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RUNNING HEAD: DIFFERENTIATED READING

The Effects of Differentiated Reading

Using Specific Vehicles Based on Student Need

London R. Cowart

Kennesaw State University

1

DIFFERENTIATED READING

Abstract

This literature review focuses on the need of differentiation in an elementary reading

classroom. This review suggests the best way to differentiate an elementary reading lesson is to

use teacher conferencing with small groups of students who need remediation or excelling on a

certain skill, or conferring with students independently on a specific skill that was previously

taught. Tools that could be used during this small group time are Guided Reading, Project Based

Learning, and The School Enrichment Model – Reading. The need for differentiated

conferences is desirable so teachers can close the gap for below level readers and excel on level

and above level readers to meet higher goals.

Keywords: differentiation, student conferences, student growth in reading

Introduction

Context of Study

This study is performed on a group of twenty-eight fourth grade students who attend

Martinez Elementary School located in Martinez, Georgia. Martinez is located as a suburb of the

city of Augusta. Out of these twenty-eight students, six are identified as gifted learners, five are

receiving extra support in either reading or math, and 2 are in the RTI process. The

demographics of the classroom are 58% Caucasian, 32% African American, 5% Asian and 5%

are considered as other. The population of our school has a transient culture. This school houses

many military students that move frequently. Martinez is considered a title 1 school, with over

70% of the school’s population receiving free or reduced lunch.

A literacy concern in my classroom is students lack of comprehension skills. Most of my

students are proficient in reading fluently, reading with accuracy, and having a vast vocabulary.


Although, when assessing students, a majority of them were not able to respond to basic

comprehension questions. This problem is what is driving my research. Students who are in the

fourth grade are expected to be able to not only answer basic comprehension questions but to

analyze and apply knowledge to extended response questions.

Reading is taught for 60 minutes daily. During that 60 minutes, the introduction of the

lesson is dedicated to word structure, then 15 to 20 minutes is a concentrated mini lesson that

focuses on a specific standard, following that is a 40 minute reading workshop time. During this

workshop time, my students are independently reading a self-selected text based on their

personal interest and reading level. While they are reading, they are connecting and applying the

standard we learned in the mini lesson to their book. While students are reading, I am pulling

small groups for differentiated practice. For example, the students in the high group will be

participating in PBL activities to create book reports based on their book and a selected standard.

The medium/high group will be practicing extended responded questions and conferencing on

best practice reading strategies. During conferencing, students and teachers should be asking

questions for better understanding, feedback to be given, and formal assessment. The medium,

low and EIP group will be using guided reading to improve their reading levels. This group will

be reading a book selected by the teacher that is specific to the group’s learning needs. Students

will be practicing fluency, accuracy, and comprehension. By conducting workshop this way, I

hope to see scores rise on common county unit assessments.

Importance of Study

The importance of this study is vast. My goal is to increase students reading levels and

for students to use strategies while reading. This relates back to all academic subjects. It is vital

for students to have strong reading skills in social studies and science to be able to read to learn


about content. In math, students’ reading comprehension is important in word problems and in

applicant based problems. By the time students get to fourth grade, they are expected to be able

to read fluently and comprehend. Unfortunately, this is often times not the case. I will be meeting

students at their level to strive to bring them up to grade level expectations. This will be done by

having three models of differentiation. Heacox (2002) states that “Differentiated instruction does

not refer only to different ways that teachers teach students. Rather, differentiated instruction

means changing the pace, level, or kind of instruction teachers provide in response to individual

learners’ needs, styles, or interests.” Each of the models of differentiation that I will be using are

specific for the groups’ learning needs. These students will have intervention and excelling daily.

Problem Statement and Research Question

The problem occurred for this action research project as I was analyzing the 2016

Georgia Milestone assessment data. Out of all of fourth grade subjects, ELA scored the lowest. It

is a part of our school’s school improvement goal to raise all ELA test scores by 20% in the 2017

school year. The research question of the study is - What is the effectiveness of a differentiated

reading workshop model?

