Instructional Pacing Making data driven decisions

1
Instructional PacingMaking data driven decisions

• Washington Reading First
• Lexie Domaradzki
• 2006 Summer Institute

2
Objectives of Session

• Analyze Washington Reading First trends
• Analyze likely root causes for trends
• Learn how instructional pacing can support
  increased achievement
• Learn ways to adjust instructional pacing based
  on data

3
Increase in performance from 2003-2006DIBELS,
at Benchmark
4
Washington State Reading First 2006 DIBELS
results..
5
Washington Reading First Summary of
Effectiveness of students maintaining
Benchmark 2004-05 2005-06 Kindergarten
91 98.2 First Grade 82
96.5 Second Grade 88 88 Third Grade
86.5 93.5
6
Washington Reading First Results

• What do these results show?
• Growth over time
• Areas of significant success
• Areas of focus for this year

7
What Questions do we have as a result of the data?

• How are various subgroups performing?
• What is the root cause of lack of growth for all
  students?
• How do we close the gap for those students not
  yet achieving at grade level?

8
How are various subgroups performing?
9
What does this data tell us?

• Incremental growth for various subgroups is
  commensurate with all students
• Standard performance for various subgroups is
  below all students

10
How to approach closing the achievement gap

• Examine subgroup performance regularly
• Report on subgroup performance
• Generate instructional plan for students in
  subgroups

11
Structure for Presenting Effectiveness DataScott
Baker PHD, U of O

• THREE THINGS TO TRACK THROUGHOUT
• The performance of subgroups
• Usually in relation to the performance of
  non-subgroup
• The specific area of reading
• Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Reading Fluency,
  Vocabulary, Reading Comprehension
• Vocabulary and READING COMPREHENSION Represented
  in primary reading outcome measure
• The specific grade being addressed
• K-3 cutting across specific areas above

12
Some Practices at Effective Schools

• Systematic Instruction
• Children highly engaged
• Instruction highly interactive
• Immediate error correction procedure
• Students reading text at instructional level
• In K and 1, emphasis on decodables
• Repeated instruction and review on critical
  skills

13
Some Practices at Effective Schools

• Content Coverage Mastery
• Conscious attention to both coverage of
  sufficient content mastery of critical content
• Use of pacing guides
• Helps teachers
• Used for catch up
• When students have difficulty with mastery
• More time for small group
• Instruction more systematic and explicit

14
Some Practices at Effective Schools

• Supplemental Materials / Programs
• Consistent use
• Sometimes part of core programs, sometimes not
• K 1 -- emphasis on phonics / phonemic
  awareness language / vocabulary
• G2 3 -- Phonics / Reading Fluency

15
Some Practices at Effective Schools

• Intervention Core Program
• For students significantly below grade level
• Especially for students who begin year at high
  risk
• In K / 1, pacing guides designed to get students
  to grade level by end of year
• In 2 / 3, pacing guides to make more than one
  year of progress in year
• May not be at grade level by end of year
• Small group instruction emphasized
• More than 90 minutes per day

16
Some Practices at Effective Schools

• Time for Reading Instruction
• Generally, more than the required time
• About 30 minutes of small group instruction
• Staffing allows classroom teacher and other staff
  members to teach small groups
• Daily time for small group pre-teaching or
  reteaching for struggling students
• For children just below grade level, extra
  instruction provided in the core program

17
Planning Appropriate Groups Programs
18
Intervention Core Program
Intervention core programs generally are designed
to

• include more effective teaching strategies
• than comprehensive reading programs

• focus more on the 5 essential elements of
• reading

• provide teachers guidance on which
• activities students need

• provide teachers scripted instructions for
• students

• teach less more thoroughly!

David Howe 2006
19
Who should be placed in an Intervention Core?

