Complete Project

Improving Text-Dependent Analysis Skills in Sixth Grade With Cross-Curricular Exposure
By
Dylan K. Kendall
SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PROJECT
Presented to the Graduate Faculty of
Doane University
In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements
For the Master of Education Degree
In
Educational Leadership
Under the Supervision of Deb Stuto, M.Ed
Lincoln, Nebraska
May 2017
Improving Text-Dependent Analysis Skills in Sixth Grade With Cross-Curricular Exposure
Dylan K. Kendall
Norris Middle School
Advisor: Deb Stuto
With high standards, high stakes testing, and complex curriculum, struggling writing
students will continue to fall behind and not be able to meet grade level requirements. The
newest assessment in Nebraska focuses on Text-Dependent Analysis skills, which can be
challenging for some students. The major questions that were asked were: What specific
research-based strategies or interventions are available that have the greatest effect on students
understanding text-dependent analysis? What resources are available for Science and Social
Studies for text-dependent assessments? How will the project team track data?
The team chose the RACES Strategy (Island Trees Union Free School District. (2014).
Leemore, CA) as the intervention. The team created an intervention group consisting of eight
students with a variety of writing skills. These students all shared the same core teachers.
Through analysis of specific classroom assessments, this group showed growth throughout the
project duration. The implementation resulted in a positive gain in student achievement, but
additional refinement and research is needed to verify the results. This project affected teacher
instructional practice positively. Increased collaboration and research by all project team
members helped enhance instructional practices and strategies used within this project timeline.
Students need a lot of practice and feedback to continue to grow and develop their
writing skills. The recommendations include more cross-curricular writing activities and solid
scaffolding of writing instruction K-12.
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Acknowledgments
This project was made possible by the fantastic school improvement project team and the
many other people in my life who supported this journey. Thank you to Patty Herrman, Bryan
Martin, Kelly Baehr, and Heather Terry for playing a key role in implementing the project,
providing feedback, following the plan, and celebrating the successes of all students involved. I
enjoyed the great team meetings and the laughs we shared along the way. Thank you to my
principal, MaryJo Leininger, who always gives me great feedback, support, and suggested that I
venture into Educational Leadership. Thank you to Sue Rasmussen, Ann Spotanski, the my
awesome peers of Cadre 32 for the enthusiasm to change the world. A special thank you to Deb
Stuto, my professor and reader, for your feedback, patience, flexibility, confidence in my writing
abilities, and for taking the time to analyze and read each and every detail of this project.
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Table of Contents
Chapter Pages
Introduction…………………………………………………………………………..……..5-13
Problem Analysis…………………………………………….…………………………….14-18
Literature Review……………………………………………………….…………………19-23
Plan of Action……………………………………………………………………….……..24-26
Results……………………………………………………………………………………...27-30
Conclusions/Recommendations/Reflection………………………………………………..31-35
References………………………………………………………………………………...…...36
Appendices
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Chapter One: Introduction
Description of the School Community
Norris Public School District #160 (NSD) stretches across approximately 270 acres in
Southeast Nebraska, covering parts of three counties: Northern Gage, Southern Lancaster, and
Western Otoe. Within the Norris School District, there are nine small communities that feed into
the district: Hickman, Firth, Roca, Panama, Cortland, Princeton, Holland, Rokeby, and Cheney.
On July 1, 1964, the school district was founded when the Roca, Hickman, and Firth school
districts consolidated. Cortland, Panama, and Princeton school districts joined the Norris district
a year later, in 1965. Rokeby and Cheney were added in 2006. The district is named after Senator
George W. Norris, who served the State of Nebraska for more than 30 years (Norris School
District Profile, 2016).
The location of the school district is centralized within the area it covers; located on 68th
Street and Princeton Road, between Hickman and Firth. The district officially started as two
buildings, Elementary and High School, in the 1969-70 school year. Over time, as the district’s
population increased, many additions were completed on both buildings. In 2004, a bond issue
passed to build a new middle school on campus. Directly after the school year in 2004, an F-4
tornado tore through the campus causing great destruction. The buildings and facilities sustaining
damage were the Elementary School, High School, athletic fields, and transportation services
including the bus barn, school busses, and school vans. After the tornado clean-up, in 2006, the
Middle School was built. The Intermediate School was opened in 2013 after a district-wide bond
passed a year earlier. Currently, Norris has four buildings on its campus; Elementary (Grades Pre
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Kindergarten through 2nd), Intermediate (Grades 3rd through 5th), Middle (Grades 6th through
8th), and High (Grades 9th through 12th) (Norris School District Profile, 2016).
The population of the district has increased rapidly in recent years. With Lincoln
continuing to develop to the south and east, more people are moving into the NSD area. In the
2011-2012 school year, NSD had an enrollment of 2,054 students grades PK through grade 12. In
the 2015-16 school year, 2,217 students were enrolled PK through grade 12 at Norris (See
Appendix B). According to the Census Bureau, Hickman, the largest community in the district, is
the fastest growing town in the state of Nebraska (Lincoln Journal Star, 2015).
Over recent years, Norris has had some turnover in their educators. Veteran teachers are
starting to retire and with their departure the district’s culture is changing. Currently, a majority
of the district’s teacher population has more than ten years of experience (See Appendix C).
Recently, the number of teachers with one to five years of experience has increased year after
year. A lot of Norris alumni return to the area and raise their families within the district. This
helps create a strong community, which in turn, creates a strong school system.
As stated above, Norris Middle School (NMS) has been serving students since 2006.
Originally, grades five through eight were housed at NMS. When the Intermediate School
opened in the 2013-2014 school year, the fifth grade moved to that building, leaving grades six
through eight in the middle school. The district’s main competition gym is located in the middle
school, so most high school indoor sporting events (basketball and volleyball) are held at NMS.
Over the past two years, NSD has had professional development tied with Robert
Marzano’s Becoming A Reflective Teacher , or the acronym BART. During this time, teachers
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have used strategies from Marzano’s book and applied these to their classroom instruction
strategies. Teachers were to make personal goals using Marzano’s Learning Outcomes and
provide data to analyze over the course of the school year. Currently, NMS is continuing BART
as a practice for all teachers and is looking for a way to integrate BART’s Instructional Model
into the Teacher Evaluation Model used by the district. The current teacher evaluation model
includes two formal observations from administrators, one a semester. Probationary staff are on a
plan for three years, while tenured staff work toward a Professional Learning Plan (PLP).
Currently, the PLP is being replaced by teachers’ BART goals.
