REPEATED READINGS AND IMPROVED FLUENCY 1

Research Proposal: Can The Six-Minute Solution help improve student scores on the

AIMSweb R-CBM and MAZE Assessments

John W. Orsborn Jr.

University of Alaska Southeast

REPEATED READINGS AND IMPROVED FLUENCY 2

Can The Six-Minute Solution help improve student scores on the AIMSweb R-CBM and

MAZE Assessments

Rational for the Research

The literature revealed two main themes, repeated readings improved fluency and

in some cases it also improved comprehension. Student fluency is needed to improve R-

CBM and MAZE scores. The programs used in the studies all follow the same strategy.

These strategies if used correctly have been shown to improve fluency and also improve

comprehension. I want to test these same systems on a group of students that have such

low fluency and comprehension scores. I feel that this program can help improve student

reading, the fluency in which they read, and the understanding of the material they read.

Literature Review

Reading fluency is defined as an accurate, rapid and expressive reading by the

National Reading Panel (National Reading Panel, 2000). Reading fluency and

comprehension is an issue that begins in first grade and continues through our lives as

readers (Hanzal, 2013). As we practice our skills increase and we become more fluent in

our reading moving from one word at a time to chunks of words all the way up to a

sentence. As we read our ability to identify common or sight words allows us to move

through a passage and truly focus on words that are strange or unknown. We use cues in

the sentence to identify the unknown words make the comprehension connection. When

struggling readers read one word at a time, the fluency and comprehension is lost in the

reading.
REPEATED READINGS AND IMPROVED FLUENCY 3

Students that need to stop and sound out sight word lose the flow of the passage.

Research shows that implementing the Six Minute Solution to children with disabilities,

improved the reading fluency over time (Wexler et al., 2010). Students without

disabilities also benefited from the use of the program as fluency and comprehension

increased. The National research Center on Learning Disabilities helps schools

understand, design, and evaluate response to intervention programs for struggling

students in the Tier 3 level of learning (Johnson et al., 2006).

Several research projects conducted using the Six Minute Solution to improve

fluency and comprehension all achieved their goal of increasing fluency and

understanding of the topic read. The goal of the program is to begin reading a list of

sight words at one-minute intervals. Each reading is graphed as to the correct number

read. After five readings the graphs are used to show improved readings over time.

From the sight words the reader moves on to a rich passage with 130 to 150 words. The

same process is used, one-minute reading followed by graphing the amount of words

read. After the fifth read, the student is allowed to read the entire passage and answer

comprehension questions on the back. The authors found that both fluency and

comprehension increased as the students increased the number of readings (O’Shea et al.,

1985). Research also found that when students read a passage for the first time after

using the Six Minute Solution, the reader spent less time rereading sentences and more

time focusing on the unknown words (Wexler et al., 2010).

The ability to collect data from each student and each reading, allows a classroom

teacher to properly level students in a three-tier system (Hanzel, 2013). This allows the
REPEATED READINGS AND IMPROVED FLUENCY 4

teacher to implement other opportunities of reading practice for the tier two and three

students that struggle with fluency and comprehension.

Data suggests that the repeated readings practice improves words read per minute,

understanding of passage read, and increased AIMSweb scores (Hanzel, 2013). All of

this translates into a struggling reader becoming more fluent over time with extensive

practice. My research question is can The Six-Minute Solution help improve student

scores on the AIMSweb R-CBM and MAZE assessments.

Method

In this study on improved fluency through repeated readings, I take a qualitative

inquiry approach examining a real-world situation, without manipulating it.

Participants

This research will take place in my classroom at a Whiteriver Elementary School

in Whiteriver, AZ. The group of students will consist of eight Native American

students, five boys, and three girls all ages eight to nine in third grade of the Apache

Tribe. These students were selected based on beginning of year scores on the AIMSweb

R-CBM and MAZE assessments. Beginning of year scores include AIMSweb

benchmark, Galileo testing, and Fountas & Pinnell leveling.

None of the students are on the special education caseload or on IEP’s for

reading. The students are all enrolled at a Whiteriver Elementary School, in Whiteriver,

Arizona. These participants were chosen because they are all reading well below grade

level, and they all need to improve their scores on the AIMSweb R-CBM and MAZE.

