Running head: EDU 325 SFA TUTORING FINAL EXAM (SUMMATIVE REPORT) 1

EDU 345 SFA Tutoring Final Exam (Summative Report)

Spring 2019

Kathleen Thompson
TUTORING FINAL EXAM (SUMMATIVE REPORT) 2

Introduction of Tutee

Michaeleena is a female African American Kindergarten student. She has no known

special needs and does not have any other health issues that influence her learning. Over the past

few months, I have gotten to know Michaeleena very well. She lives with her mom, dad, two

sisters, and a few cousins. Her family is very active as she has told me that they go to the park

and the beach. She does live in poverty though and has mentioned that she does not have pencils

at home but made great progress in tutoring. Michaeleena does have a bit of a lisp which makes

deciphering the sounds she is making difficult at times. Culturally, she also has some influencers

on her dialect. She likes to say the word “ain’t” a lot and picks up a lot of those practices at

home. It is evident that Michaeleena does not get much literacy practice at home, but she does

get plenty at school. Behaviorally, I had no issues with Michaeleena. Supposedly, she has some

behavioral issues in the classroom but those were not evident in my tutoring sessions with her.

Overall, Michaeleena is a bright, fun, and upbeat Kindergarten student who loves to talk. She

struggles with literacy and is behind her peers but not by much. This tutoring experience has

really helped her grow and close the gap between her and her peers.

Pre-Assessment, Formative, and Summative Results

Pre-Assessment F1 Formative F2 Formative 3-4 Lessons Summative

Results Reflection
Phonemic Phonemic Phonemic Phonemic Phonemic
Awareness Awareness Awareness Awareness Awareness
Objective 1 Objective 1 Objective 1 Objective 1 Objective 1
(Hears and says
initial sounds in Although Since PA 1 was not PA 1 was
spoken words.) Michaeleena Michaeleena worked on in the mastered.
mastered this mastered PA1 on final set of four Overall,
Michaeleena objective on the the initial lessons because Michaeleena
mastered this initial assessment and Michaeleena had excelled on this
objective on the assessment, it on the first re- reached mastery objective. She
initial was still worked assessment, the of this objective had it mastered
on in the lessons decision was by this point. going into
TUTORING FINAL EXAM (SUMMATIVE REPORT) 3

assessment to reinforce the made to no tutoring, but it

scoring a 9/10. skills. She did longer work on was kept at first
very well in the this objective. It due to a lack of
lessons and was not covered knowledge of
loves the game- in the second set her skills. It is
like set up of the of four lessons evident that she
“what’s my but was re- has mastered this
sound” activity. assessed during objective and
She mastered the second re- will need
this objective assessment. She practice with it
again on the first scored a 10/10. from time to
re-assessment time to reinforce
scoring a 10/10 the skill.
and even got the
“th” sound
correct which
she did not get
correct on the
pre-assessment.
Phonemic Phonemic Phonemic Phonemic Phonemic
Awareness Awareness Awareness Awareness Awareness
Objective 2 Objective 2 Objective 2 Objective 2 Objective 2
(Identifies letter
names.) This objective Since This objective PA 2 was
was worked on Michaeleena did was mastered by mastered. It is
Michaeleena in the first four so well with this Michaeleena on evident that
was very close lessons. Using objective in the two re- Michaeleena
to mastery on the “say it fast” first set of assessments, so mastered the
the initial activity, lessons and it was not objective after
assessment Michaeleena mastered it on worked on in the the first set of
scoring a 7/10. quickly mastered the first re- third set of four lessons and the
An 8/10 was blending two assessment, it lessons. first re-
needed to master and three- was evident that assessment.
the objective. phoneme words this objective did
in the first two not need to be
sessions. She worked on in the
then mastered second set of
four-phoneme lessons. On the
words by the end second re-
of the fourth assessment, PA
lesson. She 2 was re-
mastered the assessed to see if
objective on the there was any
first re- regression on the
assessment objective.
scoring a 10/10. Michaeleena
TUTORING FINAL EXAM (SUMMATIVE REPORT) 4