Definition of Terms

Schoolwide Enrichment Model – Reading (SEM-R)– A framework for an enrichment-based

reading program that is designed to stimulate the interest and enjoyment of reading.

Project Based Learning (PBL) – a teaching method where students are given the opportunity to

learn standards based on their own investigation. Students will use what they have found and

apply it to a project.


Early Intervention Program (EIP) – This is a program that remediates students who score in the

bottom 20% of their class. These students are pulled out for 45 minutes a day to strengthen

reading and math strategies.

Georgia Milestone Assessment (GMAS) – This is an assessment the state of Georgia as adopted

to assess students at the end of their grade.

Response to Intervention (RTI) – This is a tiered program where students who continually fall

below grade level expectations are admitted to. The goal of the program is for students to receive

extra interventions to get them to grade level expectations.

Common Formal Assessment (CFA) – This is an informative assessment that is given to every

child in fourth grade to compare progress within the grade level. The content of the assessment is

the standard that was taught that week.

Chapter 2. Literature Review

Introduction

In my experience in education, I have had the opportunity for administrators, professors,

mentors and colleagues advise me on how to best administer my reading block. I am fortunate to

be amongst respectable educators in my career from whom I can gain knowledge. As I review

data on student growth, their advice has been efficient in my teaching practice. The data results

in students in my class making excellent progress compared to peer students. While I am very

thankful for my past student’s growth, I wonder how student data would look if I differentiated

at a higher scale by using different vehicles of programs for each ability group.

One of my personal goals as an educator is to not only raise reading levels of my students

but to find a practice that was going to teach students how to find joy of reading fiction and

nonfiction texts. As traditional ways to differentiate are very effective, they do not promote


student choice, or giving students specific skills that are tailored to them. In this review, I will

share my review of literature on how to effectivity have a fully differentiated reading lesson

using student conferencing, Guided Reading, and Project Based Learning.

Structure of an Effective Differentiated Reading Program

When teachers implement differentiated reading into their classrooms, it can look many

different ways. To be most effective, teachers should direct students to independently read a

book of their choice, that is “just right” for them, meaning on their level and of their interest. It is

of ultimate importance that students are reading books that are on their level. If students are

reading books that are too easy or too hard, they will be regressing in their reading practices

rather than progressing. Researchers found that students who spend most of their reading practice

in books that are too easy or books that are too difficult fail to make the reading gains possible

when reading books that are appropriately challenging. (e.g., Anderson, Higgins, & Wurster,

1985; Baker & Wigfield, 1999) The students will be reading a piece of literature independently

or with a partner while the teacher is calling students to the small group. Some teachers may see

that students have not chosen a book that is developmentally appropriate, and the teacher should

want to have an individual conference with that student on how to correctly chose a book. From

here, the teacher should look at student data to group students based on like reading levels. By

grouping students who are like ability, the teacher is able to focus on a specific skill. Takako

Nomi (2010) proved in their research that small ability grouping is beneficial rather than whole

group instruction. “Group ability compositions shape instruction and learning because content

and pace is typically tailored to the average students in the group” (e.g., Beckerman & Good,

1981, Dar & Resh, 1986; Hallinan, 1987; Hallinan & Sorensen, 1983). When the teacher is

teaching a large group of heterogeneous students, only the middle group will benefit from the


lesson. While when teachers are teaching a small group of homogenous students, all have the

same ability therefore all are being affected. A reason for a conference would be to pull a small

group of students and re teach a basic reading skill that is a part of the standard. This is typically

done for students who are reading on grade level and that have a basic understanding of reading

skills. For higher level students, teachers can choose to confer with a group to extend their

knowledge of the standard to above grade level expectations. An example of how to do this is to

use multiple intelligence learning strategies to find an interest within the student. Students should

participate in a Project Based Learning (PBL) assignment to apply the literature they are reading

to the standard in a hands on application.

