*** All student, teacher, and school names have been changed to protect confidentiality.

Curriculum-Based Assessment and Intervention Report Name: Doe Moe Grade: 8 Age: 14 Teachers: Ms. Nguyen and Ms. Madame Report Date: April 3, 2012 School: Somewhere Secondary UBC Practicum Students: Linh Nguyen Supervisor: Dr. Sterett Mercer Purpose of Assessment and Intervention The primary purpose of this assessment and intervention process was to use assessment results to design and monitor an individual tutoring intervention in the area of reading. A secondary purpose was to provide training opportunities in direct academic assessment and intervention planning for Linh Nguyen, students at the University of British Columbia. Supervision was provided by Dr. Sterett Mercer. Written parental permission was obtained by school personnel prior to involvement. Reason for Involvement Doe was identified for additional reading support through a class-wide reading assessment on March 30th, 2012. Does scores indicated that he was in the Well Below Average range for grade eight reading and therefore, intensive reading support was necessary for improved literacy outcomes. Assessment Methods Survey Level Assessment: February 15th, 2012 o Achievement Improvement Monitoring System (AIMSweb) Oral Reading Fluency Diagnostic Assessment: February 28th, 2012 Progress Monitoring Measure: o February 28th, 2012-May 31st, 2012, twice a week o AIMSweb Oral Reading Fluency Background Information Doe is a friendly grade eight student. He is neat, meticulous, conscientious, and is motivated to do his best at school. He enjoys reading and discussing books he is currently reading. He was born in B.C and is the only child in a two parent family. Cantonese is reported to be the primary language spoken at home. He has undergone a psycho-educational and a Speech and Language assessment in grade one. Doe was diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum as has a G designation along with a Q designation for having Learning Disability. He is currently attending the ARC (autism resource centre) program at Somewhere Secondary. Doe struggles with written and 1

oral output and needs support, prompting and encouragement to develop his ideas and thoughts. He also has difficulty with language input and processing speed. Instructions need to be repeated a few times in order for Doe to comprehend what is being relayed or asked. Initial Level of Support At the time of initial involvement, Doe was receiving general classroom support in his regular classes. He is in hand timetable classes for math, and English. These classes have less than twenty students and support staff to provide additional assistance. A support staff member from the ARC program is present in all of Does classes to provide support should he need it. Adaptations are made available to Doe such as, more time on test and assignments, a different test taking environment, and reduced work load to a manageable amount. Doe also has a homework block where he receives help with work and assignments he is struggling in. Doe is currently not receiving any additional support outside of school with his academics. Assessment AIMSweb Overview Reading fluency skills were assessed using Achievement Improvement Monitoring System (AIMSweb), a set of research-based, standardized, norm-referenced measures for screening and monitoring progress in critical reading skills. These individually administered measures are designed to assess the development of reading skills. The type and number of measures administered varies according to the grade and time of year of administration.

Survey- Level Assessment In survey-level assessment, the consultant back-tests from a students current level of expected performance on grade level reading passages by dropping back to earlier levels of skills to determine the students Instructional level. To assess ORF, Doe read aloud for one minute from three grade-level reading passages taken from AIMSweb materials. For each passage, the number of correct words per minute was calculated. The median (middle) of the three scores across the passages was determined and recorded as the AIMSweb ORF score for Doe. The number of errors per minute was also recorded to calculate percent accuracy. Another method used to assess a students reading skills is reading accuracy. Accuracy is calculated by dividing the median number of words read correctly by the total number of words read in one minute for the median passage. Accuracy represents student performance at the reading level of materials used. AIMSweb identifies three levels of accuracy across all grade levels: 95% accuracy or above indicates that the student is reading at the Mastery level; 90-94% accuracy indicates that the student is reading at 2

the Instructional level; and less than 90% accuracy indicates that the student is reading at the Frustrational level. Provided that the student is reading with adequate fluency, he or she can successfully read Mastery level material independently. In contrast, a student at the Frustrational level is reading fewer than nine out of every 10 words correctly, resulting in poor passage comprehension. One goal of reading instruction is for all students in the classroom to read grade-level material at or above an Instructional level (90-94% accuracy).

