Reading Intervention Project ~ Post Reflection

STEP 5: Evaluate Response to Intervention

Student: SB Teacher: Corinne Scheman

Date: 12.5.15

Was the intervention carried out as planned? Yes No

Why or Why not?
For the most part the intervention was carried out as planned. But I feel that checking the yes box would
not be completely accurate. I got behind on my lessons, so there was more time in between lessons than
I had originally planned and wanted. Some lessons I could not completed in one session and had to be
carried over to the next week. I think if I had more experience as a teacher I would have been able to
keep on track with what I had planned. The interruptions of testing, assemblies, and other circumstances
outside of my control I realize I cannot change, and there were a few of those as well. I feel that the
consistency in lesson delivery was not as I had planned. But the lessons, when given, were carried out as
planned.

Has the student benefited from the intervention? Yes

How much growth was made by the student?
This student was assessed the FAST Progress monitoring for third grade. In September this student was
reading 38 WCPM on 3rd grade material while her peers were reading at 95 WCPM on third grade
material to meet 40th percentile requirements. She was high risk according to FAST benchmarks. Her
discrepancy was 56 WCPM.
Her goal was to increase 3.7 WCPM on 3rd grade FAST progress monitoring reading passages in order to
reach her end of year goal of 129 WCPM on 3rd grade reading passages.

Progress Monitoring with 3rd gr. Reading passages from FAST:

9/27/15 48 WCPM

10/4/15 50 WCPM

10/11/15 58 WCPM

10/18/25 59 WCPM

10/25/15 51 WCPM

11/8/15 53 WCPM

11/15/15 59 WCPM

In conclusion, the student has benefited from the intervention; she has made a growth of 21 WCPM since
September. In the 10 weeks since the initial FAST CBMreading assessment, SB has grown at the rate of
2.1 words correct per week.

Has the goal (specific measurable outcome) been attained? Yes No

Her goal increasing 3.7 WCPM a week was not met.

Recommended Action:
Continue Current Intervention Modify Intervention (Describe under Details)
Return to Tier I (Universal Instruction) Additional Assessment (Describe under Details)
 Other (Describe under Details)
Details:
The amount of repetition that SB is getting in the current intervention is helping her but she is still in the
FAST benchmark category of high risk. Her current 59 WCPM leaves her with a discrepancy of 32 WCPM
on third grade material to meet 40th percentile requirements for the fall of third grade. Because of this, she
does not qualify to return to tier 1, thus I have checked Continue Current Intervention. Although SB has
made progress this fall, it is not enough for her to catch up to her peers. I would like to SB to be given the
CTOPP, which is the next level assessment that our school gives for students not responding to
interventions. Because of this, I checked Additional Assessment. I am wondering if there is an
underlying memory issue that is preventing SB from making the progress that I had hoped she would
make in these few weeks of intervention. She will not be given this assessment at this point, because the
RtI team does not feel that SB qualifies for this assessment. So for now, SB will continue to get the same
amount of additional support during WIN time: 25 minutes/5 days a week by the Title 1 teacher.

Without further testing to see if there are any underlying issues that may be affecting her WCPM, I will
continue with my current small group work and Read Naturally twice a week, but I will increase my
intervention in the classroom, thus I have checked Modify Intervention. In addition to Read Naturally and
the small group work that we do in the classroom, I will provide SB with more review and practice while
she is in my classroom. The only way that I can increase the intervention she is getting from me (because
time is a limitation) is to make differentiated independent work for SB that gives her additional practice on
the skills that we are working on in small groups. I will decide if the whole group work is beneficial to her
and if I feel it is something that she can miss, she will get differentiated independent work that review the
instruction she is getting in Title 1 or my small groups. This differentiated work will be determined by
periodic diagnostic spelling tests, her performance in my small group work, and 1:1 reading conferences.
She may just need more repetition. I will also suggest to her parents that if they can carve out the time, I
will provide them with worksheets she can do at home. If this is not a possibility for them, I will ask them to
consider perhaps she return to tutoring for the extra review and practice that she will need to catch up to
her peers.

What were the biggest challenges you encountered while completing this
project?

There are two challenges that I feel were significant and had an impact
on my teaching and thus my students progress. The first was interruptions
to my time from outside circumstances. This I do not have control over and
can be frustrating. Assemblies, state testing, and unforeseen situations
arise and the lessons were not able to be given or completed as planned.