continued to
master the
objective scoring
a 10/10
Phonemic Phonemic Phonemic Phonemic Phonemic
Awareness Awareness Awareness Awareness Awareness
Objective 3 Objective 3 Objective 3 Objective 3 Objective 3
(Breaks down a
word presented This objective Although Since PA 3 was
orally and says was worked on Michaeleena Michaeleena mastered. It is
each sound in the first four mastered PA 3 scored at a evident that
separately.) lessons by using on the first re- mastery level for Michaeleena
the “tap it out” assessment, it this objective on does need
Michaeleena did activity. continued to be two re- continued
well on the Michaeleena worked on in the assessments, the instruction and
initial really enjoyed second set of decision was practice in
assessment tapping out each four lessons. made to not segmenting four-
scoring a 6/10. word with the This decision work on this phoneme words.
An 8/10 was pencil. She was made objective in the
needed for mastered two because last set of four
mastery. and three- Michaeleena lessons.
phoneme words was still Although
in one lesson but struggling with Michaeleena
struggled with four-phoneme continued to
four-phoneme words. struggle with
words. She Throughout four-phoneme
would blend the these four words, she did
last two sounds lessons, she master the
into one sound continued to objective and
making a four- struggle with the letter skill
phoneme word same four- objectives were
into three phoneme words, more pertinent at
phonemes. By blending this point in the
the end of the phonemes tutoring
fourth lesson, together and sessions.
there were still a counting them as
few four- one sound
phoneme words instead of two.
that she On the second
struggled with re-assessment,
but for the most Michaeleena
part, she had regressed a little
them mastered. bit scoring an
On the first re- 8/10 but she still
assessment, mastered the
Michaeleena objective and
TUTORING FINAL EXAM (SUMMATIVE REPORT) 5

mastered the some progress

objective scoring was made on
a 9/10. four-phoneme
words by the end
of the fourth
lesson.

Concepts of Concepts of Concepts of Concepts of Concepts of

Print Print Print Print Print

On the initial During the first Concepts of Since, Concepts of

assessment, four lessons, a print continued Michaeleena print was
Michaeleena book was read, to be worked on mastered all mastered. It is
mastered two out and the concepts in the second set objectives in evident that the
of the six of print of four lessons. concepts of print student will
objectives for objectives were After each on the second re- continue to need
concepts of discussed. lesson, a book assessment, the practice
print. She could Michaeleena was read and decision was extracting
not find the title, learned where discussed and all made to no meaning out of a
needed guiding the title of the objectives for longer work on text. The student
questions to book was and concepts of print concepts of has attained the
understand that why titles are were touched print. Instead, foundational
the title tells given, she upon. On the this time was skills for reading
something about learned where second re- spent on other a text.
the story, could the first page of assessment, objectives under
not find the first a text is and was Michaeleena letter skills.
page with text, still developing mastered all six
and did not on reading to get objectives under
understand that a message from concepts of
meaning came print and not the print.
from the text and pictures. On the
not the pictures. first re-
assessment,
Michaeleena
made great
improvements in
concepts of print
and mastered
five out of six
objectives.
TUTORING FINAL EXAM (SUMMATIVE REPORT) 6

Letter Skills Letter Skills Letter Skills Letter Skills Letter Skills
Objective 1 Objective 1 Objective 1 Objective 1 Objective 1
(Identifies letter
sounds.) During the first For the second During the final LS 1 has not
four lessons, set of four set of four been mastered. It
On the initial Michaeleena lessons, a more lessons, the is evident that
assessment, really struggled game-like letters b, d, and p Michaeleena
Michaeleena identifying letter activity was were targeted for needs continued
identified sounds. She was chosen. A Michaeleena to practice and
thirteen letter only able to matching game learn, without instruction on
sounds. To master the letters was played with the pictures on the specific
master this that she had all of the letter the card. These sounds for each
objective, the already mastered sounds. three letters pose letter. Learning
student must on the initial Michaeleena a large challenge the letter without
read all letter assessment. seemed to like to Michaeleena the picture from
sounds in the During these the activity as she the cue card is
first row of ten first four better performed continually very important
letters. Out of lessons, a little better on confuses them and crucial for
the first row, Michaeleena the second re- and mixes them Michaeleena to
Michaeleena missed a lot of assessment. She up. LS 1 was work on.
identified seven school. There made a little bit chosen as an Specifically, the
out of ten letter were a few snow of progress. She objective for two letter sounds for
sounds. days and then mastered the of the four b, d, p, c, and s
she was not up same nine letters objectives in need to be
to date on her that she had each lesson. targeted.
shots and could mastered on the Two different
not come back to first re- activities were
school until that assessment and chosen, one in
was taken care mastered three which
of. The activity new letters for a Michaeleena
used for this total of twelve pointed to the
objective also letter sounds card for the
did not work mastered. The sound that the
well for assessment does teacher made,
Michaeleena. not have the and the other in
She was pictures on the which
disinterested and letter like the Michaeleena
had a hard time cards used in the told the teacher
coming up with lessons do so the the letter sounds.
her own ways to visual cue was Gradually, the
remember and missing for pictures were
visualize the Michaeleena faded from the
letters and their when she went cards and she
sound. On the to take the was completing
re-assessment, assessment. LS 1 the activities
Michaeleena was still not without the
TUTORING FINAL EXAM (SUMMATIVE REPORT) 7

