Tutoring and Assessment Case Study for Education 331 Candidate: Samantha Parsons Subject: Reading/Language Arts 331

Instructor: Dr. B. Wilson Date: November 15, 2012 # of Students: 1 Assessing: Irregular Sight Words Grade Level: 4 School: Conner Street Elementary Coop Teacher: Mrs. Brenda McBrayer Date of Pre-Test: October 16, 2012 Pre-Test Score: 85% Date of Post-Test: November 8, 2012 Post-Test Score: 93%

Decision About Whom, What and How To Tutor/Teach and How To Assess: Mrs. McBrayer made the decision about the student that I should work. Student A is a fourth grader reading on a first-second grade level. Some of his work is on the kindergarten level. She decided the best thing for me to work on would be his irregular sight words. She recommended using a pre-made test from the internet pulled from the 600 most frequent sight words. We decided it was best to simply have him read each word to me and then use the information from that to choose the best method of tutoring. We decided to test him weekly as a review since his ability to retain information was not his strongest point.

Tutoring Lesson/Unit and Assessment Description: I assessed Student A with an internet made test called 120 Irregular Sight words from the 600 Most Frequent. The test is split into two categories; part I being the easier words and part II being the harder words. I sat down with the student on October 16 and had him read down each column. He was directed to say the word as he sees it and if he doesnt know it, to skip it. If he said the word incorrectly, it was marked wrong. If he took longer than 3 seconds to say the word or had to sound it out, I marked it as need reviewed. After the first test, we decided we should only work on the top part of the test instead of overwhelming him with all 120 words. Each week, I used flash cards with the words he got wrong on them to go over. At first, I could tell that he was struggling to identify the words on the cards. After speaking with Mrs. McBrayer, she informed me that he struggled with dyslexia. Upon hearing that, I decided to try a different method with the flashcards. I wrote the words on yellow paper that was glued to the cards to help with his dyslexia so that he could see the words clearly and help with his

identification. I used different games and activities over the time we worked together to improve his skills. Each tutoring session was one-on-one and lasted a total of 12 hours overall. After the first test, I was able to make the decision on how to best tutor him for optimal results.

Link to Standards: ELA.4.R.C7.1 know and apply grade level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding word analysis skills in decoding words. use combined knowledge of all letter-sounds correspondences, syllabication patterns, and morphology to read accurately unfamiliar multisyllabic words in context and out of context.

Results of Assessment: The results of the assessments are listed in the table below. Date October 16, 2012 (pre-test) October 23, 2012 November 1, 2012 November 8, 2012 85% 88% 90% 93% Score

The scores when graphed look like this:

Sight Word Test Scores

It is clear from the chart and graph that his skills improved. Along with the data I kept, Mrs. McBrayer also said she saw a sizeable difference in other areas due to his one on one time with me.

Disaggregated Data Unable to obtain disaggregated data with this clinical experience due to restrictions given by cooperating teacher.

Reflection and Data Based Decision Making During the pre-test, he was slow and hesitant with most words. Although he only missed nine out of sixty words, he was only confident about 15 of the words. He struggled most with the word through. Tests one, two and three, he said throughout and only corrected himself during the third test. Fortunately, he got the word right without hesitation on the fourth test. Another mistake he made during every test (including the post-test) was saying any word with the letters ou as you would say the word out. He was usually quick to correct himself with that mistake. Of the activities I used, he seemed to really like the memory game the most. I used that during my last full week of tutoring with him so he had already had ample practice and I just wanted to make sure he was having fun and use different ways to help him remember the words. During the post-test, I could see how much more confident he was with the words. My goal when starting the tutoring was to get him to 100% correct. Although he only reached 93% correct, I couldnt be more thrilled with the outcome. He still made mistakes with the ou sound but he made appropriate corrections to the word throughout he was mistaking. I saw an improvement in him that I wasnt expecting. His whole demeanor changed. The way he sat, the way he respondedhis whole attitude. I was so focused on getting his words right, I forgot that he needed improvement in other areas too. I would have loved to have had more time with Student A. I am extremely confident that he would have reached 100% after a couple more tutoring sessions. I think that activities that we did really helped solidify what I was teaching and he will retain some of the information that he may not have otherwise. If I had another opportunity, I would definitely think of ways to incorporate the other students in with our tutoring sessions. He really enjoyed working with his

fellow classmates and I could always tell he wished that they could be a part of what we were doing as well. However, the way her class was ran, it wasnt feasible to include them. I did enjoy working with Student A. I will admit that in the beginning, I was really afraid because it was something I had never had experienced. I was afraid of getting the student to be comfortable around me and unsure if I would be able to make a difference in such a short amount of time. However, I am glad that this observation has given me a new outlook on things. I am no longer afraid of my abilities or the abilities of my students. I definitely learned a lot about helping my students obtain the skills they need to succeed in any and all classrooms.