Diagnostic Instructional Report in Reading

DIAGNOSTIC INSTRUCTIONAL REPORT IN READING

NORTHEASTERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY

LITERACY CENTER

Date: July 28, 2016

To:Mrs. StarcevicName:Stephanie Starcevic

Address: 5744 North CampbellGrade: 5Age: 10

Chicago, Illinois 60659D.O.B.: 3-10-06

Clinician:Mrs. Baltsas

INTRODUCTION

Stephanie is a fifth grade student at Jamieson Elementary School in Chicago, IL. Stephanie is returning to Northeastern Illinois University Literacy Center for continued support in reading and writing in the Summer of 2016. In the current Summer 2016 term, Stephanie attended 16 out of the 16 sessions. In the most recent term of Spring2016, Stephanie attended 21of the 21 sessions. According to Mrs. Starcevic, reading has always been a challenge and a struggle for Stephanie. Mother stated that her daughter lacks motivation to read, and is more interested in playing videos games or watching television. Stephanie’s mother was satisfied with the progress that Stephanie made with her previous clinician, and feels optimistic that Stephanie will grow in the areas that she struggles with. Stephanie’s mother indicated that Stephanie felt slightly hesitant about returning because she would rather spend her summer playing and not focusing on instructional activities. Stephanie’s mother indicated that she will not allow Stephanie to participate in summer activities like soccer and overnight camps that Stephanie has expressed an interest in unless she improves her grades in reading. Stephanie’s mother indicated that she feels that the targeted strategies in building fluency were helpful because Stephanie does better with individualizedone-on-one instruction.

Rapport was established with Stephanie and the current clinician through interviews and informalactivities. Stephanie was excited to share her experiences and interests when she engaged in the Getting to Know You Activity. Stephanie showed excitement andwas cooperative during her first session.Stephanie indicated that she likes reading mysteries and books about vampires. Stephanie’s favorite subjects in school are art and P.E. She also indicated that she prefers math, but doesn’t enjoy completing story problems. Stephanie indicated that she does not like being called on by her teachers to read because she feels she sounds funny. Stephanie participates in a choir group and also likes playing soccer.

To better understand Stephanie’s attitude towards reading, Stephanie was given the Burke Reading Interview the first evening she attended the Literacy Center. The questions on this interview are intended to assess a reader’s self-confidence as well as strategies the reader knows. Stephanie was also given the Elementary Reading Attitude Survey. This survey presents various statements about reading materials and opportunities. The student reads a statement about either academic or recreational reading and indicates how the particular statement made her feel by circling a rating scale from a range of a happy to an angry Garfield. The results of the Garfield Reading Inventory indicated that Stephanie has an indifferent attitude toward reading. Stephanie likes to select books that are no more than 10 chapters in length and that also contain pictures.

PRIOR ASSESSMENT AND INSTRUCTION

A review of previous assessment and instructional plans indicated Stephanie’s most recent instructional goals were intended to meet Stephanie’s assessed needs.

One of Stephanie’s goals was to increase metacognitive awareness by connecting, questioning, and summarizing. In one of the lessons, the major focus of instruction was sequencing. One of the methods used was chronological sequencing to recall important facts and to retell what a story is about. A strategy that was taught was and idea map. Text that was used wasDr. Zardos and the Mind Stone. A follow-up lesson that was used focused on non-fiction text and used a sequence map in order to retell and eventually summarize the events of a story. The text that was used was Let’s Make Vegetable Soup. Another lesson that was used to assist Stephanie in summarizing was based on using an expectation grid so that Stephanie could not only make predictions about the text, but also to activate prior knowledge. In this lesson, the text that was used was National Geographic Fantastic Frogs.

Another one of Stephanie’s goals was to adequately use graphophonic, syntactic, and semantic cueing systems. One of the methods used was decoding in order to recognize familiar words quickly and to be able to decode, or figure out new or unfamiliar words. A strategy that was taught was See It Say It Spell it Chant. Text that was used was National Geographic Dive In. Another one of Stephanie’s instructional needs was based on recognizing spelling patterns. The strategy that was used was Word Solve By Analogy. In order to learn spelling patterns of words that end with the suffixes –en, -ize, and –ify, the text National Geographic Into the Wild was used.