The students were asked to use The Six-Minute Solution to practice reading short rich
REPEATED READINGS AND IMPROVED FLUENCY 5

passages to improve speed and accuracy. Student names, ages, grades, or I.D. numbers

will not be used in the data collection process.

Materials

I will be using The Six-Minute Solution, and the reading probes from Read

Naturally, Levels 1.5 – 2.0. The students will graph (see Appendix A) daily results of

The Six-Minute Solution. Along with the graphing sheet, students will journal how they

feel about their reading at the end of each week. The document analysis protocol (see

Appendix B) examines the students’ thoughts and feelings toward their reading and

testing for that week. The R-CBM and MAZE Passages (see Appendix C) will be chosen

at random from a selection of thirty-three. There will be a post research survey for the

students to provide feedback on the process, and how they feel their reading compares to

their peers. The survey protocol questions are about reading and the use of the Six-

Minute Solution, and the students respond on a scale of like to dislike (see Appendix D).

Daily observations will be made during the students reading, and all observations will be

logged immediately in the study journal. Observations will be taken of student behavior

and performance while using the Six-Minute Solution and recorded on the Observation

Protocol (see Appendix E).

Procedure

In this test, I want to examine possible benefits of repeated readings to increase

test scores on the AIMSweb R-CBM and MAZE assessments.

The research project starts with the first data source, a baseline assessment of the

AIMSweb R-CBM and MAZE on March 2, 2015 at 10:30 AM (see Appendix F)

REPEATED READINGS AND IMPROVED FLUENCY 6

followed by a weekly assessment for progress. Probe four of both the R-CBM and the

MAZE were chosen by the school coach as a baseline probe for use in this research.

The R-CBM and MAZE weekly assessment probes were chosen by a second-

grade teacher, not affiliated with the program. The teacher was given a stack of both R-

CBM and MAZE probes and asked to select four from each stack of thirty-three and

place them in an envelope and return them to me. The other probes were destroyed.

The R-CBM assessment is given by way of a reading sheet (probe) and a laptop.

The student has one-minute to read from the sheet while the observer is following along

on a laptop through the AIMSweb website. Errors are highlighted, and the assessment

stops after one-minute. The total number of correct responses are tabulated by the

computer, and a final score is given upon the completion of one minute.

The MAZE assessment is given by way of paper and pencil. The student has

three minutes to read and choose the correct word from a group to complete a sentence.

Upon completion of time the probes are collected by the proctor and graded. The scores

of both the R-CBM and the MAZE are then placed on a spreadsheet (see Appendix G)

and compared to the baseline score.

The students will be given the MAZE assessment at their desk, and the R-CBM

will be administered in the back of the room one-on-one at a table. The weekly

assessments will be given every Friday From March 6 to March 27, 2015 between 11:00

AM and 11:30 AM. The assessments are given every Friday after the students have had a

chance to utilize the Six-Minute Solution for the week. During the Assessments, student

reading rate, and fluency will be observed.

REPEATED READINGS AND IMPROVED FLUENCY 7

The second data source is The Six-Minute Solution administered once daily. The

Six-Minute solution reading and graph sheet will be completed after the students read

daily at 10:50 am in the classroom. This procedure will begin on March 2, 2015 and run

through March 27, 2015. The classroom will be used for the location of the reading

because it is a friendly environment, and the students are comfortable here. During this

time, students will be separated into pairs who read at the same level. The pairs will

follow the directions given by me, the administrator. Students are set as a reader and a

scribe to score the reading. The timer is set to one minute and the reading begins. The

scribe records errors and marks the sheet with correct number read over errors, and

blocks the last word read to count total words read. The scribe then tells the reader what

they missed, and the reader graphs the correct number read. The process is then repeated

with the students switching roles. When the students’ graph, the first day is a cold read,

and is graphed in blue crayon. The following three days are graphed in pencil, and the

fifth day is graphed in red crayon as the hot read. The graphing should show increased

fluency over the five-day period. The Protocols for this procedure (see Appendix A) are

checking word count growth over the week.

