or improvement. During the next several sessions, I will focus on strengthening
Laurel’s current reading skills. We will accomplish this by compiling fun and interactive ways
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for the student to improve her learning and for it to not feel like a chore for her to read. I hope
that by showing Laurel that reading can be fun, she will be more inclined to read on her own or
without coercing. Together, we will be working on not only the recognition of words, but
comprehension as well.
Misty’s Client
Client: Lee
Age: 8
Grade: 2nd
Tutor: Misty
Strengths
Strong Reader with a good
vocabulary and reads well
independently
Weaknesses
Has some focus issues that
distract him from tasks.
Did very well on re-reading
the Durr list. He remembered
which ones he miscued on
and corrected that
He is good at independent
reading but lacks the selfdiscipline to read for an
extended period of time
He does not give up. Lee
continues to keep trying even
if he finds something hard this
makes it easy to try new
things during the tutoring
sessions
There were a few repeated
miscues on the Durr list that
Lee will need to continue to
work on. Particularly on the
last 2 lists
Strategies
We will work on ways to
settle Lee’s mind down while
we work. He may need to
have something in his hands
to hold while we read and
review or play games
We will continue to
strengthen his independent
reading skills with practice.
Perhaps with each practice he
will be able to read a little bit
longer without being refocused by the tutor
We will continue expanding
Lee’s recognition of the words
on List 8 and 9 on the Durr
list. Until they become more
easily pronounced and
recognized.
Summary of Lee’s performance:
Lee is an 8-year-old second grader. He lives with his mom and dad who work during the
school day and are able to be home with Lee and his siblings after school every day. Lee has
three younger siblings. Lee attends Sallie Gillentine Elementary School. Lee struggles with
maintaining focus through class and often drifts of in imaginative play. He does this at home
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while trying to do homework as well. Lee would spend all day playing with Bionicles, Hero
Factory, and Transformers. He enjoys reading but often finds the work to be boring. He also
likes his parents to read to him.
My first session with Lee went very well. He is a very good reader. He can spend some
time reading independently, but not much before he becomes distracted, sometimes even by his
own pencil. He did well listening and focusing during the Durr list and was challenged by some
words on lists eight and nine. He did well on the phonics competency test.
Lee had amazing potential. He is bright and reads well. He needs to spend more time
reading independently and maintaining focus. We will spend more time practicing his
independent reading and continue to work on recognizing and understanding the Durr List.
Over the next 6 sessions, we will focus on Lee’s ability to focus on reading. Part of this
will be working with his self-discipline to keep from distracting himself. We will work in 5minute increments to increase his independent reading time to 15-20 minutes. We will work with
some videos and involve his imaginative play into a way to focus his attention on learning sight
words.
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References
Flynt, E. S., & Cooter, R. B. (2002). Reading inventory for the classroom. [University of
Phoenix Custom Edition]. Boston: Pearson Custom Publishing.
Tompkins, G. E. (2002). Reading and language arts. [University of Phoenix Custom
Edition]. Boston: Pearson Custom Publishing.