Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Digital Assessment Project
Digital Assessment Project
Simone Robinson
EDIT 630
DIGITAL ASSESSMENT PROJECT 2
Introduction
The 2019-2020 school year has been my first-year teaching second grade. In teaching
second grade, I have learned how important data is and that data follows each and every student.
It is almost as if each student has a number that follows them and can define who they are
academically. In order to have data for each of my students in the second grade, they had to take
the MAP test. The MAP test, also known as the Measure of Academic Progress, is a
computerized test that helps teachers, parents/guardians and administrators to improve student
learning and help making decisions to promote student growth. Due to Hurricane Dorian, my
students were only allowed to take the MAP test twice for the year instead of three times. The
test is normally taken in the Fall, Winter and Spring. My students were only able to take it in late
Fall and in Spring. Their late fall score was considered their Winter score and their Spring score
remained the same for that Spring time period. In order to prepare my students for taking the test
in the Spring to meet their Spring goals, they practiced their comprehension skills on an app new
to the district called Freckle. Freckle is supposed to be aligned with each student’s initial MAP
score and is supposed to be a tool to build their comprehension skills. It is differentiated for each
student based on their own current skill level and trying to strengthen the skills they might be
currently falling behind in based on their Winter map score. Lexia is also a tool that I use in my
completing units and mastering different levels, which all vary in mastery level. My specific
research question that I have conducted and answered is: Can Freckle ELA and Lexia effectively
To conduct my research, I used by Winter MAP scores and compared them to my Spring
MAP scores. While comparing them, I am using the amount of time my students have spent on
DIGITAL ASSESSMENT PROJECT 3
both Freckle ELA app and Lexia correlating the time spent from November to February with the
scores. I am going to take my low to mid low-level students are using their Lexia usages and
compare it to their Spring MAP scores. I am going to take my mid-high to high level students
and using their Freckle ELA usage and compare it to their Spring MAP scores. I was also going
to use the ELA unit tests to compare with the scores as well, however, we do not record those
scores in PowerSchools because they are not an actual grade. My gradebook has been left at
work, where we are not allowed to go anywhere in the building except to receive student work. I
Review of Literature
The first article I began to review was “Introducing an iPad app into literacy instruction for
struggling readers: Teacher perceptions and student outcomes”. One of the questions studied
was " Do students in Reading Recovery who are taught with the iPad LetterWorks app have
significantly greater scores on tasks closely related to alphabetics, namely, hearing and recording
sounds in words, letter identification and DIBELS’ letter naming fluency, on average, than
control students who are not exposed to the application?" The study was done amongst six and
seven-year old’s in high poverty level schools and with students who were also in Reading
Recovery classes. Results showed that students who used the LetterWorks recognition app
scored significantly higher at the end of the study when it came to letter and sound recognition
but there was not much greater difference in their reading and work recognition ability.
The second article I found to review was “Improving Early Reading Skills in Young
Children Through an iPad App: Small-Group Instruction and Observational Learning”. One
of the questions studied was "Will a research developed app for the iPad improve phonological
awareness skills of young children with mild developmental delays in a small group?" Results at
DIGITAL ASSESSMENT PROJECT 4
the end of the study showed that students tested in this Southwestern school that all children
improved their on-target performance but also were able to learn from their peers through
observation of them using the app within the same small group as them.
Kindergarteners”. One of the research questions discussed in the journal article was "Does
participating in Core5 lead to yearly gains on a standardized reading test for elementary school
students from a low-SES background?" This was a three-year longitudinal study that tracked the
progress of 68 kindergarten students. Each school year students made major gains in their
standardized testing but lost those gains due to the "summer slide" each year. 90% of students
who scored below average during kindergarten were now average and above average when they
The fourth article I reviewed was “Can educational technology effectively differentiate
instruction for reader profiles?” The question discussed in the article and studied was "Can
educational technology effectively differentiate instruction for reader profiles?" Students in this
study were third-grade students who were shifting from learning to read to reading to learn.
Depending on each student's skill level is how long they got on each week. Students were able to
improve in each tier such as comprehension, fluency, word recognition etc. However, students
The final article I reviewed for my research was “A Comparison Study of the
Effectiveness of the Lexia Reading Programme”. The question studied and discussed in the
article was "Can Lexia be an effective reading program"? 37 students at a primary school were
DIGITAL ASSESSMENT PROJECT 5
used to evaluate if Lexia was effective for them through the reading process. All students tested
were from different grades, but were all students considered to be "at-risk". They were to be on
Lexia for 100 minutes per week for a single school term. It was found that Lexia had very
positive effects on the students who used it for a longer period of time each week, than those
COVID-19, I am unable to see if the benefits of literacy-based apps made a complete difference
in the 180 days of school and if they would have positively affected the scores of comprehension
Methodology
I designed my study to have my students use Freckle or Lexia daily for 30-40 minutes
during Workstations each day before their Spring MAP test in March. They were to also take the
Imagine It unit posttests every 6 weeks until up their MAP testing. I also planned to create a
survey for my students to fill out about either Freckle or Lexia and how they think it affects their
learning. Due to COVID-19, I was unable to conduct this survey to include information from my
22 students. Also, I was unable to use my unit tests as a piece of data because we are not allowed
to go back in our rooms for anything until it is time to pack up for next year.
