Evaluation

Here you will find an explanation of how I will evaluate the effectiveness of my Dream IT project. The tools I will use to evaluate the effectiveness of my Dream IT project include:

  • Observations
  • Formative Assessments
  • Summative Assessments
  • Running Records
  • Writing Samples
  • AIMSweb Assessments
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Photo by Megan Carnaghi.

Observations

In terms of my students’ level of engagement and motivation, observations will be the easiest way to tell if my Dream IT project is successful. I will make observations of my students’ level of engagement and participation during whole group SMART Board and online Reading Street activities, during small group literacy activities, during one-on-one instruction, during their individual literacy center activities, etc. The SMART Response Clicker activities will automatically tell me who is participating and who is not, so this will be a huge help with my observations. 

Formative Assessments

In terms of formative assessments, our core reading program, Reading Streets, is broken into 5 units, which is further broken down into 6 weeks per unit. Each week includes a plethora of formative assessments following each day/mini lesson. The assessments cover the 5 big ideas of reading development. Furthermore, these assessments can be taken in the computer lab by each student, and tracked on their individual Reading Street online accounts. They can also be taken using the SMART Response Clickers. This way, each student’s progress is tracked and I can receive immediate feedback so as to adjust my instruction and activities accordingly along the way.

Summative Assessments

In terms of summative assessments, the way the reading program is organized each unit comes with a pre and post assessment to track student progress throughout each unit of the program. Furthermore, the reading program offers overall assessments to be given periodically throughout the year (particularly at the beginning, middle and end of the year), to track student progress. Again, these assessments can be taken by each student in the computer lab and can be recorded on their individual online account. They can also be taken in the classroom, using the SMART Response Clickers. Either way, student progress is tracked throughout the year and I receive immediate feedback.

Running Records

As stated earlier, I plan on using the MP3 players to have students record their own audio book, as a form of running record. This way, I can track students’ literacy development in terms of their phonics skills, decoding skills, fluency and accuracy skills, etc.

Writing Samples

Each unit of the reading program comes with writing lessons as well. Each week of each unit of the reading program includes a special writing project. These writing projects will be kept in individual student portfolios throughout the year, to keep track of their literacy development in terms of their writing.

AIMSweb Assessments

AIMSweb assessments are mandated by our district and are given at three points throughout the school year: fall, winter and spring. AIMSweb assessments provide teachers with crucial information regarding their students’ literacy development. At grade one we give a phoneme segmentation test, a nonsense word fluency test, a letter recognition test, and a reading decoding and fluency test.