Data Analysis

Pre/Post Test

The x-axis shows my focus students, 1-6, while the y-axis shows words correct per minute from a third grade fluency read. The blue bar shows the pre-test results, before implementation of conferring, goal setting, and accountability tasks. The red bar is the most current data. As displayed in the bar graph, five out of six students showed growth on the pre/post text. The increase of words correct per minute (WCPM) suggested that students' fluency improved, which meant conferring with students and setting reading goals had a positive impact on student success in the area of reading.

After giving the pre/post test, I thought about if the data would change if the fluency reads/comprehension questions were from a book of their choosing. Research supports choice in book selection so I can't help but wonder if not being able to choose the topic of fluency reads impacts student performance.

Comprehension Questions

The data from the comprehension questions, which were given after completing the fluency reads, shows growth in all students. The results from the post test comprehension questions were 100% for all six students. These results were a pleasant surprise. I think about how these results may have varied if I would have asked more than four questions and did not allow them to look back into the text for the answers.

I believe it is important to note that one student regressed by one point. This student struggled greatly with motivation in school, not only in reading, but with other content areas, friendships, etc. As I analyzed this student's data specifically, I thought of how I could motivate this student in a way that would stick. I met with the school counselor and another teacher who works with this student to discuss strategies we could implement in regards to motivation.

Attitude Survey

I was pleased to see the growth shown from these surveys. One of my main goals was to create a desire to read. I wanted students to want to read. The questions asked in the attitude survey were: do you like reading, do you like IDR, and do you think you are a good reader? As shown in the pie charts below, the students went from never liking reading to sometimes or even most of the time. This showed me that their desire to read or their enjoyment of reading improved from the use of conferring with goal setting.

Looking deeper into it, the question that proved the largest growth was: "Do you like IDR?" This section showed a combined 20 points growth. "Do you like reading?" showed 14 points in growth, and "Do you think you are a good reader?" showed just seven points in growth. While analyzing this data point, I start to think why students began to like IDR more. Was it the conferring, goal setting, and/or accountability tasks? Is there a way I could pinpoint which specific strategy lead to the increase in liking IDR.?

Observations

My beginning of the year observations of IDR played a huge part in deciding what I wanted my action research to be centered around. The engagement during IDR was not where it should have been. Before my study, my focus students were reading or on task for a total of three-five minutes, when given 15 minutes to read. After, the same students were on task and engaged in reading for at least 10 minutes, if not the entire reading time. As shown in the observational notes, students became more engaged in independent reading. I truly believe it was because they were working towards something as they attempted to reach the reading goal they created while conferring with me.

The bar graph on the left illustrates a single student's time on task each week during IDR. In week one of the study, student two was on task for 10% of the 15 minutes independent reading time. In week two it rose to 20%, but the real change happened in week 3 when student two was on task for 100% of the 15 minutes. I can't help but to wonder about the big jump. What type of book were they reading? Was the book on their level? What goal were they working towards?

Anecdotal Notes

I used anecdotal notes to help me stay on track with who I was meeting with, when I needed to meet with them or check in, what their goal was and how long they have been working on it and so much more. After reflecting back and looking over my anecdotal notes, I was able to track my students' progress in reading fluency, comprehension, picking books that are right for them, reaching goals, and continue to build one on one relationships with them. An example of what this data showed me involved book choice. Four out of the six focus students had trouble finding books that were right for them at the beginning of the study. By the end of the study, only one student continued to struggle with finding books that were right for them. This student could find books at their level, but did not find books they enjoyed, so it was not a "just right" book for them yet.

Goals Met

Within a six week study period, each focus student was able to reach three or more goals. For some students, this means they were able to finish three or more books. Other students were able to read for 10 out of the 15 minutes of IDR time. The type of goals varied but the constant remained the same - students stayed motivated and achieved their goals!

Something I am still wondering after analyzing this data is the difference between students' effort and motivation and the amount of goals met. The students with the highest motivation met the most goals. This begs the question, how can we motivate students and encourage them to put forth effort?

Triangulation of Data

The combined use of the pre and post tests, attitude survey, and observational/anecdotal notes as forms of data collection worked together to display the growth of the focus students. The pre and post tests, or the fluency reads with comprehension questions, were a form of quantitative data that provided me insight on where my students were at before and after the implementation of conferring and goal setting. The attitude survey was a form of qualitative data that showed me students' feelings towards reading before and after instruction occurred. Observation/anecdotal notes were also a form of qualitative data that revealed the specifics of what students were and were not understanding. I used the data from the attitude surveys and observational/anecdotal notes to help inform my decision making when conferring and goal setting with students.

T-TEST FOR CONFERRING WITH GOAL SETTING

A paired-samples t-test was conducted to determine the effect of the use of conferring with goal setting strategies on students’ desire and success in the area of reading. There was a significant difference in the scores prior to implementing conferring with goal setting (M=61.67, SD=28.14) and after implementing (M=79.17, SD=25.12) the noted strategies; t(6)= 3.0542, p = 0.01414. The observed effect size d is large, 1.25. This indicates that the magnitude of the difference between the average and μ0 is large. These results suggest that the use of conferring with goal setting strategies had a positive effect on students’ desire and success in the area of reading. Specifically, the results suggest that the use of conferring with goal setting to improve student success in reading, desire to read, and engagement in independent reading.

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