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Introduction
Lavonia Elementary School is a public elementary school located in Franklin County, Georgia. The
enrollment at LES for the 2009-2010 school-year was 460 students with a free/reduced lunch population of
around 67%. The school is qualified under Title 1 guidelines to receive special funding. There are thirty-seven
certified teachers and sixty-nine staff members. The school has a nurse, an academic coach, two counselors,
a media specialist, a principal, and an assistant principal. The learning environment that serves as the
context for this learner analysis is my Reading/ELA/Writing fifth grade classroom. Ten out of 23 students
were chosen to participate in this study. The last names of the participants have been eliminated for
ELA5R1.2. For informational texts, the student reads and comprehends in order to develop understanding
d. Identifies and uses knowledge of common organizational structures (e.g. chronological order, logical
order, cause and effect, classification schemes).
h. Relates new information to prior knowledge and experience and makes connections to related topics or
information.
Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a
distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others. Students will:
a. Interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital
b. Communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and
formats.
The data collected for demographic purposes was obtained during the school year by my own
observations. The data is included in the following table for my homeroom class.
The students involved in this learner analysis were assessed at the beginning of the school year with a
pre-test pertaining to the 5th grade Georgia Performance Standards using Testgate benchmark assessments.
The pre-tests were given in August, 2009. The tests are not created by classroom teachers, but by the
academic coaches from each of the four county public elementary schools. The Testgate data is summarized
in reports that are accessible to all the teachers at LES. The pre-tests are used to determine how students are
placed for differentiated instruction. The academic coach meets on a weekly basis with all grade level teachers
to analyze the data and to make decisions in classroom instruction. The following results have been acquired
by accessing the website, of which a password and account is needed. This data can be accessed at any time
it is needed by any of the teachers on staff. The educational and ability levels are focused on the Georgia
Performance Standard ELA5R1.2a.d.e. The data that is included in the table below shows the percentage of
correct answers for that particular standard presented on the pre-assessment. For example, Dawson scored a
100% on the element ELA5R1.2a, which means he answered all questions correctly regarding that particular
element, which was presented on the exam. However, Dawson scored 0.00% on the element ELA5R1.2e,
which means he did not answer any questions correctly regarding that particular element. Looking at the data
guides my whole-group instruction as well as small-group instruction. Since these are pre-test results, most
of the instruction will be whole-group until the students are tested again by a benchmark assessment. After
benchmark testing, my scores will help dictate who needs further small-group instruction with certain
Also, the Star reading test is given to all fifth grade students at the beginning of the school year, mid-
year, and at the end of the year to track progress in reading levels. The Star reading data that is being used in
this learner analysis was given at the beginning of the school year as a pre-test. The tests for all participants
were administered during the month of August, 2009. The data was obtained by me through the Renaissance
Place website. Classroom teachers look at the GE (grade equivalent) and also the IRL (independent reading
level) to determine an approximate reading level for students. This is in order to guide students in choosing
books in which they can read independently. However, fifth grade students are not required to restrict their
reading to only AR leveled books. Students are encouraged to read books for enjoyment and to read books
that they find to be interesting. According to the IRL data presented in the table, only 10% of the participants
are reading at a 5th grade level when entering 5th grade. There are 70% at the 4th grade level and 20% at a 3rd
grade level. Students are placed at the IRL level to begin the year, and adjustments are made according to
how students perform on AR tests. The reason students are started on the IRL instead of the GE level is
because this is the level students should be able to read independently with success. Some students progress
Academic Motivation
In the area of academic motivation, I simply interviewed the participating students as I conducted the
MI quiz. I asked specifically about reading motivation since a reading standard is being addressed in my unit.
Since my students have already taken the CRCT and received their scores, I asked them these questions in
regards to the past year. All of my students passed the reading portion on the CRCT.
Question #1: “What helped motivate you to achieve your reading scores this year?
-The thing that motivated me was that I knew I had to pass the Reading on the CRCT to go to 6th grade.
-We got to read different novels in class, so that made it feel more like middle school, and I like that.
-I just like to read. I liked being a Millionaire Reader. (This was Dawson. He read a million words this year!)
-I don’t really like to read, but I knew I had to pass because of the CRCT. That’s what motivated me.
-I wanted to see if I could score higher than I did last year.
We always show the students what they made on the CRCT from the previous year and challenge them to
exceed. Many students like this because they are very competitive.
Question #2: “What reading strategy or activity did you like the most this year?
