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INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

1. How does assessment data drive instruction and the literacy framework?

Data driven instruction is imperative in order to close gaps and ensure all students are growing, no matter what level they arrive to you on. An effective assessment will allow you to collect data, analyze the data to see areas of strengths and weaknesses for each child, and to provide interventions in a timely manner. Assessment data also allows you to adjust your teaching when needed and to form ability groups which focus on the specific needs of students. Formal assessments are good for assessing students reading but to me, informal reading assessments are best. Observing students reading and talking about reading and questioning them about the reading works best when trying to determine their level of comprehension and ability to draw conclusions and make inferences. The data collected helps a teacher to decides how to approach the whole group lesson, how to group kids for small group, and which literacy strategies to focus on.

2. What data collection methods are used to track and monitor student progress?

One way to track students’ growth and monitor their progress is through formal assessments. I like to begin each unit with a pre-assessment to gauge where my students are and what they are already know on the topic. This data gives me a good starting point to track my students’ growth throughout the unit. I usually give my students a short assessment midway through the topic to make sure we are on track and to see when anyone is falling behind and be able to intervene immediately. I also end every unit with a formal assessment to see how much each student has grown and to form groups for re-teaching. Other ways to monitor student progress are constantly and consistently observing students as they work and hold academic conversations. This allows you to clear any misconceptions the students may still be having. Daily exit tickets and warm ups also allows me the opportunity to see what information my kids are understanding and areas we still need to grow.

What technology tools are used to focus on continuous and effective data collection and analysis?

I currently use a data tracker on an Excel spreadsheet to track my students’ formal assessments. Every test they take gets entered onto the chart and the spreadsheet gives me an average of all the test taken but it also creates a bar graph for me that visually shows me whether a student is growing, stagnant, or declining. I have my students fill out a similar bar graph in their data folders so that they can see their growth and begin to want to take accountability of their learning.

3. How are assessment results shared with students and students’ families?

Formal assessment results are usually shared with parents first and then with students. We want to make sure that we include the parents in the learning process as they are a key factor in the students’ academic career. During this conversation, we start off by discussing the areas of strength and topics the student performs well on then move to areas that need more work. I inform the parent the steps I plan to take as a teacher to ensure their growth and provide them with tips and websites they can use at home to help as well. After having met with the parent, I hold individual meetings with the student to discuss the same topics. We discuss areas they excelled in and areas we will work together on to grow. This again makes sure the student is involved in the learning process and taking ownership of their learning. Students must be aware of their glows and grows.

4. What does a successful comprehensive literacy framework include?

Comprehensive literacy is used at the elementary level to create a bases for children to improve on their reading, writing, and speaking skills. This system is designed to meet the child where they are and grow them, no matter the level they came to you on. The framework should include whole group mini lessons, small group instruction and guided reading, read aloud, think aloud, independent reading, and writing. Students should be continuously exposed to a variety of literature and the teacher must model for the student fluency, ways to be engage with the book, and think aloud. The teacher should be showing the student “what good readers do” on a daily basis so that they can eventually release the students to perform the task on their own during their independent reading time.

5. What does a typical literacy block of instruction include?

6. What steps are taken to develop a literacy framework that meets the needs of all students? Students should be given a pre-assessment to determine their current level of abilities. We usually do this with a computer based program called REN 360 or a teacher led assessment called DRA. The comprehensive literacy approach can then be used to ensure you are addressing the needs of all students. The ELA block should have a schedule that incorporates daily opportunities for students to receive whole group lessons that include read aloud and think aloud where the teacher shows the student how to interact with the reading. Reading and writing workshops should be implemented as well as guided reading and independent reading where kids can practice the skills they have been learning whole group. Word study is also a key component to comprehension and fluency and should be implemented in the literacy program.

7. What steps are taken to monitor and adjust instruction based on student needs?

Student progress can be monitored at the beginning of a lesson by giving entry tickets and warms ups and using warm up time to pull small groups. During the lesson students can be monitored using observations, asking open ended questions and techniques such as thumbs up/down and fist to five. At the end of the lesson there should always be some sort of closing activity such as an exit ticket to assess the days learning and guide the next day’s instruction. Formal and informal assessments should be used continuously throughout a unit so that you don’t wait until the conclusion of the unit to realize the students did not understand the concept. All these strategies can be used to make changes to the instruction. They let you know whether you need to go back and reteach whole group or focus your attention on specific kids. Closely monitoring your students allows you to see sooner than later where the gaps are and how to close them.

8. What technology tools are utilized in the classroom to reinforce and develop literacy curricular concepts outlined in the literacy framework?

REN 360 is the tool we use to assess the students reading levels in our school. Students are tested beginning, middle, and end of the year to track their growth. We also use tools such as Education Galaxy, Seasaw, and Brainpop to reinforce literacy skills. We live in a digital time where kids are very much interested in technology, so it is important to incorporate it into the curriculum as a way to motivate, equip, and inspire.

The person I interviewed information:

(C. Davis, personal communication, April 27, 2020).