College of Education

Wolfpack Readers Program

Reader Profile Pre-Tutoring Report
Reader: Katrina F. Examiners:
(Pseudonym) Assessments administered by Dennis Davis
Grade: 6th and Courtney Samulson
Results and interpretations completed by:
Corrie Dobis and Yan Zhou

Date of Assessments: 1/11/2020 Date of Report: 1/21/2020

This report was completed by graduate students in the College of Education at NC State
University. The report is primarily intended to inform the intensified reading instruction
provided in the Wolfpack Readers program at the NC State Literacy Space. You can find more
information about this program at: https://sites.ced.ncsu.edu/the-literacy-space. Questions about
this report or the Wolfpack Readers program can be directed to Dr. Dennis Davis at
[email protected].

Assessments

1. Informal Decoding Inventory

The Informal Decoding Inventory (McKenna & Stahl, 2015) is an assessment of
decoding skills, in the sequential order in which these patterns are typically learned. Part 1
focuses on one-syllable words and Part 2 on two-syllable words. Each section includes real
words and nonsense words. A student demonstrates mastery of a section by correctly reading at
least 8 of the real words and 7 of the nonsense words. The assessment is discontinued once the
teacher identifies a few key areas where mastery is not achieved. Students are not asked to
complete Part 2 until they have mastered or nearly mastered all of Part 1.

The results of the inventory are as follows:

Part 1 Real words Nonsense words Mastery yes/no

Short Vowels 7/10 6 /10 No

Consonant Blends and 5/10 3/10 No

Digraphs

R-Controlled Vowel /10 /10 * did not assess

Patterns

Vowel-Consonant-e /10 /10 * did not assess

 Vowel Teams /10 /10 * did not assess

Data Interpretation:
After reviewing the data, Katrina seems to be confident in sounding out words with the
short - a, -o, and - u vowel sounds. She would benefit from instruction that focuses on reading
words with the short -e and - i vowel sounds. Once she has mastered all of these short vowel
sounds, Katrina will be able to work towards reading words with consonant blends and digraphs
such as -bl, -th, -st, and -ck. Consonant blends and digraphs are two letters that create one sound
when read together.

2. Placement Inventory for Wolfpack Readers Decoding Instruction

Based on the results of the Informal Decoding Inventory, above, Katrina was
administered a placement test to determine which specific sound-spelling patterns should be
targeted for instruction. The inventory includes words corresponding to many of the common
patterns found in English words. A child has to read at least 8 words correctly (out of 10) and
effortlessly to master a pattern.

The results of this placement test are as follows:

Pattern Example of the # of words read Mastery (yes

pattern correctly (out of or no)
10)

1.01 Short A cat 6/10 No

1.02 Short I kid 9 /10 Yes

1.03 Short O lock 3 /10 No

1.04 Short E web 3 /10 No

1.05 Short U fun 3 /10 No

1.06 Short A (co-articulated lamp 4 /10 No

with m or n)

1.07 Short E (co-articulated hem 5 /10 No

with m and n)

1.08 Short E (co-articulated bell 3 /10 No

with l as in -elf, -elp)
 1.09 Short I (co-articulated link 5 /10 No
with n as in -ink and -ing)

1.10 -ch much 2 /10 No

1.11 -th with 4 /10 No

1.12 -sh show 3 /10 No

1.13 -ck vack 3 /10 No

Data Interpretation:
After reviewing the data from this assessment, Katrina would most benefit from instruction that
focuses on short - u , short -e and short - o sounds. In this particular assessment, she has shown
consistency in identifying the short -i sound in real and made-up English language words.

3. Elementary Spelling Inventory

Authors Bear, Invernizzi, Templeton, & Johnston (2016) designed the Elementary
Spelling Inventory as an assessment that could be administered to a student in order to find their
developmental spelling stage. The word list continues to progress in levels of difficulty in order
of early, middle, to late in each stage. These progressions begin at the emergent stage and end at
the derivational relations stage. By giving a student the qualitative spelling inventory, an
instructor can see what letter and word patterns a student needs further instruction with, in their
reading and writing practices.
The results are as follows:

Features Total Correct: Mastery

(Yes / No)

Initial/Final Consonants 6/7 Yes

Short Vowels 4/5 Yes

Digraphs 4/6 No

Blends 6/7 Yes

Long Vowels 1/5 No

Other Vowels 1/7 No

 Inflected Endings 0/5 No

Syllable Junctures 0/5 No

Unaccented Final Syllables 0/5 No

Harder Suffixes 0/5 No

Bases or Roots 0/5 No

Total Feature Points 22/62

Total Words Spelled 3/25

Correctly

Letter-Name Stage
Spelling Stage:

Data Interpretation:
Katrina has mastered the emergent stage of spelling, and is able to successfully identify
key sounds for her consonant letters. She has demonstrated her ability to identify short vowel
sounds in the letter-name stage but would benefit from instruction beginning with all long vowel
sounds. Additionally, Katrina will benefit from support in the letter-name spelling stage to
master her knowledge of consonant digraphs and blends.

