INVESTIGATING MID-YEAR DATA – READING GROWTH

The numbers in your trackers are more than just numbers

They represent the achievements of the young men and women you teach. They represent people.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Student_in_Class_(3618969705).jpg

As you use these data it is incumbent on you to think about what those numbers stand for

And as you act upon data it is your obligation to take ethical and responsible actions

https://www.jisc.ac.uk/blog/enhancing-student-services-with-digital-engagement-11-jun-2015

In addition to treating your data with care, mid-year is a great time to step back and deepen your understanding of your data

How do you know your data are signaling the

right message?

Let’s keep looking at reading growth data.But where did these data come from?

to understand your data is to understand the

quality of your assessment scoring

A data-literate teacher may ask…

How well have our running records been scored according to testing guidelines?

http://readingandwritingproject.org/resources/assessments/running-records

Only to find that…

a few students have “passed” reading levels with almost right comprehension question answers.

http://readingandwritingproject.org/resources/assessments/running-records

A data-literate teacher may ask…

Who has administered all of my assessments?

http://readingandwritingproject.org/resources/assessments/running-records

Only to find that…

multiple teachers administered the assessments, and that these teachers were slightly off in their score norming.

http://readingandwritingproject.org/resources/assessments/running-records

A data-literate teacher uses this information to

improve future scoring of her assessments, and

deepen her understanding of the

data in her tracker

Your assessment template provides guidance for how you can investigate the quality of your data

If we are trying to discern if our data are signaling the right message, we probably also want to

look beyond our trackers and assessments

Let’s look at some reading growth data, focusing in on individual student performance

Reese is struggling. Her reading level didn’t increase during the last round, even though she was made progress earlier this year.

What could be going on here?

A closer look at Reese’s running records show that comprehension is what is holding her back

An even closer look at her assessments shows that Reese is struggling with inference questions.

http://connect.readingandwritingproject.org/file/download?google_drive_document_id=0B7BccMltK6LqendPTFBGSzB3Rmc

Sounds like Reese needs more help with inference questions…

Or does it?

Or does it?

Reese’s teacher decided to look at other assessment data to see what was going on

A review of Reese’s daily reader’s response journals shows a limited understanding of what she has read each day.

https://www.pexels.com/photo/girl-reading-a-notebook-6342/

Reese’s teacher also looked to other sources of quantitative data to learn more

A review of Reese’s homework logs shows that she hasn’t been reading a full 25 minutes each night at home. Maybe the issue isn’t inference questions specifically, maybe Reese simply needs to spend more time reading each day.

Finally, Reese’s teacher considered qualitative data to better understand

Reese’s teacher observed Reese during independent reading time over the next two days. During her observations she noticed Reese was quietly looking at her book, but that she didn’t seem to be reading the pages. Reese’s teacher hadn’t noticed this before, since she usually conferences with students one-on-one during independent reading time.

https://www.emaze.com/@AOTZZCCZ/ICT-to-enhance-learning

Reese’s teacher scheduled a reading conference with her the next day

During that conversation she learned that Reese had been checking out books from the class library that were above her reading level. Reese wanted to read the same book series as her other friends in the class, but these books were above her independent reading level. As a result, Reese hasn’t been able to comprehend what she was reading, and hasn’t been building her own reading ability.

http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=123061&picture=glasses-on-a-school-desk

The real intervention Reese needed wasn’t re-

teaching of inference questions, it was

spending more time reading books on her

level.

This is what we call triangulating data

Your tracker and assessment data are a great start. However, data-literate teachers also look to other sources of quantitative and qualitative data to understand what those data mean, and to use those findings to inform their instructional responses.

Now that you can answer the question how do I know? It’s

time to answer our next question:

What needs to happen to reach our goals by the end-

of-year?