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STUDENT LITERACY PROFILE

September 20, 2021;

Date(s) of
Student Name: Kara September 23, 2021;
Assessment:
September 30, 2021

Student
4 Age: 9 years, 11 months
Grade Level:

Emily Gillikin &

Examiners: Date of Report: November 29, 2021
Cathy Phelps

I. BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Kara is a nine-year-old girl in fourth grade at Prince Edward Elementary School. She was

selected by the reading specialist at her school, Mrs. Maria Hamilton, to participate in online

tutoring offered through the Reading, Learning, and Literacy graduate program at Longwood

University. Mrs. Hamilton believes that Kara would benefit from individual instruction, targeting

reading, word study, and writing.

Prior to tutoring, assessments were administered to determine Kara’s present level of

performance in reading, spelling, and writing. All assessments were conducted remotely in the

afternoons once Kara arrived home from school. Throughout the testing sessions, Kara was

cooperative; however, internet connectivity fluctuated, which made conducting timed tasks

difficult. She sustained good effort, but her interest and motivation waned towards the end of

testing sessions. Therefore, while her reading and spelling performance on assessments appears

to be consistent with the level of skill shown during tutoring, the writing sample is most likely a

minimal estimate of her true ability.

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II. INITIAL ASSESSMENTS ADMINISTERED

Qualitative Reading Inventory (QRI-VI) Writing Sample

Words Their Way Spelling Inventory (ESI) Elementary Reading Attitude Survey
Student Interest Inventory

Initial Assessment Results

Elementary Reading Attitude Survey
Raw Score Midyear Percentile Rank

Recreational Reading 28 41
Academic Reading 27 52
Reading Attitude Total 55 45

Qualitative Reading Inventory: Word Lists

Grade Level Percentage Scores (100%)

PP 1 PP 2/3 Primer 1st 2nd 3rd

Automatic 100 95 100 100 95 45

Total Correct 100 100 100 100 95 75
Functional Level1 IND IND IND IND IND FR

Qualitative Reading Inventory: Narrative Level-Diagnostic Passages

Readability Level Grade 2 Grade 3 Grade 3

The Friend
A Special Birthday for
Passage Father’s New Game (Silent Reading
Rosa
Comprehension)

Total Accuracy 95% 90% N/A

Total Acceptability 97% 92% N/A
Rate 86 wcpm 49 wcpm 56 wpm
Concept Questions 0% 42% 58%
Comprehension 75% 25% 88%
Explicit 3 correct 1 correct/LB 2 correct 4 correct/LB 4 correct
Implicit 3 correct 1 correct/LB 2 correct 3 correct/LB 3 correct
Total 6/8 (75%) 2/8 (25%)/ 4/8 (50%) 7/8 (88%)

Passage Level1 INS FR INS

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Qualitative Reading Inventory: Expository Level-Diagnostic Passages

Readability Level Grade 2 Grade 3 Grade 4

Plant Structures for

Survival
Passage Whales and Fish
(Listening
Comprehension)

Total Accuracy 92% N/A

Total Acceptability 97% N/A
Rate 74 wcpm N/A
Concept Questions 33% 50%
Comprehension 25% 13%
Explicit 2 correct 0 correct
Implicit 0 correct 1 correct
Total 2/8 (25%) 1/8 (13%)

Passage Level1 FR FR

Words Their Way Elementary Spelling Inventory (ESI)

Spelling Features Raw Score Percentile

Initial Consonants 2/2 100

Final Consonants 5/5 100
Short Vowels 5/5 100
Digraphs 5/6 83
Blends 6/7 83
Common Long Vowels 4/5 80
Diphthongs and R-influenced Vowels 1/7 0
Inflected Endings 1/5 25
Syllable Junctures 1/5 25
Unaccented Final Syllables 1/5 25
Advanced Suffixes 0/5 0
Bases or Roots 0/5 0

Feature points 31/62 50

Words attempted 25/25 100

No. of correct words attempted 6/25 24

Spelling stage: Middle Within Word Pattern

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Writing Sample: 6 + 1 Traits of Writing Rubric

Writing Trait Score Evidence

Ideas
The content of the piece, the The story has a clear main idea, but there is
main theme, together with the 2 minimal detail. The theme would benefit from
details that enrich and further development.
develop that theme.