-Using the Internet to do research when we read about the Black Frontiers.
-Wax Museum
Motivational Strategies
According to John Keller, four simple components can be used to aid in motivating instruction in a
classroom setting. Those components make up the ARCS Motivation Theory…Attention, Relevance, Confidence,
and Satisfaction (ARCS-motivation). The ARCS Model is derived from several motivational theories and
concepts, which includes the expectancy-value theory. In this theory, “effort” is “identified as the major
measurable motivational outcome” (Small, 1997). In order for “effort” to conceive, two necessary factors must
be present: (1) the person must value the task and (2) the person must believe he or she can succeed at the
task (Small, 1997). For an instructional environment, the “learning task needs to be presented in a way that is
engaging and meaningful to the student, and in a way that promotes positive expectations for the successful
achievement of learning objectives” (Small, 1997). In reference to the four categories of ARCS, the Satisfaction
and Confidence areas are the ones that will be addressed in this section. Motivational challenges in these two
areas have been identified as students needing support with intrinsic reinforcement, which is a component of
the Satisfaction area, and expectancy of success, which is a component of the Confidence area.
The Satisfaction component of ARCS addressed intrinsic reinforcement, extrinsic rewards, and equity
(ARCS-motivation). Fifth grade students need encouragement and support to build an intrinsic enjoyment of
the learning process, and in order to help them achieve this, strategies must be put into place in the learning
environment. The motivational strategy that I plan to implement in my classroom to help with intrinsic
reinforcement is to invite former students to come back to my classroom after they have been in middle and
high school, and let them provide testimonials on how their reading skills have helped them. The former
students can describe how the reading skills have helped them with homework and projects. Also, adults
could visit during a “Career Day” and provide stories of how reading skills have helped them in their jobs or
professions.
The Confidence component of ARCS addressed expectancy for success, challenge setting, and
attribution molding (ARCS-motivation). Fifth grade students need encouragement and support to also build
confidence in their performance requirements and expect success. Expectancy for success begins with making
learners aware of what is expected of them and what the standards are in a unit of study. Having high
expectations and having an environment where students are allowed to express themselves with opinions and
thoughts can build the confidence needed for success. Showing students a rubric before a unit begins can
also build confidence because students are not playing a guessing game as to what is expected of them and
how they can attain a certain level of satisfaction. This is a strategy that is commonplace in my classroom,
whether it is a rubric or a checklist. Tomlinson states that teachers who teach for success, know exactly what
the needs of the students are and knows how to get them there by using benchmarks and scaffolding
instruction (1999, p. 33). She also makes the comment that in a healthy classroom, a teacher must consider
herself/himself as a winning coach, so as to make the students feel successful as well. In my classroom, there
is a sense of teamwork, and I’ve always considered myself a coach for my students. I will continue to utilize
this strategy in my classroom to fulfill this component...cheering and encouraging my students just as a
coach should!
The educational and ability levels in my classroom are broad. According to the Star reading
assessments, students participating in this study range in reading levels from 3rd grade to upper 5th grade. Of
the ten students, one has a learning disability and there are two Hispanic students. Alison, the one student in
my study group with a learning disability, was diagnosed with a mass on her brain when she was 9 years old.
Due to her condition, she developed seizures, which has caused a disruption in her learning process skills.
