Subject E Summary of the Findings by Type
Subject E showed the most improvement in the word analysis score where a 25% point increase in morphological word knowledge was exhibited. The pretest score of 40% shows that there was much room for improvement. The final score is a result of providing answers to the upper portion of the test where the whole word needed to be defined and improved understanding of segmenting words into morphemes, specifically affixes and roots or base words and correctly defining the morphemes. The Six Traits writing sample yielded a moderate gain of 13% points according to the rubric as a result of the increase in scores for organization and conventions. The posttest writing sample scores remained satisfactory for voice, word choice, and idea development. This signifies no improvements with regard to the creativity in the written piece, as these traits represent in quality writing, according to the Six Traits rubric. The contextual language subtest of the TOWL-3 also yielded moderate gains, which reflects this student’s performance with regard to grammar and vocabulary. A negative result was produced in the contextual conventions subtest due to the lack of focus and attention to detail in the writing of the story with regard to spelling, punctuation and capitalization. This student exhibited knowledge and ability previously, therefore it is reasonable to consider that there may have been extenuating circumstances that affected this student’s performance in this area on the spontaneous writing assessment of the TOWL-3.
These results indicate that the student made moderate gains in both writing using the Six Traits rubric and word analysis. The TOWL-3 score shows a slight improvement in spontaneous writing. Summary of the Findings by Feature (subtests) Subject E Subtest Pretest Score Posttest Score
This student’s attention to detail in the contextual conventions portion of the TOWL-3 (Hammill & Larsen 1996) resulted in a poor score on this subtest. Although the story was constructed well with an interesting plot, theme, and sequencing as evidenced in the story construction score, the spelling, punctuation, and capitalization were very weak and resulted in a poor score in the contextual conventions subtest. This student did not pay attention to detail and properly use punctuation marks where necessary. Although this student showed evidence in the pretest of spelling ability, it was not present in the posttest resulting in a lower score for conventions. The use of vocabulary, sentence structure, and grammar were greatly improved in the contextual language subtest with an increase of 16% points, resulting in a score of 91%. Discussion of Pre/Post Change for Subject E: The results of the word analysis assessment yielded the most significant growth for this student with a 25% point improvement in his score from the pretest to the posttest. This indicates that this student increased his understanding and ability to segment words properly into affixes and root or base words and properly define those parts. Moderate gains were made in the writing sample assessments as scores increased in the area of idea development, organization, and voice in his posttest story of helping three women and how good he felt. The construction of the story was sequenced well and more detail was provided in the telling of how he helped each of the women. The contextual language subtest of the TOWL-3 (Hammill & Larsen 1996) also showed moderate gains from the pretest to the subtest indicating increased proper use of grammar and vocabulary with points for properly spelled longer words and sentences. The result of the contextual conventions subtest of the TOWL-3 (Hammill & Larsen 1996) that showed a negative result is most likely due to the student’s lack of focus and attention to details such as spelling, capitalization, and punctuation. This student had exhibited knowledge and ability in these areas in the past. Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that there may have been extenuating circumstances that caused this student to perform so poorly in this portion of the exam. This student was consistently eager to participate in class discussions and offered answers to questions that were posited in class during the read alouds/think alouds with the mentor texts. The test results may have been due to a lack of focus as there was an ice cream party planned for after the exam, and the classroom was eagerly awaiting the end of the day in order to enjoy the ice cream party. Analysis/Discussion of Subject E's Change (Response to Intervention)
Subject E was a student who immediately took part in the activities that were part of the intervention and enjoyed the liveliness of the lessons. As a male who is interested in playing video games in his leisure, he liked the pace of the class and often took part in discussions about the subject matter in the mentor texts. As the teacher had indicated to me previously, his production of work was below par. He appeared to be a bright student verbally, but he did not put forth effort in producing what it appeared he was capable of, or his potential indicated. This child would benefit greatly from working with computers, as he was very engaged when we worked together in putting together his piece for the newspaper. As he is technologically savvy from his video game playing and enjoys technology, this would indicate that enhancing his 21st-century skills with work that would involve online and digital presentations. This student would likely be motivated to produce work in this medium. Unfortunately this is not possible in this classroom, but there is a promise for more computers in this school’s classrooms for the future. Examples from Results to Support Analysis Subject E’s story was about helping different people. This subject chose to outline ways in which he helped three different individuals in the same day in his posttest writing. The first paragraph introduced the three people he helped, and the next three paragraphs decribed how he helped each one. This is a great improvement over his pretest piece where he described how he helped his uncle get to the next level on a video game. It was short and lacked voice. However, he included some detail on how the game proceeded, but failed to conclude the story with a proper ending. The posttest piece was much more organized and included dialogue. He concluded his story of helping three people by saying, “I felt proud of myself. I’ve helped my grandma, an old lady, and my 2nd-grade teacher. The people I helped were very nice.” His word choice in both pieces was ordinary, with no descriptive adjectives or words that would express emotion or feeling. His voice did come through slightly more in the pretest piece. His paragraphs were simple and could have included more detail to develop the story in a more interesting way for his audience. This student would benefit from a writing workshop where he is allowed to write creatively or persuasively. This would spark his interest in writing, as this assignment did not. |