Organization
The internal structure of a
Her story has a beginning and ending, and the
piece of writing, the thread of 3
sequence of events is organized.
central meaning, the pattern
of the ideas.

Voice The writing is flat, and there is little evidence of

The feeling and conviction of the writer’s voice or personality in the story.
2
the individual writer coming She did add several frames of comic style
out through the words. illustration with dialogue at the end.

Word Choice
Word choice is the use of
All of the words chosen were used correctly, but
rich, colorful, precise 2
the vocabulary is simple and repetitive.
language that moves and
enlightens the reader.

Fluency
The story consisted of one run-on sentence and
Sentence fluency is the
was approximately a paragraph in length.
rhythm and flow of the 2
However, it was not difficult to follow and
language, the sound of work
made sense.
patterns.

Conventions The story is understandable, but there are

The mechanical correctness - frequent errors in spelling, capitalization, and
spelling, grammar and usage, 3 punctuation. Subject-verb agreement is correct,
paragraphing, use of and verb tense was fairly consistent throughout
capitals, and punctuation. the story.

OBSERVATIONS DURING PRETESTING

Development of Word Recognition

In order to determine the child’s independent, instructional, and frustration reading levels,

the Qualitative Reading Inventory (QRI) was administered. Students begin the QRI by reading a
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graded word list. The word list portion of the QRI provides information for teachers in several

ways. First, the student’s accuracy determines an appropriate grade-level passage for the child to

read next. The word lists also assess a child’s automaticity and speed. Lastly, because students

are scored based on automatic recognition and an untimed reading of the words, the word lists

provide insight into a child’s decoding abilities.

We began with the pre-primer word list and continued until the student reached

frustration. Her performance on the word lists for pre-primer to second grade level was within

the independent range. On the third grade level word list, Kara was able to read 45% of the

words accurately during the timed administration. When making errors, she tended to focus on

the initial letters in words, resulting in substitutions, and often dropped inflectional suffixes, such

as -s or -ed. For example, Kara read the word though as thought, the word confuse as confused,

curious as circle, and the word motion as moment. Kara was able to read a narrative passage on a

second grade level with 95% accuracy and expository at 92% accuracy. Based on her

performance on the QRI, Kara is considered an instructional reader at a second grade level.

Spelling Development

The Elementary Spelling Inventory is an assessment published by the authors of Words

Their Way that helps teachers determine stages of spelling development for their students. In the

inventory, students are asked to spell progressively more difficult words, and the words contain

specific features that teachers can analyze to determine which spelling skills the child has

mastered or still needs to learn.

Kara is currently in the middle within word pattern stage of spelling. Kara demonstrated

mastery of beginning and final consonant sounds, short-vowel sounds, digraphs, and blends.

Some examples of errors included shrving/serving, karew/carries, and mrch/marched. While she
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would benefit from a review of long vowels, Kara requires explicit instruction in diphthongs, r-

controlled vowels, and inflected endings.

Reading Fluency

During the passages reading portion of the QRI, students are evaluated in terms of

miscues, prosody, and overall reading fluency. Kara read 91 and 80 words correct per minute on

the second grade passages of the QRI. These scores place her between the 25th and 50th

percentile on a below-grade-level passage compared to other children in fourth grade reading a

grade-level passage. On the third grade passage, her rate dropped to 54 words per minute. Kara

used expression while reading but lacked an appropriate rate due to poor word recognition. In

addition, her inattention to punctuation and meaning resulted in awkward word groupings or

phrasing at times.

