The history behind my decision to focus on comprehension skills came from past test scores. Earlier this year, the students completed a beginning of the year reading test. In this reading test, there were basic second grade skills they should have mastered last year. The skills were over comprehension, parts of speech, vocabulary, synonyms/antonyms, etc. We used the scores from this test to determine where students would be placed for reading. We ability base our students into the categories of above grade level, on grade level, and below grade level.
The students I completed my study with struggled the most with comprehension both in the text and beyond the text. The students also completed a unit theme test in October. This test covered the first quarter skills from the reading curriculum (i.e. parts pf speech, vocabulary skills, comprehension passages, and similar sounds). Most of my intervention students missed all of the comprehension questions asked on the theme test. My students were also reading at below grade level (levels C - G).
I thought this area of concern was important because many of my students that I impacted were eight or more Fountas and Pinnell levels below third grade reading level. According to the Fountas and Pinnell leveling system, they should have been reading at a level N. Their third grade reading skills were not fully developed (vocabulary, author’s purpose, synonyms/antonyms, etc.). They struggled the most with comprehension skills, which is why I decided to put most of my focus on finding comprehension strategies that would help them raise their comprehension scores on tests. Having good comprehension skills is important as they continue through schooling. The questions and tests will only get harder for them. The need was evident and crucial, and I felt by focusing on comprehension and reading levels, my students would make the most progress.
I chose to do my capstone over the area of comprehension, because the data I selected showed a significant need for it. All 10 of the students I worked with during intervention had a D in reading at the start of my data collection. Of the 10 students I worked with all scored below a 50% on their reading comprehension story quiz. For the unit one theme test, 85% of the students I worked with received a score of 50% or lower. The theme test coveredvmany third grade skills and comprehension questions. The data showed that there is a need for more exposure to comprehension skills. I knew that I needed to focus on in-text comprehension skills, because their story quizzes were straight from the story and the students were able to look back in the story to find their answers.