Test Results.

At the beginning of the summer, we gave all of our students reading diagnostics. We used them to figure out what our students' "instructional reading level" (the level at which they need help to understand) was, and each student got a score within that level. The goal for them this summer was to grow by six points within the level by the end of the summer.

After we figured out what our kids' levels were, they were divided up so that they could get more pointed reading instruction on their level. I took the three lowest-performing students. One boy and one girl were reading at a first grade level, and another girl was reading at a second grade reading level. Over the next two weeks, we went over summarizing, the elements of stories, the 5 Ws (Who, What, Where, When, and Why) and how to actively read any text.

Last Thursday, we gave my group the final DRA to see how much they have grown in their original level. One girl went from a 28 to 41, the other from 23 to 37, and the boy improved from 26 to 42! I couldn't believe it when they read out loud, and when they answered my comprehension questions about plot, what they predicted would happen, the characters, and the lessons in the story. As I sat and listened to them, I thought I was going to cry because I was so proud of them.

Even though they all did a fantastic job, the boy in my group made me the happiest. He was two points off a maximum score of 44, and the reason he lost points was because he read too slowly. But, the reason he read slowly was because while he used to just guess and skip words that he didn't know before, he stopped and sounded each and every word out before moving on. Two times in the passage I saw him use his finger to cover up parts of big words, sound out the bits, and blend the parts together into a new word. He never used to do that and I taught him that!

What was even more exciting was that he misread six words, but after he read those words he realized the sentence didn't make sense and he went back to fix his mistakes on his own! To someone who is reading this entry without problems, this really doesn't sound like a big deal. But to a beginning reader, the ability to self-monitor for meaning is a HUGE step forward. By the end of the passage, he had missed only two words, for an accuracy rate of 99%.

Probably the best part of all this is that when I told those three students how well they had done, they all lit up like I have never seen them before. I could tell that they believed that they could read, that they could do well, and that if they worked hard the way they did every morning in my small reading group, they could achieve anything they wanted. Like I said, I wanted to cry. But I didn't. Come on.

Anyway, bottom line: Every child can learn. We just have to find what it is that's blocking their way forward, and then we can work to untie the knots that are keeping them back. Of course, there's so much that my three students have still to do in order to catch up next year in 5th grade. Hopefully, I'll be able to help them get the what they need from their teachers next year, and they'll be able to continue their success.

So cool.