Comprehension

After administering the grade word lists, teachers then determine which passage the

student will read. Teachers may select from both narrative and expository passages. Before

beginning a passage, the teacher asks the student several concept questions to activate and assess

prior knowledge on the passage topic. Next, the child reads the passage aloud while the teacher

records errors. After the child reads, the teacher asks the child several explicit and implicit

comprehension questions about the given passage. At a 3rd grade reading level and above,

students also have the option of looking back in the story to find answers to questions they

responded to incorrectly.

According to the QRI results, Kara is reading independently at the primer to first grade

levels. While reading narrative text, Kara read with 95% accuracy on a second grade level. On a

third grade narrative text, Kara read with 90% accuracy. However, she responded to the
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comprehension questions with 25% accuracy, which indicated that the passage was in the

frustration range. She was given the opportunity to look back within the passage, and her

comprehension improved to 50%.

On the QRI, Kara struggled with both inferential and explicit questions, and she did not

use self-monitoring or self-correction behaviors while reading. Vocabulary and background

knowledge impeded her comprehension, and her scores for several QRI passages on concept

questions were below 55%, indicating that the topics in the passage were unfamiliar to her.

Motivation/Attitudes

The Elementary Reading Attitude Survey measures a student's attitudes toward reading.

The student is shown four pictures of Garfield in varying moods and selects the one that reflects

her feelings in response to a statement about reading. Overall, Kara’s reading attitude is at the

45th percentile rank for her grade level, which is within the average range. Kara enjoys hearing

books read aloud and learning from books, but she exhibits more negative reactions toward

reading worksheets and tests. While Kara enjoys reading during free time at school, she prefers

other activities during free time at home, such as playing with her brothers.

III. SUMMARY OF INITIAL ASSESSMENT RESULTS (SEPTEMBER 30, 2021)

Kara is a fourth-grade girl in Prince Edward County, Virginia, reading at a second-grade

instructional level. As indicated by her performance on the QRI, she is likely able to read and

comprehend material from a pre-primer to first grade level independently. Her attitude toward

reading is typical of an average fourth-grade student, and her feelings toward academic and

recreational reading tasks are similar.

While Kara is able to read with expression and appropriate phrasing at times, her overall

reading rate is slow for her grade level. She also exhibits difficulty decoding unfamiliar words,
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particularly multisyllabic words or vocabulary related to specific academic content. When

attempting to decode an unknown word, Kara often over-relies on the initial letters, resulting in

the substitution of a similar looking word. On the second grade passages of the QRI, Kara read

91 and 80 words correct per minute. Her scores place her between the 25th and 50th percentile

on a below-grade-level passage.

Kara is currently in the middle within word stage of spelling development. While Kara

demonstrated mastery of beginning and final consonant sounds, short-vowel sounds, digraphs,

and blends, she continues to make occasional errors in these features. Overall, she would benefit

from a review of long vowel patterns, and she requires explicit instruction of diphthongs, r-

controlled vowels, and inflected endings.

Reading comprehension is an area that requires explicit strategy instruction. Kara has

difficulty determining the importance of concepts and recalling main ideas after reading. When

given the opportunity to look back in a passage for evidence, she struggles to find answers, and

her comprehension remains poor as a result. In addition, her background and vocabulary

knowledge may also impact her comprehension since her scores on QRI concept questions were

generally below 55%.

Recommendations for Tutoring

Kara exhibits several strengths in literacy, such as mastery of many within word features,

her ability to read with expression and prosody, and her interest in learning through reading.

However, there are areas in which she would benefit from explicit instruction to close gaps,

likely due to missed instruction related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The following

developmentally appropriate goals were selected for intervention with the intention of helping

Kara improve her overall reading proficiency and accelerate her progress toward grade-level
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expectations.