Table 1. AIMSweb Survey Results Measure Grade 8 Oral Reading Fluency Grade 7 Oral Reading Fluency Grade 6 Oral Reading Fluency Grade 5 Oral Reading Fluency Median Score 87 90 87 124 Benchmark Level Well Below Average Well Below Average Well Below Average Average Accuracy 96% 96% 97% 98%

A survey level assessment was carried out to determine Does Instruction level. Table 1 shows that although Does accuracy was high during all his readings, his Oral Reading Fluency scores were Well Below Average for all levels above the Grade 5 level where his score was in the Average range. Indicate here that Grade 5 ORF will be used for PM and why. Baseline During the baseline phase Doe was asked to read a grade 5 level AIMSweb progress monitoring passage for 1 minute. On the first day of baseline monitoring, Doe read 109 correct words in 1 minute. On the second day of baseline monitoring, which occur five days later, Doe read 106 correct words in 1 minute. On the third day of baseline, which occur three days later, Doe read 127 correct words per minute. Because there were only three baseline data points, it was not possible to determine a trend or a growth rate of Does reading in response to the pre-intervention level of support. During the three baseline points, Doe read with over 95% of the words correctly, indicating that he was able to read individual words accurately and independently. From the baseline data, it was clear that Doe read individual words accurately but needed additional support to improve his overall oral reading fluency.

Intervention Repeated Reading. Repeated Reading was the intervention selected to increase reading fluency. Repeated Reading is a strategy in which the student reads aloud through a passage repeatedly while being timed. This strategy was chosen as it is simple and straightforward to administer, requires minimal intervention materials, and is research-validated for improving students reading fluency. At the beginning of the session a one minute ORF grade five level reading probe from AIMSweb was administered and the score was recorded onto Does progress monitoring graph. Doe then proceeded to do three readings from grade five reading passages taken from the HELPS program (http://www.helpsprogram.org/). The number of words he read correctly in one minute was calculated and recorded on her progress monitoring chart (refer to Appendix A). A goal is set for each session depending on previous reading session scores. Readings continued until he reached this new goal or until he read the passage four times (whichever was achieved first). Doe received this intervention twice per week. Please refer to Appendix B for a step-by-step outline of this intervention strategy.

Measurement Strategy AIMSweb Oral Reading Fluency (ORF). The ORF measure was used twice per week for six weeks to monitor Does progress and to ensure this repeated reading intervention adequately supported Doe in meeting his goals. At the beginning of each session, the tutor administered a one minute ORF probe. This score was recorded onto Does progress monitoring graph. Goal Setting The goal is for Doe to read 181 correct words per minute by the end of May, which would have him reading at the Above Average level for grade 5 reading fluency. An aimline was drawn from the average score of the three baseline data points (114 correct words per minute), to the year-end goal of 181 correct words per minute. The aimline represents the expected rate of improvement that would allow Doe to reach the goal of 181 correct words per minute by the end of May. This would require him to have a growth rate of .86 words read correctly per week. If he is unable to achieve this goal, we would need to look at changing it to be more realistic to his ability. Does year-end goal was taken from AIMSweb for the spring benchmark of words read correctly in the Above Average level. Plan for Monitoring and Decision Making The aimline was used to help monitor Does progress throughout the intervention.

Two rules were used to make decisions about the data and modify the intervention accordingly. First, if Doe received three consecutive points below the aimline, an instructional change would be required as the intervention was not supporting Doe to meet his year-end goal. Second, if Doe received two scores at or above the end of year benchmark goal of 181 correct words per minute, it was assumed Doe had mastered that grade level of material. Response to Intervention Oral Reading Fluency. Does ORF scores before (baseline phase) and during intervention are illustrated in Figure 1. The vertical line indicates the beginning of the intervention phase. The solid horizontal line on the graph represents the aimline, or the expected rate of improvement. Figure 1. Oral Reading Fluency
200 180 160 Total Correct Words 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Sessions
After 2 weeks spring break

