Case Study: Self Reliant Reader # 2

Shawna Williams

RE 5715

Dr. Tom Gill

April 19, 2010

Case Study: Self Reliant Reader # 2

For this assignment I chose to work with a child named Shytavia Peterson, from the Newton-Conover City Schools district. Shytavia is a bubbly little girl in the fifth grade. She enjoys hanging out with her friends. The following is a summary of the assessments I completed during the spring semester of 2010.

Overview of Initial Literacy

On the first day of the testing Shytavia was quite excited to have someone working with him. His attitude started off positive with the spelling test and the word recognition in isolation. So as not to overwhelm him, I chose to do the word recognition in context on a different day. The second day of testing Shytavia began again with a positive attitude, but as time when on he became frustrated and tired of reading. I chose to stop the test and take a break before completing the whole test.

Instructional Levels

An independent spelling level can be defined as one in which the child is completely able to work without the support or assistance of an adult. The word independence suggests a level of mastery, of knowing that you know without a shadow of a doubt. An instructional spelling level is one at which a child can work and achieve growth with the help of an adult. This level has also been described as a child's zone of proximal development. A frustrational spelling level is one at which a child is completely and totally working above his head; it is the sink part of the phrase sink or swim. The child at this point is so uncertain of his ability to spell he is making silly mistakes on the spelling patterns that he has mastered. The child cannot master this new level even with the help of an adult.

Spelling

The first part of the assessment administered to Shytavia was the spelling test. I used Qualitative Inventory of Word Knowledge (QIWK) as designed by Robert Schlagal. Spelling and word recognition are highly predictive of the reading level a child might be found on. The Schlagal spelling list is comprised of words that frequently occur in the reading and writing of children in a particular grade level. The words also contain spelling patterns commonly taught in different grade levels. By administering the spelling test first I was able to get an understanding of the words Shytavia was accustom to seeing as well as the spelling pattern and in turn the grade level her mind was currently working at in spelling.

With Shytavia I was able to find an independent level using the Schlagal spelling test. Independence is suggested with a 90-100% accuracy. I started Shytavia with the first word list and obtained a 92% accuracy. This percentage indicates that Shytavia is independent on a first grade.

An instructional level in reference to the Schlagal spelling test level is represented with an accuracy of 50-89%. Shytavia found this percentage on the second with an accuracy of 76% , and on the third and fourth spelling level with an accuracy of 50%. Common spelling patterns found in third grade include spelling some blends and diagraphs, consonant doubling, more extensive long vowel patterns. Several of these indicators were missing from Shytavia's spelling. These findings also suggest that Shytavia is working at the Within Word stage of spelling as defined by the book Words their Way.

A frustrational spelling state in reference to the Schlagal spelling test it is represented with an accuracy of below 40%. Shytavia was frustrated on the fifth list with an accuracy of 25%.

Word recognition in isolation

The word recognition in isolation (WRI) test is important to include as an assessment for many of the same reasons as it would be to include a spelling test. By flashing students a series of words in a timed/untimed fashion we are able to get a sense of the level of the level of reading a student is participating on. Just as the spelling represents high frequency words and common spelling patterns specific to a grade level, the WRI represents words that a child would come into contact with while reading books of that level. Thus by flashing word to this child we are able to get a sense of the words he it use to seeing and the level at which he is reading. That is why we start the battery assessment with the spelling test first, followed by the WRI, and administer lastly contextual reading. Without wanting to waste extra time the spelling test and WRI should give a good indication as to what level of passages a child should start reading on.

An independent level for WRI purposes is described as having an accuracy of 90-100%. For Shytavia this independence was found on the level 3 list with an accuracy of 90%. Shytavia is familiar with many of the words found in books on a third grade level. An instructional level for WRI purposes is described as having an accuracy of 70-89%. For Shytavia this instructional level was found on the level 4 list with an accuracy of 85%. Below 50% represents a level of frustration on the WRI. Shytavia found this level on the eighth list with an accuracy of 45%. On the fifth, sixth and seventh word list Shytavia scored 60%, 50% and 50% respectively. All of this scores indicate a gray area that is left for the assessor to determine the value of the scores.

While Shytavia's spelling predicted that her lowest level of instruction was that of a second grade, her WRI suggest that fourth grade was her instructional level. The spelling test most definitely suggests that Shytavia was working at a frustrational level on the fifth grade, while the WRI suggests that fifth grade could possibly be her instructional level with a gray area score of 60%. And so it appears that Shytavia has a strong case of being instructional on a fourth grade level. Clearly on the spelling test Shytavia was frustrated on a fifth grade level with an accuracy of only 25%. Shytavia can read words better in isolation better than she can spell them because she sees them so often. I will have to consider the next test before I make any final conclusions.

Contextual reading

The purpose of including oral reading passages is in a battery assessment is probably the most important even above spelling and WRI. While these two test are important and help the administrator to gain an understanding or where to begin the oral reading assessment, it is this test itself that allows you into the mind of the child in regards to reading. By allowing the child to read aloud certain passages an accuracy rate at which the child recognizes the words can be obtained. Not only accuracy rate but the fluency with which the child reads as well as the amount of comprehension the child is doing can also be obtained. All of these things are taken into consideration when determining the independent, instructional and frustration levels of the child. By including the silent reading component of the test an administrator is able to gain an understanding of the correlation between the child's oral reading ability and their ability to read in their head. Silent reading is important to students as they get older because it allows them to reading without having to sound everything out, this of course increases their reading rate and allows them to focus on understanding what they are reading. Finally, by including all the different parts of the contextual reading the test administrator is given the opportunity to determine relative strengths and weaknesses across WRC, fluency, and comprehension.

