Do low reading comprehension scores predict performance on the !

Science portion of the MME/ACT test?!

Andrea Clark
Department of Educational Leadership, Eastern Michigan University, JCC Campus, Jackson, Michigan 49201"
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The data shows that as STAR IRL test scores decrease, so do the MME/ACT test scores.
Average MME/ACT test score for all students was 42%, which fell 25% below the college readiness benchmark set by the State of Michigan.
Average STAR IRL test score was 10, which is a whole grade level below the grade at which the students take the MME/ACT test.

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Work with English language arts teachers to develop a plan to help

increase struggling students ability to improve their reading
comprehension skills. "
Work with all science teachers to find ways to incorporate reading
comprehension into their lesson plans."
Research proven methods for helping students reach the college
readiness benchmark in science. "
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Next Steps"

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Action Plan!

Results!

2011 ACT/MME
Science College Readiness
Benchmark (Score of 24
considered proficient)

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I will continue to work with all students to increase their ability to read
science text and apply what they have read. I will research strategies
that I can use in my classroom to help all students, not just struggling
readers, improve their ability to read and comprehend scientific text. "
I will continue to assess all science students on a regular basis and
will be able to show clear MME/ACT data on the progress that they
are making on the area of reading comprehension."

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Conclusions!

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Root Cause Analysis"

After talking to the language arts teachers and observing the students in class, I wanted to learn more about "
why being a good reader was crucial to a students success on the science portion of the MME/ACT test. I "
wanted to look at the gap that exists between high comprehension readers and low comprehension readers "
as compared to average science MME/ACT test scores. "
"
Questions that I wanted to learn more about:"
"
Are the students able to read a test passage and answer comprehension questions effectively? "
Are the students able to read the material and answer more in depth questions beyond basic recall of information? "
Do the students have prior knowledge of the topic, as measured by the correlation between test questions and HSCEs?"
What reading strategies have the students been introduced to in the English language arts and science classes?"
Are the students able to successfully use the strategies that they have been introduced to so that they can read, comprehend and apply what they have
read?"

After completing this project, I now have a greater understand of

why students who test low in reading comprehension, struggle on a
test that is supposedly testing their science knowledge. The ability
to apply what they have read, is crucial to their success on this
standardized test as indicate by the data. "
I also now have a greater understanding of how important it is to
take the time to identify a student learning problem and develop a
plan to address the area of need. This process allows educators to
delve deeper than mere hunches and institute a plan that will
address the real area of concern."
I am looking forward to sharing my results with the science school
improvement team. Hopefully we can work together to develop a
plan that will help all students increase their reading
comprehension, which will in turn increase their science MME/ACT
test scores."
."

Fishbone Diagram"
"
After completing a fishbone diagram, I decided that some of the reasons for the lower average MME/ACT science scores for these students were from not
having the skills in the areas of: "
The ability to apply what they have read"
Making predictions from science text and making inferences."
Draws conclusions based on supporting detail."

For further information!

Please contact Andrea Clark at
aclark@grasslakeschools.com .