4. Qualitative Reading Inventory

The Qualitative Reading Inventory (QRI-6; Leslie & Caldwell, 2017) is an informal
reading inventory used to estimate the child’s instructional reading level. The child is presented
with a series of texts, increasing in difficulty. The assessment continues until the examiner
identifies the highest level at which the child meets the instructional level criteria. The
instructional level is defined as the highest grade level at which the child can successfully read
with sufficient word reading and comprehension accuracy to meaningfully learn from the text.

The results of the QRI are as follows:

Passage Word Recognition Level Comprehension Level (total

Name/Level (percent of words read correct/total # of questions)
correctly)

Title: “A Night in 81 % 67 %
 the City” Underline one: Underline one:
QRI grade level: Frustrational (89%-) Frustrational (69%-)
Primer (Early 1st Instructional (90%-97%) Instructional (70%-89%)
grade) Independent (98%+) Independent (90%+)

Title: “Spring and 98% 100%

Fall” Underline one: Underline one:
QRI grade level:Pre- Frustrational (89%-) Frustrational (69%-)
Primer Instructional (90%-97%) Instructional (70%-89%)
(Kindergarten) Independent (98%+) Independent (90%+)

Data Interpretation:
After reviewing this assessment, Katrina’s estimated instructional reading level (the highest level
at which the text is instructional for the reader in both word recognition and comprehension) is
between the Kindergarten and 1st grade level. After reading the passage titled “A Night in the
City”, Katrina was able to retell many of the key events in the story and answer comprehension
questions but her word recognition accuracy was not as consistent. Katrina was able to self-
correct some words while reading aloud on both given passages, which helped her gain more
meaning from the text and display her knowledge on the comprehension questions. Katrina’s
comprehension of both texts seemed consistent, but the increase in text level presented some
challenges with word recognition. Katrina substituted words in the text for those that began with
the same beginning letter sounds, but did not create a similar meaning in the sentence.

5. Oral Reading Fluency

Reading fluency is characterized by three criteria: accuracy, rate, and expression. The
reader’s fluency was assessed using the two leveled QRI texts used to find her best instructional
level of reading. Accuracy was scored using the QRI guidelines. We scored reading rate using
the words correct per minute (WCPM) score, which was interpreted using published oral reading
fluency norms (Hasbrouk & Tindal, 2017). In order to score aspects of fluency related to
expressive reading, we used the Multidimensional Fluency Scale (Zutell & Rasinksi, 1991;
adapted by McKenna & Stahl, 2015).

Text 1: QRI Reading Passage

 Passage Name / A Night in the Fluency Rubric Ratings
grade level City/Primer
Expression and 3/4
Volume
Words Correct 24 words Phrasing 2/4
Per Minute
Smoothness 2/4
Word 81 %
Recognition Pace 1/4
Accuracy Level
Total Score on 8/16
Multidimensional
Fluency Rubric

Text 2: QRI Reading Passage

 Passage Name / Spring & Fall/ Fluency Rubric Ratings
grade level Pre-Primer
Expression and 3/4
Volume
Words Correct 52 words Phrasing 3/4
Per Minute
Smoothness 2/4
Word 98% %
Recognition Pace 3/4
Accuracy Level
Total Score on 11/16
Multidimensional
Fluency Rubric

Data Interpretation:
According to oral reading fluency norms, a student in the middle of 6th grade should be
able to accurately read 145 words correctly per minute. Katrina does not currently meet this
criterion. She is currently reading 24 words correct per minute in texts at the primer grade level
and 52 words correct per minute in texts at the pre-primer grade level. When reviewing the oral
reading fluency norms chart (Hasbrouk & Tindal, 2017), Katrina is reading in the 10th percentile
for the 6th grade level. She is reading with good expression and volume when she reads the pre-
primer level text. When decoding words Katrina often has to recognize a letter for a long time
before she pronounces the correct sound.

6. Morphology
We administered the derivational morphology decomposition task (Kieffer & Lesaux,
2008) to assess the student’s ability to use common word endings to transform words. This
serves as a measure of morphology and vocabulary depth and helps identify students who need
additional support with word endings or language structure. Students are given a word and asked
to provide the correct form of the word to complete a sentence. For example, when given the
word driver, the student has to complete the sentence: Children are too young to ____. The
correct answer for this item is drive. The assessment is administered verbally and does not
require the child to write the words.