In the 2016-2017 school year there are 31 certificated staff at NMS. The subjects taught
by these educators range from the core subjects of reading, math, science, writing, and social
studies. There are seven sections of each core subject at each grade level. NMS offers elective
classes including art, physical education, industrial technology, Family and Consumer Sciences,
and informational technology. Of those teachers, 90.3% of them have taken more credits beyond
their Bachelor’s or Master’s degrees. Of all NMS teachers, only 9.7% have obtained only their
Bachelor’s degree (See Appendix D). NMS has a leadership team that includes a principal,
assistant principal, and a guidance counselor. There are district-wide staff who are shared
between all four buildings, these positions include Special Education Coordinator, Curriculum,
Instruction, and Assessment Director, Life Skills Teacher, and an Instructional Reading Coach.
NMS has maintained a mobility rate between 1.99% and 3.7% over the past five years.
Between the 2010-2011 and 2014-2015 school years, the NSD student mobility rate increased
from 4.42% to 4.49% (See Appendix E). The student mobility rate at NMS over the past five
years has been slightly lower than that of the school district’s. This is a reflection on the stability
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of the Norris community at the current moment. Families who move into the district usually stay
for a long time.
The free and reduced lunch rate during the 2014-2015 school year at NMS was 12.95%.
Since the 2011-2012, compared to the district free and reduced lunch rate, NMS has had a higher
rate than the district. From the 2012-2013 school year to the 2013-2014 school year, NMS saw
its biggest drop in its free and reduced lunch rate going from 17.13% to 14.92%, or a decrease of
2.21%. The State of Nebraska’s average free and reduced lunch rate in the 2014-2015 school
year was 44.17% (See Appendix F).
NMS educated 528 students in grades six through eight in 2015-2016. The demographic
data shows that 91% of the students attending NMS are White. Hispanic students make up 4.5%
of the student population, while African-American students make up 2.2 percent. The remaining
races and ethnicities at NMS include 1.1% Asian, and 0.1% Native American. There are 0.9% of
students who are Two or More Races (See Appendix G).
The 2016-2017 school year will see a schedule change. The schedule was constructed
using a seven period day, which is different from the traditional block scheduling that NMS has
had the past decade. This schedule change, for some, can be seen as a second-order change
(McREL). The amount of instructional time for each period in the 2015-2016 school year was 76
minutes. In the 2016-2017 school year it will be 47 minutes. As the change of staff and
integration of new state standards begin, some teachers will react differently to the new schedule.
School Culture
Norris Middle School has a wide variety of rituals, ceremonies, and traditions that help
strengthen its connection to the Norris community.
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Rituals are procedures or routines infused with deeper occurring on a regular basis. Every
day individual classrooms recite the Pledge of Allegiance and read the daily bulletin, which
contains information important for NMS students. There is a 20 minute block of time set aside
for JumpStart, a daily activity time where students get the chance to be active either outdoors or
indoors.
The Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) program that NMS has
designed is the Titan Token/Re-Teaching Process. If students are demonstrating great behaviors
and a teacher sees them, they receive a Titan Token. Every Friday, there is a Titan Store where
students can redeem their Titan Tokens for prizes. The prizes range from packs of gum to
Rubik’s Cubes to Nebraska Basketball tickets. Each prize is assigned a value and students are
known to save up their tokens for the “bigger” prizes. The Re-Teaching Process is in place to
help students, who need extra practices on daily expectations, get the support they need. Students
receive Re-Teaching tickets if they have been warned three, or more times for not meeting a
specific classroom expectation. If a student receives a Re-Teaching ticket, they are to report to an
assigned room during JumpStart to discuss the behavior in question and develop a plan to
prevent a future Re-Teaching ticket. Consequence severity rises with every Re-Teaching ticket a
student receives. After three Re-Teaching tickets, Parents/Guardians are contacted and a student
is put on a behavior plan. If the behavior continues, students lose their JumpStart opportunities.
Ceremonies celebrate success, communicate what the school value, and recognize special
contributions. Another facet of the PBiS program is the Terrific Titan Ceremony. Each grade
level team nominates three to five students each month based on their positive behavior during
the school day. This ceremony is performed at a school-wide assembly. Teachers fill out a
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nomination form and positive thank-you notes for each Terrific Titan winner. The winners are
featured on the school website and get a certificate stating why they are the Terrific Titan award
winner. At the end of the school year, the PBiS committee develops a school-wide Field Day to
celebrate the success of all students for that school year. Different activities are developed
indoors and outdoors and are a great way to get students engaged in a different setting.
Traditions are annual events that bring the NMS community together. Before the school
year starts, NMS has an Open House, which is an invitation for all NMS families to come in, get
their schedules, open their lockers, and walk around the building. In May, there is a “mini” Open
House only open to 5th grade families to learn a little bit about the NMS expectations and the
location of the 6th grade teachers.
Each year there is a grades three through twelve assembly held in the Middle School
gym. This assembly focuses on students who have perfect, or near-perfect scores on their
Nebraska State Accountability (NeSA) assessments. Parents and family members are invited to
this assembly to see their students get recognized from the Superintendent and Board of
Education.
Norris Middle School Mission, Vision, and Purpose
Norris Middle School’s mission is,
NMS guarantees all students quality learning experiences designed to challenge,

motivate, and inspire their own sense of self-efficacy. Throughout their education
journey, we encourage students to become lifelong learners by fostering intellectual
curiosity, promoting the ideals of productive citizenship and developing a thirst for
discovery and achievement. With an emphasis on academic excellence and positive
behavioral expectations, we strive to meet each individual’s social, emotional,
physical, and intellectual needs in a safe and caring environment.
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There is a school slogan that is visible around the school, “Build on the Past, Prepare for
the Future, Learn Today”.
The mission was re-written during the 2013-2014 school year. The mission is posted near
the front entrance to the school office. The current principal received input from all staff at NMS
and created the mission based on the staff’s input. During multiple staff meetings, staff and
administrators collaborated to disseminate the information from the input of the staff. The School
Improvement Team narrowed the input down and created the current NMS mission statement.
The school slogan is used more by staff and students than the mission statement is used.
Description of Current Continuous Improvement Process
NSD completed their accreditation review as a district from AdvancEd in the fall of
2013. NMS was a part of the district accreditation process and as a result of the AdvancEd
accreditation process, the mission statement was updated and focused curriculum mapping with
essential learning outcomes were created. The School Improvement Team meets once a semester
to discuss the progress on the goals set for the SIP process.
In 2016, NMS had two school improvement goals focusing on reading and math. The
school’s reading goal was “All students will improve reading skills.” In reading classes, students
focus on a variety of skills including comprehension, fluency, and increased knowledge of
vocabulary words. Each grade level approaches reading instruction differently, but all have
mapped out their curriculum expectations connecting them with the state standards.
The math goal stated, “All students will improve mathematical skills”. The goal was
broadly stated to let teachers continue to use a variety of strategies to teach math within the
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Saxon Math spiral curriculum. In a Saxon lesson, students would see different types of math
problems on their daily work, even if the daily lesson did not specifically go over that strategy.