regressed only mastered but pictures. She

mastered nine some progress struggled with
letter sounds, all was made. these three
of which she had letters at first but
mastered on the by lesson four,
original was mastering
assessment. them. Progress
was made in the
last set of three
lessons and if re-
assessed again,
Michaeleena
would have a
good chance of
mastering the
first line of
letters for the
objective.
Letter Skills Letter Skills Letter Skills Letter Skills Letter Skills
Objective 2 Objective 2 Objective 2 Objective 2 Objective 2
(Writes letters
for specific In the first set of For the second The activity for LS 2 was not
sounds.) four lessons, set of four this objective mastered. It is
phonemic lessons, the was changed for evident that
On the initial awareness and activity chosen the third set of Michaeleena
assessment, this letter sounds for this objective four lessons so needs ample
objective was were targeted. involved the that Michaeleena practice writing
not mastered. This objective student tracing could write the letters. She is
Michaeleena was not worked the letters on the letters on paper. able to identify
was only able to on during this flashcards with The letters the letter that
master writing set of lessons. her finger while chosen for these needs to be
two letters, m On the first re- reciting the four lessons written by its
and a. A 100% is assessment, phrase to write were d, b, and p. sound and name
needed to master Michaeleena the letter. She struggled but needs to
this objective. was only able to Michaeleena writing them at learn to write
write the letter a, was successful first but each them.
not mastering with this activity time she wrote
the objective. and was able to the wring letter,
practice tracing the correct letter
many letters. was written next
However, this to it and she then
activity did not copied the
actually have her correct letter. By
writing the the end of the
letters on paper fourth lesson,
so on the re- Michaeleena
TUTORING FINAL EXAM (SUMMATIVE REPORT) 8

assessment mastered d, b,
without the card and p writing all
in front of her, it three letters
was difficult for independently. If
her to write the re-assessed
letters. Progress again,
was made Michaeleena
though because would have
she was able to mastered three
master three more letters
letters total and giving her a total
wrote three other of six letters
letters but for the mastered.
wrong letter
sound. Although
this objective
was not
mastered, some
progress was
still made.
Letter Skills Letter Skills Letter Skills Letter Skills Letter Skills
Objective 3 Objective 3 Objective 3 Objective 3 Objective 3
(Identifies letter
names.) In the first set of In the second set During the last LS 3 has not
four lessons, of four lessons, set of four been mastered. It
On the initial phonemic LS 3 was lessons, the is evident that
assessment, awareness and worked on with letters b, d, and p great progress is
Michaeleena letter sounds using an activity were targeted being made, but
was able to were targeted. that was set up because those Michaeleena still
identify three This objective in an I do, we are three letters needs a great
letter names out was not worked do, you do that Michaeleena amount of
of 26. This on during this format. This was tends to get practice with this
objective was set of lessons. very helpful for confused. In the objective. Some
not mastered. To On the first re- Michaeleena to first lesson, she letters that
master this assessment, hear the correct was able to should be
objective, 100% Michaeleena letter first and master the three targeted next are
accuracy is was only able to then associate it letters using the s, u, r, and f.
needed. identify the letter with the card. In picture side of
a by name, not the second re- the card. When
mastering the assessment, she the pictures were
objective. did not master taken away, she
the objective, began to struggle
but a great deal with those three
of progress was letters a tad. By
made. the third lesson,
Michaeleena Michaeleena
TUTORING FINAL EXAM (SUMMATIVE REPORT) 9

was able to began to think

identify twelve about where she
out of 26 letter saw the line on
names. each of the three
letters. On the
letter d, the line
is on the right, it
is on the left for
b, and it is
underneath for p.
As soon as those
cues were
learned, she
mastered those
three letters. If
she were to be re
assessed, she
would have
mastered three
more letters
giving her a total
of 15/26 letter
names mastered.