Primary Goals

● Read text at a late 2nd to early 3rd grade level accurately with appropriate speed, phrasing,
and intonation
● Locate text evidence to answer comprehension questions with 80% accuracy or above
● Read and spell words containing r-controlled vowel patterns (/ar/, /or/, & /ǝr/) with 80%
accuracy or above

Secondary Goals

● Read nonfiction text at a late 2nd to early 3rd grade level at a rate of 90 WCPM
● Write a complete sentence with appropriate capitalization and end punctuation on 4/5
attempts
● Respond to reading by writing 1-2 on-topic sentences on 4/5 attempts

Fluency and Prosody

Repeated Reading

When children are able to read fluently, more of their cognitive resources are free to

focus on comprehension rather than word recognition. Fluent readers are able to read text with

automaticity, so word recognition does not impede understanding of the text. Prosody, another

component of fluency, refers to reading with expression and encompasses tone, inflection, and

phrasing. Fluent reading will sound conversational, not choppy or robotic, and the student’s

phrasing and inflection will convey meaning more effectively.

Reading the same text multiple times will provide numerous encounters with the same

words to improve sight word recognition and allow the student to practice reading with

corrective feedback to further develop both her fluency and prosody. The student hears a fluent

model before attempting the passage, then completes three readings, from which the number of

words correct per minute can be calculated. Data is recorded and displayed graphically for the

student to view her progress.

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Reading Comprehension

Instructional readers, such as Kara, need explicit instruction in comprehension skills and

strategies. Kara’s pre assessment data shows she needs focused instruction in finding and

answering questions in a text. She needs specific strategies that can be applied across text types

and topics. Because Kara’s expository scores on the QRI were lower than narrative, focusing on

nonfiction text will help to expose Kara to informational texts while utilizing strategies for

comprehension. In addition, focusing on expository text will help Kara develop the background

knowledge necessary to understand texts across the content areas. We recommend using a

strategy for finding and locating information, such as highlighting, to help her pinpoint specific

information in the text. In addition, she would benefit from the use of graphic organizers to help

reflect and record new learning.

Development of Word Recognition

According to the QRI graded word lists, Kara is not able to automatically recognize as

many words as would be expected for a student in fourth grade. When encountering an

unfamiliar word in text, Kara is often unable to decode and identify it correctly, which impedes

both her reading fluency and comprehension. She would benefit from additional instruction in

decoding and encoding to improve her word recognition skills.

Word Sorts

Word sorts are used to help students recognize predictable patterns shared by words in

the English language. Words may be categorized according to sounds, patterns, syllable types,

meanings, or parts of speech. Students are given word lists to divide into categories based on

certain features in the words. Sorting will allow Kara to encounter many different words and

compare and contrast their features. Kara can apply these patterns to unfamiliar words when she
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is reading, spelling, or writing. Specifically, our tutoring lessons will target r-controlled vowels

in single syllable words.

Building Words

In addition to decoding and sorting words, Kara will also participate in multisensory

activities that require her to build words using letter tiles. Encoding activities require Kara to

practice phoneme segmentation and represent phonemes with graphemes, which will help

improve her reading and spelling skills. Writing will also be incorporated, and Kara will be

expected to spell words and dictated sentences. Practicing word study features in a variety of

formats is helpful for learning new skills and applying them across subjects.

VI. SUMMARY OF TUTORING

Ten tutoring sessions occurred biweekly from September 20 through November 9, 2021.

Pre-assessments were administered during the initial three sessions. Six instructional sessions

focused on fluency, word study, and comprehension. Based on the results of the initial

assessments, the primary instructional goals were to improve Kara’s fluency and comprehension

of nonfiction. Deficits in knowledge of word study features were also addressed. During the last

session, post-assessments were administered for progress monitoring.

It was a pleasure to work with Kara in the afternoons. She was cooperative, willing to

work, and gave her best effort during tutoring sessions, even after a full school day. While Kara

demonstrated a good understanding of the technology required for remote learning, there were

issues with audio and screen freeze that affected the efficacy of tutoring sessions at times.

Despite internet connection instability, Kara was a willing participant and generally remained

engaged during tutoring.