Description of Interventions
Each grade level team meets weekly to discuss the progress of students and uses data and
anecdotal records to make decisions based on what is best for the student. The NMS staff uses
Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) and NeSA scores data to make decisions on academic
interventions for students at each grade level. Students with below average MAP and NeSA
scores are placed in co-taught classes for Reading or Math. These co-taught classes allow
students to get more attention in class. Students with Individual Education Plans (IEP) or 504
plans are usually included in these co-taught classes because the grade-level special education
teacher is available during that time. There are not many specific differentiated curriculum set up
at NMS. The only specific course is in 8th grade. There is a section of Algebra for students who
have consistently achieved high math scores and have scored well on the Orleans-Hanna Algebra
Prognosis Test.
Teams meet once before school starts and once after the school year ends to analyze data
and make decisions and recommendations for interventions for the following school year. Each
grade level offers a course called Study Skills, which helps students get extra practice during the
school day. This course is designed to help organize and strengthen student study habits, as well
as their organizational skills. Students need to be recommended for Study Skills by their
grade-level team. All NMS students have a Literature Intervention Team Time (LITT) class
which functions as a period where students can go to other teachers for one-on-one help. LITT
also functions as a shortened study hall, where students have the opportunity to complete
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homework. Students can be put through the Response to Intervention (RTI) process through
recommendation by teachers or parents/guardians.
Through the PBIS process, there are interventions setup for behavior. The Re-Teaching
process has multiple tiers to it and all students are presented with the expectations during the first
few days of school. Behavior data is analyzed and individualized plans are created for students
who are having a tough time following school and classroom expectations. There is a tiered
process for the PBIS behavioral support system. Each quarter the data is formally presented at a
staff meeting, but teachers have access to the data year round.
Description of the Project Team
The Project Team will include the whole sixth grade team, which includes 2 science
teachers, 2 reading and writing teachers, 2 math teachers, 1 social studies teacher, and 1 special
education teacher. Getting the whole team involved will display the great importance of
cross-curricular studies and each teacher will be aware of the progress of the project. The team
will meet once weekly before school to discuss plans and share any information regarding the
project.
Questions About Student Learning
1. What are some positives and negatives from the experiences in the 2015-2016 school
year?
2. How can the teacher evaluation model and the BART instructional model mesh together
to provide effective feedback for teachers and administrators?
3. What is needed to provide effective feedback to teachers and their lessons?
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Chapter Two: Problem Analysis
Data Analysis Process
District and Building School Improvement Goals
Two district school improvement goals exist for the Norris Public School District #160
(NSD).
These goals are:
● Students will be proficient in Reading on all assessments.
● Students will be proficient in Math on all assessments.
Each building at Norris develops their own school goals after studying the data of local,
district, and state assessments. Each school looks at areas of strength and areas that need
improvement. This information creates the focus for the school’s improvement plan. Norris
Middle School (NMS) has the following school improvement goals:
● Improve the reading skills of all students.
● Improve the mathematical skills of all students.
● Recognize and adopt practices that promote good health and wellbeing for all students.
Staff members analyzed the data from the Nebraska State Accountability (NeSA) and
Measures of Academic Progress (MAP), as well as specific classroom data from Math and
Reading teachers.
Over the last two years, NMS’ sixth grade reading assessment data has been strong.
According to the 2016 Nebraska State of the Schools Report, NMS sixth grade students’
proficiency score rose from 90% to 92% from 2014-15 to 2015-16 (See Appendix H).
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The next data analyzed was the 2016 spring MAP scores of the Class of 2023 and the
goal areas of that assessment. The areas focused on in the analysis were “Identify Bias, Purpose,
and Text Elements, Draw Conclusions, Infer, and Predict, and Identify Characteristics and Text
Features”. As fifth graders, 45% of the class scored in the high performance area in “Identify
Bias, Purpose, and Text Elements”, as well as “Identify Characteristics and Text Features” (See
Appendix I).
The other piece of data used to create the grade-level school improvement goal was
specific classroom data from the two English teachers on the Sixth Grade Team. According to
this data, some students are still not receiving Advanced or Proficient scores on Text-Dependent
Analysis (TDA) assessments (See Appendix J).
By looking at this data it is clear some students are proficient in using TDA strategies,
but there is still much work that needs to be done to make sure all students improve their reading
skills.
School Improvement Project Focus
For the School Improvement Project, the team will be focused on text-dependent analysis
(TDA) in reading and writing in sixth grade. Due to the addition of text-dependent analysis on
the NeSA English-Language Arts (ELA) assessment, it was determined by staff that an
improvement of existing instruction and assessment was needed. The project team determined a
systematic approach on text-based analysis in reading, writing, science, and social studies
classrooms would be beneficial to student success in that area. The project team also noted the
importance of cross-curricular concepts and if students get exposure to text-based analysis in
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four classrooms instead of just one, the learning could be more powerful and meaningful to each
student.
Project Data Analysis/Classroom-Based Data
In the 2013-14 school year, NSD purchased a new reading series in grades Kindergarten
through Fifth. At the NMS, reading teachers have chosen not to adopt a reading series, but rather
map their curriculum by grade level to address all state standards required for each grade level.
The new NeSA ELA assessment will focus on TDA, which is newer concept to NMS
reading and English teachers. Based on the MAP data and teacher anecdotal records over the past
few years, there have been lower assessment scores and student understanding in the areas of text
mining and text analysis in sixth grade.
At the start of second quarter in the 2016-17 school year, sixth graders are going to be
using these TDA skills in English, Reading, Science, and Social Studies. Reading teachers will
give assessments on how to use strategies to locate specific information within a text. English
teachers will grade student writing based on a nonfiction passage and will grade students using a
rubric that aligns to NeSA ELA assessment standards. Science and Social Studies teachers will
also provide TDA assessments on their nonfiction content in their subject area.
Statement of Problem
After analyzing classroom data, which included NeSA scores, MAP scores, and TDA
written assessments, it became clear that students’ text-dependent analysis skills need to
improve. With state assessments requiring students to showcase their text-dependent analysis and
close reading skills, students need to practice these skills in all core subject areas. With the high
test score expectations and class periods only being 47 minutes long, sixth grade students need
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extra time in all subject areas to strengthen their text-dependent analysis skills. Using Science
and Social Studies to expose students to specific content text-dependent reading and writing
strategies can take some of the burden off of Reading and English teachers, while strengthening
the content understanding of students in Science and Social Studies classes.
