Module 2: Identifying Skill Deficits for Strategy Alignment
This module assumes you know and can do the following: (click to open drop-down)
Students with reading difficulties have been identified.
There is a need to identify specific skill deficits.
Click here to receive additional resources related to this module to put in your educator toolbox.
Competency
Continually assess student progress against clearly defined standards, goals, and outcomes to identify specific topics in which each student needs additional support to achieve mastery of a concept or skill.
Learning Outcomes
I can analyze data to determine student reading needs
What I will DO in this module
Use data to identify students’ strengths and specific skill deficits
Group students by skill deficits
Match the appropriate recommendation to the skill deficits identified
LEARNING PATHWAY
Start with the pre-assessment (below) to determine your path.
Playlist Self-assessment
Complete this (pre)self-assessment based on what you currently know, understand, and can do today.
Module 2 Pre-assessment.pdfLAUNCH
FIGURE OUT
Consider the following scenarios:
Scenario 1: You are living your best life until one day when the most horrible headaches of your life begin. Behind your eyes, they cause you pain that makes you double over. Unable to take it any longer, you find yourself at the doctor’s office, where the doctor treats your headache with a bandaid.
Scenario 2: You are living your best life until one day when the most horrible headaches of your life begin. Behind your eyes, they cause you pain that makes you double over. Unable to take it any longer, you find yourself at the doctor’s office, where the doctor asks you several questions and ultimately decides the best treatment is for you to go home, take two Advil and call him in the morning.
Scenario 3: You are living your best life until one day when the most horrible headaches of your life begin. Behind your eyes, they cause you pain that makes you double over. Not able to take it any longer, you find yourself at the doctor’s office where the doctor begins by observing you by taking your blood pressure, listening to your heart, and asking you questions about when your symptoms began. The doctor draws blood with a few tests in mind and sends you to the eye doctor. After digging a little deeper into the data, the doctor finds your headaches caused by a change in your eyesight and adjusts your contacts. Wa-lah! The headaches are gone!
What comparisons can you make between the doctor in these scenarios and what classroom teachers do daily? What comparisons can you make between the patient and students?
LEARN
DO
Use a data protocol to analyze student diagnostic assessments to determine strengths and skill deficits:
Use the ATLAS-Looking at Data Protocol for ideas on facilitating your conversation if needed.
REFLECT
THINK ABOUT
What did you learn about your students?
What was unexpected?
What was expected?
What did you learn about your data practices?
What do you want to celebrate?
What do you see as the next steps when it comes to analyzing data?
MODULE RESOURCES
NCS_FOT_Toolkit_ISBT_SetB_ATLAS Data Protocol.pdf
SECONDARY_ASSESSMENTS_4-9-12.pdfCELEBRATION OF LEARNING
As appropriate, opportunities to crowdsource knowledge or design ideas within or across districts.
Use your favorite form of communication to reach out to one or more teachers of reading outside of your building and ask what they use to gain information on student reading needs. Share your ideas from this module with them.
CHECKPOINT
Use the Checkpoint to help you check your thinking and doing with the learning targets in this module, determine whether you are ready to move on to the next module, and select “must do” or “may do” content of this module that is needed for additional clarification and/or practice.
Still struggling with why we might use diagnostic assessments? Check out these resources:
Need to provide your students with decoding skills so they can read complex multisyllabic words? Go to Module 3
Need to provide purposeful fluency-building activities to help students read effortlessly? Go to Module 4
Need to provide students with comprehension-building practices to help students make sense of the text? Go to Module 5
