Running head: STUDENT ASSESSMENT PROJECT

Student Assessment Project

Hope Bullard

EDU 325

12/05/17
STUDENT ASSESSMENT PROJECT 2

Description of Student

Sam Smith is the sweetest child, with the biggest heart. He is always happy and always in

a good mood. Even though school and academics is a struggle for him, this does not affect his

demeanor. Sam is a seven-year-old, Caucasian boy who lives in a suburban area. He has an older

brother who also struggles with school and a sister who is not in school yet. This is Sam’s second

year of Kindergarten.

Academically, Sam has made major improvements since last year. He can blend and read

most CVC words. He struggles with writing on the lines and using proper formation of the

letters. Sam is given more time to take tests and the test is read to him. He is quick to respond

with a guess if he does not know the answer. Usually, the teacher must remind him to slow

down, look and pay attention before he reads it.

Sam loves computer time. He chooses the computer over any other game or toy in the

class. Socially, Sam is very loving and kind. He is very friendly and currently there is no reason

for a behavior plan. He does need to work on keeping his hands to himself (he loves to hug or

touch) and staying out of other’s spaces.

Procedures

At the beginning of the year, I took Sam into the sensory room, I had him facing a wall so

there were less distractions. I used to the DIBELS Next: First Sound Fluency. I set my timer for a

minute. I would say a word and he would tell me the first sound that he heard. For example,

“laugh” is the word I said. He responded with the sound /l/, which was correct. As we continued,

he would sometimes repeat the word, then tell me the first sound. I had to remind him to just tell

me the first sound that he heard. When we stopped, I scored it and he received a 25.
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Next, I used the Letter Naming Fluency. I set the timer for one minute. I explained to

Sam that he needed to name the letters and keep going if he got stuck. He understood and began

to read the letters as I timed him. When I stopped him, he was eager to know how he did and if

he could play yet. I let him jump on the trampoline for a minute while I scored his test. He

received a 20, this surprised me because this is his second year in Kindergarten he should be able

to easily name the letters.

In the middle of the year, I tested Sam again. I administered the second benchmark for

First Sound Fluency. I explained to him to tell me the first sound that he heard in the word that I

say. I set the timer for one minute. I noticed that he was catching the second letter sound for

example if the word was /flow/, he would say the /l/ sound. I would remind him to tell me the

first sound that you hear. This was a helpful reminder to Sam, because he started to easily tell me

the first sound. He received a score of 22, which is not as high as the beginning of the year.

Then it was time to move on to the next part which was Phonemic Segmentation Fluency.

I explained to him that I would say a word, then he would tell me each sound in that word. We

did an example together. I said, “Jump.” He sounded out each sound, /j/ /u/ /m/ /p/. I set my timer

for one minute. I continued to say words and as he sounded them out. I noticed when I would say

a word, Sam would repeat the word. I would have to remind him to tell me the sounds that you

hear in that word. I had to repeat that to him multiple times. When the one minute was up, I

scored his test. Sam received a 24.

Next, we did the Nonsense Words Fluency-Correct Letter Sounds. (NWF-CLS) This was

a struggle right away for Sam. He wanted to sound out the word and guess a completely different

word. Sam was sounding out letters that were not there. His score was an 11. He was not able to

read any of the words.

STUDENT ASSESSMENT PROJECT 4

At the end of the year, I tested him again in Phoneme Segmentation Fluency and

Nonsense Word Fluency. When I explained the directions to him on Phoneme Segmentation

Fluency, he appeared a somewhat distracted. He did the example correctly. He scored a 21. Next,

I tested him on Nonsense Word Fluency. I gave him the instructions and set my timer for one

minute. Sam sounded out the first letter only then guess a word, and other times he would sound

out just the last letter. He would guess a random nonsense word. This was frustrating to me

because I know that if he had paid closer attention to the nonsense words he would have been

more successful. He scored a 10 and was not able read any of the words.

Assessments Given

The Dynamic Indicator of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) was administered to

Sam. The first test given was First Sound Fluency. Students are given one minute for each test.

The teacher will say a word. The student will say the first sound they hear in the word. This test

measures phonemic awareness and to measure the child’s letter discrepancy skills at the

beginning and middle of Kindergarten (Kame’enui, 2017). Letter Naming Fluency (LNF) was

the next test given. Students are given one minute to name the letters that are not in sequential

order as quickly as they can without error. LNF is not a benchmark, but it can be used as an

indicator for students at risk (Kame’enui, 2017). Phoneme Segmentation Fluency indicates if the

student can break a word apart and give the sound for each letter. This test measures phonemic

awareness. The teacher will say a word and the student will break the word down into the sounds

he/she hears Nonsense Word Fluency- Correct Letter Sounds measures the alphabetic principle.

This assessment shows whether a student can sound out letters and read unfamiliar words

(Kame’enui, 2017). This can be more difficult for students because of the unfamiliarity of the

new words being presented (Kame'enui, 2017).

