Evaluation
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Measuring the impact of this technology integration will be accomplished in three ways.
- My school uses DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) to assess and monitor student reading fluency. This system has been in place for seven years. DIBELS data will be extremely valuable in determining the effectiveness of laptop use to improve reading fluency. All students are assessed three times per year. After each assessment, any student who falls below the benchmark goal is placed into our intervention program and is progress monitored on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. Therefore, I will have access to regularly updated data for each of my students throughout the school year. In addition, I have seven years worth of data to use for comparison purposes. I will be able to look for trends in student improvement and match that up against the data for my current students who have used laptops in their reading fluency practice.
- Another important evaluation technique is observation. I will be watching and monitoring students as they practice their reading fluency. During our guided reading block each day, I have up to three high school students in the classroom who will also help monitor and can provide me with feedback. In addition, I will be able to listen to student recordings to determine if and when students need a different level of fluency passage. I will also be able to informally assess reading fluency improvements during guided reading groups and will be able to sense any improvement in student attitude and excitement toward reading.
- The final method for evaluating this program's effectiveness is to use our Rigby Literacy By Design benchmark assessments. This is a reading assessment that determines accuracy, fluency, and comprehension to acquire an accurate reading level for each student. At the very least, these assessments are given three times per year. Very often, I assess students more often when I feel that they are either struggling with their current reading material, or are improving enough to move to a higher level.