1. P ! A L S Interpreting Student Data to
Understand the Unique Literacy Needs of Our Students
Jennifer Uldrick
Literacy Coach, West Central Elementary
This is going to be a working session! We are going to look at the method of interpreting student data provided by Walpole and McKenna and their website. We will analyze your data in three different ways, talk about the importance of looking beyond just the benchmark categories, and use the data to talk about various instructional groupings.

2. Why Assess Your Students?
Children’s literacy development is rapid, uneven, and highly influenced by the environment.
(Shepard, Kagan, and Wurtz, 1998)
There are many reasons to regularly assess our students. By regularly monitoring this progress, teachers can make instructional decisions to better meet the individual needs of their students.

3. Students demonstrate little to no knowledge of a specific area.
Levels of Development
Levels of Development
Description
Fully Developed
Skills are fully developed and students have met and/or exceeded benchmark
Developing
Students demonstrate some knowledge of a skill. However, the student has not met the benchmark because knowledge is inconsistent.
Not Yet Developed
Students demonstrate little to no knowledge of a specific area.
When analyzing the data, we can determine which skills are fully developed, which means…
We can also determine which skills are being developed right now, which means…
Finally, we can decide which skills are not developed at all, which means...

4. Understanding that Each Child is Unique
By assessing children regularly and planning instruction for their individual needs, teachers recognize each child as a unique individual.
The challenge for many teachers is in carefully designing instruction that meets the needs of EACH learner.

5. Getting Ready to Analyze and Interpret Data
Let’s take a look at a sample class summary sheet and other forms to help you understand how to analyze the PALS-PreK student data.
Then we’ll apply this knowledge when examining and analyzing your own student data.

6. Class Summary Sheet
The class summary sheet contains students’ raw scores for each subtest of the screening. The class summary sheet allows teachers to examine and compare their students’ performance on each subtest of the PALS PreK.

7. Benchmark Scores
The benchmark scores are the established student goals for each task. We will use these benchmark scores to complete the analysis.

8. Three Levels of Analysis
We will use the class summary sheet to analyze the student data. We will seek to answer three questions:
Analysis 1: Who Made Benchmark?
Analysis 2: How far are students from the benchmark?
Analysis 3 - Should we teach the skill(s) in whole group or small group?

9. Analysis 1 Who Made Benchmark?

10. Analysis 1: Who Made Benchmark?
The first level of analysis helps us to determine which students have met the spring benchmark in all of the subtests and which students have not.
Use a “green” highlighter to show all scores that are within the benchmark range.
Use a pink or orange highlighter to identify scores that are below the benchmark.
This initial analysis - with the use of highlighters - will illuminate the areas of need and strength in your classroom.

11. Let’s examine the example class summary sheet
Let’s examine the example class summary sheet. The green represents those that met the benchmark, and the orange represent those scores that did not. The color coded summary sheet allows you to see at a glance areas that students are excelling in and areas in which students will need more intensive support.
Notice the areas of red. This can be very informative.

12. Examining the Rows
Carefully examine individual student scores by looking across rows. On which skills have students benchmarked, and in which skills will they require more intensive support?
Teachers should spend time examining the rows and columns on the class summary sheet. Again, you can see at a glance which skills the students have benchmarked on and which skills they need more support with.
For example, if we look at student A, we notice two clear strengths. Student met the benchmark for both upper and lower case letters.

13. Examining the Columns
Carefully examine each subtest (column). How well did the class perform on a specific skill or subtest?

14. It’s Your Turn!
Using your Winter PALS PreK data, answer the following questions:
Who met benchmark? Highlight their names in green.
Who did not meet benchmark? Highlight their names in a different color.

15. Analysis 2 How Far are Students from the Benchmarks?

16. Degrees of Knowledge
The first level of analysis provides teachers with important information about which students have already met the established goals for each skill. However, because some of the benchmark ranges are so wide, two students within the same category may look and perform very differently.
Ex. Alphabet Knowledge - Upper Case Letters
Range for Benchmark is 12-21…9 Points!
For example, the benchmark range for alphabet knowledge - upper case is a range of 9 points.
The child who knows 12 still needs to learn 14 more! The child who knows 21 only needs to learn 5 more!

