Group+4+Case+Study

__Mixed Methods Case Study __
Meghan, Nicole and Christine ===Your local elementary school wants to know the reading ability of their schools 5th grade students. In all, the principle 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. ===

MEGHAN, NICOLE, AND CHRISTINE, I LIKE YOUR REASONING ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN READING SCORES AND ATTITUDE SCORES.ALSO, YOU CAN OBTAIN OTHER FACTORS THAT MIGHT BE CONTRIBUTING TO PERFORMANCE THROUGH YOUR INTERVIEWS. OBSERVATIONS OF THE STUDENTS IN CLASS WOULD ALSO BE ANOTHER SOURCE OF DATA. THIS OF COURSE WOULD REQUIRE STAFF TO PULL OFF. READ THROUGH MY COMMENTS IN ALL CAPS BELOW AND SEE IF THEY MAKE SENSE. WE CAN DISCUSS FURTHER IN CLASS.

THANKS, HILLER

Research Question(s): 1. What are 5th grade students’ attitudes towards reading? 2. Are 5th graders at No Name Elementary School reading at grade level? 3. Are 5th grade student attitudes towards reading correlated with their reading achievement (lexile) scores? 4. In what ways do attitudes and lexile levels change over the course of a school year? 5. What are the experiences of high and low readers in 5th grade at No Name Elementary School?

Rationale: The principal at No Name Elementary School wants to be sure that 5th grade students are reading on grade level. He feels that students’ attitudes about reading may have an impact on their reading ability; therefore, this requires that a student survey be administered in order to gather data along with reading achievement pre- and post-tests for quantitative data analysis. In addition, the students with the highest and lowest lexile scores (5 each) will be interviewed throughout the school year along with their teachers and parents to create mini-case studies and to determine if there are any other variables that may be related to reading achievement.

Design Model: QUAN(qual)

Method for implementation: 1. At the beginning of the school year, we will administer a Garfield attitude assessment survey to determine students attitudes towards reading. DOES THE ASSESSMENT FIT 5TH GRADE STUDENTS? 2. At this time, we will also administer a reading achievement pre-test designed to give a lexile score equivalency. This transformed lexile score will be utilized to determine on which grade level students are reading. WHAT READING ACHIEVEMENT TEST WILL YOU GIVE? 3. After we have a lexile score for all of the 5th grade students, we will determine if they are reading above, at, or below grade level. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">4. Throughout the course of the school year students with the lowest and highest pre-test lexile scores (5 each) will be interviewed along with parents and teachers to document their progress as well as to determine if there are any other factors besides attitude that may be influencing reading achievement. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">5. Upon completion of the school year, students will again take the reading achievement test as a post-test. These scores will again be transformed to represent lexile scores in order to determine on which grade level students are reading.ARE YOU LOOKING AT GAIN SCORES? IF NOT, WHY DID YOU NEED TO DO PRE/POST TESTS? <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">6. Once we have determined a final lexile score for fifth grade students, we will analyze these results to determine correlation with the student attitude survey results.WHAT IS YOUR HYPOTHESIS ABOUT THE CORRELATION?

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Data Analysis: <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Pearson’s r will be used to determine if there is a correlation between lexile scores and student attitudes toward reading. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Interview data on each child will be combined to present mini-case studies of each child’s reading over the course of the school year to determine what hindered and propelled student growth. WHAT DATA DO YOU HOPE TO OBTAIN FROM INTERVIEWS? DO YOU HAVE THE STAFF TO INTERVIEW ALL STUDENTS?

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Results/Discussion: We are uncertain of the results. We are hypothesizing that lexile scores and attitude are positively correlated. We are also hoping that with the case studies we can determine the school, home, and child factors that influence reading growth or stagnancy. GOOD PLAN.