The third data source is a student journal where the students keep track of their

perception of how they did, what they think they can improve on, and how they feel the

Six-Minute Solution is helping them become better readers. The students will journal

after their last Six-Minute Solution reading and graphing, and MAZE and R-CBM

assessment each Friday at 12:30 PM. The journaling will take place in the classroom.

The students will be allowed to sit anywhere in the classroom to be comfortable in order
REPEATED READINGS AND IMPROVED FLUENCY 8

to write their thoughts. The student entries allow me to see what they are thinking, and

how they perceive themselves as readers. This information will be used as a tool to gage

their understanding of fluency. The observation in this data source is the students

perception of how they did, what they think they can improve on, and how the Six-

Minute Solution is helping them with their reading.

The fourth data source is a post survey where the students rate the program, their

performance overall, and their feelings on reading. This survey will be given in the

classroom on March 27, 2015 at 12:45PM. The students will answer nine questions

pertaining to the Six-Minute solution and how they feel it helped them in their reading.

This survey will be given by way of paper and pencil. The post survey is important

because it will show whether or not the students understand what they did and why they

did it. The student survey is a close copy from a Masters paper by Amy Hanzal based on

the Six-Minute Solution.

Along with these data sources, I will be observing students while they read to

look for inflection, dropped endings, and smoothness, participation, errors, honesty, on

and off task work, and graphing skills. My observations will go into this research project

as well as give me the ability to work with students outside of it as well. My observation

sheet will consist of interest points that I observe which allows me to give feedback to the

readers on their performance. This data also allows me to adjust reading groups if

necessary.

After the readings, the AIMSweb testing, and the graphing, students will answer

comprehension questions that go specifically with the readings they did during the week.

Although this study is not focusing on comprehension, it is a big part of fluency. The
REPEATED READINGS AND IMPROVED FLUENCY 9

comprehension answers will be collected to verify that the students understand what they

have read for the past week. This data will be used solely for understanding how

repeated readings may improve comprehension. The short questions allow the students

to reference the passage and provide a summary to the story. The comprehension

questions are on the back of the Read Naturally sheets and will be used only for

observational data.

Internal validity in this study will be accomplished through triangulation, the

analysis of multiple sources of qualitative data (Merriam, 2009). A content analysis of

interviews, observations, and documents will be conducted. Content analysis is a method

of summarizing any form of content by counting various aspects of the content. This

enables a more objective evaluation than just comparing content based on the impressions

of a listener.

Analysis of Data

During this data collection phase, I have identified two important findings with

regard to repeated readings and improved fluency. The following is the data collected

through observations, student journals, student surveys, R-CBM and MAZE probes from

AIMSweb, and The Six-Minute Solution reading sheets.

First, I analyzed the district-required assessments that included both AIMSweb

benchmarking R-CBM and MAZE assessments, which provided me with quantitative

data. I then began looking at data from The Six-Minute Solution daily progress

monitoring graphing sheets, which provided me with qualitative and quantitative data.

Following the review of The Six Minute Solution data, I used teacher observation as a

form of qualitative data, as well as the reading comprehension sheets. Finally, I used
REPEATED READINGS AND IMPROVED FLUENCY 10

student reading surveys and student journals as yet another source of qualitative data.

After analyzing these data sources, I felt there was a fair balance of qualitative and

quantitative data as well as teacher and student contribution to determine the effects of

The Six Minute Solution on reading fluency.

The first piece of data I looked at was the AIMSweb benchmark data and weekly

probes. This data was essential to leveling my students into the groups used to practice

and use the Six-Minute Solution. Of the eight students in the survey, only one was

approaching benchmark level, the others all were leveled at the falling far below mark

after the baseline assessment. Figure 1 shows the student scores on the R-CBM and

MAZE from baseline to the end of the study. The data demonstrates the growth pattern

in all students.

