Case Study 1

Case Study on Student Learning

By Heidi Riehl

EDU 6613, Standards Based Assessments

March 18, 2009

Case Study 2

Teaching Context

JB attends Liberty Elementary in Marysville Washington. The school is an older

facility that was built as a neighborhood school that families could walk to. There is a

real sense of community in this school between families and staff. The staff is dedicated

to the kids and the kids are dedicated to the staff. Liberty is a Title One school with 75%

free and reduced lunch and many of the families live in poverty. Liberty Elementary also

has quite a bit of diversity and a large ELL population.

The classroom in which JB learns is colorful, clean, and comfortable. The walls

display student work, posters, and learning aids, such as a word wall and an alphabet. The

furniture is laid out openly with room for movement. The room is divided by learning

areas: student tables, carpet meeting area, library, drama center, art center, writing center,

and small group work. Materials and supplies are easily accessible and well organized for

learning and use. The philosophy in the classroom is one of safety, caring, fun, and

student choice.

JB is a kindergartener in a class of 23 students, aged 5-6 years old. The class is

made up of eight girls and fifteen boys. The kids are primarily white, with one

Vietnamese child, two African American, two racially mixed and five Hispanic children.

There are five ELL students, both boys and girls. Three children are on behavior plans

and four students are on Individualized Educational Plans for speech. The skill level

varies from low (not meeting first trimester standards for Kindergarten) to high

(demonstrating skills at a first grade level). All the students live in low socioeconomic

homes including one or both parents. JB is a six year old, Caucasian boy. He began the

year on a behavior plan and has since been exited out. His skill level has always been

Case Study 3medium to high in literacy and math. JB comes to class from a two-parent household with

multiple younger siblings. Socially, he demonstrated some aggressive play at the

beginning of the year, but has since matured and works well with any of the students in

class.

Kindergarten Curriculum and Standards

Currently, Marysville Kindergarteners need to have a well developed sense of

numbers, their order, and counting to 50. They should be able to count by ones and tens.

They need to develop patterning, sorting, and addition skills. The math curriculum used

in the district is Everyday Math, which has higher standards and more demanding skills.

This curriculum more closely resembles the state standards, than the Marysville

Kindergarten assessment card. In literacy, they need to learn about the relationship

between letters and sounds and how to apply them to reading and writing.

Kindergarteners are required to learn to read, but also how to think deeper about stories.

They need to understand concepts of print, types and styles of books, how to choose a

book, and relationships between words, such as rhyming. In writing, Kindergarteners are

required to think of ideas, write them down with an accompanying picture. They should

apply spelling patterns and a complete sentence format. Again, these district standards

match some of the state standards, but do not encompass all of them. This year, the

district decided that all Kindergarten readers need to be at a C level based on Fountas and

Pinnell leveling and assessment kit. Liberty Elementary has a unique literacy program

because it is a Title One school. They adopted the Success For All program that uses Fast

Track Phonics and Kinderroots reading program for Kindergarteners. This year the

Case Study 4district has developed Literacy Units of Study for each month that incorporates mini-

lessons and components of balanced literacy.

Student as a Learner and What He Has Learned

JB has built solid understanding of letter and sound knowledge that he can apply

when he is reading and writing. He knows more than 25 sight words and can identify

beginning and ending sounds in words. He is able to spell out and write simple three

letter words, but struggles with middle sounds (vowels). JB knows how to choose a book.

He looks at the front cover, back cover, and does a picture walk. He also chooses books

based on interest. The next step will be for him to look at the words in the books and

decide whether the text will be easy, just right, or too hard. He is reading level B books.

As he reads, he will look for picture clues to identify a word he doesn’t know, but does

not consider the initial sound when making a guess. For example, if he comes to “Here is

the party.” He will look at the picture, see a table, and read “Here is a table.” I am

working with him to look at the initial sound in the word and then consult the picture to

make an educated guess. I also want him to begin trying to sound out short words in text.