Student Participation

Students have high expectations in a differentiated reading classroom. Often times, for

higher and above level students, the classroom will be running off of the students’ personal

goals. It is essential for students to be able to identify problems and seek solutions to try to help

themselves. When a teacher makes time to meet with a student, the student should be prepared to

have a back and forth conversation about the content of the book. By teachers encouraging

student talk, they are building reading and speaking skills in their students. Boyd and Galda

(2011) note “[Student talk] is a gradual building up of knowledge, confidence, expertise, and

trust and requires contextual anchoring; rich student talk occurs when the context is supportive,

conversants are attentive, material is engaging, and student dialogue is supported” (p. 102).

Benefits to Differentiated Reading

Research proves that there are many benefits to differentiation during the reading block.

Not all student’s needs are identical in a typical regular education classroom. It would not be the

most efficient use of time to teach the whole class how to decode while the majority of the


students already show proficiency in that skill. Likewise, it would not be effective to teach the

whole group comprehension strategies when there are students in the group who do not have a

basic understanding of book sense. Several studies find that children with difficulties in word

reading benefit from explicit, systematic phonics interventions, whereas children with

comprehension difficulties benefit from explicit teaching and modeling of text comprehension

strategies as well as from interventions that promote vocabulary and oral language development

(Aaron et al., 2008; Clarke, Snowling, Truelove, & Hulme, 2010; Ehri, 2004; Snowling &

Hulme, 2012). Spear-Sqerling (2016) makes a valid point that students needs will vary. Effective

teachers need to have the skills to be able to identify the student’s need, and be able to give them

a tailored lesson based on the need.

It is apparent that all teachers want their students to succeed in class. I have found that

many teachers, including myself, have fallen into a test score zone where students are taught how

to perform on a test rather than build a foundation. Elizabeth Shaunessy-Dedrick, John Ferron,

Myriam Lindo, and Linda Evans (2015) found that teachers are under a vast amount of pressure

to produce high test scores. It is under even greater pressure that teachers are expected to grow

below level learners to meet grade level expectations. Teachers simply are not trained on how to

accomplish everything in their daily lessons. According to Shaunessy-Dedrick, Ferron, Lindo,

and Evans (2015), “Teachers perceive pressure to increase test scores of students who do not

meet academic requirements, feel minimally prepared to modify instruction based on students’

ability, and find that scheduling of classes does not typically involve attention to ability grouping

(p. 93). If teachers eliminate long whole group lessons, students can be taught personal reading

skills in a matter of minutes, leaving the teacher time to move on to the next group that needs

attention.


Student Motivation

When students are given the opportunity to select their own texts and are practicing a

specific skill that is deficit, they become motivated to read. This is because they are interested

about the genre or topic of the literature. McKenna, Kear and Ellsworth (1995) state, “How an

individual feels about reading relates to his or her reading development attitudes toward reading

are complex and informed by beliefs about reading outcomes, cultural influences, competing

interests outside of reading pursuits, and the value an individual attributes to reading” (p. 939).

When teachers confer with their students they should be positive about the growth the child is

making. The student is more likely to have success and comprehend the text from the book if

they have a teacher who has built confidence in them. Schwabe, Mcelvany, and Trendtel (2015)

found that “Reading comprehension is assumed to be influenced by reading behavior, which

itself is substantially affected by reading motivation.”

Best Practices in Differentiated Reading

Teacher Questioning

While participating in a small group lesson, it would be effective for students’ to be asked

a variety of depth of knowledge questions that are tailored to their level. When teachers focus on

asking questions that connect the focus standard to the students self-selected book, students will

become more engaged in the lesson. The School Enrichment Model-Reading has three tiers to

support reading. Teacher questioning focus on tier two of the program. It is used to help students

enjoy reading before they are taught challenging skills that may take away the love of reading.

