ENGL K - Phonics for Spelling and College Reading Development - Stage 5 - Jen Levinson (Elizabeth Zarubin)

Assessment

Assessment Methods

Pre & post surveys or tests

Assessment DescriptionThe California Phonics Survey (CPS) is a standardized multiple choice test that assesses phonics knowledge and skill (i.e., ability to "sound out" words).
Learning OutcomesA2. Recognize and sound out unfamiliar words while reading by using knowledge of phonics.
Number of Sections~2
Number of Instructors1
Number of Students~40

Data Analysis

Data Shared With
  • Instructors of the same course (at CCSF)
  • Faculty and staff within our department
Data Sharing Methods

Face-to-face meetings

Data SummaryBecause we haven’t had a chance to report on it yet, we’d like to take this opportunity to explain some of the context around English K and activities we’ve completed in recent years in our efforts towards continuous quality improvement.

Students identified by the English Placement Test as having the lowest skills take a required reading course called English L that focuses on reading comprehension. English K, a phonics course, has been a suggested elective for students who take English L. In 2008, approximately 120-180 students per semester were enrolling in English K.

English K has been offered at CCSF for at least 40 years. Up until 2008, the course had changed very little. There was only one permissible text, a book authored by a former Department Chair.

In Spring 2008, a faculty committee formed to look at the needs of students who placed into English L and K and to consider how we might improve both courses to better serve students’ needs. Faculty had been talking about completely rethinking English K, the pass rates for which were between 40-60% (CCSF website, Office of Research, Planning, and Grants, 2009). Some instructors questioned whether we should offer a phonics course at all. Others suggested we explore alternative approaches to phonics instruction. At the time, many of the English Basic Skills faculty were being trained in Reading Apprenticeship. We discussed how we might dovetail phonics instruction in English K with the reading comprehension strategies taught in English L and align the pedagogy in both classes more closely with the Reading Apprenticeship approach.

In Fall 2008, one instructor piloted some materials in her classes from the Reading Apprenticeship-recommended series entitled Words Their Way: A Word Study Approach to Phonics, Vocabulary, and Spelling Development. In order to assess the students’ orthographic knowledge, the Elementary Spelling Inventory was administered at the beginning of the semester in three sections of English K. The data were compiled into classroom composite charts to help determine the distribution of students across developmental levels and their instructional needs. Simultaneously, a bibliography of current research was compiled and shared with English K and L instructors. The data from the spelling inventories was interpreted in the context of current research and practices in the discipline and confirmed a need for phonics instruction and suggested that students in English K would benefit from an approach that followed a developmental sequence and engaged students in the study of word patterns in the context of authentic reading assignments. Since the course textbook did not accomplish these goals, alternative texts were researched and reviewed by the committee.

The course outline was revised in 2009 in response to this assessment data, the Reading Apprenticeship pedagogy, and the list of alternative textbooks identified through research. Abandoning the traditional drill-based textbook for more student-centered, developmentally-sequenced materials helped bring English K into alignment pedagogically with the rest of the Department.

Our program continues to move forward. Over the last few semesters, we’ve focused much of our energy and resources on acceleration. Given this changing context, English K will again need to be realigned with these new Departmental trends and priorities to ensure that we’re meeting students’ needs.
Analysis SummarySee 6c.
Next Steps PlannedNo answer
Learning OutcomesNo answer

Tentative Future Plans

TermFall 2013
Activities
  • Assessment (measurement) of outcomes
  • Analysis and discussion of assessment data and next steps
  • Departmental discussion of English K's current role in the course sequence and the Department “roadmap”
More DetailsWe plan to administer the California Phonics Survey again in Fall 2013 and hold an English K level meeting to discuss the data from Spring 2013 in order to determine whether the course is still meeting the needs of students. There also needs to be a conversation with the Department to consider the current role of English K within the program as a whole.

SLO Details Storage Location

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