Discussion of Findings
Method of Assessment
This study sought to investigate the effectiveness of using iPads as a tool to develop kindergarten students’ early reading subskills. All students in the participating kindergarten classroom were assessed in September 2013 and again in January 2014 using the Marie Clay Observation Survey; AIMSweb Letter Naming, Letter Sound, Phoneme Segmentation, and Nonsense Word Fluency subtests; and the Qualitative Reading Inventory–5 Word List. The teacher also has a pre and post record of a teacher-made high-frequency word assessment based on the Scott Foresman Reading Street program’s word list. Students were provided with a list of 59 high-frequency words that were introduced throughout the school year. If they were able to automatically read a word, it was marked as mastered. Students were given the same word list in October 2013 and in January 2014. At the end of this investigation, students participated in a preference assessment to report which iPad applications they preferred to use while learning to read (see Appendix H).
Letter Naming Fluency and Letter Sound Fluency subtests on the AIMSweb TEL were utilized for the analysis of pre and post data. On the Letter Naming Fluency subtest, students named as many upper and lower case letters as possible in one minute. On the Letter Sound Fluency subtest, students named as many letter sounds as possible in one minute. Benchmarks are established three times per year for all students, using grade-level assessment probes. Reports identify students at risk, help focus areas of instruction, evaluate student progress, and serve as an accountability and communication tool for system improvement. Phoneme Segmentation and Nonsense Word Fluency subtests on the AIMSweb TEL were utilized for the analysis of post data. On the Phoneme Segmentation subtest, students listened to a word and broke it into phonemes in one minute. On the Nonsense Word Fluency subtest, students named as many letter sounds in consonant-vowel-consonant words in one minute. Benchmarks are established twice a year for all students, using grade-level assessment probes.
Marie Clay’s Observation Survey of Early Literacy Achievement (2002, 2005) is the primary assessment tool used in Reading Recovery to provide a systematic way of capturing early reading behaviors. This standardized assessment is administered by at teacher through methods of systematic observation. On the Letter Identification subtest, students were asked to name all known upper and lower case alphabet letters in random order.
The QRI-5 (Leslie & Caldwell, 2010) is an informal reading inventory that provides information about a student’s reading abilities. It can be used to identify reading levels as either independent, instructional, or frustration as well as to provide other diagnostic information about individual students. The QRI contains graded word lists to assess accuracy, speed, and automaticity and also to determine the starting point for the oral reading passages. Multiple passages are designed to assess the oral and silent reading ability of students from kindergarten through grade 12. As students read the word lists, I recorded if the student was able to automatically read the word identified or just identified the word. In this study, students’ automatic reading of words in isolation was analyzed to show which word attack patterns emerged for the students, and which level reading passage was recommend for oral reading.
This study sought to investigate the effectiveness of using iPads as a tool to develop kindergarten students’ early reading subskills. All students in the participating kindergarten classroom were assessed in September 2013 and again in January 2014 using the Marie Clay Observation Survey; AIMSweb Letter Naming, Letter Sound, Phoneme Segmentation, and Nonsense Word Fluency subtests; and the Qualitative Reading Inventory–5 Word List. The teacher also has a pre and post record of a teacher-made high-frequency word assessment based on the Scott Foresman Reading Street program’s word list. Students were provided with a list of 59 high-frequency words that were introduced throughout the school year. If they were able to automatically read a word, it was marked as mastered. Students were given the same word list in October 2013 and in January 2014. At the end of this investigation, students participated in a preference assessment to report which iPad applications they preferred to use while learning to read (see Appendix H).
Letter Naming Fluency and Letter Sound Fluency subtests on the AIMSweb TEL were utilized for the analysis of pre and post data. On the Letter Naming Fluency subtest, students named as many upper and lower case letters as possible in one minute. On the Letter Sound Fluency subtest, students named as many letter sounds as possible in one minute. Benchmarks are established three times per year for all students, using grade-level assessment probes. Reports identify students at risk, help focus areas of instruction, evaluate student progress, and serve as an accountability and communication tool for system improvement. Phoneme Segmentation and Nonsense Word Fluency subtests on the AIMSweb TEL were utilized for the analysis of post data. On the Phoneme Segmentation subtest, students listened to a word and broke it into phonemes in one minute. On the Nonsense Word Fluency subtest, students named as many letter sounds in consonant-vowel-consonant words in one minute. Benchmarks are established twice a year for all students, using grade-level assessment probes.
Marie Clay’s Observation Survey of Early Literacy Achievement (2002, 2005) is the primary assessment tool used in Reading Recovery to provide a systematic way of capturing early reading behaviors. This standardized assessment is administered by at teacher through methods of systematic observation. On the Letter Identification subtest, students were asked to name all known upper and lower case alphabet letters in random order.
The QRI-5 (Leslie & Caldwell, 2010) is an informal reading inventory that provides information about a student’s reading abilities. It can be used to identify reading levels as either independent, instructional, or frustration as well as to provide other diagnostic information about individual students. The QRI contains graded word lists to assess accuracy, speed, and automaticity and also to determine the starting point for the oral reading passages. Multiple passages are designed to assess the oral and silent reading ability of students from kindergarten through grade 12. As students read the word lists, I recorded if the student was able to automatically read the word identified or just identified the word. In this study, students’ automatic reading of words in isolation was analyzed to show which word attack patterns emerged for the students, and which level reading passage was recommend for oral reading.