• Kindergarten and 1st graders (No intervention
  core)
• All students should be in grade level material
• All classrooms should have a pacing calendar to
  ensure the students cover full year of content

20
Who should be placed in an Intervention Core?

• Second Graders
• Fall
• Students who were taught in the school in 1st
  grade but did were still at risk in the fall of
  2nd grade
• Usually students who score low Strategic or
  Intensive
• Winter
• Students who were new to the school in the fall
  and are not responding to core and intervention
  instruction

21
Who should be placed in an Intervention Core?

• Third Grade
• Goal Intervene with high intensity to being the
  child to or close to Benchmark
• Fall
• Students who are low Strategic or Intensive
• Students need accelerated Intervention Core for
  90 minutes
• Student needs 30 additional minutes of small
  group, targeted intervention
• Once student begins to respond, watch progress
  monitoring data for possible re-entrance into
  grade level core materials

22
Intervention Core Program Caveats
Intervention core programs generally are powerful
enough to bring students with severe reading
difficulties to grade level only if

• the teacher is well-trained in and fluent
• with the program

• substantial amounts of extra instructional
• time is provided to the students

• students are grouped homogeneously for
• instruction

• groups are not too large

David Howe 2006
23
Pacing Calendar
Teachers can create a schedule the specific
lessons they plan to cover on each day of
instruction for the school year. This pacing
calendar provides

• teachers a schedule that will allow
• them to complete the desired number
• of lessons by the end of the year

• coaches and teachers a way to judge
• if the lesson completed on a particular
• day puts the teacher on schedule to
• complete all planned lessons by the
• end of the year

David Howe 2006
24
Pacing Calendar
A day-by-day schedule of lessons that if followed
will result in teachers presenting all required
lessons by the end of the school year.
David Howe 2006
25
Pacing Calendar vs. Mastery
If I follow the pacing calendar, then not all my
students will pass the in-program tests!
David Howe 2006
26
Increasing Intensity of Instruction
We can increase instructional intensity by
designing and delivering instruction that
provides

• extra support to initially practice new
• skills correctly
• extra opportunities to practice new
• skills to a fluent level.

David Howe 2006
27
Developing a Pacing Calendar

• Year long pacing by grade level
• Pace instruction based on design of core program
• Usually 5 days per Unit or Lesson
• (Language of programs vary)
• Short term pacing by classroom
• Pace instruction based on difficulty of skills
  being introduced
• Identify skills that are critical to lesson

28
Year long and Short term Pacing Calendars

• Both types of pacing calendars are critical and
  necessary to maintain and move students to
  Benchmark

29
Common Decisions made regarding Pacing

• Typical Pacing decisions if students are not
  making Progress
• Slow pace of unit from 5 days to 8-10 days
• Place students back in material several times if
  material is not mastered
• Starting Benchmark students in below grade level
  material in the beginning of the year

30
Lets take another look.How does pacing affect
achievement over time?
31
Pacing by Program Design
32
Slowed Pacing
33
Why would this make a difference?

• 8 days difference in 1 month in exposure to new
  skills
• 9 months of 8 days difference per month 72 days
  of instruction

34
What does that mean?

• 72 days 3 ½ months of Instruction
• 72 days 3 ½ months of lack of exposure to grade
  level skills
• 72 days 3 ½ months of skills not introduced
  that will be measured on end of year assessment

35
How to make data driven decisions

• Programs that have a placement test
• First grade
• Do not place back into units that the child
  covered in Kindergarten
• Pace early lesson quicker
• Look at scope and sequence to determine which
  lessons could be accelerated
• Lets practice

36
Scope and Sequence

• Lets look at skills that may be easy for
  students to master
• Highlight those in blue
• Pace those lessons on a 3 day pace on the
  calendar

37
Scope and Sequence

• Lets look at skills that should be mastered on a
  standard schedule designed by the program
• Highlight those lesson in yellow
• Pace them on a 5 day schedule

38
Scope and Sequence

• Lets look at which skills may need an extra day
  of repetition
• Highlight those lessons in pink
• Pace them on a 6 day schedule

39
Develop Individual Pacing Calendars

• Examine sample of an individual pacing calendar
• Consider the level of students in classroom
• Develop your own sample of pacing calendar
• Share with your neighbor and examine whether or
  not you will keep your pace at a level that will
  maintain or catch students up to Benchmark

40
Important Points to consider
41
A Simple Model of Learning
skill unknown
maintenance
fluency
accuracy
Stages in Skill Development
David Howe 2006
42
Pacing is Important

• Our pacing decisions will directly affect student
  achievement
• Explicit and systematic instruction is a better
  strategy for supporting students than slowing the
  pace

43
Quality in Education

• Quality is never an accident it is always the
  result of high intention, sincere effort,
  intelligent direction, and skillful execution it
  represents the wise choice of many alternatives.
• Willa Foster