1

Data Analysis and Interpretation

First Quarter
My first year of teaching second grade began with a rigorous study of the curriculum. During my
preparation, I set high expectations for the reading subject area, as reading skills become the foundation
of a students educational journey. My twenty-two students reading levels varied according to baseline
data determined by a Running Record Assessment I performed on the 28th
of August (Table 1).

Student

Reading
Level

Jessica
Aubrey
Devon
Alexander
Adam

F
H
J
J
M

For the first few weeks of school, I encouraged students

to choose just right books they could understand and enjoy. We
had a lesson and class discussion regarding the negative impacts
of reading a book with too many or too few challenging words; all

August Reading Levels

Expected Reading
Level for Second
Grade Students
K
K
K
K
K
Table 1

students demonstrated their understanding by actively participating in the lesson. However, several
students struggled to select appropriately leveled books. As a result, their comprehension was limited.
For example, my anecdotal notes indicated that two of my lowest readers (Aubrey and Jessica) chose
chapter books above their reading level during independent work time. These recurrent observations
affirmed their lack of self-awareness.
Throughout August and September, I also composed and refined a list of skills and strategies
essential to reading instruction. The schools English Language Learner (ELL) teacher helped my mentor
and I create differentiated lessons aimed at boosting students overall reading comprehension.
Additionally, I spent time getting to know my students as readers by using a general interest inventory to
gauge their interests and thoughts about reading (Appendix A). I determined my lower-leveled readers
found reading unenjoyable, whereas the higher-leveled students expressed their love for reading by
stating, I just love to read! I have hundreds of books to read at home. I like learning new things and being
challenged by books (Adam, August 28, 2015). Furthermore, I discovered several of my students were

2
unaware of helpful reading strategies. This became apparent through a question on the interest inventory
which asked what someone should know or do to be a good reader; many answers were left blank. I
began to wonder if the minimal strategy-based knowledge was affecting student reading levels.
Throughout the second month of school, I completed the Benchmark Assessment System (BAS)
Running Record on all of my students again. I re-assessed my students overall reading fluency and
comprehension level (Table 2). While the results showed only

October Reading Levels

Student

Expected Reading
Level for Second
Grade Students
stood out as being low in comprehension as they only answered
Jessica
H
K
Aubrey
I
K
an average of fifty-two percent of comprehension-check
Devon
K
K
Alexander
L
K
questions correctly. The preliminary data I gathered early in the
Adam
M
K
Table 2
school year prompted me to continue observing these struggling students throughout the year.
three students with areas of concern, several other students

Reading
Level

As the curriculum picked up, focus in my classroom shifted to building

our second grade reading workshop. From the data collected earlier in the
school year, I formed differentiated guided reading groups based on reading
levels. Within the small groups, students worked on different skills
appropriate for their individual reading needs. As students collaboratively
worked together, I observed many of the low and average students lacked
Figure 1
11
confidence in their reading abilities and strategy awareness. As a solution, I explicitly taught several
strategies for reading challenging words (Figure 1). During instruction time, I recorded the following in my
Inquiry Notebook: Many students seem to recall learning this information in first grade. Aubrey and
Jessica, however, look like a deer in the headlights. They may need additional support throughout the
year (Inquiry Notebook, September 14, 2015).
The same students continued to struggle with reading comprehension throughout the year.
While Jessica and Aubrey made minor progressions in reading level, there were still areas of concern as

3
they were reading below grade level (Anecdotal Notes). In the meantime, many of my struggling readers
written responses to guided reading books did not fully portray their thinking. For example, on November
26, 2015, I asked students to respond to a question and explain how they knew their answer was correct.
However, Alexander explained, In the rain forest you need a raft, canoe, and jackets because the book
says so (Reading Response Journal). In addition to Alexanders response, four other journal entries stood
out as lacking textual evidence to support their response. Since these students failed to provide textual
support, I suspected a lack of true understanding in their reading.