(How does using a tablet to record and monitor student

reading during independent workstation time increase the

fluency of on, below, and above second grade level
readers measured by accuracy, speed, and retell using a
student recording sheet and DIBELS Progress
Monitoring?)

Traci Whitaker
EDUC 607 (D2/Fall/2014)

Supporting Literature

Using technology or no technology is more than just a tool

for drilling students, it acquires their vocabulary and
enhances background knowledge to in turn become a
skilled reader.

This study, examines how our society needs to

incorporate literacy education into our high demand
society for technology and that using technology can offer
many tools and strategies to deliver meaningful content.

Supporting Literature

Repeated reading whether being recorded by the tablet or

reading to a friend, is a great tool to enhance fluency growth.
Repeated reading is based that students will become fluent
readers and it is important that students acquire these
reading skills at a young age.
In any study, there are factors that play a role in the
measurement but improvement will be made.

Supporting Literature

Students need equal amount of time, engaging material, and

a clear system of following procedures.
Students no matter their background, still need equal
opportunity and structure from the teacher to show
significance signs of academic achievement.
Various strategies can build vocabulary, awareness of text
and comprehension knowledge, but it all requires efforts
from the teachers.

Hypothesis and Important Definitions

How does using a tablet to record and monitor student

reading during independent workstation time increase the
fluency of on, below, and above second grade level readers,
measured by accuracy, speed, and retell using a student
recording sheet and DIBELS Progress Monitoring?
DIBELS: Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy
Skills
Fluency: The ability to read text with speed, accuracy,
and comprehension.

Method

Participants
Title 1 School: Socastee Elementary (Suburban)
About 84% of students receive free or reduced lunch
Low social economic status
About 45% Caucasian, 33% Hispanic, 16% White
Second Grade Classroom
Twenty Two students- twelve, females, ten males
Age range seven and eight years old
Ethnicity: African American, Hispanic, and Caucasian
Reading level: below, on, and above grade level

Method

Procedures
Students will participant in a 4 week study during independent
workstation time from 10:00-11:00. Students will go to four
stations per day averaging 15 minutes per station. One of
those stations will be the fluency station, which would be the
study.
Students will be on an ABAB Pattern. Week one and week
three students will have no tablet. They will read two passages
in one week. One being fiction and the other non-fiction. They
will get a passage out of their desired folder.

Method

Procedures contd
These folders are labeled with passages based upon students
Lexile level from their MAP scores. Which determines if
students are on, below or above grade level reading.
Students will read the two passages three times each for one
minute. Their partner will time them with sand timer and
check to see if any errors were made. Students will record
number of words read, how many errors, and retell on the
student recording sheet.

Method

Procedures contd
Week two and week four students will have a tablet. They will
read two passages in one week. One being fiction and one
non-fiction. They will get their passage in the same folders
with named labeled on it, with their desired passage (on,
below, or above reading level).
Students will read the two passage three times each for one
minute. Their partner will record them using the tablet and
then the students together will review the recording to listen
for expression and speed.

Method

Procedures contd
They will record how many words were read, how many
errors, and retell on the student recording sheet.
Every Friday students will turn in the student recording sheet.
Every other Friday, I will assess students using DIBELS
progress monitoring. This assessment will give the students a
passage to read for one minute and test based them based upon
speed, accuracy, and retell.

Method

Procedures contd
After the four weeks, I will compile my research together to
see whose fluency increased.
Instruments
DIBELS: Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills
(district assessment)
Student Recording Sheet (teacher made)

Results

140
120
Below RL
On RL
Above RL

100
80
60
40
20
0

BOY DIBELS

No Tablet

Average scores for below, on and above grade level

Tablet

Results

Results

95
90
85
80
75

No Tablet

70

BOY
Tablet
No Tablet

Tablet

65
Boys

BOY
Girls

Average scores

Results

After analyzing the data collected from different

individuals, one can see that each student scored
differently on their progress monitored through DIBELS.
None of the samples from each individual student are the
same from the same population.
The results show the differences between the use of a
tablet or no use of the tablet.
The results compare students score before and after
treatment.

Results

The data collected, shows that using the tablet and not
using the tablet is not a significant gain (no difference).
However, students scores did increase over time using this
type of fluency strategy.
Some students scores did decrease which I feel was caused
by under lying factors which will be discussed in a later
slide.
Overall, using a tablet and not using a tablet to record and
monitor student reading during independent workstation
time did increase fluency using DIBELS progress
monitoring.

Discussion points

What to do now? Teachers could use the tablet to improve

fluency scores but might have a greater gain if used the
tablet for another instructional approach.
Personally, I will continue to use the tablet for this
independent workstation time and would take out the no
use of the tablet. Using the tablet keeps them engaged
more so than not using a tablet. I might try a different
approach in the way I use the tablet.
Let students record themselves reading a book (2 minutes)
on their level instead of a passage and listen back for
expression and speed.

Discussion points

When DIBELS progress monitoring the students every

other week, the passages vary in difficulty. If students
received an easy passage on the week they used tablets,
then could have skewed the results.
An approach, I would take would not use DIBELS
passages, but pick a passage on the childs level to test
them in. Keeping the difficulty the same through the study
weeks to get a true presentation of the data.

Direction(s) for further research

More time to develop consistently with using the tablet

and not using the tablet.
Factors that affected data:

Students took CogAT test for three days during study.

No school two days during the four weeks of study.
Bullying Assembly during the study.
Level of DIBELS Progress Monitor Passages

Resources to help factors that got affected:

App that would time and record students reading a passage
App that would keep a record of how many words read

References

Biancarosa, G., & Griffiths, G.G. (2012). Technology Tools to Support Reading in the
Digital Age. The Future of Children, 22, 139-154. Retrieved from http://
futureofchildren.org/futureofchildren/publications/docs/22_02_08.pdf
Gibson, L., Cartledge, G., Keyes, S.E., & Yawn, C.D. (2014). The Effects of a
Supplementary Computerized Fluency Intervention on the Generalization of the Oral
Reading Fluency and Comprehension of First-Grade Students. Education & Treatment of
Children, 37. 25-51. Retrieved from http://login.library.coastal.edu:2048/login?url=http://
search.ebscohost.com.login.library.coastal.edu:2048/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&A
N=93625252&site=eds-live
Walpole, S., McJenna, M.C., Uribe-Zarain, X., & Lamitina, D. (2010). The Relationships
between Coaching and Instruction in the Primary Grades: Evidence from High-Poverty
Schools. The Elementary School Journal, 111, 115-140. Retrieved from
http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/653472