Shaunessy-Dedrick, Lindo, and Evans (2015) defined The Schoolwide Enrichment Model in

their literature. “The Schoolwide Enrichment Model–Reading (SEM-R) was designed to

emphasize reading enjoyment as a precursor to increased reading skill development and


supplement—not supplant—existing language arts instructional approaches” (e.g., Reis, Eckert,

McCoach, Jacobs, & Coyne, 2008). The types of questions that teachers ask, heavily shape

learning experiences for students. M.P. Boyd (2015) found although materials, tasks, and

abilities shape learning experiences, expectations for student performance are routinely signaled

and instantiated by patterns and kinds of teacher questions. (p. 372). By asking a variety of

questions to students as they read, teachers are opening new doors for students to look at the text

in a different way. The informal questioning becomes the students’ foundation for standardized

tests they will take. M.P. Boyd (2015) makes an argument that questioning is a teacher’s most

used, and arguably most powerful, talk move (p. 374). Effective teachers know how to ask

different levels of questions to spark conversations about literature.

Teacher Journaling

Teachers who teach reading have to have a method of collecting data while they are

conducting their individual small group. A journal where teachers can take quick, but beneficial

notes shows to be most effective. For teachers to effectively differentiate student conferences, a

data journal is needed to keep documentation. When implementing student conferences, teachers

should be prepared to have many different conferences throughout their class. A journal is

essential to keep record of the information. David Costello (2014) writes how a data journal is

used to record information “My journal was a place for me to record my thoughts, reflections,

questions, and classroom observations related to reading conferences. I recorded a variety of

entries in my journal during the course of the study; often trying to write in the journal a couple

of times a day. I recorded reading conferences that I felt were successful and reading conferences

that I felt were less than successful” (p. 46). Costello’s data journal was so detailed that research

was able to be conducted to prove success to student reading conferences.


Guided Reading

Guided reading is beneficial for all students to partake in because it is an effect tool for

true differentiation. Veronica Hanke (2014) defines the practice as a “Complex teaching and

learning context, in which teachers require pupils to participate in particular literacy practices”.

Typically, guided reading is used to differentiate for lower level learners or students who have an

RTI for reading. The “particular” reading practices that Hanke is referring to is the differentiated

strategies that students are lacking. Using guided reading in the upper grades of elementary

education can help students gain strategies that may have been missed in the lower grades and

teach critical thinking skills. In Ferguson and Wilson’s research (2009) they found that “Guided

reading has the potential to remediate, teach critical reading strategies and word study, and

increase students' self-regulation; all important aspects of reading for meaning” (e.g. ViUaume &

Brabhan, 2001; Whitehead, 2002). Guided reading is a controlled program where teachers can

explicitly teach a lesson and expect results. Denton, Fletcher, Taylor, Barth and Vaughn (2014)

use Fountas and Pinnell’s theory of Guided Reading, “The goal of Guided Reading is to promote

students’ silent, independent reading in increasingly challenging text. Guided Reading consists

of small-group lessons in which the primary activity is text reading and instruction is focused

primarily on reading for meaning.” This is an excellent tool to use for lower level learners in the

upper grades because it meets learners at their individual reading level and uses a skill that is

developmentally appropriate. By meeting students were they are, teachers provide a learning

environment where students are not afraid to take risks to improve their reading. This increases

student’s attitude which in turn creates students to be more inclined to more difficult reading.

Fibriani Widyasari (2016) found that “Attitude is an individual’s response toward an object or


situation and it is very important in learning process, in which the improvement of students’

educational performance depends on attitude” (p. 476).

Project Based Learning

Students who are identified as gifted learners require differentiation at its highest level.

These students should be able to apply the standard they are focusing on to a tangible object.

Before the project is assigned, students can be tested with a multi intelligence assessment to find

the learning strategy that works best for their personality. This will create motivation for students

to generate projects at their highest potential. When students are involved in PBL, they are put in

control of their own learning. This gives teachers time to be able to work with lower level

students. Johri (2015) found that “When participating in PBL, students assume major

responsibility for the acquisition of information and knowledge and this provides a lifelong habit

of self-directed learning amongst students. At the same time, PBL is collaborative,

communicative and cooperative with high level of peer learning and teaching” (e.g., Tan, 2003).

A vast amount of enthusiasm comes from students who participate in PBL activities. They find

pride in their projects and become vested in their work. These students are then able to teach

other peers about their topic which leads to further discussion and implementation about the

topic.