Aimline

As Figure 1 shows, the majority of the progress monitoring data scores are below the aimline. There was a lot of disruption to the intervention process due to strike action and a two week school break which may have contributed to the slow scores. We will continue with the present plan for the next two weeks before re-evaluating the data and intervention plan. Doe has responded well to the repeated reading intervention during the readings from the HELPS passages but needs reminding of what best reading means at the beginning of each session before he starts his reading probe from AIMSweb. Summary At the moment it is difficult to determine if the intervention is effective. Results from the next two weeks intervention will give more insight as to whether we will proceed with our current intervention plan. 5

Recommendations Based on the findings of this process, the following recommendations are suggested to assist Doe with his reading development. This list is not meant to be exhaustive, comprehensive, or predictive of all barriers to success. Recommendations should be selected for implementation in consultation with Doe, his parents, his teachers, and school team. It is recommended that Doe continue to receive the current level of support at school and at home, including the repeated reading exercises at least twice per week. Repeated Reading Intervention. It is recommended that Doe continue to participate in the repeated reading exercises at least twice per week. Please refer to Appendix B for a step-by-step outline of this intervention strategy. Continued Progress Monitoring. It is recommended to continue to monitor Does response to intervention. Does scores can continue to be plotted on the progress monitoring graph (Figure 1). Three consecutive points below the aimline indicates that the intervention is not effectively supporting Doe to meet his year end goal. If so, the intervention approach should be changed to increase the time spent reading or address common reading errors (if error rates increase). General Reading Practice. It is important for Doe to continue to have many opportunities to read. Currently, Doe has opportunities in some of his classes at school to carry out silent reading. He always has a library novel which he is currently reading. The school and his parents can continue to support and encourage this enthusiasm by reading with Doe. The adult or peer reader can model how to read the passage or page of the book fluently to remind Doe prior and during their reading sessions together. Additionally, Doe could continue to visit the library at school and in the community. This regular activity will provide him with the opportunities to explore new books and choose books of interest. It was a pleasure working with Doe. We wish Doe all the best as he continues through his remaining years at Somewhere Secondary and beyond. If there are any questions or if we can provide further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact the UBC Practicum Students, UBC Student at (phone) or via e-mail at [address], the supervisor, Dr. Sterett Mercer, at (phone) or via e-mail at ________________________ [your name] UBC Practicum Student Dept of Educational & Counselling Psychology & Special Education The University of British Columbia 6

________________________ Sterett H. Mercer, Ph.D. Supervisor, Assistant Professor Dept of Educational & Counselling Psychology & Special Education The University of British Columbia

References Achievement Improvement Monitoring System (AIMSweb). http://www.aimsweb.com/

Intervention Central. http://www.interventioncentral.org/htmdocs/interventions/rdngfluency/rptrdng.php

Appendix A Training Exercises

Session DayDate Passage # Time Reading 1 Time Reading 2 Time Reading 3 GOAL

WCPM

WIPM WCPM WIPM WCPM WIPM Achieved!

Appendix B Repeated Reading The student reads through a passage repeatedly, silently or aloud, and receives help with reading errors. Materials: Reading book Stop watch (if readings are to be timed)

Steps in Implementing This Intervention: Step 1: Sit with the student in a quiet location without too many distractions. Position the book selected for the reading session so that both you and the student can easily follow the text. Step 2: Select a passage in the book of about 100 to 200 words in length. Step 3: Have the student read the passage through. (Unless you have a preference, the student should be offered the choice of reading the passage aloud or silently.) Step 4: If the student is reading aloud and misreads a word or hesitates for longer than 5 seconds, read the word aloud and have the student repeat the word correctly before continuing through the passage. If the student asks for help with any word, read the word aloud. If the student requests a word definition, give the definition. Step 5: When the student has completed the passage, have him or her read the passage again. You can choose to have the student read the passage repeatedly until either the student has read the passage a total of 4 times or the student reads the passage at the rate of at least 135 to 140 words per minute.

From Intervention Central. http://www.interventioncentral.org/htmdocs/interventions/rdngfluency/rptrdng.php

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