Description of Current Reality
With the new addition of TDA to the NeSA ELA assessment, it has been a wake-up call
for reading and writing teachers to specifically teach skills related to text-based analysis. With
the proficient Sixth Grade NeSA scores in the 90% or more range over the past few years, there
is some pressure to keep those scores high even with the addition of TDA to the assessment. This
year, the School Improvement Project (SIP) team decided it was necessary to expose students to
these text-based analysis skills in multiple subjects during their day. Since TDA is so new, this is
the first SIP initiative related to integrating it across multiple subject areas. The SIP project
team’s biggest question is “Will the integration of TDA strategies across multiple subject areas
increase student learning levels in all subjects?”
Best Practice Focus Questions
● What specific research-based strategies or interventions are available that have the
greatest effect on students understanding text-dependent analysis?
● What resources are available for Science and Social Studies for text-dependent
assessments?
● How do reading teachers assessing their TDA assessments? Writing teachers? Science
teachers? Social Studies teachers?
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Project Questions
● How will the project team track data?
● Do we need to focus this project around students that only have me for Science?
● Do we need to have assessments from the same resource? Or can we adapt and make sure
we are assessing the same thing?
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Chapter Three: Review of Best Practices
Introduction
written assessments, it became clear students’ text-dependent analysis skills needed to improve.
With state assessments requiring students to showcase their text-dependent analysis and close
reading skills, students need to practice these skills in all core subject areas. With the high test
score expectations and class periods only being 47 minutes long, sixth grade students need extra
time in all subject areas to strengthen their text-dependent analysis skills. Through the analysis of
TDA classroom data through the second and third quarters, sixth grade students not meeting
grade-level standards will receive extra interventions in their reading and English classes to
boost their text-dependent strategies.
The group of students in need of these interventions will be implemented in a pull-out
session with the sixth grade learning specialist. In this chapter, there will be an introduction,
strategy analysis, and a summary. Three possible strategies were compared. Each of the
strategies was an attempt to strengthen the close reading and text-dependent analysis strategies of
sixth grade students. These strategies include:
● Strategies for students to perform while they read and respond to texts.
● RACES strategy to analyze text.
● Coding Method
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Strategy Review 1
Title: Specific strategies for students to use while they read and respond to texts.
Citation:
Boyles, N. (2012). Closing in on close reading. Educational Leadership, 70 (4), 36-41.
Boyles, N. (2014). Close reading without tears. Educational Leadership, 72 (1), 32-37.
Dollins, C. (2016). Crafting creative nonfiction: From close reading to close writing. The
Reading Teacher, 70 (1), 49-58.
Fisher, D. & Frey, N. (2014). Contingency teaching during close reading. The Reading Teacher,
68 (4), 277-286.
Research Summary
Selecting specific strategies to model and teach to students are very important in their
ability to mine text for information. Boyles talks about the importance of selecting appropriate
texts for students and encouraging specific questioning strategies. Looking for specific literary
devices, such as imagery, word choice, voice, and sentence structure and practicing questions
based on those devices. In Fisher and Frey’s article, they also write about how important it is to
question students about specific parts of the text. Modeling was a big theme in their article as
well. Teachers need to model the process of analyzing text and the use of different strategies that
students can use.
Analysis of Strategy
The use of questioning and student response in content areas such as Science and Social
Studies are daily occurrences in the classroom. There are a lot of resources that the teachers at
Norris Middle School can use to increase strategies of text mining and reading comprehension in
all subject areas. In the reading and writing classroom, these strategies would be complementary
to what these teachers are already teaching.
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Strategy Review 2
Title: RACE strategy to analyze text
Citation:
Island Trees Union Free School District. (2014). Close reading, vocabulary, and text dependent
questions: Three key strategies to implement common core standards. [PDF document].
Retrived from http://www.islandtrees.org/pdfs/curriculum/TSCC2014.pdf
Nebraska Department of Education. (2016). Nebraska department of education text-based

analysis (TDA) scoring rubric. Retrieved from https://www.education.ne.gov/assessment/
pdfs/2016/Text_Dependent_Analysis_Scoring_Rubric_08-01-2016.pdf
Research Summary
The RACE strategy is a strategy used to let students respond directly to the text that they
are reading. The steps of the RACE strategy are: Restate the question, Answer the question, Cite
evidence, and Explain. Looking at the Text-Dependent Analysis rubric from the Nebraska
Department of Education, students are expected to analyze text, cite evidence, and write
effectively. The RACE strategy covers those expectations.
This strategy is currently being used in the 5th Grade reading and English classrooms at
Norris Intermediate School. With the direct instruction approach, this would fit nicely into sixth
grade English classes and would be a great strategy for students to remember. The
text-dependent process is explicit with the RACE strategy. Students just need to remember what
each letter means.
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Strategy Review 3
Title: Coding Method
Citation:
Cummins, S. (2013). What students can do when the reading gets rough. Educational
Leadership, 71 (3). 69-72.
Research Summary
In addition to modeling the Coding Method to students, it is important to give students
plenty of time to analyze the text. The Coding Method allows students to self-assess the text they
are reading breaking up the text into different categories. The categories are coded by symbols
that will let students see patterns within the text and focus their thinking to things they
understand or things they do not.
This strategy would be great in sixth grade reading and writing classes because it would
allow students to use specific symbols to let them, or teachers know their level of understanding.
However, the reading teachers already have a specific guideline that they have been using
already, so the Coding Method may not be the best fit for sixth grade classrooms. The positives
of this strategy are that students can use their metacognitive strategies in nonfiction text.
Summary
After analyzing the three strategies, the school improvement project team concluded that
the RACE strategy would be the most effective for students’ writing in English classes. English
teachers will be creating posters in their classroom to showcase each step of the RACE strategy.
This strategy will give teachers a specific format to use and model for their classes.
The team also chose a variety of questioning strategies to be used across the content
areas. Using these questioning skills in different classes will help students practice these skills
outside of a textbook. The project team decided that each teacher can use a handful of these
strategies when teaching new content to help strengthen student nonfiction text questioning
skills.
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Works Cited
Leadership, 71 (3). 69-72.
68 (4), 277-286.

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Chapter Four: Plan of Action
Introduction
written assessments, it became clear students’ text-dependent analysis skills need to improve.
time in all subject areas to strengthen their text-dependent analysis skills. Using Science and
Social Studies to expose students to specific content text-dependent reading and writing
strategies can take some of the burden off of Reading and English teachers, while strengthening
the content understanding of students in Science and Social Studies classes.
The group of students in need of TDA interventions was implemented during the allotted
time for interventions. Three possible strategies were compared. Each of the strategies was an
attempt to improve TDA reading and writing skills of sixth grade students. The team selected the
RACES Strategy to analyze text. This program fit well with Norris Middle School’s School
Improvement Plan with a focus on improving reading scores. The school already had the
materials, so no new materials needed to be purchased.
