Using Talk Read Talk Write as a Tool to Close the Comprehension Gap for At Risk Students Dawn Rose, M.Ed

Needs Assessment 2017-2018 STAAR Results -- 8th grade Social Studies Luna’s overall performance of the US History STAAR test was below that of the state.

Needs Assessment 2016-2017 STAAR 2017-2018 STAAR Overall the gap closed some, but the campus population as a whole dropped in their overall performance on the US history assessment

Root Cause Social Studies teachers were dealing with outside socio-emotional factors in 2017-2018 Two of three teachers were new to the content One teacher was working split 7th/8th grades, so he had both US History and Texas History to prepare and teach

Research to support the Proposal In order to be effective, any assessment needs to avoid the use of jargon, and instead focus on being direct, while allowing the educator to use multiple sources and tools as a way to pre-assess knowledge (Spinelli, 2012) Middle School 8th graders are expected to master reading skills in social studies that include: analyzing author’s point of view, and opposing views, determining word meaning and understanding the impact of word choice, evaluating content presented in multiple ways, and analyze both primary and secondary sources ( Swanson, Wanzek, Vaughn, Fall, Roberts, Hall, and Miller, 2017) If students are to succeed at high levels, they need to be able to participate in learning that includes reading, writing, and conversations (Tovani, 2004).

Goal of the Proposal The goal of using the Talk/Read/Talk/Write intervention was to address the campus plan goal of seeing a 3% increase in STAAR assessment scores by at risk students as evidenced by collective common assessments (CCAs). Teacher moves to address this goal: Create pre-assessments based on content to be tested Create a TRTW intervention to support the learning of the content Create a Collaborative Common Assessment addressing the specific TEKS addressed in the pre-assessment and the TRTW intervention

Activities performed Students completed three separate TRTW interventions to address specific 8th grade level TEK content needed for the STAAR assessment. Important battles in the Revolutionary War, and the effect of their outcomes on the United States (TEK 8.4.C) Important historical documents and their influence on the Declaration of Independence (TEK 8.15.A) Summarize the rights guaranteed in the Bill of Rights (TEK 8.19.B)

Final Results - TRTW 1 - Important battles in the Revolutionary War No Pre-Assessment Post Assessment Results

Final Results - TRTW 2 - Historical documents and their influence on the Declaration of Independence Pre-Assessment Post Assessment Mean Score = 17 %

Final Results - TRTW 3 - Summarize the rights guaranteed in the Bill of Rights Pre-Assessment TRTW Intervention Post-Assessment Overall Average = 17% Overall Average = 44% Overall Average = 68%

Barriers and Favorable Conditions Time Small sampling of classes Content knowledge of the administrator Newness of the strategy being implemented Favorable Conditions Excited teachers Resources available Student data for a baseline Adaptability

Change Management Strategies TRTW as an intervention allows the student to discover and retain new content through the use of conversations, listening to each other, reading and writing, as a way to reinforce the English Language Proficiency Standards Implementation of TRTW is more successful when teachers experiment with what works within their content to organically grow the lesson To be a long term solution, teachers need more coaching in the concept to ensure that it is being implemented with fidelity among the content areas

Lessons Learned I learned several lessons as part of this Capstone Project. The first is that it takes a team to accomplish growth. We as educators can not expect our students to grow if we do not adjust our own practices to meet the needs of our campus. The second is that as a leader, it is necessary to ask the tough questions, and hold others accountable for agreed upon actions. When you work together, everyone needs to come to the table with what is needed to be successful. It can never fall on one person to do all the work. In the end, I feel the overall experience also made me a better teacher in my own classroom, because through the reflections of others, I reflected on myself as well.

References Motley, N. (2016). Talk read talk write: a practical routine for learning in all content areas (K-12). Seidlitz Education. Spinelli, C. G. (2012). Classroom assessment for students in special and general education. Boston, MA: Pearson. Swanson, E., Wanzek, J., Vaughn, S., Fall, A., Roberts, G., Hall, C., & Miller, V. L. (2017). Middle school reading comprehension and content learning intervention for below-average readers. Reading & Writing Quarterly, 33(1), 37-53. Tovani, C. (2004). Do I really have to teach reading? content comprehension grades  6-12. Markham, Ontario: Stenhouse.