RUNNING HEAD: Assessment Analysis and Next Instructional Steps

C&T 821 :Assessment Analysis and Next Instructional Steps

Desirae Jellison

University of Kansas
Assessment Analysis and Next Instructional Steps 2

Learner Description:
The student selected is from my 2017-2018 third-grade reading class. My reading class consisted of 21 students
with 8 EL students. Steve is nine years old and was born in the United States, but his parents were not. The
students’ first language is Spanish, which is spoken at home and sometimes during the school day. When the
Steve communicates with his mom or one of his six siblings at school or home, they only speak Spanish. The
table below provides student Steve’s proficiency levels determined by the WIDA ACCESS test.

Steve’s listening skills are currently on grade-level. He can successfully follow multistep directions and form
opinions on people, topics, and different character perspectives in a story. However, Steve will occasionally
struggle with identifying the literal and nonliteral language in a conversation. He gets confused when the
speaker uses idioms to explain a particular situation.

Based on a Fountas & Pinnell (2012) reading benchmark, Steve is currently reading below grade level. He is
reading at a level M that correlates to end of second grade reading ability. For him to be on grade-level, his
reading level would have to be a level P that corresponds to end of third grade. His current level means he is
one year behind in reading, but with continued ELL and RTI services he will make significant improvements in
the upcoming school year.

Proficiency Levels of Focus Students

Student Age Listening Speaking Reading Writing Overall

Steve 9 5.6 2.1 2.5 3.4 3

Developing

Fountas, I. & Pinnell, G. (2012). F&P text level gradient. Retrieved from:
http://blog.fountasandpinnell.com/post/what-is-a-level-and-how-can-i-make-it-work-for-

In speaking, Steve can communicate basic social information with friends. When he is in an academic setting
and is discussing content, he struggles due to lack of vocabulary. When faced with difficult speaking tasks he
will ask clarifying questions to help him understand expectations.
Assessment Analysis and Next Instructional Steps 3

Listening: Evaluation

The first time I created this listening assessment the student had to listen to the whole story before answering
questions. At first, I didn’t think it would be a problem, but the more I considered the length of the story and the
questions I decided to break the story into different sections. If I didn’t change the format my student might
have been overwhelmed with the assessment. The student missed question 1 and 7. I feel that these questions
were the most important in comprehending the whole story. The student was unable to identify the difference of
opinions between Camila and her friends. The student was unable to grasp that Camila did like lima beans, but
she was embarrassed to admit it to her friends. This was important in understanding the overall message of the
story. However, the questions did not test the ability to identify the theme or message of the story. The student
was successful in identifying explicit information from the story. Next time, I will be sure to create appropriate
test materials that match the stamina of the students I am assessing.

Speaking: Evaluation

When I reviewed the questions and the student’s responses I wished I had done a different speaking assessment
format. My student didn’t provide the number of details that I expected. I could have prevented this if I would
have been more specific with my questioning and showed the rubric before beginning the assessment. I think if
I were more explicit about my expectations beforehand, the student would have provided more specific
answers. I didn’t want to overwhelm his listening skills with directions and the explanation of the rubric. I tried
to keep it clear and straightforward. I see now that it would have been helpful to define the expectations.

During the assessment, my student wasn't providing as many details as I hoped and I had the urge to prompt
him during the assessment. I am glad I didn’t because I was able to evaluate the effectiveness of the assessment.
If I were to give this assessment over again, I would like to use an interview format. I think students would feel
more comfortable with an interview format because it is similar to having a conversation.

Below is a table of alternative questions to use instead of the original assessment questions.

Original Question Alternative Questions

1. Tell what you like to do at -What is your favorite thing to do at recess?
recess. Give as many details as Student responds.
you can. Why is that your favorite thing to do?

-What is your favorite thing to do at recess? Tell two details describing why
it is your favorite.

2. Do you like art class or gym -What is your favorite related arts class?
class better? Tell why. Student responds.
Why is ____ your favorite?
Student responds.
What is your least favorite related arts class?
Student responds.
Why?

3. Look at the four pictures. Tell *Add transition words into the rubric. Example: Student effectively uses
a story about what you see in sequence or transition words while explaining.
Assessment Analysis and Next Instructional Steps 4
the pictures. Tell what happened
first, what happened next, what
happened after that, and what
happened last.

Reading Evaluation

According to the scoring guide, the student is on grade-level. He was able to find explicit information by
referring back to the text. All the answers to the questions were text-explicit. The student did not have to make
inferences or draw conclusions. The next reading assessment needs to be more challenging and have a variety
of question types.

There were two sequence questions about the second passage. The student was able to identify the first step in
the sequence. On the other hand, the student was unable to identify what happened after a specific step. Even
though the questions are both sequence related, the student was only successful for one. I believe the level of
difficulty was the factor that confused the student.

Question 5: What is the first step to growing a garden?

Question 8: What do you do after you pick a spot for your garden?

Question 5 uses an obvious sequence word, but question 8 doesn’t use a sequence word from the passage. If
question 8 was changed to “What happens after the first step?, the student may have been successful.

Writing Evaluation

I believe the rubric was very helpful in making decisions between different score descriptors. After analyzing
my student’s writing sample, it became clear he struggles with mechanics and sentence fluency. There was
limited punctuation, and the writing was one run on sentence. The student needs direction instruction on simple
and compound sentences. I believe the student understood the question and tried to explain his answer. He
attempted to use evidence from the text but failed to express his ideas adequately.
To help him be more successful, I would use guiding questions or a checklist for him to use to organize his
thoughts. Also, by presenting him with the rubric or checklist, he could understand the requirements for his
writing. I am curious to see if his writing would change if he had reminders about spelling, sentence fluency,
and punctuation.