Summative Assessment Reflection

Over the last two and a half months, Michaeleena has come a long way in her ability to

read and learn letters. When tutoring began, she had difficulties understanding sounds in words,

blending, and segmenting words and by the end, she was able to identify many letter sounds and

names and even write a few.

Following the initial assessment, Michaeleena was placed in Tutoring Plan 1, only

mastering PA 1 on the initial assessment. During the first four lessons, the PA 1, 2, 3, and LS 1

objectives were targeted. Michaeleena enjoyed the game-like activities for all of the objectives

and excelled in all of them. Working towards mastery of blending and segmenting words set the

foundation for learning specific letter sounds and names. The process shifts from auditorily
TUTORING FINAL EXAM (SUMMATIVE REPORT) 10

hearing and learning letter sounds to visually seeing the letter and learning its sound and name.

After the re-assessment, Michaeleena mastered PA 1, 2, and 3.

Although Michaeleena mastered PA 1, 2, and 3 on the re-assessment, she still placed in

Tutoring Plan 1. PA 3 was chosen as a targeted objective even though it was mastered because

Michaeleena still struggled with segmenting four-phoneme words. LS 1, 2, and 3 were also

chosen as target objectives for the second set of four lessons. The same activities were used for

PA 3 and LS 1 since she made progress using them in the first set of lessons. She really enjoyed

the new activity for LS 3 because it took an I do, we do, you do framework. It allowed her to be

successful right off the bat because she had learned the letter before she had the opportunity to

get it wrong and have to re-learn it. It was just a matter of practicing the letters and committing

them to memory.

Following the second re-assessment, Michaeleena mastered PA 3 and made progress in

LS 1 and 3. The activity for LS 2 did not have Michaeleena actually writing the letters on paper

to learn them which was why she did not make any progress in this objective. In the last set of

four lessons, the activity for LS 2 was changed and Michaeleena was now writing letters on

paper. LS 1 and 3 were also targeted again in these lessons with an additional activity added for

LS 1. Throughout all four lessons across all four objectives, the letters b, d, and p were worked

on because Michaeleena really struggled with these letters throughout tutoring. The goal was to

get her to mastery of these three letters without her having to rely on the picture on the card to

know the letter. By the end of four lessons, Michaeleena was consistently identifying these

letters, their sounds, and writing them independently without the pictures.

In tutoring Michaeleena over the past two and a half months, I have seen lots of growth.

Although she is not out of Tutoring Plan 1 yet, she was able to completely master phonemic
TUTORING FINAL EXAM (SUMMATIVE REPORT) 11

awareness, and progress a lot in letter skills. By the second re-assessment, Michaeleena could

identify twelve letter sounds, write three letters correctly corresponding to the sound but wrote

eight overall, and identify twelve letter names. If re-assessed again following the last set of four

lessons, I believe that Michaeleena would have continued to make progress in these areas and

would possibly master LS 1.

Final Recommendation for Tutee

Based on the final assessment results listed above, I would recommend that Michaeleena

continue working out of Tutoring Plan 1 specifically on letter skills. She needs continued

practice in identifying letter names and sounds without relying on pictures. She also needs a

significant amount of practice writing letters. I do not believe that Michaeleena needs to be tested

at this time. I believe her challenges with reading are developmental and that with time and more

one-on-one tutoring and practice, she will catch up to her peers and begin to be at grade level.

Two Significant Things Learned

One thing that I learned during this tutoring experience is the importance of making

instructional decisions as a teacher. In so many circumstances, decisions must be made by the

teacher that will greatly impact student success. During my tutoring experience, I was

responsible for making all instructional decisions for Michaeleena. Based on assessment results,

I had to choose the objectives, activities, and how to continue following re-assessments.