Project Based Learning is beneficial to higher achieving students because the program

challenges these students to think beyond grade level standards. Maria Galvan and Jennifer

Coronado (2012) stated in their article, Problem-Based and Project-Based Learning: Promoting

Differentiated Instruction,


Engaging students to become problem solvers in their community invigorated their

learning into a meaningful one and as a result test grades improved (West & Donna,

2012). An additional benefit is that instructional methods like problem and project-based

activities allow teachers to apply differentiated learning instruction in their classroom.

Applying such approaches permits students to strengthen their skills while facilitating

them to learn at their own level, thus making project-based and problem-based learning

an iconic paradigm applicable to all multiple intelligences (Bell, 2010).

Enrichment Model

To support a well-organized differentiated reading classroom, the teacher needs to supply

students with literature from all different genres, ranging in a variety of levels. Students need to

have access to this literature for an extended amount of time each day. By doing so, it will

improve reading scores when faced with a diverse group of learners. To expose students to a

variety of different genres of literature, the SEM-R model could be used. Reis, Eckert, McCoach,

Jacobs, and Coyne (2008) found that “The SEM-R model provides many students with a proper

match between abilities, course content, and instruction to increase their challenge level. When

students are using SEM-R, they are in one of three tiers to promote student learning”. Reis,

Eckert, McCoach, Jacobs, and Coyne, (2008) contribute that “The most effective tiers are based

on Renzulli’s Enrichment Triad Model with three levels of enrichment. The analysis of the levels

are (a) Type 1 enrichment includes broad exposure to areas in which students might have

interests, (b) Type 2 enrichment is training and methods instruction, and (c) Type 3 enrichment

provides students opportunities to pursue self-selected topics of interest.” This model is effective

for differentiation because it allows teachers not only to differentiate based on student ability


level, but also to differentiate by student interest. When students are in the tier 3 of this

enrichment model, they are able to collaborate with peers to express their knowledge in a way of

their choice. When the choice of applying a standard is differentiated, reading levels and interests

increases. Research has found that students should be provided with a range of learning

strategies and environments complying with their interests and skills so that they can acquire

valuable experiences. (e.g., Akyol, Çakiroğlu, & Kuruyer, 2014) Although, these enrichment

models were originally developed for gifted learners, if modified correctly, they could be easily

used for all levels of learners.

How Reading Differentiation Effects Populations of Students

Gender Differentiation

Creditable research shows differentiation is a best practice in the classroom. With

differentiation being so popular in education, teachers are forced to become creative to

successfully implement the practice in their classrooms. Many educators would agree that

differentiating lessons would best be done by student achievement scores. On the contrary,

research is available that proves the difference between boys and girls is vast during reading

instruction. When teachers use different reading strategies for different genders, reading scores

have shown to improve. Schwabe, Mcelvany, and Trendtel (2015) quote Oakhill and Petrides “It

was found that boys’ reading comprehension depends largely on the text content, whereas girls’

achievement is hardly influenced by this factor”. While conferencing, teachers should be aware

how the student is thinking while reading the text. If a teacher was conferring with a boy, they

should focus more on the text context, if they were conferencing with a girl, this strategy may

not be as necessary. Bouchamma, Poulin, and Ruel (2014) found that “Girls displayed greater


linguistic comprehension and, more specifically, had a slight advantage over their male

counterparts because of their visual memory and their ability to identify information within a

text.” When teachers conference with girls, comprehension strategies are needed to strengthen

their visual memory and to practice the skill of locating information in a text. Bouchamma,

Poulin, and Ruel (2014) found that girls are more likely to self- correct when reading difficult

parts, and more likely to summarize what they have read and reformulate in their own words to

ease comprehension. An effective teacher would be aware that a reading conference is needed

with boys about self-correcting strategies and summarizing strategies that do not come as

naturally to them as do girls. Bouchamma, Poulin, and Ruel (2014) also found “Boys performing

better in reading when they use past knowledge and that a new task requires that boys refer to

previously acquired processes” (e.g., Logan & Johnston, 2010).