Analysis
The first step in analyzing data was to compare the Winter MAP scores to the Spring
MAP scores. This first data analysis helps me to see if my students even grew from October to
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March. Below is a chart that represents the MAP data from October to March to see if there was
growth in between that time period. This map will score the percentage of students who met their
90
78
80
70
60
50 46
40
30
20
10
0
October March
Winter Spring
In October I only had 46% of my students meet their Reading MAP goals for Winter. At
this time, my students were just figuring out how to use Lexia and Freckle during Workstation
rotations. Therefore, they were not on these apps as much. In March, 78% of my students met
their reading MAP goal for the Spring. By this time, my students were on Lexia and Freckle
Lexia Usage
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
October November December January February March
Column1 Column2
This chart describes the Lexia usage of my students from October to February. As
you can see, my students in October went from 25% to 75% in February of usage on Lexia.
Freckle Usage
25%
75%
44%
55%
63%
Between October and February, there was a 50% increase of usage. Students were only
on 25% in the month of October. In February, a month before the MAP test, students were on
Student A 17 40%
Student B 17 63%
Student C 17 47%
Student D 17 63%
Student E 17 47%
Student F 17 51%
Student G 17 64%
This table shows the weeks of usage in the classroom between October to February. This data is
driven from my students who are at a Lower to Mid-Lower level based on MAP testing scores
from October. Between this time period, out of the 7 students in these two groups, 57% were
meeting their weekly usage. The students who are below 50% are ESOL students who leave
during Workstations to go to their group. They do not have as much time on Lexia, than my
students who remain in the classroom for Workstations every day for 20 minutes on technology.
DIGITAL ASSESSMENT PROJECT 9
Student A 17 55%
Student B 17 60%
Student C 17 41%
Student D 17 65%
Student E 17 88%
Student F 17 78%
Student G 17 90%
Student H 17 80%
Student I 17 40%
Student J 17 84%
Student K 17 38%
This table has data based on my students who are on a Mid-High to High level group. The data
shows students who were in these two groups who have used the Freckle app from October to
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February and their amount of usage in percentage. Out of these 11 students, 9 were on more than
• For my two remaining students, who are in the On-Grade level group, were both over
Findings
Based on COVID-19, I was unable to compare my MAP data with Imagine Unit tests to
see if there was any correlation of the unit tests improving my students MAP scores. From my
MAP scores from October and March, there was a 32% increase in my students’ scores. Based
on the data from both Lexia and the Freckle ELA app, I do believe that my students benefit from
using these apps during the months in between. In October, there was only a 25% amount of
usage in both Lexia and Freckle. In February, there was a 75% amount of usage for both apps.
The amount of usage with both apps did the same with the Spring MAP scores.
The study conducted by Ness, Couperus and Willey (2013) evaluated that it was found
that Lexia had very positive effects on the students who used the app for longer periods of time
rather than students who did not. With my class, I believe that my students that did not use Lexia
over 50% of the time each month, had a lower MAP score and did not meet their goal rather than
their classmates who did. Chai’s study (2017) researched whether or not a research developed
app for the iPad improved phonological awareness skills of young children with mild
developmental delays in a small group. I researched more in depth the usage of my higher-level
students when it came to Freckle ELA. However, I find that even my lower students have
DIGITAL ASSESSMENT PROJECT 11
Overall, these apps did increase the Spring MAP testing scores of my students, along
with direct instruction in the classroom. Both Lexia and Freckle are designed to work on
standards that my students are seeing on MAP testing, based on their own RIT level. Being on
these apps give my students one-on-one direct practice and reinforcement that they need based
on their personal needs. I was very pleased with the results from both apps as well as my testing
scores. Going forward into the new school year, I definitely want to make being on Lexia and
Freckle a major priority during Workstations. I want to make both my students and myself more
accountable from being on these apps at the appropriate time with the respectable amount of
References
D’Agostino, J. V., Rodgers, E., Harmey, S., & Brownfield, K. (2016). Introducing an iPad app
into literacy instruction for struggling readers: Teacher perceptions and student
Chai, Z. (2017). Improving Early Reading Skills in Young Children Through an iPad App:
Macaruso, P., Wilkes, S., Franzén, S., & Schechter, R. (2019). Three-Year Longitudinal Study:
Baron, L. S., Hogan, T. P., Schechter, R. L., Hook, P. E., & Brooke, E. C. (2019). Can
Ness, M., Couperus, J., & Willey, M. (2013). A Comparison Study of the Effectiveness of the