R-CBM Scoring:

Benchmark: 116
Approaching: 83 – 115
Falling Far Below: >82

Student Baseline Probe Probe Probe Probe

Probe #4 #6 #21 #25 #19
3/2/15 3/6/15 3/13/15 3/20/15 3/26/15
A 39 54 55 55 57
B 34 61 66 45 60
C 74 91 84 89 88
D 51 54 79 68 62
E 49 63 63 65 67
F 49 56 62 97 88
G 82 102 108 92 90
H 84 86 88 78 96

Maze Scoring:
REPEATED READINGS AND IMPROVED FLUENCY 11

Benchmark: 15
Approaching: 9 - 15
Falling Far Below: >9

Student Baseline Probe Probe Probe Probe

Probe #4 #24 #18 #5 #17
3/2/15 3/6/15 3/13/15 3/20/15 3/26/15
A 9 10 12 7 10
B 11 13 13 10 13
C 13 20 21 22 19
D 14 16 11 10 16
E 13 18 16 17 16
F 14 15 17 14 17
G 11 15 13 13 16
H 11 17 17 16 16

Figure 1. R-CBM and MAZE Assessment growth from baseline to end of study

All of the students had an increase in fluency scores on both the R-CBM and the

MAZE probes. The R-CBM scores are the most important because the students have to

read a passage fluently and correctly to increase scores. The students A-F are the lowest

and least fluent readers in the study. The majority of the errors in the beginning were all

phonetic errors. The students had continued added (looked-ed) and dropped endings (run

from runs) on words. By the last R-CBM probe, the majority of the errors were unknown

words (words beyond second-grade level). On the MAZE probes, the fluent reading

increased over time based on self-checking while reading.

The students all had increased word counts while using the Six-Minute Solution.

The students relied on self-checking to increase reading scores. While students read,

myself and another teacher monitored each reader over the four-week period. We were

able to discuss errors and phonetic use when approaching new and or unknown words.

Using the Six-Minute Solution, students improved reading times and scores from the first
REPEATED READINGS AND IMPROVED FLUENCY 12

cold read to the last hot read each week (see Appendix H). While the scores are not

important, the ability to self-check was. Students made a conscious effort to read for

fluency not for time and score.

All students were observed during the AIMSweb Probes, and the use of The Six-

Minute Solution. At the beginning of the study students thought it was a race to see who

could get a better score. When they were told the score was irrelevant and the fluency of

the reading was the important part of the program the reading quantity went down, and

errors decreased. The students were shown errors, and the words were discussed. When

the majority of the students realized they were adding and dropping endings on words,

adding words that didn’t fit, and skipping important words, the fluency began to increase.

Figure 2 shows the most frequent errors all the students made in week one.

Observations Made While

Reading

Dropped/Added endings
Skipped words
Speed read
lost place while reading

Figure 2. Most frequent observations made in week one while using the Six-Minute

Solution

By the fourth week, students were self-correcting and re-reading to have the

sentence make sense. Students A through F who had the worst reading skills of the
REPEATED READINGS AND IMPROVED FLUENCY 13

subject group were taking their time. Through observations and journal entries, these

particular students became aware of their reading ability and fluency. Figure 3 shows the

most frequent observations made in week four.

Observations Made While

Reading

Dropped/Added endings
Skipped words
Speed read
lost place while reading

Figure 3. Most frequent observations made in week four while using the Six-Minute

Solution

The Student Journals all showed that the students believed the Six-Minute Solution

helped them increase fluency by making them re-read and re-check words while they

read to help them increase understanding while they read. The students also liked the

process of using the Six-Minute Solution. Figure 4 shows the most common journal

entries by students through the research project.

By the end of week four the most common errors (added endings, dropped

endings, and skipped words) were reduced by 80%. The fluent rate of reading was up

72% over week one reading. The total outcome of the implementation of The Six-Minute

Solution was increased fluency, improved self-correction, and improved comprehension.

REPEATED READINGS AND IMPROVED FLUENCY 14

Student Journal Entries

8

3
Reading at a Read and Helped Helped Are reading Helped Helped
higher level understand increase R- increase more fluently improve correct
other books CBM probe MAZE probe reading dropped and
scores scores overall added
endings

Figure 4. Most common journal entries by students through the research project.

When analyzing the student journal entries for using the Six-Minute Solution, five

of eight students said using the Six-Minute Solution helped them to read and understand

other books, and they also felt they were reading at a higher level than where they started.