Language Differentiation

Many students come to school with language deficiencies. Carol Ann Tomlinson quotes

“Students in U.S. schools speak over 450 languages, with more than 10 % of students considered

English language learners. That number is expected to grow to 50 % before the end of the current

decade” (e.g., Gray and Fleischman, 2004; U.S. Department of Education, 2013).

Students immigrate from all different cultures and backgrounds and are all expected to

score at a certain number on a standardized test. This issue can be very troublesome for a

teacher, especially while the teacher is balancing all other aspects of running a classroom.

Students who speak English as a second language are typical to score lower on standardized tests

than students who speak English as a first language. Karimi and Veisi (2016) expose the reason

why these students are falling behind is because of obvious reasons, “The problem seems to be


rooted in the out of date methodologies used by traditional teachers”. The out of date

methodologies do not use differentiation as a tool for learning. These traditional teachers use a

“one size fits all” lesson where they are only targeting the average students in a class. The most

useful way to reach learners of different languages is to differentiate instruction to meet the

students’ specific needs. Chin-Wen Chien (2012) found that “A successful teacher recognizes

that diversity may affect learning and works toward a classroom in which diversity is valued”

(e.g., Tileston, 2004). By a teacher giving multiple vehicles for students to show their

understanding, they are efficiently differentiating a classroom. Chien (2012) also states that

“Differentiated instruction can meet the needs of diverse students by providing them with

choices, so students can demonstrate their learning in different ways”. For teachers to see results

on test scores, they see it is crucial to design a reading workshop where all learners are valued.

Closing

In conclusion, teachers who adopt differentiated reading conferences as part of their

reading block, will see an increase of student reading motivation, and student reading level.

Effective teachers should have excessive background knowledge on students so they are able to

plan a tailored lesson that is unique to each student, or small group of students. If teachers

successfully conduct reading conferences, students will achieve their learning goal. Teachers

need to be aware that all students will learn differently. By conducting reading conferences,

teachers can best teach strategies that are best for each student, which may even come down to

differentiating based on gender or cultural background. By having differentiated reading

conferences, teachers will increase student motivation to read because students are selecting and

reading the text on their own terms. Overall, teachers and students will have a positive benefit

from reading conferences.


Chapter 3. Methodology

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to identify the most effective way to differentiate the

reading workshop model to increase student test scores. During this research, I examined

different models of differentiation. The models I used are Guided Reading, student conferencing,

and the Student Enrichment model – Reading. By using these models, I collected data to see

progress in standardized student test scores and reading levels. The research question being

explored though out this study is: What is the effectiveness of a differentiated reading workshop

model?

Setting

This research took place over a six-week period of instruction. The study was conducted

during the reading block of a fourth grade classroom. Martinez Elementary houses 846 students

in grades kindergarten through fifth grade. According to the 2016 Georgia Milestones

Assessment, fourth grade ELA scores were the lowest of all other subjects. Apart of our school’s

school wide curriculum goal, all ELA scores will increase by 20% on the 2017 Georgia

Milestone Assessment. Because of this goal, I decided to focus my action research on

differentiating the ELA block to meet all needs of my students.

Participants

Participants in this study were twenty-eight students who are in my homeroom class. Of

this population, sixteen of these students are male and twelve are female. The demographics of

my homeroom class are diverse. Caucasian students make up 58% of the classroom, 32% are

African American, 5% are Asian and 5% are consider themselves as other. Students in my class


receive special services such as gifted and early intervention. I have six students who participate

in gifted education and 4 who have support through early intervention process.

Intervention and Instrument

Each student conferred with the teacher at least once a week, depending on the

individual’s data. If the student scored below the 20th percentile during the pre-assessment, the

student conferred with the teacher daily. If the student scored within the 21st -35th percentile, the

student met with the teacher three times a week. If the student scored on the 36th percentile or

above, one conference was mandatory unless otherwise needed. During conferences, the lower

leveled learners participated in a Guided Reading lesson. During this lesson, students read a

leveled reader based on their test data. Students practiced fluency, accuracy and comprehension.