A third goal that was set for Stephanie was to attend to print. One of the methods used was to reduce insertions and substitutions by cross checking.A strategy that was taught was self-questioning. Text that was used was National Geographic Extreme Extreme Explorer. In another lesson that was based on decoding multisyllabic words as well as attending to print, Stephanie utilized the Somebody Wanted, But So Strategy in order to summarize The Crane Wife.

The final goal for Stephanie was to increase word meaning and vocabulary development. One of the methods used was to focus on prefixes. The strategy that was used focused on building words from prefixes. The text that was used was Life in Space, which contained the prefixes –dis, -re, -un, and –pre.

Stephanie’s Assessment Summary Spring 2016

Mode of Reading

/ Independent Level / Instructional Level / Frustration Level
Oral Reading / 2 / 4 / 5
Silent Reading / 3 / 4 / 5
Language Level / 3
PPVT-4 / Raw Score: 159/ Grade Equivalent: 5.1/ Age Equivalent: 11.0
Spelling / Within Words Patterns (Middle)
Major Area of Strength / Word Recognition in Isolation: Identifies 90% of grade 3 words automatically and 100% when untimed.
Word Recognition in Context: Sometimes self corrects using the syntactic and graphophonic cuing systems.
In Oral, Silent, and Listening Comprehension, answered most main idea and vocabulary questions correctly.
Major Area of
Instructional Need / Instruction in vowel patterns, all stages of syllables and affixes stage, middle and final graphophonic cueing systems, making inferences, instruction in making inferences in oral, silent and listening comprehension.

ASSESSMENT PROCEDURES AND ANALYSIS

Mode of Reading / Independent Level / Instructional Level / Frustration Level
Oral Reading (BRI) / Not Established / 3 / 4
Silent Reading (BRI) / Not Established / 3-5 / Not Established
Listening Comprehension (BRI) / 5
Major Area(s) of Reading Strength /

• Stephanie actively engages with passages that are of interest to her and is able to make predictions, understand the topic and main ideas, and remembers facts and details.
• Stephanie can independently comprehend factual information in oral text of a grade 4 passage.
• On the word lists for grades 5 and 6, Stephanie identified 90% of the polysyllabic words (words with 3 or 4 syllables) correctly and is able to use semantic information to decode words.
• Stephanie is able to use initial and final graphophonic cues with the words that she mispronounced.

Major Area(s) of Reading Instructional Need /

• Instruction in making inferences as evidenced by not answering most of the inference questions on the 3rd and 5th grade passage correctly.
• Instruction in the recognition of medial vowel sounds.
• Instruction in bases, roots, and suffixes and affixes
• Instruction in long vowel sounds and inflected endings.
• Instruction in attending to syntax of a sentence to decode unfamiliar words.
• Instruction in using context clues to define unfamiliar words.

After a case file review of Stephanie’s previous sessions at the Literacy Center, several assessments were conducted to determine Stephanie’s strengths and instructional needs as well as progress made since the previous assessments were conducted. The Jerry John’s Basic Reading Inventory (BRI) was administered to assess Stephanie’s word recognition in isolation and in context, reading fluency, oral comprehension, silent comprehension, and listening comprehension. The Words Their Way Elementary Spelling Inventory (WTW) was administeredto determine Stephanie’s current stage in word knowledge development. The Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Fourth Edition (PPVT-4) was administered to assess Stephanie’s receptive vocabulary. Following are summary charts of the results of these assessments. Following the charts are explanations of the assessment results.