Seven of eight students believed that using The Six-Minute Solution helped them to read

R-CBM probes and increase scores based on fluent reading. Five of eight students

believed that The Six-Minute Solution helped them increase their MAZE scores because

they would re-read to ensure understanding. All eight subjects believed they were

reading more fluently because they would go back and check understanding when they

became lost or lost understanding. All students believed that using The Six-Minute

Solution helped them to self correct dropped and added endings while reading both the R-

CBM and the MAZE. All eight students believed The Six Minute Solution has helped

them to improve their reading.

REPEATED READINGS AND IMPROVED FLUENCY 15

The final piece of data was the student survey. Figure 5 shows the breakdown of

questions and answers on the student survey.

Student Survey Results

8
7
6
5
4 Yes!
Sometimes
3
Not Really
2
1
0
I like to I feel I am a I practice I like The The Six-
read good reader reading at Six-Minute Minute
home Solution Solution is
helping me
be a better
reader

Figure 5. Breakdown of answers from student survey

During the student survey, students showed high levels of engagement, and

positive attitudes toward the process of the Six-Minute Solution. All students were

engaged in the process and provided me with great information. The final question on

the survey was and open ended question and asked students what would you change

about the Six-Minute Solution. Four students wanted to read the passage with no time

limit and then count errors. Two students wanted to try harder passages, and three others

wanted more options on the level they had. One student wanted to do it twice a day. The

one thing I liked most of all was that everyone liked the process and the Six-Minute

Solution.
REPEATED READINGS AND IMPROVED FLUENCY 16

Conclusion and Recommendations

This action research study has given me insight into the many aspects of reading

fluency. Based on the data I have gathered and presented and with the observations I

have made of the students, I believe the Six-Minute Solution is a beneficial tool when it

comes to increasing fluency in the classroom. However as a tool to increasing test

scores, I believe more research will need to be done. While the students did have

increasing R-CBM scores, none of the students were moved higher than approaching, and

half were still falling far below at the end of the study. The MAZE scores showed more

improvement in the basic fluent reading than any other.

The data collected through this study supports professional literature and research

findings referenced in this paper about effective ways to raise oral reading fluency scores.

Students in the study reported that they were becoming better readers, which is supported

by the data on assessment scores, and improved word count in a four-week period. I

believe that if used from the beginning, through the course of a school year, scores could

be raised, and students could benefit from the use of The Six-Minute Solution. As a tool

for a last-ditch effort to raise scores at the end of the year, no.
REPEATED READINGS AND IMPROVED FLUENCY 17

References

Hanzal, A. (2012-13). Closing the Reading Fluency Gap in Six Minutes. Retrieved from

http://sophia.stkate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1013&context=maed

Hasbrouck, J. (2010). Developing Fluent Readers. Retrieved from

http://www.readingrockets.org/article/developing-fluent-readers

Johnson, E., Mellard, D. F., Fuchs, D. & McKnight, M. A. (2006). Responsiveness to

Intervention (RTI): How to Do It. Washington, DC. National Research Center on

Learning Disabilities

Merriam, S.B.(2009). Qualitative Research:A Guide to Design and Implementation. San

Francisco, CA: Josey-Bass.

O’Shea, D.J., O’Shea, L.J., & Sindelar, P.T. (1985). The Effects of Repeated readings

and Attentional Cues on Reading Fluency and Comprehension. Journal of Reading

Behavior, Volume XVII (No.2), 129-142.

Wexler, J., Vaughn, S., Roberts, G., Denton, C.A. (2010). The Efficacy of Repeated

Reading and Wide reading Practice for High School Students with Severe Reading

Disabilities. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 25(1), 2-10.

REPEATED READINGS AND IMPROVED FLUENCY 18

Appendix A

Protocols for Six-Minute Solution and Graphing

Date of observation: Daily Beginning March 2, and ending March 27, 2015

Time of observation: 10:50 AM – 11:00

Observer: John Orsborn

Place/participants observed: Room 306, Whiteriver Elementary, Whiteriver, AZ

What will be observed?

1. Read Naturally Passages Level 1.5-2.0: Students will be separated into pairs who
read at the same level. Students are set as a reader and a scribe to score the reading. The
timer is set to one minute and the reading begins. The scribe records errors and marks the
sheet with correct number read over errors. The scribe then tells the reader what they
missed, and the reader graphs the correct number read. The process is then repeated with
the students switching roles.