Finally, I would like JB to consider whether his guess makes sense to the story by going

back and rereading the text. During class discussions of books, JB seems as if he is not

paying attention, but he is actually an attentive listener who thinks deeply about the story.

He often contributes ideas about the story, details he has noticed in the pictures, or makes

connections to other books or his own life. As a writer, he is very creative and currently

writes one complete sentence. When instructed, he will write more than one sentence. He

likes to write about dinosaurs, friends, and topics learned in class. His next steps are to

Case Study 5add details into his sentences, write more than one sentence, and think about the who,

what, and where as he writes. He quickly grasps math concepts, such as, counting,

money, patterning, sorting, shapes, estimating, etc. He is able to apply what he has

learned in math to the world around him. He is working on numbers beyond 50, number

stories (addition and subtraction), and time. He loves to challenge himself with problem-

solving, books that are at his instructional level, and going beyond what is asked of the

teacher. JB tends to be very critical of himself and when he perceives a mistake he has

made, he will put himself in timeout. He is responsible, happy, and motivated as a

learner.

Evidence that Student is Learning

Formally, JB is assessed through Kindergarten assessment cards that cover math,

writing, and literacy, a checklist of math skills from Everyday Math, Benchmark Running

Records from Fountas and Pinnell, and Dibels Assessment booklets. Informally, he is

assessed every week through conferring notes on reading and writing skills. Informal

running records are administered to assess what strategies are being applied and JB’s

easy and instructional reading levels. Observations are made daily on math skills, social

interactions, problem-solving skills, and work habits.

What Instructional Practices are Helping/Hindering JB in Class

JB works best when he has choice, a quiet environment, and support. He

continues to build confidence and feels comfortable sharing. He can read and write longer

when he is not distracted by noise or interruptions. To accurately assess him, I sometimes

have to interrupt his reading and writing so that I can confer. Kindergarten is a very

social environment and sometimes, the noise level or sharing of ideas can be distracting

Case Study 6to JB. He responds well when there is time to share and discuss ideas in class. This is not

always possible in the day and lessens his motivation to listen. JB, himself is his biggest

hindrance as he shuts down and will not work when he makes a mistake, usually behavior

related, not academic. Mini-lessons regarding strategies and skills for reading, writing,

and math support JB's learning as they are short and to the point. When lessons drag on

or do not seem relevant to his skill level, JB quits listening and loses engagement.

What Does JB Need to Know About Reading and Writing to be Well-rounded?

Reading, writing, and math in Kindergarten set the foundation for students to

build on the rest of their school careers. These subjects also give students skills they can

use outside of the classroom in the real world. Every task, activity, interaction that

students encounter requires some level of reading, writing, and/or math skills. JB needs to

have a basic understanding of the format of books, strategies for decoding unknown

words, strategies for understanding what is read, a word bank of commonly read words,

strategies for spelling, an understanding of what makes a sentence, ability to think of

ideas, an understanding of how reading and writing relate, and finally, a good sense of

numbers and their uses.

Case Study

JB has demonstrated above average skills in reading, writing, and math. While he

has next steps and goals in all areas, this case study specifically focuses on JB’s writing

skills and progress. He can think of ideas and write a complete sentence, whether the

topic is teacher directed or free choice. He has an understanding of sounds and spelling

patterns that he incorporates as he writes words. He is a very capable independent writer.

Case Study 7When asked, JB felt writing was fun because he likes to write, color, and make

books. He feels writing is easy, but that words can be hard because of the different letters.

Writing is easier when he knows how to spell, and can write about dinosaurs. He likes to

write with his teacher, but also on his own in his journal. He doesn’t like writing about

things he is not interested in, like care bears. At home, he writes in workbooks with his

mom and does writing on his homework. He believes he needs to learn to write, so that

he can write numbers and words when he becomes a dinosaur man.

