Using Data to Plan Instruction:
Making the Pieces Fit Together
Cathy Wishart
Literacy Coach
Arrival Activity:
Thinking About Individualizing
• How would you complete each of these sentences?
ADD IDEAS TO THE CHARTS POSTED ON
THE WALL.
• To me, individualizing means
__________________________________.
• In my classroom, one way I individualize is to
_______________________________________.
Data data everywhere
So much it's hard to
think.
Data data everywhere
If only it would link.
James Turner, Educator
The Math Problem Analogy
• A man has to be at work by 9:00 a.m. It
takes him 15 minutes to get dressed in a suit
and tie, 20 minutes to eat and 35 minutes to
walk to work in his Reeboks. He likes to eat
Raisin Bran for breakfast. His friend at
work, Jeanette, is usually late for work each
day. What time should he get up?
What is Data?
According to dictionary.com, data means:
Factual information, especially
information organized for analysis or
used to reason or make decisions.
This definition goes beyond test scores and
numerical values. It encompasses factual,
objective information about the child.
Levels of Data
STATE LEVEL
District makes AYP, students receiving free/reduced lunch, students
in special education courses
DISTRICT
LEVEL
SCHOOL LEVEL
Grades making AYP
Subgroup data
Schools make AYP
School scores on tests School Report Card
like Terra Nova
Data
School median scores Diagnostic assessment
on state tests
Screening assess.
CLASSROOM
LEVEL
Individual student
scores
Anecdotal observations
Student interests,
motivations
Why Bother With Data?
• Data leads to a teacher being able to:
•
•
•
•
•
Reflect on own practices
Generate new strategies to reach students
Make practical educational decisions
Meet the needs of individual student’s learning styles
Determine and reevaluate previous decisions for
effectiveness
• Ultimately, be a more engaged, effective, productive,
confident, and happy educator
Gall, Joyce P. and M.D., Borg, Walter R. Applying Educational
Research: A Practical Guide. NY: Longman, 1999.
Using Data to Plan Curriculum &
Meet Individual Children’s Needs
• Data is only meaningful when it is linked to decisions
about teaching.
• Data is used to make decisions about individuals.
• Observe, reflect, and respond:
• Jasmine brings you a book and pointing to the cover, says
“what does that say?”
• You think: she’s aware that print carries a message and
notices print in the environment.
• You respond: I’ll call attention to how I read from top to
bottom and left to right when I read with her next time.
How Do I Use What I Just Learned?
• What is the student’s current level?
• What is the student ready for next?
• How can I support this?
• Will I design an activity, have an interaction, offer a
material, adapt the environment?
• Data is used to make decisions about groups of
students.
• Planning is essential!
From Where Do I Get the Data?
• Informal Assessments
• Teacher observations, conversations
• Anecdotal records, portfolios
• Formal Standardized Testing
• Terra Nova results from last year, Screening Assessment
• Formal Classroom Testing
• Reading program generated tests
• Teacher-generated tests
• Running Records
• Formal and Informal Student Surveys
•
•
•
•
Student Interest Surveys
Classroom discussions
Learning Profiles
Teacher-child interviews
Okay, Now What?
Looking at the data helps the teacher with…
Small Group Instruction
• Determining groups
•Determining needs
•Determining interests
•Determining support
What is Small Group Instruction?
Small group instruction is when a teacher works
with a group of students (two to six) to
accomplish a given task.
(Opitz & Ford, 2001)
What Are The Benefits of Small
Group Instruction?
• Teachers are better able to observe, monitor, and attend to the
needs of readers
• Students are more comfortable taking learning risks in a small
group
• Students are afforded more opportunities to interact with one
another
• Instruction can be targeted and focused to meet the needs of
the group members
(Strickland, Ganske, & Monroe, 2002)
Some Types of Effective Small
Group Lessons
• Demonstration
• Intervention
• Shared Response
• Combination
(Opitz & Ford, 2001)
A Demonstration Lesson
• In a demonstration lesson, the teacher
models using a specific skill, strategy, or
learning behavior in an observable way.
• If a teacher is modeling making text-to-self
connections, the teacher “thinks aloud.”
• If a teacher is modeling re-reading for a clearer
understanding, the teacher says aloud what is
confusing, re-reads, finds additional
information, and then continues to read.
An Intervention Lesson
• An intervention lesson is designed to address
a specific need that has become evident from
watching and listening to children as they read
and write.
• Children with similar needs are grouped together
to make efficient use of instructional time.
• To assist the students to move from where they
are to where they need to be, the teacher focuses
less on modeling and more on scaffolding
instruction.
(Opitz & Ford, 2001)
A Shared Response Lesson
• A shared response lesson is designed to enable
children, regardless of perceived reading level,
to share what they are reading with others.
• The primary purpose for this type of lesson is to
enable children to learn from one another through
meaningful, focused discussion.
• To maximize its potential as a learning experience,
this discussion is often provided a structure by the
teacher.
(Opitz & Ford, 2001)
A Combination Lesson
• A combination lesson is one in which any
combination of the first three experiences are
used. How to best help children understand a
given aspect of reading is what guides the
combination.
(Opitz & Ford, 2001)
Types of Data
Formal
Informal
• Observation Survey of
Early Literacy
Achievement by Clay
• Anecdotal notes
• Fox in a Box
• Student Interviews
• Terra Nova Results
• Attitude Surveys
• Running Records
• Interest Inventories
• Teacher observation
Using Data to Assign Flexible
Groups
• Achievement
Use performance on a reading measure. Students with similar
scores are placed in the same group.