The second challenge I found was time constraints and pacing mistakes
that happen within the classroom: assignments that take longer than
planned may mean that one small group does not meet with me that day. If
one lesson in my Daily 5 rotations takes a little too long, it then impacts my
whole literacy block. This unexpected loss of minutes affects the time I
have with a small group. My literacy block is very tightly planned and timed,
10-minute mini lesson/20-minute independent work. I do this rotation for
two rounds on two days of the week because of have two mini lessons that
need to be taught on these two days of the week. The other three days I
have one mini lesson of 10 minutes and then three rounds back to back of
independent work (20 minutes each). The challenge is keeping to this
pace. If the independent work or mini lessons run over a few minutes, then
I am behind. I made a point to meet with my lowest group twice a week as
planned because of this course, but there were two weeks that I missed
meeting with a higher group because of mistakes I made in pacing. I
believe this challenge will improve with time. Since I am a new teacher, I
am still learning myself. I have made one of my personal goals this year
pacing. If I can get better at not letting a lesson go a few minutes over, then
I will not loose minutes with a small group. This challenge is why I
sometimes jokingly say, I would be a great teacher if I didnt have these
kids who keep showing up! Teaching has to respond to so many
unpredictable situations: daily individual needs, challenges, and real
people, thus I have to be fluid and realize that if my small group only gets
me for 10 minutes and I do half the planned lesson, that is OK.

What were the biggest successes you encountered while completing this
project?

The first success I encountered while completing this project is the

collaboration between the different teachers that work with this student. I
had not done this last year and I found this collaboration very helpful in my
lesson planning. I hope the other teachers as well see the benefit to this
since it is very hard to find the time to meet.

The second success was the SBs parents have realized what it will take
for their daughter to become a fluent reader. They now understand that
reading and rereading just right books are going to be the key to success.
They are now on board with keeping SB in just right books. Another part of
this is that SB herself understands that because her comprehension is
high, she is smart and that is not the issue. She is just not reading fast
enough. I think she has an understanding now that if her reading continues
to take her longer than it should, all her homework will take her too long to
complete. She does not want that. She understands that although the just
right levels may not challenge her comprehension, but she must do this so
that she can read faster. I find this a huge success because SB will not fight
her parents when they ask her to read easier books. I see this reflected in
her book selection in her book box at school. At the beginning of the year I
would consistently find books that were way above her reading level in her
book box. She now consistently has a book box full of just right books.

The third success is the growth that SB did make. Although not meeting
her goal, I have seen her fluency increase and this needs to be
acknowledged and celebrated. We both can see how the repeat readings
from the Read Naturally program help her increase her WCPM. This
success will contribute to her being willing to repeat read. Then the repeat
reading will give her the practice she needs to grow as a fluent reader.

Would you use this process again?

Yes. I found that the conferencing with all the teachers involved with this
student to be very beneficial. The careful collection of data and review of
data has given me a more accurate understanding my students needs and
has helped me to create and plan small groups. The subsequent explicit
review work of needed skills that I am giving in small groups is based on
needs identified by data, the lessons are using current best practices,
focused, and thus beneficial to my students.

What changes would you make to this process?

I cannot think of any changes that I would make to the process this
project provided me except that now I will be able to start it sooner in the
year.

How will this project assist you in becoming a more effective literacy leader
in your school and/or district?
 One of the largest areas of growth in understanding for me was to see
the value in of taking the time to put all the data that I have on a student
onto one template. We have quite a lot of data as teachers but to put it all
together on one template was invaluable. By taking all the different
assessments and years of data and putting them side by side on one
template, I was able to compare and analyze data more effectively. Doing
this has helped me see patterns, identify needs, and become a more
effective literacy teacher.

Another way this project helped me become a more effective literacy

teacher was having the small group lesson planned and in front of me while
I taught. I always think through lessons I teach very carefully, but I do not
always take the time to write out the details and especially how long I will
spend on each part of the lesson. Because I had to do that for this project, I
realize that this makes my lessons more effective and helps my pacing.

Learning the newest best practices in teaching literacy was also

extremely valuable. I have an effective system now that I can follow while
teaching any level word reading; my turn, together, your turn. I have a
system of chunking, group reading, breaking down tasks, and so much
more. I found the book and video clips gave me tools that make me an
effective literacy teacher. Because of the learning I have done for this
project, I have a deeper understanding of current best practices and have
more confidence in communicating my practices around literacy. I have
talked to the Title teacher about some of these practices I am using and
she is interested in learning more. In this way I believe that this course has
started me on a path of being an effective literacy leader.