2. Graphing: Students’ graph the first day as a cold read, and it is graphed in blue
crayon. The following three days are graphed in pencil, and the fifth day is graphed in red
crayon as the hot read. The graphing should show increased fluency over the five-day
period. The graph includes correct words read, errors, and Date.
REPEATED READINGS AND IMPROVED FLUENCY 19
REPEATED READINGS AND IMPROVED FLUENCY 20
REPEATED READINGS AND IMPROVED FLUENCY 21
REPEATED READINGS AND IMPROVED FLUENCY 22
REPEATED READINGS AND IMPROVED FLUENCY 23

Name

My Fluency Graph
150

140

130

120

110

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10
Words
Read
Correctly

Errors

Date
REPEATED READINGS AND IMPROVED FLUENCY 24

Appendix B

Student Journal Protocol

Date of analysis: March 27, 2015

Evaluator: John Orsborn

Name of document: Student Journal

1. Students will journal every Friday (March 6, 13, 20, and 27, 2015) at 12:30 PM

2. Students will be given a folder with journal pages preloaded.

3. The students will be allowed to sit anywhere in the classroom to be comfortable in

order to write their thoughts.

Journal Outline:

a. Perception of how they did on the Six-Minute Solution and the R-CBM and
MAZE assessments.
b. What the student thinks they can improve on.
c. How they feel the Six-Minute Solution is helping them become better readers.

4. Journal information will be compared to daily reading and graphing, weekly R-CBM
and MAZE scores, and final AIMSweb assessments.
REPEATED READINGS AND IMPROVED FLUENCY 25

Student Journal Sheet

Journal Sheet:
Student Name: _______________________________________ Date:
_____________________________

How do you feel you did on the Six-Minute Solution this week?

What do you think about your scores on the R-CBM and the MAZE this week?

How do you think you can improve on your scores?

Do you think you are becoming a better reader using the Six Minute Solution?
REPEATED READINGS AND IMPROVED FLUENCY 26

Appendix C

R-CBM
REPEATED READINGS AND IMPROVED FLUENCY 27
REPEATED READINGS AND IMPROVED FLUENCY 28
REPEATED READINGS AND IMPROVED FLUENCY 29
REPEATED READINGS AND IMPROVED FLUENCY 30

MAZE
REPEATED READINGS AND IMPROVED FLUENCY 31
REPEATED READINGS AND IMPROVED FLUENCY 32
REPEATED READINGS AND IMPROVED FLUENCY 33
REPEATED READINGS AND IMPROVED FLUENCY 34

Appendix D

Post Survey Protocol

Date of analysis: March 27, 2015

Evaluator: John Orsborn

Name of document: Post survey

1. At 12:45 PM students will be given a post survey about their reading experience, and
the Six-Minute Solution.

2. The students will answer eight questions pertaining to the Six-Minute solution and how
they feel it helped them in their reading. This survey will be given by way of paper and
pencil. The post survey is important because it will show whether or not the students
understand what they did and why they did it.

Survey questions:

1. I like to read
2. I feel I am a good reader.
3. I practice reading at home.
4. I like practicing reading in groups
5. I like the Six-Minute solution.
6. What part of the Six-Minute Solution do you like best?
7. The Six-Minute Solution is helping me be a better reader.
8. What would you change about the Six-Minute Solution?

3. Data will be compiled and compared to Journals, final assessment scores, and reading
graphs.
REPEATED READINGS AND IMPROVED FLUENCY 35

Reading Survey
Name___________________________ Grade_________________

1. I like to read!
a. Yes
b. A little bit
c. Not really

2. I feel I am a good reader!

a. Yes!
b. Sometimes
c. Not so much

3. I practice reading at home.

a. Everyday
b. Sometimes
c. Never

4. I like practicing reading in groups.

a. Yes!
b. A little bit
c. Not really

5. I like the Six-Minute Solution!

a. Yes!
b. Kind of
c. Not really

6. What part of the Six-Minute Solution do you like best?

a. Being timed
b. Reading with a partner
c. Graphing my word count

7. The Six-Minute Solution is helping me be a better reader!

a. Yes!
b. No
c. Not sure

8. What would you change about the Six-Minute Solution?

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________
REPEATED READINGS AND IMPROVED FLUENCY 36

Appendix E

Teacher Observation Protocol

Date of observation: Daily, March 2 through March 27, 2015

Time of observation: 10:50 AM – 11:00 AM

Observer: John Orsborn

Place/participants observed: Room 306, Whiteriver Elementary, Whiteriver, AZ

What will be observed?