An independent level in regards to the word recognition in context (WRC) will be classified with a reading accusdracy rate of 98-100%. In most cases this requires the child to make less than 3 mistakes while reading aloud. Fluency and comprehension can also be characterized as being independent, instructional or frustrational. An independent fluency rate would be one at which the child reads a number of words per minute above their expected grade level range. An independent comprehension rate is the same for both the reading comprehension as well as the listening comprehension. Independence can be found with the child operating at a comprehension rate of 90-100%. In most cases this requires the child to answer all of the questions correctly.

An instructional level in regards to the word recognition in context (WRC) will be classified with a reading accuracy rate of 95-97%. In most cases this requires the child to make at least 3 mistakes but less than 5 mistakes while reading aloud. An instructional fluency rate would be one at which the child reads a number of words per minute in an acceptable range for their grade level. An instructional comprehension rate is the same for both the reading comprehension as well as the listening comprehension. Instructional can be found with the child operating at a comprehension rate of 70-89%. In most cases this requires the child to answer 4 out of 5 questions correct or 4 out of 6 questions correct. I found that Shytavia was operating at an gray area for WRI on a second, third and fourth grade level all three with a score of 94%. Her words per minute rate was quite fast for her grade level reading at a word per minute of 168 on second, 145 on third and 137 on fourth. But her fluency, overall prosody and intonation was poor for the passage. Shytavia read too fast for me to really hear her true intonation for the passage. She would read straight through the passage rather quickly without stopping to check and make sure that what she was reading was making sense. It is for the reason the I feel she scored so poorly on her comprehension. The only grade that Shytavia scored instructionally at with comprehension was that of a second grade.

An frustrational level in regards to the word recognition in context (WRC) will be classified with a reading accuracy rate below 90%. In most cases this requires the child to make more than 10 mistakes. A frustrational fluency rate would be one at which the child reads a number of words per minute below range for their grade level. A frustrational comprehension rate is the same for both the reading comprehension as well as the listening comprehension. Frustration can be found with the child operating at a comprehension rate of below 50%. In most cases this requires the child to answer less than 3 questions correctly. I was able to find Shytavia's frustrational level for WRI to be that of a fifth grade level with a score of 87%. Her words per minute rate was at a instructional rate for that for that reading passage with a rate of words per minute (WPM) 108, but again her intonation and prosody suffered because she was attempting to read too fast. Most of Shytavia's comprehension scores were at a frustrational level, starting at a third grade level when she read, and at a fifth grade level when she listened to me read.

Shytavia's spelling predicted that she was working on an instructional level of third grade, seeings that her WRI scores are in the gray area for that grade I cannot accurately determine if third is her instructional level or not without considering her other test scores . Shytavia's WRI suggests that she could be working at an instructional level of fourth grade, while her WRC suggests that Shytavia could still be working at an instructional level even at fourth grade with a gray area score of 94%. And so the question becomes do we keep Shytavia at an instructional level of fourth grade with her scores in WRC and spelling supporting that, and a gray area score in the WRC that could lean either way, or do we drop her down to a third grade level. Spelling suggests that third grade could be her instructional level, and her WRC score on a third grade level is in a gray area which means it could go either way, but her WRI score suggest that third is independent for her. I would feel more comfortable sticking Shytavia in a third grade level simply due to her fluency rate, her prosody and intonation and her comprehension rate. She scored at a instructional rate for comprehension at a third grade level, but dropped to a steep frustrational level on the fourth grade passage with a score of 10%.

Listening comprehension

A listening component of the test is also included in order to determine if the child can listen to lesson on audio tape, rather than read the lesson, and still be effectively taught at their grade level. An instructional level can be found with the child operating at a comprehension rate of 90-100%. In most cases this requires the child to answer all of the questions correctly. Instructional can be found with the child operating at a comprehension rate of 70-89%. In most cases this requires the child to answer 4 out of 5 questions correct or 4 out of 6 questions correct. Frustrational can be found with the child operating at a comprehension rate of below 50%. I was able to find Shytavia's instructional level for listening comprehension to be that of a second grade level with a score of 80%. For a third grade and fourth grade level, Shytavia scored a total of 68% and 51% respectively, which causes her listening comprehension to fall into a gray area. Gray area ranges from 50-69%. While Shytavia is operating at a gray area level for the third and fourth grade I chose to keep her instructionally within the third grade level.

Shytavia's listening comprehension does suggest some incongruence from the other assessments completed. For one she is appearing to be instructional on a second grade level when her WRC suggest otherwise. Listening comprehension for third and fourth grade falls into a gray area, while spelling and WRI suggest that fourth grade could be instructional for her.

Instructional Plans

Reading

I recommend that Shytavia be put on a third reading level. Partner reading with a tutor or guided reading in a small group would greatly benefit Shytavia. While Shytavia is reading with the tutor the goal of the reading should be to get Shytavia thinking critically about the plot of the story. To work on his comprehension I recommend doing Directed Reading and Thinking Activities (DRTA). In DRTAs you stop throughout the reading at points of anticipation to have the child predict and recall information from the text with questioning such as “What do you think will happen next?” and “What did you read that makes you think that?”