Michael Lemke
The Effects of Reading Conferencing with
Low Achieving Fourth Grade Girls
Michael Lemke
RE 5040
Fall 2009
Introduction
Throughout the course of the school year my students are given multiple opportunities to demonstrate their mastery of grade level skills. This is done through the use of a variety of informal and formal assessments. These assessments allow me a chance to view their knowledge of the content taught. While the assessments may not be the best or well rounded, they do provide me with a valuable set of information. Since the assessments are administered whole group rather than small group or one on one, I fear many of my students lack perseverance to complete the assessments accurately.
A skill required to complete any school task properly, I believe, is reflection. I do not believe enough of my students are reflective. Playing a more active role in their education is an area I recognize as a weakness as well. While I provide multiple opportunities for student engagement, the students need to seize the chance and involve themselves more. Taking ownership of their education and classroom tasks would result in exponential learning growth.
While I firmly believe an active, motivated student would succeed in any given learning environment. Many factors distract the efforts some students are attempting to make. One factor that causes disruptions to the daily planning and execution of a lesson is time. The supply of time is limited while the demand for use of time is high. When planning for a week of instruction, careful observation is used to ensure not too much, nor too little instruction planned. Of course once the week arrives, the amount of instruction and class work completed rarely matches up with the amount planned. Due to this lack of time, students are taking home more and more class work to complete independently. While I believe this is a perfect opportunity for practice of skills, it can cause students to lose motivation and engagement in school work. Not only is the amount of work we can complete as a class compromised but the quality of my instruction can be negatively affected as well. During the course of a lesson I periodically glance at the clock to check on my time. As the lesson progresses anxiety begins to surface as I realize the time I have left is not sufficient for the amount of instructing I have left to do. This time shortage causes me to instruct at a faster pace which impacts my student’s ability to grasp the concepts of the lesson. The quick paced lesson also does not allow time for closure of a lesson, which is vital for the summation of a lesson. Inevitable, I become behind on my lesson plans and have to spend a portion of the next day repeating and review the previous day’s lesson, which causes the shortage of time to continue. I do not believe there is a simple solution to the amount of time in an instructional day and the material needed to be covered. Realizing the school year is multiple days of instruction that build upon each other is my form of coping with the problem.
While time is of a concern for me the size of my classroom roster is as well. I currently have twenty seven students. While I am pleased with the variety of personalities and abilities and backgrounds of my students, the amount of them can be overwhelming. The amount of time I can spend one on one with students is very limited if not nonexistent at times. When I am afforded an opportunity to work with a child it usually is quick and limited in quality. It has been a challenge to learn my students personally, as well as understand their needs as a learner in my room.
As I have discussed earlier, I have a wide variety of academic abilities in my room. Two of these students are significantly below grade level in all subject areas. They both are girls and have struggled with being successful in education their entire school career. One of the girls has been retained twice and has been tested for additional educational services but did not place. The other girl is currently in the process of being tested for additional educational services. With such limited success at school these girls have no motivation or engagement in lessons while at school. I find it disheartening these two students have had such negative experiences with school at such a young age. With the limited time and large class sizes I have mentioned, I cannot help but wonder if these have played a role in their lack of educational progress. Had they been able to spend more time working closely with a teacher to identify their exact weaknesses and plan instruction accordingly, would events have turned out differently? While there may be factors undetectable by myself, I pose the question; what happens when under achieving fourth grade girls participate in one on one conferences with their teacher after reading a book on their independent level?
Theoretical Perspective
Lack of reading motivation has a negative effect on reading performance. Motivation makes the difference between learning that is temporary and learning that is permanent (Oldfather, 1993).
Klausmeier, Schwenn, and Sorenson (1970) discovered much theorizing about motivation, (Encyclopedia of Educational Research and the Review of Educational Research) however very little constructive development and testing of motivational procedures in school settings has been undertaken.
Klausmeier and Goodwin researched motivational principals in laboratory research and formulated parallel guides for implementing these principles in the school setting. This was later expanded into a System of Individually Guided Motivation (Klausmeier, Schwenn and Lamal, 1970)
Literacy proficiency is reached when a reader can read a variety of materials, read for varying purposes, comprehend material even if it is not easy to understand, acquire new knowledge of new concepts, apply text information, and are engaged in the reading process (Au and Raphael 2005).
Standards based reform which has a goal of creating rigorous standards, and high quality education. Through reform oriented policies classroom instruction has often been compromised and the intent of the policy is being undermined. (Buly and Valencia, 2002) Teacher’s practical knowledge is comprised of the following aspects; it is personal, it is contextual, it is based on experience, it is mainly tacit, and it is content related. Viewing teachers as professionals, there must be a body of knowledge that teachers share. (Beijaard, Meijer, and Verloop 2001)
Review of Literature
The following were suggestions for the classroom teacher; allow for students to self-select their books, provide a wide variety of genres for students to choose from, provide comprehension bookmarks to the students for self-monitoring, allow students access to books in your classroom, take students personal interest into account when selecting text to place in your room and introduce to your students, and read to students and talk to them about what they are reading (Edmunds and Bauserman 2006)
Achievement of students of diverse backgrounds indicates a gap in literacy achievement. Studies have shown these students have fallen four years behind the mainstream peers in reading by 12th grade. These students tend to receive a large amount of instruction in lower level skills and little instruction in reading comprehension and higher order thinking skills. This instruction is not preparing them for the state assessments and can have a negative impact on their life and future outside the classroom (Au and Raphael 2005).