Middle learners discussed their self-selected book with the teacher. This was a time for questions

to be asked, both from the student and the teacher, the standards from the mini lesson to be

assessed, and student feedback to be given. The higher level group participated in the school

enrichment model–reading (SEM-R). This group also be conferred with the teacher but focused

more on how they are applying what they learned in the mini lesson to their self-selected book.

These students will be using the content they learned to produce a project based learning (PBL)

assignment on their book. This was assigned by using the students specific learning style.

Students kept their data in their reading journals. Graphs were used to observe their

progress.

Data Collection and Procedure

During student teacher conferences, I used a data collection journal to keep notes on each

student’s questions, feedback, assignment, struggles, strengths, etc. I used this data to plan the

instruction for following conferences. I will used individual interviews to assess students’


knowledge of unit standards. The interviews drove instruction for conferences and they provided

more information for grouping purposes. The formal assessment was a common county unit

assessment. This was a standardized test that had multiple choice questions combined with three

extended response questions. I ultimately used this data to prove my research question.

Data Analysis

Data for the action research was analyzed using an excel sheet that every teacher

throughout our school uses. This excel sheet compares pre and post data then calculates growth

the student made. If students make high growth (60% growth) they will have two green cells, if

they make growth (40% growth) they will have one green cell. Then, the class was analyzed on

how many students made growth. Our school goal is for 90% of students to make growth.

Findings

Throughout this unit, I was satisfied to see students use reading as a tool to learn instead

of seeing reading as a chore or an inconvenience. The students who qualified for guided reading

services learned strategies that increased their vocabulary, fluency, accuracy, and

comprehension. They learned strategies that will benefit them for the rest of their academic years

and throughout all subjects. The students who qualified for independent reading found literature

that was enjoyable to them. Once they were convinced that reading can be used for pleasure, they

started reading in volume. This improved their vocabulary skills, and comprehension. The

students who participated in the SEM-R projects truly amazed our class. The creativity that this

extension brought to the group was a true definition of differentiation. Students worked on

turning narratives into dramas, created movie posters, acted out news reports, and made comics

that were all standards based and showed original learning. As a group, my students have a much

better moral for reading than they did before. At the end of my research, I gave students the


Garfield Reading Attitude Survey. A majority of the class data showed that reading was one of

their favorite parts of the day. I am also aware of students reading in science and social studies.

Before, students would have a difficult time understanding the content which made it difficult to

apply to projects and assessments. Now, reading is not a labored task. I notice that students are

using strategies and skills that they learned from reading workshop and applying them in all

subjects. Overall, I believe that this study was a success and I will continue to implement the

practices in my classroom.

Data Analysis

I used a tri-model approach to collect data. I used three types of data to get an overall

representation of my students and how they grew during this unit. For my quantitative data

analysis, I used an excel spread sheet to measure student’s growth. Students are expected to

reach either growth, which is 40% growth, or high growth, which is 60% growth. For qualitative

data, I used student interviews and journaling my students’ conferences.

Qualitative Data

Gathering two forms of qualitative data gave me a true representation of my students as a

reader. For the student interview, I chose a student who I expected to have trouble with the

standards of this unit. I knew that by picking him, I would see the benefits and drawbacks of my

instruction. I used standards based questions to assess the students’ knowledge. This gave me

information to drive my instruction to plan future lessons. The student did well with connecting

the standard to actual literature. I was pleased to see that the student was proficient with the

interview.


To collect data with small groups, I used a journal to keep track of common points that

came up during our conversation. During the small group, I strive to have conversations about

how our guided reading book relates to the standard that was taught during the mini lesson. I was

able to collect rich data because the students were having genuine conversations. When students

were unsure about a concept, I was able to search with them to find an example in a book they

chose. Students who are in the lower group struggled to have conversations at the beginning of

the unit. As the weeks progressed, the conversations grew and I was able to collect my

qualitative data. My notes show that the students developed their knowledge of the assigned

standards.