• Mixed Achievement
Students with various scores are placed in the same group.
• Interest
This group is based on interest inventories, student interviews,
or attitude surveys. Assign students to a group based on
interest or topic.
• Skill or Instructional Need
Students lacking in a skill or strategy are grouped together.
A Kindergarten Scenario
• While the students are in centers, Ms. Smith takes an
anecdotal record on William. She notices that William
is recognizing the names of some upper and lower case
letters and can locate his own name. As she continues to
observe, she also notes that William often incorrectly
names letters that are easily reversed. She decides to
have a skill group of four students meet so she can
review the letters b, d, and p.
•What type of assessment was used?
•What was the purpose?
Informal
Demonstration & Intervention
•What grouping technique did she use?
Skill or Instructional Need
Another Kindergarten Scenario
While administering the district screening assessment, Ms.
Cappello notices that four of her kindergarten students
scored below the benchmark for identifying rhyming
words. She decides to bring this group together to play
several rhyming games. She thinks out loud for the
students, and then encourages them to match pictures of
rhyming words.
•What type of assessment was used?
•What was the purpose?
Formal
Demonstration & Intervention
•What grouping technique did she use?
Skill or Instructional Need
A 1st Grade Scenario
In September, Mr. Jones uses the big book Mr. Grump
during a shared reading experience conducted with the
whole class. During this time, he notices that some
readers seem to need additional instruction to
strengthen their concepts about print, especially
directionality and voice-print match. He decides to
group these students together to provide this instruction.
•What type of assessment was used?
•What was the purpose?
Informal
Demonstration & Intervention
•What grouping technique did he use? Skill or Instructional Need
Another
st
1
Grade Scenario
Running records have enabled Mrs. Harris to see that her
twenty-two first graders have diverse literacy needs.
Six of the students read at the same level. She pulls the
group together and selects six copies of a book that is
at their instructional reading level as determined by
the running records. She facilitates a discussion of the
book’s main character.
• What type of assessment was used?
Formal
• What was the purpose?
Shared Response
•What grouping technique did she use? Achievement
A 2nd Grade Scenario
Mr. Doman has taken a close look at the students’ ability to activate
background knowledge and monitor comprehension. He observes
that they all have a pretty good handle on this, but he wants to
introduce a new strategy. He models the strategy for a group of
mixed ability students who have indicated an interest in sea-life.
He chooses a non-fiction text on sharks. He then asks the students
to choose a book from a stack of multi-leveled books on sea-life.
The students are then given time to apply the new strategy and
read their books. He includes the two students who are in another
group and reading at the lowest level in the class. Mr. Doman
assists as needed.
• What type of assessment was used?
Informal
• What was the purpose?
Demonstration
• What grouping strategy did he use?
Interest & Mixed
Achievement
A
rd
3
Grade Scenario
When Mrs. Anderson was working with her class on the story, “The
Olympic Games: Where Heroes are Made,” she noticed some
interesting behaviors by four of her students. While most of the
class was able to find facts presented in the story, Javier, Julie,
Drew, and Robin had difficulty finding facts they were asked to
locate. For example, when Mrs. Anderson asked the class how
many countries competed in the first modern Olympics, hands
flew up, but Javier, Julie, Drew, and Robin kept flipping pages
without finding the information. Mrs. Anderson has decided to
take these students as a group and model how to locate information
in a factual textbook format.
•What type of assessment was used? Informal
• What was the purpose?
Demonstration & Intervention
• What grouping strategy did he use?
Skill
A
th
4
Grade Scenario
When reading “Saguaro Cactus,” Mrs. Phillips noticed
that Mary read the word “spiny” as “spinny.” When
Mrs. Phillips asked what the word meant, Mary
explained that it was when things spin really fast. Other
students looked confused at Mary’s answer, but Joey
and Adele shook their heads in agreement. Mrs.
Phillips decided to review all of the vocabulary words
for this story with this group. She made a game to help
the students review the words, their pronunciation, and
their meanings.
•What type of assessment was used?
Informal
• What was the purpose?
Intervention
• What grouping strategy did he use?
Skill
How Can We Group These Children
for Small Group Instruction?
Try to form five different groups of at least
two to six children.
• What assessment is informing your decision?
(Formal, Informal)
• What is the purpose of the group?
(Demonstration, Intervention, Shared Response,
Combination)
• How are you assigning students to each group?
(Achievement, Mixed Achievement, Skill or Instructional
Need, Interest)
Bibliography
• Dobson, Treneire & Moorman, Emily. “Small Group Instruction
Power Point.” NJ DOE, 2006.
• ELAS Power Point. NJ DOE, 2005.
• Fry, Edward, Ph.D. Informal Reading Assessments K-8. Westminster,
CA: Teacher Created Materials, 2002.
• Gall, Joyce P. and M.D., Borg, Walter R. Applying Educational
Research: A Practical Guide. NY: Longman, 1999.
• Gould, Judith S. and Burke, Mary F. Creating & Managing a Writing
Workshop. Carthage, IL: Teaching & Learning Co., 2005.
• Opitz, M.F., & Ford, M.P. Reading Readers: Flexible & Innovative
Strategies for Guided Reading. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2001.
• Strickland, D.S., Ganske, K., & Monroe, J.K. Supporting Struggling
Readers and Writers: Strategies for Classroom Intervention 3-6.
Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers, 2002.
• Wishart, Catherine. “Using Data to Drive Instruction.” Easy Literacy.
http://www.easyliteracy.com, 2009.