1. Teacher Observation: Students will be observed using the Six-Minute Solution. The
observer is looking for:

a. Students who do not read loud enough or whisper

b. Students who follow all graphing outlines
c. A scribe who is following along
d. Readers and scribes that are honest
e. Readers that read with inflection
f. Readers that skip words
g. Readers that make several errors
h. Readers or scribes who get easily distracted
i. Readers who lose their place while reading
j. Readers who can answer questions about the story
k. Readers and scribes who are off task and need redirection
l. Readers who drop word endings

2. Teacher Observation: The observer will walk around and monitor teams as they
work. One observation sheet will be used daily to record findings.

3. This data will be used to compare behaviors to reading scores on the Six-Minute
Solution, R-CBM, and MAZE assessments.
REPEATED READINGS AND IMPROVED FLUENCY 37

Observation Checklist

Teacher Observation Checklist

Often Sometime Seldom Never Other
s Observations
Reads in a quiet
voice or whisper

Graphs all data:

score, date, story
number

Follows along
while reading

Honest about last

word read

Reads with
inflection

Skips words

Makes several
errors

Gets distracted

Loses place while

reading

Can answer
questions about
story
Off task, needs
redirection

Drops word
endings
REPEATED READINGS AND IMPROVED FLUENCY 38

Appendix F

Protocol for Baseline Assessment

Date of observation: March 2, 2015

Time of observation: 10:30 AM – 11:00

Observer: John Orsborn

Place/participants observed: Room 306, Whiteriver Elementary, Whiteriver, AZ

What will be observed?

1. R-CBM Assessment: The R-CBM assessment is given by way of a reading sheet and
a laptop. The student has one-minute to read while the observer is following along on a
laptop through the AIMSweb website. The R-CBM will be administered in the back of
the room one-on-one at a table.

2. MAZE Assessment: The MAZE assessment is given by way of paper and pencil. The
student has three minutes to read and choose the correct word from a group to complete a
sentence. The students will be given the MAZE assessment at their desk.
REPEATED READINGS AND IMPROVED FLUENCY 39

Baseline R-CBM and MAZE

REPEATED READINGS AND IMPROVED FLUENCY 40
REPEATED READINGS AND IMPROVED FLUENCY 41

Appendix G

R-CBM Scoring:

Benchmark: 116
Approaching: 83 – 115
Falling Far Below: >82

Student Baseline Probe Probe Probe Probe

Probe #4 #21 #6 #25 #19
3/2/15 3/6/15 3/13/15 3/20/15 3/27/15
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H

Maze Scoring:

Benchmark: 15
Approaching: 9 - 15
Falling Far Below: >9

Student Baseline Probe Probe Probe Probe

Probe #4 #24 #18 #5 #17
3/2/15 3/6/15 3/13/15 3/20/15 3/27/15
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
REPEATED READINGS AND IMPROVED FLUENCY 42

Appendix H

Cold and Hot Readings with Change by Week

Studen
t Wk 1 Wk 2 Wk 3 Wk 4
Chang Chang Chang Chang
Cold Hot e Cold Hot e Cold Hot e Cold Hot e

A 66 92 26 64 92 28 73 99 26 100 110 10
B 88 92 4 88 92 4 90 99 9 91 123 32
C 89 118 29 90 119 29 90 120 30 92 119 27
D 65 81 16 72 90 18 72 98 26 81 99 18
E 91 119 28 87 118 31 101 121 20 101 123 22
F 87 120 33 86 118 32 95 120 25 98 120 22
G 101 126 25 98 124 26 109 126 17 110 123 13
H 99 121 22 97 120 23 101 121 20 110 123 13