Analysis
The project team was led by the researcher and included four, sixth grade teachers. The
researcher found possible strategies and presented the options to the team. Team members chose
the RACES Strategy as the best option for the intervention group. Each classroom teacher was
responsible for teaching the selected intervention group.
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Before the project data was being collected, sixth grade English and Reading teachers attended a
NeSA workshop to receive training on how to effectively teach TDA skills to middle school
students. These tidbits of information were shared with each member of the project team.
All project team members were responsible for the first intervention session. The
intervention session began with eight students with differentiated writing levels. These students
were shared by all of the project team members. English teachers taught in a variety of ways
changing from whole-group instruction to smaller group and individual instruction. This
intervention session lasted for four weeks, concluding at the end of the second quarter. The main
focus of the session was to build a foundation for students to develop their TDA writing skills.
Science and Social Studies teachers taught TDA skills through their specific content and
assessments were performed within specific units.
The second session’s duration was the entire third quarter. During this time, Reading
teachers collected anecdotal records regarding student progress of close reading and specific
TDA skills. Writing teachers continued to build on the foundation laid in the first session.
Science and Social Studies teachers continued to assess student TDA skills within their
curriculum content topics.
The major change to the original plan (see Appendix O) happened within the second
session. Due to NeSA testing being moved up a few weeks, the team faced the prospect of a
shortened timeline to collect data and finish the project. The team discussed the option of
withholding the Science and English Earthquake Paper from the project data. The team
concluded the data collected within the project so far would paint a big enough picture of student
achievement without the data from the Earthquake paper. The timeline change also affected
25
specific anecdotal data collected from Reading, Science, and Social Studies teachers. This data
would not affect the final conclusion of the project, according to the team.
26
Chapter Five: Results
Introduction
time in all subject areas to strengthen their text-dependent analysis skills. Through the analysis of
TDA classroom data through the second and third quarters, sixth grade students not meeting
grade-level standards received extra interventions in their reading and English classes to boost
their text-dependent strategies.
The group of students selected for analysis of text-dependent analysis skills was
implemented during the allotted time for interventions. Three possible strategies were compared.
Each of the strategies was an attempt to improve the text-dependent analysis skills of sixth grade
students. The team selected the RACES Strategy, to use during English instruction. This strategy
fit well with Norris Middle School’s School Improvement Plan with a focus on improving
student reading assessments. The school already had the materials, so no new materials needed to
be purchased.
This chapter reports the data collected from classroom assessments, anecdotal records,
and rubric scores. The effect and results have been analyzed, themes have been identified, and
additional information and recommendations for the future have been assessed.
Results
27
The researcher decided to look at data from classroom assessments from week-to-week.
It was also important to look at rubric scores for writing assessments. Anecdotal records were
provided by members of the project team and were used to determine patterns and trends from
the data collected.
In the Social Studies classroom, the content revolved around Ancient Civilizations, most
notably, Greece, Rome, and China. The students were assessed on their writing using a five-point
rubric (See Appendix O). The writing assessments were given one week after the beginning of
the unit. The student samples of Writing Assessment #1 range in scores (See Appendix P).
Students #4 and #5 scored five out of five on the rubric. Their writing demonstrated an
understanding of the text that they read and was supported by specific detail from the story. (See
Appendix P) Student #1 scored four out of five on the rubric. This student’s writing
demonstrated a good understanding of the text that they read but not all points were supported
(See Appendix P). Student #8 scored three out of five on the rubric. This student’s writing
demonstrated some understanding from the story and the points were simple and not detailed
(See Appendix P). Throughout the Ancient Civilization units, growth was seen by all but one
student over the duration of the data collection timeline. Student seven showed the biggest
growth from Assessment #1 to Assessment #3 (See Appendix Q). The team discussed this
information and determined students did a sufficient job of identifying specific text features and
translating them to their responses.
In the English classroom, students had multiple writing assessments they completed over
the duration of the project. All pieces that are assessed in these classrooms use the Nebraska
Department of Education TDA Rubric (See Appendix R). Each English teacher created a
28
checklist for students to use as they practice their text-dependent analysis skills. These checklists
were brainstormed by all classes and then compiled by the English teachers (See Appendix S).
Teachers and students also brainstormed a “kid friendly” rubric to explicitly let students know
the criteria on which they were being assessed (See Appendix T). Assessments given by teachers
ranged from NeSA Sampler practice assessments to formal papers completed on Google Drive.
The selected samples are from the NeSA Sampler Story “Campfire” (See Appendix U). The
samples range in their rubric scores (See Appendix V). Throughout the project duration, all
students in the sample group made an increase from their first assessment score (See Appendix
W). Student #6 made the most improvement from assessment to assessment out of the entire
group by increasing four rubric points from Assessment #1 to Assessment #2.
In the Reading classroom, students practiced and were assessed on their close reading
skills. These skills go hand-in-hand with TDA skills. The assessments given to students in
reading classes were given on Google Chromebooks. These assessments worth ten points (See
Appendix X). Student #1, Student #2, and Student #7 had lower scores on Assessment Three
than they did on Assessment Two.
In the Science classroom, the content revolved around the interior Earth and the
movement that occurs there. The student assessments were found from “ReadWorks”, an online
database that houses reading and writing assessments for specific skills and content areas (See
Appendix Y). Throughout the project, all students improved their assessment scores. These
assessments were worth 10 points; the lowest score recorded was seven out of 10 (See Appendix
Z). The maximum improvement from assessment to assessment was two points, achieved by
multiple students.
29
Themes
Based on the data, students in general showed growth as individuals and as a group. The
foundation that was laid in the beginning of the year had helped students become familiar with
the processes of writing correctly. Text-dependent analysis continues to be a struggle for a
majority of 6th Grade students at Norris.
Social Studies and Science are content specific, so students are immersed in
subject-specific discussions daily, which may help them on their assessments in that particular
area. In English and Reading classes, students practice writing, either with a specific prompt, or
an open-ended prompt. Teachers found that some students with open-ended prompts struggled to
stick to the RACES strategy and use their text-dependent analysis skills correctly. Students with
specific prompts were able to follow the checklist step-by-step and receive excellent rubric
scores. This data supports the need for cross-curricular support with text-dependent analysis and
close reading skills. Students getting practice in other subject areas may have solid connections
to content that they know and appreciate, which will strengthen their writing skills overall.
Additional Information of Data Sources
As the end of the year approaches, it will be important to continue to meet with this group
and collect data. The Nebraska State Accountability (NeSA) assessments will be coming up, so
the data collected from that will be helpful in seeing if this strategy and project helped in student
growth of text-dependent analysis skills.