Results are as follows:

Number of items answered correctly 13 / 25 = 52%
Data Interpretation:
Katrina demonstrates a need for additional support with word endings and word structure as a
component of her vocabulary instruction. She needs to develop derivational morphological
awareness in listening and speaking through phonological training to broaden her vocabulary and
to improve her reading comprehension performance.

7. Diagnostic Assessments of Reading (DAR-2)

The DAR-2 (Roswell, Chall, Curtis, & Kearns, 2005) is a comprehensive assessment of
the major reading skills needed for literacy success. On the various subtests (which include
phonological awareness, word recognition, oral reading, comprehension, spelling, and
vocabulary), the child is asked to read words, short leveled texts, and answer questions that
increase in difficulty. The assessment is used to pinpoint areas of mastery and difficulty for the
reader and to complement the findings from the other assessments reported above. Your child
completed the subtests listed below in the results table.

Skill area Highest level of mastery

Word recognition Level 1-2

Oral reading accuracy Level 1

Silent reading comprehension Level 0

Word analysis Mastered (yes/no)

Consonant sounds Yes

Consonant blends Yes

Short vowel sounds Yes

Rule of silent e Yes

Vowel Digraphs No

Data Interpretation:
Based on the data presented, Katrina demonstrated mastery knowledge in analyzing words with
consonant sounds, blends, short vowel sounds, and words with a silent -e. Katrina needs
continued support with her word recognition, oral reading accuracy, and silent comprehension
skills.
 Summary of Assessment Results

Katrina’s estimated instructional reading level is between Kindergarten and 1st grade,
according to her QRI assessment. She is needing support with her word recognition skills but at
times is able to recognize some of her short vowel sounds such as -i and -u, along with her
consonant letters. After analyzing the Placement Inventory for Wolfpack Readers, we found that
Katrina would benefit from instruction that supports her word recognition abilities with vowels
such as -e & -o to improve her oral reading fluency. When orally reading a pre-primer
(Kindergarten level) text, she is able to confidently read with expression and volume based on
the Multidimensional Fluency Scale. She has mastered the emergent stage of spelling because
she is able to successfully identify her consonant letters. Katrina is therefore at the letter-name
stage for spelling and would benefit from continuing her work with short vowel sounds. This
would allow her to move towards working with digraphs such as -ch and -ck. When Katrina
reads and listens to academic vocabulary she can understand the meanings of the words, but
needs help developing skills in derivational morphological awareness. Based on the Diagnostic
Assessments of Reading (DAR-2), Katrina’s silent reading comprehension abilities are currently
at a Kindergarten level. By giving Katrina more exposure to specific sound-spelling patterns
(mentioned above), she would be able to grow in her abilities to read higher grade level texts.
Katrina shows great interest in reading and her enthusiasm to learn is apparent!

Instructional Recommendations

Discovery Reading
During the assessment session, Katrina indicated an interest in the topic titled: Overcoming
Bullying. She will read books, websites, and other authentic texts on this topic with instructional
support from a tutor. Here is a quick paragraph explaining this topic that Katrina has chosen to
learn about!

Have you ever seen someone bully someone else? Have you ever bullied
someone? Have you ever been bullied? Bullying is a common problem that many
children experience in school or in their communities. Bullies make people feel
unsafe and uncomfortable. If you have ever experienced bullying, you know it can
be tough to find a solution. Should you tell a teacher? Ignore it? Talk to a friend?
Find ways to avoid the person? These are important questions that children should
think about so they can make a difference in their communities. In this unit, you
will read and learn about how children have confronted bullying, different ideas
for why bullies choose to bully, and strategies for how to make your community a
bully-free zone.
Depending on the difficulty of the text being read, the tutor will use a variety of reading scaffolds
to help Katrina successfully comprehend and learn new information from these texts, including
read alouds, echo reading, repeated reading, and choral reading. The text will be broken down
into short chunks (e.g., 1-2 paragraphs). After each chunk is read, the tutor and reader will
engage in a structured discussion using Reciprocal Teaching (Palincsar & Brown, 1984), a
research-based method for text-based discussion that focuses on helping children learn to
monitor and repair comprehension difficulties. For each chunk of text, the tutor and reader will
take turns doing the following: 1) paraphrasing what they learned in their own words; 2) asking
each other questions about the text; 3) monitoring and repairing their understanding of
challenging concepts or ideas; and 4) predicting what they might learn in the next chunk. These
are strategies that Katrina will learn to use with increasing independence during the 10-week
session. Katrina will keep an inquiry journal where she will write about what she learns from
each text. Based on these notes, Katrina will give a short informal presentation on the last night
of tutoring, explaining what she learned about Overcoming Bullying.