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Results and Analysis

Beginning of the year Middle of the Year End of the Year

First Sound Fluency 26 22

Benchmark 25 30

Letter Naming Fluency 20 19 27

Phoneme Segmentation 24 20
Fluency
Benchmark Score 20 40

Nonsense Word 11 10
Fluency- Correct Letter
Sounds
Benchmark Score 17 28

Composite Score 45 76 58

Benchmark 38 122 119

From this chart, at the beginning of the year, Sam started out strong in First Sound

Fluency, but by the middle of the year, his scores have stayed close to the same, he had made no

improvements. Letter Naming Fluency is not a benchmark, but not knowing letters is an

indicator that he is at risk. In the middle of the year, Phoneme Segmentation Fluency was

administered, Sam started out above benchmark. His score is a 24 and the benchmark is a 20. By

the end of the year, it is clear to see that he scored only a 20, and the benchmark is 40. This

shows that he made no improvements through the year. In the middle of the year, he was

administered the Nonsense Word Fluency and Correct Letter Sounds. He scored an 11 and the
STUDENT ASSESSMENT PROJECT 6

benchmark is 17. By the end of the year, his scores show that he is at the same level. He scored a

10 and the benchmark is 28. Looking at Sam’s composite scores, he started out above the

benchmark. The benchmark is at 38. Sam’s score was a 45, which is impressive. In the middle of

the year Sam’s composite score was a 76 and the benchmark was 122. His score was well below

the benchmark and will need intensive support. By the end of the year Sam’s composite score

was a 58 and the benchmark was 119. This indicates that Sam is well below the benchmark and

will need intensive support in all the areas.

Areas Targeted for Improvement

One target area would be Nonsense Word Fluency. This was Sam’s largest deficit. Sam

will need to be placed into Tier 3 which would be in the special education class or he would be

pulled out for intensive intervention. (Gerston, et al., 2009) One strategy that should be applied

Sam would make up his own CVC nonsense words. He would write the word on a notecard.

Then cut the notecard into puzzle pieces. Then he would say each sound and push the letters

together as he blended the sounds into a word (Fox, 2012). Another strategy for improving

Sam’s blending skills would be to use a kinesthetic approach. For example, when sounding out

the CVC word, /n/, /a/, /f/. Sam would say the /n/ and touches his shoulder. Then touches his

inner elbow as he sounded out /a/. Next, he would touch his wrist and would sound out /f/. Then

he would start at his shoulder and blend /n/, /a/, /f/ together. (Fox, 2012) This will be

implemented daily, for an hour and a half, in small group instruction and one-on-one instruction.

A nonsense word game called the bucket game is fun to play. Sam would pick a card from the

bucket and read the nonsense word. There would be a few cards that would say, “Dump!” All the

students would have to put all their cards back in the bucket. The student who has the most must

read all his/her words again. This is such a fun game all the students will want to play (Sanchez,
STUDENT ASSESSMENT PROJECT 7

2015). Each week Sam would be progress monitored on NWF to check for weaknesses and

improvements made.

Another target area would be Phonemic Segmentation Fluency (PSF). Sam scored well

below the benchmark therefore this area will need strategic support. Since NWF requires

sounding out and blending the letters together the two areas are closely related. The strategy used

would be See the Sound/Visual Phonics (STS/VP). Sam would be taught different hand gestures

for different sounds. On a notecard, Sam will write a letter, on the other side of the notecard he

can draw a picture of the hand sign. This is an excellent way to help Sam remember the different

sounds that letters make (Cihon, T.,2008). By using a physical movement for each sound will

assist Sam in making connections between letters and sounds. Another way to increase Sam’s

scores is to play blending games. One game is called Segmenting Cheer. A small group of

students can do this with Sam. The teacher says a word, then says “Give me the beginning sound

/m/, and students reply /m/. Give me the middle sound /a/. Students reply with the /a/ sound.

Give me the ending sound /d/. What’s that spell? All the students get to shout the word (Reading

Rockets, 2017). This will give students excitement and enthusiasm as they are blending a word

together. Sam’s progress would be monitored weekly to check for improvements.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Sam will need Tier 3 instructional support. His scores showed that he

started out average or above average, yet over they year he made no progress. I believe that his

scores will improve if we continually work on NWF and PSF. One aspect I found important was

that this assessment can really pinpoint who is falling behind and who is ahead. The CBM is a

helpful tool that will show the progress Same is making. It will also show if he is falling behind
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again. Another important aspect is that he is monitored weekly. A student can make a lot of

progress in a week when implementing the correct strategies.

STUDENT ASSESSMENT PROJECT 9

Bibliography

Cihon, T. M., (2008). Using visual phonics as a strategic intervention to increase literacy

behaviors for kindergarten participants at-risk for reading failure. Retrieved from:

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ847485.pdf

Fox, B. J. (2012). Word identification strategies: building phonics into a classroom reading

program. Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

Gersten, R., et al. (2009). Assisting students struggling with reading: response to intervention

and multi-tier intervention in the primary grades. Retrieved from:

https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/Docs/PracticeGuide/rti_reading_pg_021809.pdf

Kame'enui, E., Fien, H., Mercier-Smith, J. (2017). Dynamic indicators of basic early

literacy skills. Retrieved from: https://dibels.uoregon.edu/assessment/dibels/#measures

Reading Rockets, (2017). Blending and segmenting games. Retrieved from:

http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/blending_games

Sanchez, A., (2015). Primary possibilities: 10 ways to practice nonsense words for dibels.

Retrieved from: http://www.primarypossibilities.com/2015/05/10-ways-to-practice-

nonsense-words-for.html