Michaeleena’s success and progress was contingent on all of my decisions. There are also times

where something may not be going well, and a decision must be made to continue or possibly

modify the activity. A few times during tutoring, I had to either change an activity because

Michaeleena was not making progress using it, or I had to modify the one I was using. The

structure of one of the activities was great and was working well for Michaeleena but it required
TUTORING FINAL EXAM (SUMMATIVE REPORT) 12

the use of the picture side of the letter card. I realized after a few lessons and a re-assessment that

Michaeleena did not know the letter but was memorizing the pictures. When she got to the test,

the pictures were not there, and she performed poorly. In this situation, the activity was great, so

I modified it and gradually shifted to using the regular print side of the letter card. Following

this, Michaeleena began to make progress. Instructional decisions happen every day in the

classroom and they are very important for the teacher to make because student success is

dependent on them.

Another thing that I learned during this tutoring experience is the importance of

assessment. Although observation is a great way to tell current levels of student understanding,

assessment is data-driven and gives accurate concrete data to show what the student does and

does not know. Two types of assessment were used during tutoring, formative and summative.

Formative assessments were used the most during this experience through the use of the tutoring

assessment. These assessments were very important because they drove all instructional

decisions for the lessons. It was great to re-assess every four lessons because I was able to see

what progress she had made and if she was able to master an objective, a new one could be

added. During the lessons, formative assessment was also used based on the words, sounds, or

letters that Michaeleena was able to master within each lesson. If she was able to blend a word

successfully, a new one with more phonemes was chosen for the next lesson. If she mastered two

out of four letter names worked on, two new letters were added for the next one. With formative

assessments, Michaeleena was able to build on her progress and maximize her learning. A

summative assessment was not given to Michaeleena following the final four lessons of tutoring,

but her results analyzed and listed above are another form of a summative assessment. It sums up

Michaeleena’s tutoring experience and progress through data collected throughout the past two
TUTORING FINAL EXAM (SUMMATIVE REPORT) 13

and a half months. Formative and summative assessments are crucial in helping students succeed

because they show where the student has mastered the material, where they are still developing,

and where they lack an understanding of material.

Research Article Reflection

Poverty is a subject that is important for teachers to understand because they may have

students in their class that live in poverty. One of my favorite articles that I read this semester

was a study done in 2017 about children living in poverty and gifted programs. When students

are being placed into gifted programs, schools look at measures of nonverbal intelligence. This

study found that schools need to look at both verbal and nonverbal measures of intelligence

when placing students in gifted programs (Kaya, Stough, & Juntune, 2017). Students from low-

income areas get placed in gifted programs because schools want more diversity in their

programs. This study showed that not all students from low-income areas are ready to be placed

in those programs because although students living in poverty have higher nonverbal intelligence

scores, they have lower verbal intelligence scores (Kaya et al., 2017). These scores declined as

students progressed through the grades leaving a gap that progressed through these students’

schooling (Kaya et al., 2017). This information is important to understand as a teacher because

there is insight into both children living in poverty, their intelligence scores, and gifted programs.

Another article I found interesting this semester was a brief written about the

homelessness act of the McKinney-Vento Law. This article stressed the importance of

identifying students living in homelessness and gave tips on how to identify them. Working with

the local liaison, schools and teachers can raise awareness about the definition of homelessness,

conduct community assessments, ensure policies comply with the McKinney-Vento Law, and

provide targeted outreach to the community (NCHE, 2017). Teachers should be knowledgeable
TUTORING FINAL EXAM (SUMMATIVE REPORT) 14

of their local liaison and signs that a student may be living in homelessness because no matter

where one teaches, there is always a chance that their student is homeless.
TUTORING FINAL EXAM (SUMMATIVE REPORT) 15

References

Kaya, F., Stough, L.M., & Juntune, J. (2017). Verbal and nonverbal intelligence scores within

the context of poverty. Gifted International, 33(3), 257-272. DOI:

10.1177/0261429416640332

National Center for Homeless Education. (2017). Identifying children and youth in homeless

situations. Retrieved from https://nche.ed.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/identification.pdf