30
Chapter Six: Conclusions and Recommendations
Introduction
reading skills, students needed to practice these skills in all core subject areas. With the high test
score expectations and class periods only being 47 minutes long, sixth grade students needed
extra time in all subject areas to strengthen their text-dependent analysis skills. Through the
analysis of TDA classroom data through the second and third quarters, sixth grade students not
meeting grade-level standards received extra interventions in their reading and English classes to
boost their text-dependent strategies.
The goal of the school improvement project was to increase student achievement on
text-dependent analysis skills by using the RACES strategy in student writing. The group of
students were randomly selected based on their class schedule. All eight students had the same
Science, Social Studies, Reading, and English teachers. The students had a wide range of writing
skills going into the project’s implementation.
Conclusion
During the project, there were a lot of things that worked well. The communication
between team members was outstanding. Each team member brought a different perspective to
the group and it strengthened the project as a whole. The RACES strategy that was used was a
great selection for teachers and students at this grade level. Overall, a majority of the students
that were selected by the project team improved their TDA skills and their close reading skills.
31
Most student met our project goals and those that did not meet the goals showed improvement in
multiple areas.
The project also needed improvements. The RACES strategy was great for the students
and for the classes, but the timing of different units did not mesh with the timing of our project.
The team had to move things around, which caused some havoc for some members of the team.
In the initial plans of the project there were more assessments to be included. In the end, those
assessments and the data that correlated with them had to be removed from the project report due
to deadlines.
The questions initially set by the project leader focused around the areas of data
collection, student inclusion, and specific subject areas. The project team collected from the
assessments within their classroom and shared this data at the designated team meeting.
Depending on the week, project members would have a lot to share and other times there would
be very little to share. The project team leader decided to focus students that had the same
Writing, Reading, Science, and Social Studies teachers. This would focus the project around
specific students and allow less variables to control. The project team decided that each teacher
would determine their own assessments as long as said teacher connected their instruction to the
RACES strategy.
The impact on student learning was successful. The implementation resulted in a positive
gain in student achievement, but additional refinement and research is needed to verify the
results. This project affected teacher instructional practice positively. Increased collaboration and
research by all project team members helped enhance instructional practices and strategies used
within this project timeline. The project addressed NMS’ School Improvement goal of “All
32
students will be proficient in Reading assessments”. This project focused on text-dependent
analysis strategies, which ties into close reading. Students have demonstrated growth in this area
and have a solid foundation moving forward.
Recommendations
This project’s audience is the administrators and all middle school teachers at Norris.
Hopefully seeing this project in action will motivate all teachers to develop cross-curricular
units, which can improve school culture and create great opportunities for students to receive
in-depth learning. Getting the project off of the ground was the biggest hurdle. The project team
is hoping that other grade levels will look at the success of the project and pursue their own
grade-level specific projects. Looking ahead, the project team would like to start this process in
September, instead of November. The project team thinks that each quarter can be a great
opportunity to focus on different styles of writing and cross-curricular topics. The project details
and results will be presented to Doane University’s Educational Leadership Cadre #32 and to the
Norris Board of Education, including the Superintendent of Schools.
Learning Reflection
Throughout this project I have been working with others. Whether it is with students,
teachers, or administrators. Working together with those groups was extremely important to this
project’s success. Perseverance and patience were two attributes that I developed during this
project and through working with my team members. There were times where we thought we
were heading in the right direction and there were times where the data would tell us otherwise.
Trusting your teammates and valuing their opinion is something that I will take with me from
this experience.
33
Data collection was a huge part of this project. I liked collecting and analyzing data
before this project, so it was a great experience for me. I learned that you need a variety of
sources to get a better picture of what your focus is on. Having more eyes on the data helped me
think in different ways and my team members brought up points I would not have even
considered. Data is needed to fuel SIP projects, there is no question about it. Without it, you
cannot see patterns or trends that can support what you are or are not doing.
Researching and implementing best practices was a growing point for me. Usually I just
do what I am told, or go to a conference to find new and great ways to teach. Having to research
best practices on my own was tough. I had no idea where to look. Listening to my team members
was vital and it lead us to our strategy that we used.
The School Improvement process can be challenging. I have a lot of respect for those that
take on new SIP goals. Someone who is in charge of School Improvement must be driven,
patient, and will need to persevere through different obstacles along the way. Without these
traits, there is no way a SIP project can be done effectively.
I feel that my skills as a leader have improved over the course of this project because I
have been stretched in different ways as a teacher, leader, and person. I equate this experience to
my first few years as a coach. I am learning as I go, trying to manage positive relationships with
my team, and developing success as best I can. My communication and organization skills had to
improve, otherwise the project would have not gotten off of the ground. I learned that I do have
some strong leadership skills. I also learned that there are certain leadership skills that I need to
work hard to maintain at a high level, organization being the biggest of those skills. Maintaining
field notes was difficult for me in the beginning, but once I reminded myself of the process and
34
developed a routine, I got into the swing of things and it became part of my process. Of
Marzano’s 21 Balanced Leadership skills, The skills that were used the most were Culture,
Focus, Involvement in Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment, Knowledge of Curriculum,
Instruction, and Assessment, and Order. It is important to have structure within the meetings;
without it, not much would get done. I thought our team’s chemistry was great. We are used to
working together, so our Culture was extremely strong and we had a common vision for where
we wanted this project to go. The involvement and knowledge of Curriculum, Instruction, and
Assessment played a huge part in this project. Within our team we have a mixture of newer
teachers and veteran teachers. It was great to hear the perspective of veteran teachers when
newer teachers threw out ideas. My next steps in leadership development are to continue to be an
advocate for the students and teachers that I see every day. Being involved in the School
Improvement process is something that I would like to do at Norris. It will keep me involved and
keep pushing my comfort zone to help make me a better teacher and leader.
35
Sources Cited
Leadership, 71 (3). 69-72.
68 (4), 277-286.
Laukaitis, A. (2015, July 1). More housing coming to hickman, state’s fastest growing city.
Lincoln Journal-Star. Retrieved from http://journalstar.com/news/local/more-housing-
coming-to-hickman-the-state-s-fastest-growing/article_ed862bf3-a2ed-51d7-961a-
268d1467d79a.html
Maschmann, B. (May 2016). Norris Budget Report 2016-2017 School Year. Retrieved from
Norris School District E-Mail.
Nebraska Department of Education. (2015). State of the schools report card 2014-2015 [Data
file]. Retrieved from https://reportcard.education.ne.gov/Default.aspx?AgencyID=
55-0160-000.
Nebraska Department of Education. (2015). State of the schools report card 2014-2015. [Data
File]. Retrieved from https://reportcard.education.ne.gov/Default.aspx?AgencyID=
55-0160-002&AgencyName=NORRIS%20MIDDLE%20SCHOOL.

