Rationale
Demographics
I taught in a dual-language building with approximately 825 students enrolled, 90.4% of which were Hispanic. Over 90% of the students enrolled were part of the free and reduced lunch program. Of those 825 students, 55% were current English Language Learners with an additional 15% considered former English Language Learners. I taught third grade in an English-only classroom. I had 16 students compared to the average classroom ratio of 1 teacher to 13 students. Twelve of my students were considered English Language Learners and received varying degrees of school assistance. Five of my students received resource instruction, and two students participated in the gifted and talented program. The diversity that was prevalent in my classroom allowed for me to easily incorporate differentiation strategies such as extension activities for my students in the gifted and talented program, visual representations and dual language communication for my English Language Learners, and collaborative experiences to ensure students had the opportunity to learn in concert with others.
Student Need
I chose three of my students who had an Individualized Education Program (IEP) to focus my research. An IEP is a legal document written annually with specific learning goals and objectives for students identified with a learning disability. Reading was the common area in which additional assistance was needed, specifically in the categories of decoding and word relationships. All three students were below level on the Fall MAP Reading Test. MAP testing, or the Measures of Academic Progress, is an adaptive test which helps inform the teacher’s decisions to promote each child’s individual academic growth. For the Fall MAP Reading Test, the average time of completion was 49 minutes. Student A had a completion time of 22 minutes, Student B finished in 25 minutes, and Student C had to retake the test due to a short testing time of 8 minutes. These fast times indicated almost immediate frustration and defeat.
Quantitative Data
Each student was reading below grade level according to the Fountas & Pinnell Benchmark Assessment System which is used to identify the instructional reading levels of students. Based on the student's comprehension and reading accuracy, the student is placed in an appropriate text level on an A to Z gradient. The ideal level of text for third grade is in the N to P range. Two of the three students were benchmarked at a level C while one was benchmarked at a B. Using the Fountas & Pinnell system, a student who is reading between an A-K should be between 90-94% accuracy with excellent or satisfactory comprehension. For all three students, going above their benchmarked level resulted in below 90% accuracy in their reading with limited comprehension of the text which led to frustration and off-task behaviors. Along with their benchmark level, I kept observational notes on each student during our guided reading rotation which allowed me the opportunity to hear their decoding strategies one-on-one. Each student lacked in letter-sound relationship and tools they could use to break down a word.
The mean district grade level score on the Fall MAP Reading Test was 185, while my class average was 179. Student A received a score of 155, Student B obtained a score of 142, and Student C had a score of 146. All three students were significantly lower than the average score. Within this test, there is a subset category entitled ‘Building and Understanding Vocabulary’ that analyzes a student's ability to decode words and recognize word relationships. The mean score was 177. Student A had a score of 153, Student B obtained a score of 131, and Student C received a score of 147. Again, all three students were below the mean score. Both the overall reading score and the vocabulary score showed a need for improvement in decoding skills and word structures.
An initial decoding survey from Diagnostic Decoding Surveys was given to each student to assess their ability in pronouncing a range of words. This survey included sight words, CVC words, digraphs, blends, and nonsense words for them to decode. In a list of 50 words, the mean score for a third-grade student was 48 correct pronunciations. Student A was able to pronounce 19 correctly, Student B was able to pronounce 25 correctly, and Student C decoded 26 words successfully. The results of this survey showed areas of strength for each student and areas that needed attention. All three students were consistently below the mean for third-grade students and had a common area of need in the pronunciation of short vowel sounds and digraphs.
Qualitative Data
All three students displayed off-task behaviors during guided reading that manifested in different ways. Guided reading is an instructional approach that involves a teacher working with a small group of students who demonstrate comparable reading behaviors and all read similar level texts. When tasked with a challenging text in guided reading, Student A and Student B displayed avoidance tactics. They engaged in off-task conversation, drew, or disengaged by laying down. Student C refused to read or began to cry when faced with an unfamiliar word. Student A and Student C were averaging five redirections per guided reading session. Student B averaged six redirections per guided reading session. Each guided reading rotation was 20 minutes long, with five or more redirections needed the data showed that each student was off task at least 25% of the time.
Putting it all Together
Compiling this data together showed me a common area of need in decoding. My students struggled with sounding out any word beyond its first letter. They were able to identify sight words but when tasked with a word they did not know they guessed at a word that started with the same beginning sound. They lacked the strategies to decode a word beyond the first sound. Along with having difficulties in reading, they were all considered current or previous English Language Learners. As a teacher, this information confirmed that they not only needed help in decoding but needed visual, oral, and kinesthetic strategies tailored to meet the needs of English Language Learners.
Importance
The data gathered from implementing these strategies was vital because it not only benefited these three students but all my English Language Learners. Each student had specific strategies that had worked in decoding thus far, for instance, looking at the illustrations in a text. As a student graduates into higher levels of education, there is less individualized attention given in reading along with more complex text where reliance on pictures would not suffice. I wanted to provide them with further decoding strategies along with building their confidence in reading that could translate into independent reading. They lacked the courage to tackle a word they did not know. I wanted to give them the tools they needed to help increase their decoding accuracy.
Literature Review
“Students who struggle with learning to read at the end of their first-grade year are likely to experience continued academic challenges and have increased the likelihood of disciplinary problems" (Cummings, K., Dewey, E., Latimer, R., & Good, R., 2011, p. 1). Students enter the classroom at varying levels of accuracy and comprehension in reading. For those who come in significantly below grade level expectations, the role of the teacher is to bridge the gap and give them the tools to be able to read at their fullest potential. A child starting their educational career with academic struggles in reading can create a ripple effect not only in a cross-curricular sense but between grade levels as well. In my third-grade classroom, I had three students come into my class reading at approximately a kindergarten to first-grade level. All three students exhibited issues identifying letter sounds past the first letter in a word. They all showed areas of need in letter-sound relationships and strategies they could use to decode a word.
Another perspective that needed to be taken into consideration and applied to tailor my teaching was that all three students were English Language Learners (ELLs) that were previously or currently received additional services. Two out of the three had parents that did not speak English which limited their exposure, aside from sibling interactions and media intake. Limited access to the language along with the frustration that comes from struggling to read and lacking the strategies to decode a word manifested into off-task behaviors in the classroom. This showcase of off-task behaviors proved to be the case for my students. As their teacher, I wanted to do all that I could to give them the necessary tools to confront reading hurdles and reduce the gap between where they were in reading and their highest potential.
At school, all three students received additional assistance in reading outside of the classroom. What guided my research was delving into what I could do to utilize my reading time with them to its fullest potential. The purpose of my study was to determine if direct instruction of letter-sound relationships and decoding strategies would increase their word decoding accuracy. This literature review discusses ways to support students that need additional assistance like English Language Learners and students with learning disabilities, progress monitoring, and phonics and decoding strategies.