Group+2+Case+Study

__Mixed Methods Case Study __ Pam and Amy ===Your local elementary school wants to know the reading ability of their schools 5th grade students. In all, the principal wants to make sure his students are reading at a level to be successful in middle school. The principle asked you to propose a mixed methods study and report your results. ===

===Choose a question related to the reading ability, and design a mixed methods study which will test your question. Think about what qualitative and quantitative information you will use. Keep in mind the steps you will take to formulate, plan and implement your design. Make sure you understand your design, and be able to tell us the steps you took and why. ===

PAM AND AMY, COMBINING A TEST OF COMPREHENSION AND INTERVIEW DATA WILL GIVE YOU INTERESTING DATA TO WORK WITH. LOOK THROUGH MY COMMENTS (IN ALL CAPS) AND SEE IF THEY HELP YOU THINK THROUGH YOUR STUDY MORE FULLY. I THINK YOU CAN SEE THERE ARE MANY STEPS IN DESIGNING AND IMPLEMENTING A STUDY OF THIS NATURE. NOT THE LEAST OF WHICH IS--DO YOU HAVE THE STAFF TO PULL IT OFF. IF YOU HAVE 200 5TH GRADERS--THAT'S A LOT OF TESTS AND INTERVIEWS.

THANKS, HILLER

Ok, obviously we'll need to implement a test of reading ability at some point. We'll also need to tell who our participants are (our school's 5th grade), the setting (our school), our measurement instrument(s), and how we carried out our study. We need to make sure we include: Rationale (including our question), Method, Data Analysis, Results/Discussion. I'm thinking of a question like: What are the reading abilities of H.A. Spires Elementary School's fifth graders? NICE :-)


 * Rationale**:The principal at H.A. Spires Elementary School is interested in reading achievement of fifth graders and their preparedness for middle school reading. Our research questions are 1)What is the end of year independent reading level of the fifth grade students? 2)What reading habits are in place for each child? and 3) Do the reading habits help predict the likeliness of summer reading loss?

This is a QUAN -qual mixed methods research design. To find out the independent reading level of each student the Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark Assessment will be administered to each fifth grader..DOES THIS TEST NEED TO BE ADMINISTERED INDIVIDUALLY OR IN A GROUP? DO YOU HAVE THE PERSONNEL TO CONDUCT THE ASSESSMENTS? IS THIS DATA RELIABLE AND VALID? This will give a reading level based on decoding and comprehension ability. Students will also be interviewed to gain information about their reading habits (ie. how much they read each day, type of texts they read, etc.) This will be useful to predict the impact of summer reading loss on the students' preparedness for middle school. The Benchmark Assessment and interview will be administered by classroom teachers and reading specialists at the school.
 * Method**: Mixed (quan, qual?)

A decoding score will be calculated based on accuracy while reading text. 95% accuracy or above is the expectation to be considered proficient. Once the students is reading at 95% accuracy rate, comprehension questions are asked related to the text. The questions are developed by Fountas and Pinnell and are included in the kit. A score of 3 is considered proficient. If the students scores below a level 3, they will be assessed on a lower level test until they can read at 95% accuracy or above AND a level 3 comprehension.
 * Data Analysis**: (quantitative info)

The interviews will be coded to identify whether themes of reading habits exist: For example, quantity of reading each day, reading texts that are around the student's reading level, attitudes of reading, and reading a variety of genres. This will give insight into whether habits exist that will maintain the current end of year reading level, or whether summer reading loss will be likely. (qualitative info)

HOW WILL YOU CONDUCT THE INTERVIEWS? DO YOU HAVE THE PERSONNEL TO CONDUCT THE INTERVIEWS? HOW WILL YOU DEVELOP THE QUESTIONS? ARE YOU BASING THE QUESTIONS ON AN ESTABLISHED PROTOCOL?

HOW WILL YOU COMBINE THE QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DATA TO ANSWER YOUR PRINCIPAL'S QUESTIONS?