Phonological Assessment

Mary Myers is proficient in this section of phonological awareness. The score that she received was
off the chart in both the Phoneme Segmentation Fluency (PSF) assessment (65) and the DIBELS
Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF) assessment (64 and 19). Even though she did well on these tests.
My concern is did she do well enough. I am pleased to see she has surpassed the beginning of
second grade but this test isn’t a predictor of growth. I am more concerned about her fluency
assessment results.

Fluency Assessment

The week of March 20th Mary took her DIBELS Fluency Assessment. She
was right on the cusp of being proficient. The first ORF Mary had 88 words
correct with 95% accuracy. The second reading she had 87 words correct
with 94% accuracy. Based on my observations and her fluency trackers I
would say Mary is slightly behind and at risk. Due to her grade level and the
time of the year she is being evaluated, I would create an “at risk” plan for
Mary. She and I are currently working together during lunch. I am explaining
how to DISSECT words. Overall the fluency assessment was better than I
predicted and I do see a lot of growth in Mary this year.

Vocabulary Assessment

The week of March 27th Mary was given the CORE Vocabulary screening
test. Mary scored 67% on form 3A and 70% on form 3B. These two scores
projected her performance level (Strategic) at risk. Even though Mary was
within the higher percentage of the group she fell in. It is clear she struggles
with grade level content due to her insufficient vocabulary.

Currently Mary and I are still working on DISSECT. I am incorporating

various multisyllabic words in order to integrate morphemic context to
improve my vocabulary instruction and understanding.

Comprehension Diagnostic

The week of April 3rd Mary completed the CORE diagnostic. Mary scored a
5, which is considered to be a comprehension level at the beginning of the
3rd grade. Since we are currently towards the end of her 3rd grade year this
test is a clear indicator that she is at risk of falling behind grade level. I
noticed there is a pattern within Mary’s diagnostic. She was placed at the
beginning of third grade for her vocabulary; because of this it makes sense
that her comprehension reflects the same placement. Mary and I are using
learning a-z software to improve her vocabulary and comprehension skills.

Content-Area Assessment

The week of April 1oth Mary completed a math multiple step word problem
assessment. I noticed as a class students including Mary struggle when the math
content is placed in word form. I decided to use some of the tips provided in the text
to see if she would utilize them and if they were helpful. We discussed rereading
the math problems, which was something that she did not want to do. However,
after rereading she realized she made a mistake and fixed it. She really liked the
highlighter it helped her focus. Overall Mary is proficient in math word problems.
She completed the task in 13 minutes.

Writing Assessment

The week of April 3rd Mary participated in a writing assessment. After reviewing
her rubric and the requirements for the assessment, Mary proceeded to write for 30
minutes. Mary is not proficient in writing and is at risk due to the outcome of her
assessment. She wrote 12 sentences but out of the 12, only one was deemed a
compound or complex sentence. Less than half of her sentences were complete
thoughts. However, the bright spot in Mary’s writing is that her compound sentence
did constitute a complete thought. I think Mary could have eradicated some of her
errors if she focused on proofreading her paper. I would like to review compound
and complex sentences with Mary, because I believe she would benefit from a
review concentrating on what makes a more structurally solid sentence.

After our diagnostics were complete I noticed Mary displaying a lot of strengths in
the area of literacy. She has mastered phonemic awareness and several phonics
skills; such as letter sound sequencing. She is capable of utilizing the DISSECT
strategy to breakdown a word in order to ascertain its meaning. She is starting to
summarize what she reads and take notes in order to comprehend the text.

Even though Mary is making strides in several areas it is still a challenge for her to
read fluently due to her vocabulary deficiency. She needs to read consistently in
order to improve her reading stamina. Mary is also struggling in writing because of
her subpar vocabulary.

For the remainder of the year Mary and I will continue our 1-to-1 instructions. Our
weekly tutoring plan consists of vocabulary, comprehension, and writing. Every
Tuesday she works on the DISSECT strategy to enhance vocabulary skills.

On Wednesdays Mary utilizes a-z software to read stories and write summaries. She
is improving her comprehension and writing skills simultaneously. Thursdays are
considered book club day. Mary eats lunch with a group of kids that read books
aloud based on their lexile level, and they discuss the content as well.

The data I have gathered has been inserted in Mary's school file in order to assist
her and her teacher next year. I intend on writing a note explaining how determined
Mary is in improving her literacy skills.