17. Same Category - Different Skill Levels
Dividing students into smaller, more manageable sized groups allows teachers to design instruction for the specific needs of their students.
Take a look at students C and F. Both were below the benchmark for upper case letter name knowledge.
Further examination of the scores shows that the students have very different letter name knowledge, despite having been classified at “not meeting benchmark.”
Student C was able to identify 8 letters, but student F was unable to identify any. This, of course, indicates that these students will need very different levels of support.
It could mean that student F is not even aware of letters.

18. How far are the students from benchmark?
The chart on the next slide includes four levels of knowledge:
Advanced Level - Students who are on the upper end of the benchmark or who have exceeded the benchmark.
Benchmark - Students who have met benchmark (lower end)
Developing - Students who are slightly below benchmark
Intensive - Student who will require more intensive and consistent support (possibly individualized instruction)
The chart that you will see on the next screen allows us to break our student data down even further.

19. How far are the students from benchmark?
Below you will see that I have represented four categories of student knowledge.
The purpose of this task is to recognize how much support students will need to develop the skills represented by each subtest.
We know that the students in the advanced column are advancing nicely in those skills. WE also know that the students who have met benchmark are at the lower level of the benchmark range, so we will want to keep our eye on these students to be sure they continue to progress.
We want to keep a closer eye on the students in the final two columns - developing and intensive columns - because these are the students who did not meet benchmark.

20. It’s Your Turn!
Using your Winter PALS PreK data, complete the Level 2 Analysis for your class.

21. Should the Skill(s) be Taught in a Whole Group or Small Group Setting?
Analysis 3
Should the Skill(s) be Taught in a Whole Group or Small Group Setting?
The PALS pre-k data provides you with a wealth of information to plan more effectively and efficiently.
As we examine the data further, you can easily notice which skills need to be taught in a whole group setting and which skills are more suitable for a small group environment.

22. Using Assessment Data to Form Instruction:
Determining Instructional Grouping
Students differ in their knowledge of specific skills. Therefore, teachers must adjust their instructional grouping and pacing to accommodate their students’ varying needs.
We are going to focus on two grouping patterns: whole group and small group.

23. Whole Group Instruction
Whole group instruction is an appropriate grouping pattern for introducing concepts or themes to the entire class and for teaching literacy skills that most/all students need to develop.
For example, if you examine the class summary sheet you will notice that most of the students need support in developing rhyme awareness. Therefore, the teacher may address that skill during circle time.

24. Small Group Instruction
Small group instruction is effective and efficient when students have very different learning needs. Teachers can plan for the individual needs of students and group students with like needs together.
When students have very different learning needs, instruction is more effective and efficient when the teacher can plan for the individual needs of students.
By grouping students with similar needs together, the teacher can accomplish this task.
For example, on the class summary sheet, we notice that the student scores vary widely in upper case alphabet recognition. The scores range from 0-26.

25. Whole Group vs. Small Group Instruction:
Things to Remember
If MOST of the class performs similarly on any particular skill, it signals that this skill may be addressed in a whole group format.
When student scores are very diverse, there is a great need for more small group and/or individualized instruction.

26. Examining the Sample Class Summary Sheet
Which skills should be taught in whole group? Most student scored below benchmark in both the nursery rhyme and rhyme awareness subtests. In contrast, most students scored above or near the benchmark in print awareness. The scores for these three subtests indicate that the students have similar knowledge in these three areas, thus indicating that these skills may be addressed in a whole group format.

27. It’s Your Turn!
Using your Winter PALS PreK data, complete Analysis 3. Which skills should be taught in a small group setting, and which skills could be taught whole group?

28. Turn and Talk
In what areas of the PALS assessment did many of your students perform well?
Which areas did your students show the need for more intensive instruction?
Which skills show great variability?
Which areas did your students show similar needs and/or strengths?
Which skills will you address in whole group and small group?

29. Things to Remember
Children’s literacy skills change rapidly. Assess and monitor their progress often.
Identify areas that children have fully developed, are currently developing, and areas that students will need to be introduced to.
Target your instruction to meet the individual needs of students. Create small groups of students who share similar needs.
Once you have determined which students have NOT met benchmark, examine the data more closely to decide which students need moderate support and which students need intensive support.

30. Questions? Comments? Have a great weekend!