Teach a Teacher
Katrina will write about the new ideas she has learned from the books read during the Discovery
Reading segment (above). The tutor will use a variety of scaffolds to help her plan and organize
short expository texts, using consistent text structures, to communicate new knowledge to the
other teachers in the program.

Reading with Expression

In this segment, Katrina will read short texts on the topic of Overcoming Bullying. These leveled
texts provide practice with high-accuracy reading of controlled texts. The tutors will use a
repeated reading approach (McKenna & Stahl, 2015) that consists of the following flexible steps:
1) the reader reads a new text with minimal assistance (a “cold” read); 2) the tutor provides
feedback on the accuracy and expression of the child’s reading (e.g., helps with any words that
were misread; models a few sentences that were challenging); 3) the tutor and reader
collaboratively set a goal for the next reading of the text (i.e., increase number of words,
accuracy, and expression); and 4) the reader re-reads the text, trying to incorporate the tutor’s
feedback. This cycle continues multiple times until the reader is able to comfortably read the text
with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression. The tutor will use various techniques to support
the student’s fluent reading and to provide explicit feedback on word reading accuracy, including
echo reading, choral reading, alternated reading, and modeling of code-based word attack
strategies.
Word Workshop
Using an explicit and systematic approach to decoding and encoding (spelling) instruction,
Katrina will practice the following sound-spelling patterns in this segment:
● Short - e sound , & short -o
● Digraphs such as - ch & -ck

She will learn these patterns to mastery using an approach that includes four parts: 1) Using letter
tiles to build, manipulate and analyze words that include these patterns; 2) sorting words based
on their sounds and spellings; 3) writing words; 4) and reading lists of words that represent the
patterns being studied. These activities are designed to promote the development of high-quality
lexical representations (memory) of words that include these target spelling patterns so that
Katrina can read them with automaticity in texts and spell them correctly and efficiently in her
own writing.

Breaking Words
The tutor will help Katrina read and write complex words (with two or more syllables) by
analyzing their structure through a process of graphosyllabic analysis (Bhattacharya & Ehri,
2004). This includes breaking multisyllabic words into pronounceable parts by learning about
syllable types. This also includes learning to recognize common prefixes and suffixes and using
this knowledge to break apart and understand multisyllabic words (Rasinski et al., 2011). She
will learn about these word parts while also learning to analyze academic words found in texts on
the selected inquiry topic.

References

Bear, D.R., Invernizzi, M., Templeton, S., & Johnston, F. (2016). Words their way: Word study
for phonics, vocabulary, and spelling instruction. Boston, MA: Pearson.

Bhattacharya, A., & Ehri, L. C. (2004). Graphosyllabic analysis helps adolescent struggling
readers read and spell words. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 37(4), 331-348.

Cooter, R.B., Flynt, E.S., & Cooter, K.S. (2013). The Flynt/Cooter comprehensive reading
inventory-2. Boston, MA: Pearson.

Hasbrouck, J. & Tindal, G. (2017). An update to compiled ORF norms (Technical Report No.
1702). Eugene, OR, Behavioral Research and Teaching, University of Oregon.
Kieffer, M. J., & Lesaux, N. K. (2008). The role of derivational morphology in the reading
comprehension of Spanish-speaking English language learners. Reading and Writing,
21(8), 783-804.
Leslie, L., & Caldwell, J.S. (2017). Qualitative reading inventory-6. Boston, MA: Pearson.

McKenna, M.C., & Stahl, K.A.D. (2015). Assessment for reading instruction (3rd edition).
Guilford: New York.

Palincsar, A.S., & Brown, A.L. (1984). Reciprocal teaching of comprehension-fostering and
comprehension-monitoring activities. Cognition and Instruction, 1(2), 117-175.

Rasinski, T. V., Padak, N., Newton, J., & Newton, E. (2011). The Latin–Greek Connection. The
Reading Teacher, 65(2), 133-141.

Roswell, F. G., Chall. J. S., Curtis, M. E., & Kearns G. (2005). Diagnostic Assessments of
Reading (DAR)(2nd ed.). Itasca, IL: Riverside Publishing.

Zutell, J., & Rasinski, T. V. (1991). Training teachers to attend to their students’ oral reading
fluency. Theory Into Practice, 30(3), 211-217.