36
Appendix A
July 2016
● Studied School Improvement Process
● Collected and analyzed school and district data
● Created data displays
● Completed a draft of Chapter 1 of the School Improvement Project
August 2016
● Revised and Finalized Chapter 1 of the School Improvement Project
● Started Brainstorming Ideas for School Improvement Project
● Started draft of Chapter 2 of the School Improvement Project
September 2016
● Topic for School Improvement Project Chosen
● Assembled SIP Project Team and Held Weekly Meetings
● Collected and created data displays of NeSA and MAP Data
● Collected Information on Best Practices for Text Dependent Analysis
October 2016
● Met with SIP Project Team and Held Weekly Meetings
● Started Discussion and Analyzed Different Action Plans for Text Dependent Analysis
Implementation
● Critiqued and Reviewed Information on Best Practices for Text Dependent Analysis
● Completed Chapter 3 of the School Improvement Project
November 2016
● Created School Improvement Plan of Action
December 2016
January 2017
● Met with SIP Project Team to update Project Timeline
● Set a goal of completion in mid-March
February 2017
● Completed Chapter 4 of the School Improvement Project
March 2017
● Held final SIP Project team meeting to finalize all data
● Collected final assessment data and completed Chapters 5 and 6
● Completed School Improvement Project
37
Appendix B
Norris Public School District Student Enrollment From 2011-2016
The graph indicates the student enrollment for the Norris Public School District from 2011 to
2016. This information was taken from the Nebraska Department of Education State of Schools
Report and the Norris Public School District website.
● The population of the Norris Public School District has increased by 163 students
over the past five years.
● In the 2013-2014 school year, the population of the Norris Public School District
increased by 100 students from the 2012-2013 school year.
● Between the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 school years, the student population grew
by 39 students.
38
Appendix C
Norris Public School District Teacher Experience 2016-2017
The graph indicates the number of years of experience for all certified staff at Norris Public
Schools during the 2016-2017 school year. This information was taken from the 2016-2017
School Budget Report.
● In the 2016-2017 school year, there are 49 Norris Public School District teachers
who are in their first decade of teaching.
● In the 2016-2017 school year, teachers who have taught for 11-20 years make up
the biggest population in the Norris Public School District.
● In the 2016-2017 school year, there are 25 teachers who have taught for five years
or less.
39
Appendix D
Norris Middle School Teacher Professional Degrees 2016-2017
The graph indicates the percentage of different degrees that Norris Middle School (NMS)
teachers have completed for the 2016-2017 school year. This information was taken from the
2016-2017 School Budget Report.
● In the 2016-2017 school year, 54.8% of Norris teachers have earned credits
beyond their Master’s Degree.
● In the 2016-2017 school year, 9.7% of NMS teachers have earned only their
Bachelor’s degree.
● In 2016-2017, teachers that have taken more credits after their Bachelor’s or
Master’s degrees make up 92.3% of the NMS teacher population.
40
Appendix E
Norris Middle School Mobility Rate from 2010-2015
The graph indicates the mobility rate for the Norris Public School District and the State of
Nebraska during the 2010 to 2015 school years. This information was taken from the Nebraska
Department of Education State of the Schools Report.
● Between the 2010-2011 and 2014-2015 school years, the Norris Public School
District’s student mobility percentage increased from 4.42%to 4.49%.
● From the 2012-2013 school year, to the 2013-2014 school year, Norris Middle
School’s student mobility rate increased from 1.99% to 3.43%.
● Between the 2010-2011 to the 2014-2015 school years, the State of Nebraska’s
average student mobility rate increased from 12.22% to 12.25%.
41
Appendix F
Norris Middle School Free and Reduced Lunch Rate from 2011-2015
The graph indicates the free and reduced lunch rate for Norris Middle School, the Norris Public
School District and the State of Nebraska during the 2011 to 2015 school years. This information
was obtained from the Nebraska Department of Education State of the Schools Report.
● From the 2012-2013 school year to the 2014-2015 school year, the free and
reduced lunch rate for the Norris Public School District decreased from 17.13% to
12.95%.
● From the 2011-2012 to 2014-2015 school years, the State of Nebraska’s free and
reduced lunch rates increased from 43.79% to 44.17%.
● From the 2012-2013 school year to the 2014-2015 school year, the free and
reduced lunch rate of Norris Middle School decreased from 14.92% to 12.95%.
42
Appendix G
2015-2016 Norris Middle School Student Ethnic Distribution
The graph indicates the student ethnic distribution for Norris Middle School for the 2015-2016
school year. This information was taken from the Nebraska Department of Education State of the
Schools Report.
● In the 2015-2016 school year, 91% of NMS students are White.
● In the 2015-2016 school year, less than 5% of all NMS students are American
Indian, Asian, or African American.
● In the 2015-2016 school year, 4.5% of NMS students are Hispanic.
43
Appendix H
Norris Middle School (NMS) Nebraska State Accountability (NeSA) Reading - Grade 6
This graph shows the percent of students that are below, meet, or exceed proficiency on the
Grade 6 NeSA Reading assessment over the past two years. This information was taken from the
Nebraska Department of Education State of the Schools Report.
● Over the past two years, sixth grade students who exceeded NeSA Reading
standards increased from 50% to 59%.
● In 2014-15, 90% of NMS sixth grade students met or exceeded the NeSA Reading
standard performance level.
● In 2015-2016, 92% of NMS sixth grade students met or exceeded the NeSA
Reading standard performance level.
44
Appendix I
Norris Middle School (NMS) Spring 2016 Reading MAP Scores - Class of 2023
This graph shows the MAP scores of the Class of 2023 (2016-17 Sixth Grade Class) in the
Spring of 2016. This information was taken from the Northwest Evaluation Association
(NWEA) through NMS.
● In the category “Draw Conclusions, Infer, Predict”, 10% of all students scored in
the low performance area.
● The categories of “Identify Characteristics & Text Features” and “Identify Bias,
Purpose, Text Elements” recorded the highest percent of students in the High
performance area with 45%.
● The greatest standard deviation for the Class of 2023 was 38 in the category
“Identify Bias, Purpose, Text Elements”.
45
Appendix J
Text-Dependent Analysis (TDA) Written Assessment Rubric Scores
This graph shows the rubric scores of students’ TDA written assessments from two different 6th
Grade English Classes. These students all have the same Science teacher. This information was
taken from NMS 6th Grade English teacher’s classroom data.
● In Teacher #1’s class, 12 students received Advanced or Proficient scores on their

TDA written assessment.
● In Teacher #2’s class, 14 students received Advanced or Proficient scores on their

TDA written assessment
● In Teacher #1’s class, 9 students received Improving scores on their TDA written
assessment.