Some of the skills involved include language and math, specifically any skills that require a process or
memorization. Fortunately, she developed many of her reading skills, such as decoding and vocabulary
acquisition before the seizures began. According to Pressley (2000), the skill of reading is “often thought of as
a hierarchy of skills, from processing of individual letters and their associated sounds to word recognition to
text-processing competencies.” Since Alison developed these particular skills at any early age, before the brain
mass, she can read fluently, but she still struggles with comprehension. Many strategies are needed to
comprehend a text, such as making predictions before reading, finding connections with people or events in
the text, and being able to use context clues to determine the meanings of unfamiliar words. In order to help
Alison with her comprehension, a scaffolding of strategies and extensive teacher explanation with modeling
would result in her independently using these strategies with confidence (Pressley, 2000). An issue that could
develop, although I have not seen it in her to date, might be the lack of confidence and the fear of failure
because of her learning disability. “For most people, anxiety about failing is what motivates them to succeed,
but for people with learning disabilities, this anxiety can be paralyzing. Educators need to be aware of these
fears to help learners understand that failure does not make them a failure and making mistakes is a part of
the learning process” (Top 5). One strategy to help Alison keep her self-confidence and deter a fear of failure is
to help her come up with some creative ways and innovative strategies that she can use to help herself when
My classroom has become more culturally diverse as the years have gone by, and this year challenged
my understanding of the Hispanic culture, as I had four Hispanic students in my homeroom. Of the four
students, two participated in this study, Edgar and Bryan. Both of these boys have unique qualities of always
giving their best at everything they do, and they also have very loving and respectful personalities. In
responding to their specific learning needs, Bryan required more attention in his English vocabulary than
Edgar. Edgar’s family speaks English very well and did not require an interpreter during parent conferences,
however, Bryan’s mother requested an interpreter since she speaks in broken English. Edgar is not an ESOL
student, but Bryan has not tested out of ESOL because his language skills are still weak. A strategy to help
Bryan with his language skills, as recommended in the article from the National Association for the Education
of Young Children, is to encourage dialogue with his peers and teachers. This is one of the best ways to
facilitate second language learning for him (Linguistic and cultural, 1999). The one characteristic that I
observed with all of my Hispanic students was that they were quiet and rarely would ask questions in class
on their own. If I asked one of them specifically, there was a kind and respectful response, but rarely a
response initiated by them. In the workshop report, Cultural Diversity and Early Education (1994), Phillips and
Crowell report,
“Claude Goldenberg described his experience with Latino children, whose mothers tend to use highly
directive patterns of communication. As a result, these children might expect to be cued to participate
in classroom discussions. Goldenberg observed that extending wait-time and absent cuing, had no
effect on some of these children’s participation; explicit cuing, on the other hand, enhanced both cued
and spontaneous participation. The context in which children are most comfortable talking in groups
To meet the needs of all of my Hispanic learners, I will incorporate a strategy of encouraging dialogue, but
using this strategy more often as small peer group discussions instead of whole-group discussion.
One more student that I would like to focus on in this section is Austin. Austin is a conflicted and
confused child. I taught Austin in third grade, too, so I felt like I knew him fairly well before I taught him this
year in fifth grade. Austin is very intelligent, but in his case, he does not apply himself. At times, his academic
abilities did not show on tests, and this frustrated me. He has a very confusing home life, and his parents are
divorced. His one and only older brother dropped out of high school, so he does not have any male role
models to help guide him in his education. His Star reading pre-test score was a third grade reading level, but
when I saw that, I had the feeling he did not apply himself while taking the test to show his true intelligence.
Austin did pass all the sections of the CRCT this year, and his reading level went up to a 5th grade level. It
breaks my heart when a child has the educational ability to succeed, but does not apply it. Motivational
strategies, such as encouragement, are mainly what Austin needs to keep his momentum going. He gets into
a lot of fights because he lets his emotions take over. He continues to stay on my mind because the thoughts
of him following in his brother’s shoes, is such an overwhelming factor in his future success as a student.
Learner Characteristics
Learners can remember more of the information given them, if more of the brain is involved during the
learning process (Overview). It only makes sense that “intelligence is multifaceted, not a single thing”
(Tomlinson, 1999, p. 18). According to Smith (2008), “Gardner claimed that the seven intelligences rarely
operate independently. They are used at the same time and tend to complement each other as people develop
skills or solve problems.” In order to meet the needs of my learners, a multiple intelligences test was
conducted to gain a deeper understanding of their learning styles. The MI test, How Many Ways Are You
Smart? , is designed specifically for young learners, and I obtained it from www.lauracandler.com. The test
was conducted with some of the learners at the school (parents brought them back to the school because we
had already dismissed for summer break), some parents took them home for their children to complete (I took
the tests by the parents’ workplaces), and a couple of learners completed them over the phone as I asked the
questions. After analyzing the results, I could see the learning styles in each of these children. I made some
comments in the table to validate the results from the quiz and from my own observations in the classroom.