Informal Reading Inventory-Word Recognition in Isolation Results

Timed / Untimed / Total
Level 3 / 85% / 15% / 100%
Level 4 / 100% / 0% / 100%
Level 5 / 70% / 25% / 95%
Level 6 / 75% / 15% / 90%

Informal Reading Inventory-Reading of Passages Results

Summary of other Assessments

WTW Spelling / Stage: Within Word Patterns - Middle
PPVT-4 / Grade Level: 5.9 / Age Level: 11.8

INFORMAL READING ASSESSMENT

The Basic Reading Inventory is an individual assessment that consists of an isolated word recognition test, oral reading of passages, silent reading of passages, and a listening comprehension task. Word lists and passages increase in difficulty at each higher level. Readers are asked to read fiction and non-fiction passages. The informal reading inventory determines a reader’s operational reading levels on particular text levels. Operational reading levels are independent reading level, instructional reading level, and frustration reading level. A language listening comprehension level can be established as well. Descriptions of these levels are as follows:

Independent Level

The purpose of identifying this level is to determine what level of reading material children can comprehend on their own without assistance. In a testing situation it is not always possible to establish an independent level.

• At the independent level the reader can accurately recognize approximately 98% of the words in a passage and comprehend approximately 90% of a passage.
• Frequent reading at the independent level is highly recommended in order to increase fluency and love of reading.
• Reading at independent level is recommended when there will be no support

Instructional Level

The purpose of identifying this level is to determine what level of reading material children can read when provided with appropriate instructional assistance from the teacher. It is critical that reading instruction be provided at this level.

• At the instructional, level the reader can accurately recognize approximately 95% of the words in a passage and comprehend approximately 70% of the content in a passage.
• Providing support while reading at the instructional level is necessary to foster development of word recognition and comprehension skills as well as use of strategies.

Frustration Level

The purpose of identifying this level is to determine what level of reading material is too difficult for children to comprehend even with assistance. If instruction is provided at the frustration level over a significant period of time, reading motivation and skills will likely stall or deteriorate.

• At the frustration level the reader recognizes less than 95% of the words in a passage and comprehends less than 70% of a passage.
• If content is critical for learning purposes, but the text is at a frustration level, the reader should be provided with an easier level text with the same content.

Listening Comprehension Level

Listening comprehension level is the level a reader can comprehend 70% of a text read aloud. The purpose of identifying this level is to determine whether a reader can understand words and ideas read aloud by the examiner. Because the reader does not need to decode the text, this assessment often indicates the reading potential if appropriate word recognition skills are provided. This is particularly helpful when assessing non-native speakers.

ANALYSIS OF ASSESSMENT

Word Recognition

Word recognition is evaluated by presenting single words in isolation and performance on oral reading of passages. When the words are presented in isolation for a very brief moment, it is possible to assess the words a reader recognizes immediately. When a reader does not know a word, the word is presented again in an untimed condition. The untimed condition allows conclusions to be made to assess the reader’s decoding skills. During oral reading of passages, it is possible to assess the reader’s reading rate, fluency, use of context, self-monitoring and self-correction rates.

Performance on word recognition in isolation

First, Stephanie was assessed on her ability to recognize words in isolation without the benefit of context.When the words are presented in isolation for a very brief moment, it is possible to assess the words a reader recognizes immediately. When a reader does not know a word, the word is presented again in an untimed condition. The untimed condition allows the examiner to assess the reader’s decoding skills. The words in this assessment are presented in an easy to difficult order under timed and untimed conditions. Stephanie was presented word lists at the Grade 3 level through level 6. The analysis of Stephanie’s performance on word recognition in isolation tasks revealed the following strengths and instructional needs in word recognition in isolation.

On the Grade 5 and 6 word lists, Stephanie identified 90% of the polysyllabic words (words with 3 or 4 syllables) correctly. Stephanie is able to use initial and final letter sounds with the words that she mispronounced.

Instruction in attending to medial sounds would benefit Stephanie with focus on the a, e, and i vowel sounds. Stephanie would also benefit from instruction in long vowel sounds and inflected endings.