Research indicated one-on-one conferencing, either by classroom teacher or by instructional aide, helped students make gains in reading performance. Difficulty of text selected by students was not affected by those students in conferences, but the amount of books read and vocabulary development was raised (Klausmeier, Schween, and Sorenson 1970).
The administration of a state reading test will give educators a good general look at the student’s reading. However, the state administration will not give an in-depth look at the student’s weaknesses and strengths. It does not give us a clear picture of all aspects that make up being a reader. Beneath each failing score is a pattern if performance that holds the key to improved reading instruction and improved reading ability (Buly and Valencia 2002)
When it comes to reading comprehension instruction, teachers need direct instruction themselves. Reading comprehension scored 10% as shared knowledge, meaning there are not many commonalities amongst professionals. If schools want to see an increase in reading comprehension programs, and common language need to be in place (Beijaard, Meijer and Verloop 2001).
Methods
Subjects
The participants of this investigation were a two forth grade girls a Shuford Elementary in Conover, North Carolina. Shuford is comprised of working and middle class families. The school is currently a Title I school and receives state funding for reading and math interventions and resources. The students chosen are below grade level as indicated on various formal and informal reading assessments. Neither subject passed the End-of Grade test in third grade. One subject has been retained twice in her schooling. The second subject is currently under going further testing to see if any learning disabilities are present.
Procedures
The subjects were given a reading questionnaire to record their responses to five reading behaviors. They ranked themselves on a scale of 1-3 with 3 indicating a reading behavior that most described themselves. Next, they demonstrated through pictures how they felt when someone talked to them about a book they have read. Both the questionnaires and feelings picture were placed in a reading conferencing folder used during the private conferences. Students were allowed unlimited access to the classroom and school library to locate and check out books to read on their independent level. This level was determined from the STAR reading test. Subjects were allowed to pick any genre or book length they desired. They were also given free choice of reading a chapter book or a picture book. Both classroom and school library housed many books that fit the needs of these subjects.
The subjects then read their chosen book. No time line was given to them as to when the book needed to be finished. This was done to ensure proper reading and comprehension was taking place and so the subjects did not feel pressure from the demands of a determined stopping date. While the students read, they were given a small note card to record any questions or thoughts they had about the text. Not many parameters were set up for the use of these cards. The students were allowed to use them in any way they felt best help them while reading.
Once the students completed their reading, they would inform me (the teacher) in the morning and a one-on-one conference was set up for late morning. During this time predetermined comprehension questions were asked covering story elements, main idea, theme and mood. Random questions were asked based upon the time given and the type of text read.
A checklist was use to record student responses as either positive (+) or negative (-). Positive markings indicated a complete and well thought out answer verses negative markings indicating lack of detail, confusion or lack of knowledge. Antidotal notes were also taken to record any additional student comments or teacher observations.
After the completion of conferencing the subjects took a computer based test to check their comprehension. These tests were taken individually and independently. Scores of eighty percent or higher indicated a passing score, while those below were failing. If a failing score was achieved, the score was deleted and the subjects were given another opportunity to take the test. After the second attempt if a failing score was achieved, no opportunity for correction was allowed.
Data
Date was recorded on checklist forms indicating a positive (+) or negative (-) on the following reading behaviors; book level, reading fluency, comprehension and student interest. Antidotal notes were also taken when needed to record teacher observation, student observations and goals for the next conference.
Subjects also recorded all books read in a reading log. These logs documented the date the reading was completed, the title of the book, the book level and the score received on the comprehension test. Teacher initials were also used after each test to keep teacher and student communication frequent.
While the subjects read index cards were used to record concerns, thoughts or questions they may have had. These cards were brought with them to each conference and reviewed. Questions they may have had were answered as well as new questions posed to think about as independent reading continued.
Computer based comprehension tests were also utilized to quantify the results of the reading conferencing. These scores were used just to check for student understanding and to hold subjects accountable to text being read. Comprehension questions asked on the tests mirrored those of the teacher/student conference.
Data Analysis
Analysis of the conference log was used to determine if the comprehension of the text was acceptable. An acceptable outcome was determined based on the idea of more positive (+) markings indicated rather than negative (-) markings.
Scores from the computer testing were also reviewed to see if a correlation existed between the scores received on books that were conferenced with and those books the student did not discuss with the teacher. Scores of eighty percent or higher indicated strong comprehension of the text; while scores below eighty indicated a lack of text understanding.