Timed Repeated Reading

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In order to improve fluency and prosody, each tutoring session began with timed repeated

reading of a late 2nd to early 3rd grade level passage. First fluent reading of the passage was

modeled by the teacher. Then Kara would perform a ‘cold read’ for one minute, and her WCPM

was calculated. Next, Kara would receive corrective feedback regarding errors and phrasing

before she completed a second reading of the text. Then a third attempt was conducted. Data

from Kara’s repeated readings was graphically represented to demonstrate for the student how

the technique improves word recognition and overall speed. Over the tutoring sessions, timed

repeated reading helped Kara increase her rate of reading and confidence level. Kara typically

demonstrated an increase in words correct per minute when comparing multiple readings, and

outliers in the data were due to audio quality and lag.

Figure 1
Student Fluency Growth

Word Study
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For word study instruction, r-controlled vowels were selected as an area of instructional

focus. On the Elementary Spelling Inventory, her feature score was 1/7, which indicated that she

would benefit from explicit instruction in the skill, and the time frame for tutoring was

reasonable for addressing the feature. Instruction typically alternated between word sorts, with an

emphasis on decoding, and building words with letter tiles to improve her phoneme segmentation

and encoding skills. During the lessons, Kara sorted words by sounds and patterns, and she built

word chains with tiles to emphasize phoneme discrimination. Kara completed blind and written

word sorts, in addition to sentence dictation, to assess her mastery of word study features.

Generally, Kara performed well on the tasks, but she lacked understanding of several

prerequisite skills, such as identifying short and long vowels and understanding common

vocabulary terms related to phonics.

Reading Comprehension

The focus of the comprehension portion of the tutoring sessions centered on locating and

responding to questions in expository text. Reading passages were chosen based on fourth grade

science standards and centered around the essential question, “How do our choices affect the

world around us?” Kara read expository passages related to caring for animals and the

environment. While reading, the passages were broken into small sections. The tutors presented a

question before Kara read each section. After reading the section, Kara looked back in the

section to find text evidence that could correctly answer the presented question. During each

section, there were approximately four to five questions presented to Kara. Kara was successful

during the sessions finding text evidence related to the presented questions. She was able to

correctly identify what should be highlighted. Because of internet difficulties, the tutors

highlighted the text she communicated. However, in future sessions, we would like to see Kara
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move to practicing this strategy independently.

Writing

The writing portion of the sessions presented challenges due to the virtual platform and

unstable internet connection. However, during each session, Kara did have the opportunity to

respond to the text by either writing a sentence herself in her notebook or dictating a sentence to

the tutor to type for her. She was also able to locate and dictate information to fill in graphic

organizers during the sessions. All writing activities were in response to the reading passage used

in the comprehension portion of the lesson. In the final tutoring session, Kara was asked to

design a flyer for her classroom describing to her classmates how they can help take care of their

environment. Kara completed this after the session ended, and her mother emailed a picture of

her final product. In her writing, her spelling is strong; however, her writing lacks capitalization

and sentence variety. Kara seemed engaged in all writing tasks during the sessions. During the

pre and post writing samples, Kara also added drawings to her writing.

V. POST ASSESSMENT / PROGRESS MONITORING DATA (NOVEMBER 9, 2021)

Post Assessment Results

Qualitative Reading Inventory: Word Lists
Grade Level Percentage Scores (100%)

2nd 3rd 4th

Automatic 85 70 50
Total Correct 85 75 75
Functional Level1 INST INST FR

Qualitative Reading Inventory: Expository Level-Diagnostic Passage

Readability Level Grade 2

Passage Seasons
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Total Accuracy 92%

Total Acceptability 93%
Rate 71 wcpm
Concept Questions 56%
Comprehension 25%
Explicit 1 correct
Implicit 1 correct
Total 2/8 (25%)

Passage Level1 FR

On November 9, 2021, Kara was given several assessments to monitor her progress in

response to the intervention provided by remote tutoring. On the QRI word lists, Kara was able

to read at an instructional 3rd grade level, and she was able to automatically identify 50% of the

4th grade level words. A second expository QRI passage was also given to compare her

performance reading and comprehending nonfiction text in September and November. There is

little change in Kara’s overall performance, including her accuracy, reading rate, and

comprehension, which indicates that she would benefit from continued instruction and practice

reading nonfiction.