Performance on oral reading of passages:

During oral reading of passages, the reader can use benefits offered by context to recognize unfamiliar words as well as to comprehend the text. Therefore it is possible to assess the reader’s accuracy, reading rate, fluency, use of context, self-monitoring, self-correction rates, and comprehension. In order to assess oral comprehension, the reader is asked to respond to literal, inferential, main idea and vocabulary questions after reading each passage. Stephanie orally read passages from level 3 thru level 5 and responded to comprehension questions. The analysis of Stephanie’s performance on the oral reading of passages assessment revealed the following strengths and instructional needs in word recognition and comprehension

Stephanie was successfully able to activate background information and make sound predictions in all the oral reading passages. Stephanie understood 94% of the topic and main ideas questions in the oral reading passages she read. Stephanie can also independently comprehend factual information in oral text of a grade 4 passage as evidenced by answering all of the factual questions correctly. Furthermore, Stephanie can also make inferences and answer evaluative questions correctly at this level. Stephanie was also able to use semantic and syntactic information successfully in word recognition for oral reading passages.

Stephanie was able to define 1 out of 3 vocabulary words in the oral passages; therefore, instruction in using context clues to define unfamiliar words would enable Stephanie to build her understanding of unfamiliar vocabulary words. Stephanie would benefit from instruction in making inferences as evidenced by not answering any of the inference questions on the 3rd and 5th grade passage correctly.

Performance on Silent Reading of Passages

Stephanie was asked to silently read passages and respond to literal and inferential questions about what she read. The outcome of this task determines Stephanie’s reading rate during silent reading and her comprehension of text without the oral articulation of the text. Stephanie started to read the silent passages at level 4 and read until the comprehension questions became too difficult for her to answer at level 5. The analysis of Stephanie’s comprehension when reading silently revealed the following strengths and areas of instructional need.

Stephanie prefers to read passages silently and can independently comprehend the main ideas and make inferences in silent reading passages for grades 4 and 5 as evidenced by answering all of the questions correctly. Moreover, Stephanie reads at an appropriate rate and reads silently without vocalization.

Stephanie would benefit from instruction in comprehension of factual information as evidenced by answering 4/6 factual questions in the grade 3 passage correctly.

Performance When Listening to Passages

The purpose of identifying listening comprehension is to determine whether students can understand words and ideas read aloud to them by the examiner. Listening comprehension level is often used as an indicator of a student’s reading potential. I read level 4 and 5 passages to assess Stephanie’s ability to comprehend text when listening. The analysis of Stephanie’s comprehension when listening revealed the following strengths and areas of needs.

Stephanie correctly answered all of the questions based on making inferences, evaluating characters, and defining vocabulary.

Stephanie only answered 3/6 factual questions in the grade 4 passage correctly, but answered 5/6 factual questions correctly in the grade 5 passages. Instruction in comprehension of factual information would benefit Stephanie.

Spelling Assessment

TheWords Their WayElementarySpelling Inventory was administered to evaluate Stephanie’s developmental spelling knowledge. This assessment consists of lists of words that are chosen to represent certain spelling patterns that a student should have mastered at given grade levels. There are twenty-five words in this inventory. The words are ordered by their difficulty level, and include features students should master during their school years.

Stephanie is at the Within Word Patterns spelling stage. Stephanie demonstrated knowledge of the medial short vowel sounds, all of the beginning consonant sounds, and all of the digraphs. Since Stephanie identified 3/5 long vowel sounds, 3/7 medial vowel sounds, and 3/5 inflected endings, she would benefit from instruction in long vowel sounds and inflected endings. Stephanie also requires instruction in words in the early derivational relations stage, focusing on words with bases, roots, and suffixes.

Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test – Fourth Edition Form A

Basal Set / Ceiling Set / Raw Score / Age Equivalent / Grade Equivalent
Set 7 / Set 16 / 165 / 11:8 / 5.9

The PPVT is designed to measure receptive vocabulary knowledge. To administer this assessment, four pictures are displayed and students are asked to identify a specific picture when verbally prompted with the vocabulary word. For example, a student is shown four numbered pictures and asked What number is river? The pictures become increasingly difficult as the assessment progresses.