Quantitative Data

For the quantitative data research, I used a unit pre and posttest. These assessments are

created by the county. Every fourth grade student in the county takes this assessment. The unit

test is comprised of 12 multiple choice questions, 1 extended response question and 1

constructed response question. This assessment was the main assessment I used to test student

growth because I was able to see the actual numerical data. Administration looks closely at this

data during our weekly data team meetings. Based off this data, discussions are implemented

about how we can improve our classroom practices. The goal for these assessments is for

students to show growth or high growth. The formula that is used to calculate this score is as

follows. If student got a 30 on a pretest – they have the ability to grow by 70 points (the

difference between 30 and 100) 40% of 70 points is 28 points – so 30(pretest score) + 28 (40%

of 70) = 58 (an expected growth score) 60% of 70 points is 42 points - 30(pretest score) + 42

(60% of 70) = 72 (a high growth score). Attached is a sample of the excel sheet that was used to

collect the quantitative data. The results of the pre and posttest show that 86% of my students


made high growth, and 6% only made growth. It also shows the students who did not make any

growth which was 14% of students tested. This is a good result for my research because our

school’s goal is for 70% of students to make high growth. It is determined from the spread sheet

that my class exceeded expectations.

A data matrix was also used to analyze each question on the test. By looking at this

matrix, I am able to see what standard the student was proficient in and what standard had

deficiencies. According to the data, 98% of students got number 1 correct, 65% of students got

number 2 correct, 96% of students got number 4 correct, 96% of students got number 5 correct,

70% of students got number 6 correct, 95% of students got number 7 correct, 83% of students

got number 9 correct, 69% of students got number 10 correct, 84% of students got number 11

correct, 81 got number 12 correct, 91% got number 13 correct and 72% got number 14 correct.

Now that I have analyzed this data, I know that I may need to re-teach the standard that was

assessed on numbers 2, 6, and 14. Looking at the assessment as a whole, the average score on


the pretest was a 44%, on the posttest it was an 82%. This shows that as a class, the students

made high growth.

Conclusion

I can conclude that my research showed to be beneficial to my students. By

differentiating instruction to meet students on their level and differentiating the instruction to

best fit the students interest, I was able to grow 86% of my students into a high growth category.

Not only did students perform well on county unit test, but I also found that students enjoy

reading than they did before. Overall, all goals were met with the implication of this unit.

Limitations

Limitations of this study were that is it likely that students would have grown in

proficiency with standards if another reading curriculum would have been in place. Many of the


students would have picked up on the standards and would have been able to use them if another

practice was used.

Another limitation would be that students took the exact same pre-test as the post-test.

This could cause the data to be skewed because the students had a preview to what the questions

were going to be. To change this, the pre-test should have slightly different questions than the

posttest did.

Discussion

I believe that my unit was successful. Students had the opportunity to complete

assignments that are tailored to their interest and level. If a student is a lower level student, they

had intervention using guided reading groups. If the student is an on level learner, they had to

opportunity to read a self-selected book and journal about how the standard relates to their

literature. For higher level learners and gifted students, they were able to participate in SEM-R

and create PBL projects based off the current standard and their book of choice. This extended

their learning to create original products. By analyzing the qualitative and quantitative data, I

concluded that the students were able to proficiently understand the standards and the moral of

the reading attitudes became higher.

Implications for Future Research and Classroom Practice

For future research, I would implement the Garfield Reading Attitudes Assessment as a

piece of the tri-model research. I would give this assessment at the beginning of the unit and

again at the end. I did collect quality data through journaling and interviews about students’

attitudes, but it would be effective to have a piece of quantitative data about reading attitudes to

analyze as well.


Action Plan

From this study, I have learned that every student has their own learning style that is

perfect for them. There are many reading curriculums that schools may adopt, but that does not

mean that the particular curriculum will work for every child in the class. From my research I

have found that students will grow in their knowledge when they are given the best opportunity.

This many mean more or less structure, different materials, or guidance. As long as the student is

getting taught the same standard, the method should be flexible for them. Next year, I will be

using action research to improve my instruction. I will use different assessments to gain data that

raises student motivation. I will also research different vehicles that I could use during small

groups.


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Appendix

Fourth grade Unit Pre/Post Test for use on data analysis.

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