Teacher-Designed Spelling/Sentence Mechanics Inventory

Features Raw Score Percentile

R-influenced Vowels:
ar 2/4 50
or 4/4 100
ur 4/4 100
Beginning Capitalization 1/2 50
End Punctuation 2/2 100

Feature points 10/12 83

Words attempted 11/12 92

No. of correct words attempted 9/12 75

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For word study, the tutoring lessons targeted only r-controlled vowels, which would be

difficult to measure with the Words Their Way Elementary Spelling Inventory due to item

sampling. We designed a specialized written assessment that addressed the features from our

lessons and included dictated sentences to determine if Kara’s spelling knowledge generalized to

writing. On the initial Elementary Spelling Inventory, Kara scored 1/7 for diphthongs and r-

controlled vowels, and she was able to correctly spell 9/12 r-controlled vowels on her final

assessment, which indicates improvement in the skill.

VI. FUTURE INSTRUCTIONAL RECOMMENDATIONS

In the future, Kara would benefit from additional instruction in word knowledge, fluency,

and reading comprehension to meet grade level literacy expectations. Currently, Kara is

participating in afterschool tutoring offered by Prince Edward Elementary School to address skill

deficits, and we would recommend that she continue to receive in-person instruction. Given the

technology constraints encountered during remote learning, she will be able to participate more

fully in programs offered both during and after school.

Fluency

Kara would benefit from continuing to use timed repeated readings. Incorporating her

interests in the fluency passages would be a helpful way to keep Kara engaged with multiple

reads of the same text. She would also benefit from continued direct instruction related to

expression and attending to punctuation. Providing Kara with a visual of fluency progress

through the use of graphs or charts will help motivate and encourage Kara in her fluency efforts.

Comprehension

Kara needs additional opportunities to apply learned comprehension strategies

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independently. In a traditional environment, Kara would benefit from having a paper copy of her

reading passage for highlighting. Once this strategy is applied independently, we recommend

teaching Kara additional annotation strategies to help support her comprehension of expository

texts. We suggest future lessons continue to chunk passages into small sections before moving to

whole passages.

Continuing to build her background knowledge through science and social studies

content will be key to helping her apply her learning to what is read. Once Kara is proficient at

answering explicit questions in text, future lessons can move to working on inferential skills with

both narrative and expository texts.

Word Knowledge

To begin, Kara would benefit from a review of r-controlled vowels. After mastery is

reached, we suggest moving to inflected endings. This would provide the opportunity to move

Kara’s word knowledge learning forward while still providing circumstances for reviewing

within-word patterns as she works to apply suffixes to base words. Kara would benefit from

continued use of letter tiles and manipulatives when working on word knowledge. The use of

dictation, word hunts, and word sorts will also support her learning. We also suggest

incorporating writing through dictated sentences or student-created sentences using chosen word

study words.

Writing

Kara would benefit from explicit instruction related to the conventions of writing. An

intentional review of capitalization, punctuation, verb usage, and structure at the sentence-level

are necessary before moving to longer pieces of writing. As Kara masters sentence writing, we

suggest moving to paragraphs, including topic sentences, details, and conclusions. In conjunction
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with the nuts and bolts of writing, Kara would flourish from receiving direct instruction related

to the remaining traits of writing. Her writing samples showed creativity and engagement in

writing. Working on the ideas, sentence fluency, organization, voice, and word choice traits will

help Kara apply her creativity in a constructive way. Writing instruction can be used to help

respond and reflect on content learning, helping to build connections between content, reading,

and writing.