January 2009 – “I hav and cold and sniffles. I need a cough drop”

I noticed that JB was inconsistently using punctuation at the end of sentences and not rereading his sentences to edit when something doesn’t make sense. I decided he needed to work on these two goals as during writing workshop.

Case Study 8

February 5, 2009 – “I have a $100! I will buy time mushen”

After whole class lessons reviewing the use of punctuation at the end of sentences, he still was not adding them independently.

I decided to focus on the following standards as goals for JB in writing workshop.

Case Study 9

After reviewing JB’s writing in January and the early part of February, I decided to focus on the following standards as JB’s writing goals.

EALR 1. The student understands and uses a writing process. Component 1.3 Revises to improve text. GLE 1.3.1 Understands that writing can be changed.

Component 1.4 Edits text.GLE 1.4.1 Understands that there are conventions of punctuation and capitalization in writing.

February 12, 2009 – “My Heart Book, My heart is red My heart is red and. green pretty. My. heart. has dots”

After whole class lessons reviewing the use of punctuation at the end of sentences and conferring with JB, he was remembering to use punctuation, but not in the appropriate places.

Case Study 10

February 17, 2009 – “Polar bears like to eat sel. they play”

Through conferring during writing workshop on his goals, JB was able to remember to use a period (not consistently and reread to edit his writing.

Over the past three weeks, I have observed JB’s work habits as he is writing, his

spelling, how he develops an idea, and what conventions he is using. I have found that he

continues to forget to add a period or exclamation point at the end of his sentences when

Case Study 11

February 23, 2009 – “I see a dinosaurs an polar bears live on Ice”

During conferring , I had JB go back and reread his writing after I modeled, and edit or add in punctuation. He still continues to struggle with remembering this step.

he writes. I also notice that he is capable of writing on many subjects, but when given

choice, always writes about dinosaurs or thinks about how to relate the writing task to

dinosaurs. The whole class has been working on rereading what they write and editing

the picture or text when needed. He does this with reminders, but I am trying to help him

remember to do it as a routine like adding his author line.

My instruction and interventions have been through mini-lessons during writing

workshop and individual conferring with Jeremy. My assessment of his progress is

observation during writing workshop, his journal, formal projects, and informal phonics

work that incorporates a writing piece, which I take notes on. Week one, I observed he

was using his own ideas, used spacing between words, and no punctuation. Week two, I

saw he was adding great detail into his pictures, writing complete sentences, but was still

not remembering to add punctuation to the end of the sentence. He wrote “The queen bee

is my fen” without a period. Week three, I noted that he was still using quite a bit of

detail, consistently using uppercase letters to begin his sentences and beginning to use a

period at the end of sentences without reminders. He wrote “The cone is pokudot.” I still

did not see consistent use independently without reminders. He will go back and reread

his writing to edit, but again not consistently during independent writing. I feel this may

be a goal for the end of the year, not over three weeks.

Case Study 12

Conclusions

I believe writing is very important skill that connects to all other subjects in

school. It is used in a variety of ways, whether students write a story, a letter, or a list. As

I teach lessons in writing, I constantly look at what the students are doing in their

March 4, 2009 – Cover – “My UP Book!” “My Dinosaurs si up.”P 1 – “My Dinosaurs up”P 2 – “My Dinosaurs si little an up.”P 3 – “My Dinosaurs is up.”After the mini-lesson review, incorporating editing into morning message, conferring with JB about remembering to add a period and reread for editing, I can see he made some progress with punctuation use. My next strategy will be to have a poster checklist that he can refer to after he finishes writing his idea.

Case Study 13journals, during time in writing center, and in more formal writing to assess whether a

lesson has been successful. Some skills, such as, a complete sentence takes multiple

lessons and review for the whole class. I confer with individual students when I feel a

specific skill has not been understood by a few and to develop goals. Often, I think

standards and curriculum are developed by those who do not have an understanding of

Kindergarteners’ capabilities and developmental stages. My job as the teacher is to look

at the writing skills of the class and individual students to know what the kids are ready

for and what skills need more practice.