The learning styles obtained from the article, Overview of Learning Styles, include…
*Visual/Spatial (picture smart) – preference of pictures and images and spatial understanding
*Auditory/Musical (music smart) – preference of sound and music
*Verbal/Linguistic (word smart) – prefer using words, both in spoken and written language
*Physical/Kinesthetic (body smart) – prefer using the body and hands to solve problems
*Logical/Mathematical (number smart) – prefer using logic, reasoning, and systems
*Social/Interpersonal (people smart) – preference of learning in groups or with other people
*Solitary/Intrapersonal (self smart) – prefer to work alone and use self-study
*Naturalistic (nature smart) – prefer to work in nature or outdoor surroundings
Accommodations
Accommodations for children with special needs and for children of other languages are vital in a
classroom environment. Children with special needs have an IEP (Individualized Education Plan) developed to
address specific learning goals and to identify specific appropriate accommodations within the classroom
setting. In order for students to achieve success with the standards being taught, teachers sometimes have to
modify the materials being used when those instructional materials create a barrier to student learning (Lenz
& Schumaker, 2003). The adaptations may mean changing the amount of information or the content or
presenting the content in a different way (Lenz & Schumaker, 2003). Children with special needs can also
benefit from using appropriate assistive technology resources. Since special needs children have a variety of
specific learning disabilities, accommodations can be many and varied. Specific learning disabilities, other
health impaired, emotional-behavior disorders, Tourette’s Syndrome, autism, ADD, ADHD, physical
handicaps, deafness, blindness, among many others are all special needs that need some type of
accommodation that is specific to meet individual needs. Some accommodations could include, but are not
Differentiating instruction is an important step in addressing the needs of individual learners. Special
needs children can feel successful and can be successful in the classroom when their individual needs are
met (Huggins, Huyghe, & Iljkoski). “Co-teaching can be an effective instructional model for meeting individual
student needs” (Huggins et al.). A special needs child may have specific instructional models put into place
through the IEP. If co-teaching is specifically an accommodation, some strategies to build a positive and
successful model can be introduced to the educators who will be working with that child. Professionals should
consider teaching methods, classroom management, class size, course content, and least restrictive
environment. Many other factors also need to be considered, but administrators need to remember a key
factor in all of co-teaching is compatibility among the professional educators working together in a co-
teaching model. Those teachers working together need to be able to make time for collaboration so that the
needs of individual students can be discussed and evaluated on a regular basis (Huggins et al.).
Changes made in the final draft according to the peer feedback were…
-Giving more narrative details to explain the data in the table in the entry skills and prior knowledge section
-Moving some information that was in the academic motivation area to the motivational strategy area
-Added another student from the study to the educational and ability levels section
AbleData. Your source for assistive technology information. Retrieved 8 June, 2010 from,
http://www.abledata.com
Big Keys Company. Big Keys keyboards. Retrieved on 8 June, 2010 from, http://www.bigkeys.com
How many ways are you smart? Multiple intelligences test. Retrieved on 1 June, 2010 from,
http://www.lauracandler.com
Huggins, M., Huyghe, J., & Iljkoski, E. (n.d.). Council for Exceptional Children. Co-teaching 101: Lessons from
the trenches. Retrieved on 8 June, 2010 from, http://www.cec.org/
Knoblauch, B. (October 1998). Council for Exceptional Children. Teaching children with Tourette Syndrome.
Retrieved on 8 June, 2010 from, http://www.cec.org/
Lenz, K. & Schumaker J. (July 2003). Council for Exceptional Children. Adapting language arts, social studies,
and science materials for the inclusive classroom. Retrieved on 8 June, 2010 from, http://www.cec.org/
National Association for the Education of Young Children. (1999). Linguistic and cultural diversity-building on
America’s strengths. Retrieved on 7 June, 2010 from,
http://www.pbs.org/kcts/preciouschildren/diversity/read_linguistic.html
Phillips, D. & Crowell, N. A. (Eds.). (1994). Cultural diversity and early education-report of a workshop.
Retrieved on 6 June, 2010 from, http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=9197&page=R1
Pressley, M. (2000). Comprehension instruction: What works. Retrieved on 7 June, 2010 from,
http://www.ldonline.org/article/68
Small, R. V. (1997). Motivation in instructional design: The ARCS model of motivational design. Retrieved on 7
June, 2010 from, http://www.ericdigests.org/1998-1/motivation.htm
Smith, M. K. (2008). Howard Gardner and multiple intelligences: The encyclopedia of informal education.
Retrieved on 7 June, 2010 from, http://www.infed.org/thinkers/gardner.htm
Tomlinson, C. A. (1999). The differentiated classroom: Responding to the needs of all learners. Alexandria, VA:
ASCD.
Top 5 emotional difficulties of people with learning disabilities. Retrieved on 7 June, 2010 from,
http://ldpride.net/emotions.htm
Appendix
Notes:
You did a great job on this assignment. The orientation of your pages is non-standard and the font is too.
APA “sticklers” would want Times New Roman, 12-point font.