My students love when they set short-term goals.  They love the thrill of the race. Of beating themselves. Of winning. These goals come from their IEP goals--broken down to a small chunk and most importantly student created. I also do six to eight weeks. It really depends on when our breaks are. This first one is 6 weeks and is rapidly coming to a close.

I started collecting the end of intervention data to review. I want to give you a closer look as to what I do and the decisions I make for the next intervention.



Step 1: Collate your data

If you remember, I get all the data for my interventions on a Google Sheet. (To catch how I set up this intervention click here) I start by going back to my original data and updating it with the new data.

As you can see, I added three new pieces of data, student's new baseline, the new gap, and the raw data change from the baseline.

In this case, I also color-coded the gap information. I did this to better see where the new gaps are and to see how well this intervention worked in closing those gaps.


Each student has their own graph. I also make sure I have up to date graph information.

Each graph has a trendline. By trendlines, I can see who over is activity closing their gaps faster than the goal line.

With these two pieces of data, I can make decisions about next steps.



Step 2: I've Got My Data--Now What

ALWAYS--Stick to FACT based statements, when talking about data. This helps me avoid student specific problems and opinions. (ie; they are slow, they are not working hard etc.)

*Students 1, 2, & 5 have gaps larger than 6.
*Students 1 & 2 had single-digit growth.
*Students 3, 4, 5, 6 had double-digit growth
*Everyone had growth.
*Average growth was 45 up from 32.




The Graphs:

*I look for trends: where is the score is (blue line) related to the trendline (pink line) and the Goal Line (yellow line).

I pay close attention to where these lines meet the Goal (red line). Is it before Week 19 or after?

*This matters, when determining if they are closing their gaps fast enough.

*Remember, the point is to move students more than a year. How long it may take them to close gaps is key to thinking about whether the intervention was successful for the student.


With this intervention, 3 students had great success, 2 students didn't, and 1 who it was moderately successful for.

Step 3: Analyze the Root Cause
(It takes at least five WHYs to get to a root cause) (You may find you need more information like a reading level, fluency data, etc. BUT stick to the FACTS.)




WHY: Student's need more encounters with sight words
WHY: Student's have the easy sight words but don't know what to do with the more difficult ones
WHY: Students are not connecting sight words from text to text
WHY: Sight word knowledge is not carrying over to Grade level Oral Reading Fluency
WHY: Students need more practice besides decodable repeated readings, individual flashcard rings, and instructional book reading.

Analysis:
*Keep intervention structure
*Change up: add extra practice to build the first 50 words
*Keep intervention cycle to 4 weeks
*Ensure Reading Mastery lessons are being completed with fidelity!

To Do over the next 4 weeks:
*Give all students a Phonics screener
*Complete an Error Analysis on Oral Reading Fluency

The why's are always hard but it helps you drill down to what needs to be changed. You also see--I have a list of things I need to do before the next cycle is over. These ideas fell out as I looked at the data--the big wondering "Is this a phonics thing?" Well, I don't have the right data to answer that question. If you find this to be your problem--then figure out your timeline to get the information you need and get it. But don't let it hold you up!! If you missed how I created this intervention you can check it out here.

Here is what the next four weeks of Sight Word Intervention:
*I will add an additional 4 weeks.
*I will add basic sight word books for the 3 students who made little growth.
*I will add exposure to more difficult sight words to all students based on the data from the grade level reading fluency.
*I will have a teammate come and observe a Reading Mastery lesson to ensure fidelity.

I hope you see how I work through my data at the end of an intervention and make changes to support students for the next four weeks. Send a shoutout on how your interventions are going and share any questions.

Chat Soon,