While not exactly questions like “What if we ‘live the questions’” or “what if you could not fail”, my inquiry of “how can I get my students' reading levels to rise has plagued me now for going on 3 years (Berger, 2014). While it may not have the potential weight of Jacqueline Novogratz’s quest for self fulfillment that Berger narrates, I feel the weight of trying to get my students’ to read on par with their peers every day of school (Berger, 2014).. 

To help answer this query, I decided to do a bit of a data dive within a small group of students who share similar starting reading levels as well as having the same group time with me, same English class, and who received the same lessons, support, and feedback throughout the semester to determine how the growth of their reading levels compared. As one’s level was significantly higher than the other, I decided that I would use Brinkerhoff’s evaluation model, focusing on the Success Case Method, in which one compares one of their better performing subjects to one of their lower performing subjects (Deller, 2021). 

I go through the data in this video, which breaks down just what the goal of my intervention is as well as some of the bigger takeaways I have from this evaluation. Overall, however, I reflect that, if I can build a better culture of trust and patience from the students, I believe that I can have better success in raising their reading levels. 

References:

Berger, W. (2014). A more beautiful question: The power of inquiry to spark breakthrough ideas. Bloomsbury.

Deller, J. (2021). Brinkerhoff Model 101: Methodology and goals. Kodo survey. https://kodosurvey.com/blog/brinkerhoff-model-101-methodology-and-goals