46
Appendix K
RACES Strategy Poster Used in All English Classrooms
47
Appendix L
School Improvement Project Field Notes
Field Notes
Date Activity (Actions taken, Leadership Behaviors & Consequences – decisions & next steps)
Actions:
8-27 Team Met with Sixth Grade team to propose my project idea. We went over
Meeting for Text-dependent analysis needs, what it could look like, who would be
1st time involved. I got all English and Reading teachers on board, possibly Social
regarding Studies. I did say that the other 6th Grade Science teacher did not have to
SIP project. participate, she was a bit flustered with something new - but said she would
like some materials to look at in case she changes her mind.
Consequences:
They all were on board and thought it would be a beneficial project to all
students. We created a common understanding of the goal for
Text-dependent analysis - no specific strategies were discussed. We just
talked about it was something that we needed to do to help out the English
and Reading teachers.
Behaviors:
I will continue to research and update the team with our strategy and
specific materials that will be used in the project.
Balanced Leadership Connections (Responsibilities & Characteristics)

- Knowledge of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment -
knowledgeable about current C, I, and A practices
- Involvement in Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment - involved
in the design of C, I, and A practices.
- Focus - establish clear goals and keeps those goals in the forefront
of the school’s attention
- Culture - fosters shared beliefs and a sense of community
- Communication - establishes strong line of communication
Actions:
9-4 2nd Meeting Meeting with SIP team to discuss process of my SIP project. Looked at
- Analyzing specific data (MAP and NeSA) for students we will be focusing on.
Data and Reviewing what teachers will be involved.
looking for
specific Consequences:
48
problem for Team looking for specific responsibilities and strategies to teach. And still
the project. deciding the population that will be the focus for my SIP project. One
Reading teacher indicated that the “RACES” strategy was used by some
Intermediate teachers last year in 5th grade.
Behaviors:
I will communicate with the Intermediate teachers regarding their
involvement with Text-Dependent Analysis strategies to see if we can use
similar ones in 6th grade classrooms, so we get a strong connection for the
future.

- Focus - establish clear goals and keep those goals in the forefront of
the school.
- Order - establishes a set of clear standards and procedures and
routines.
- Communication - establishes strong lines of communication
Actions
10-6 3rd Meeting - Met with SIP team to debrief after their TDA workshop in Lincoln.
- English We agreed on using RACE strategy for writing because 5th Grade in
teachers Intermediate already does this and it is very explicit and simple.
talked about - Got input from group members before the meeting on things to look
their for with my reading list.
learnings
from Consequences
conference. - Shared reading list, a lot of the questioning strategies that were
Shared shared were already being used in classrooms.
reading list. - Teachers did not like the Coding Method because they already have
their own style.
- Have a writing strategy that will be used (RACE strategy).

the school.
routines.
- Flexibility - adapts leadership behavior to the needs of the current
situation.
- Relationship - demonstrates an awareness of personal aspects of
teachers and staff.
49
Actions
10-18 4th Meeting - Talked about specific plan to integrate these strategies into other
- action plan core areas - we will focus on Science first.
for Science - Reviewed strategies used by English and Reading teachers (RACE
classes. and different questioning strategies)
Update on
TDA
strategies Consequences
and - Created few specific strategies to try (Venn Diagrams, text-to-self
resources questions, text-to-text questions, Specific Evidence, Cause and
available. Effect).

the school.
routines.
situation.
- Change Agent - willing to challenge the status quo
Actions
10-25 Discussed - Went over data from first assessment in science. Students scores
results of were on the low-end. English teachers revealed that they were going
first science to “hit TDA hard” next week.
TDA - Discussed process of instruction and made sure students in all 6th
assessment. grade classes would be receiving the same instruction and
Walked expectations.
through
process and Consequences
made sure - There were a few buzz words that Science needs to incorporate to
things were match the English and Reading teachers, otherwise the RACES
consistent strategy was solid.
with other - Science teachers wrote these words down and plan to integrate them
subject in their instructional strategies to match the English and Reading
areas. teachers.

the school.
50
situation.
routines.
Actions
11-1 Collected - Discussed patterns of what we saw in certain students. Noticed that
information students who struggle in reading did not perform well on English
from English assessments.
teachers - Saw a pattern of “solid” students who performed outstanding.
from their
first TDA Consequences
writing - Need to develop some extra interventions for students who struggle
assignment. to comprehend what they are reading. Makes the transition in the
Discussed RACE strategy difficult.
students’ - Personal Posters - cards with tips for students who
scores and struggle to have when they write and respond (leaning
analyzed towards this one).
their work. - Extra one-on-one attention with teacher and/or special
education teacher. Teachers need to check in with student at
least once.

the school.
situation.
routines.
Actions
11-8 Discussed - Proposed actions and ideas for cross-curricular unit. All subjects
6th grade were represented (Math teachers joined us for this).
team’s - We decided on 7 Wonders of the World since reading and social
cross-curricu studies were on the topic at the time. Science and Math will do
lar unit for specific research within specific wonders of the world.
the end of - Writing will focus their TDA skills on a paper using text evidence to
the quarter. visit a specific wonder of the world. Teachers will be using rubrics.
English
teachers are Consequences
51
working on - Science teachers will get to assess students on their TDA skills with
a TDA paper some specific connections to Great Wall of China and Pyramids of
on the 7 Giza via Readworks.org.
Wonders of - Time will be a factor to get these assessments in for all subjects. End
the World. of the quarter is Dec 21.
Continued to
discuss data Balanced Leadership Connections (Responsibilities & Characteristics)
we have - Communication - establishes strong lines of communication
collected in - Focus - establish clear goals and keep those goals in the forefront of
classes. the school.
situation.
routines.
Will check in with team next week on progress and how things are going
11-15 No meeting with low students.
due to
absence.
Actions
11-22 Meeting - Talked about using Google Docs as a place to store data and have
before teachers share with me. Easier and I do not need to take teachers’
Thanksgivin copies of papers and materials. Only will need rubrics for specific
g break - activities.
short
meeting due Consequences
to 6th Grade - Use Google Docs to keep track of information, data, and artifacts.
team We are getting new copiers over the break - that should make things
meeting easier. Can have teachers “share” or send pdf of artifact.

the school.
situation.
routines.
- Input - involves teachers in the design and implementation of
important decisions and policies
52
Actions
12-6 With the end - English teachers shared their data from their final write of the
of the quarter. Reading teachers also shared their data from their
quarter gradebooks.
coming up - Other subjects provided anecdotal records.
rapidly, I
had teachers Consequences
present any - Looking at the data, it is evident that students are getting better at
and all data TDA strategies and we are seeing them grasp things more clearly.
that they had However, students in Reading Strategies are still lagging behind.
and we Talking about getting more intensive TDA instruction in their
looked for Reading Strategy class - but if they do not have a solid foundation of
any patterns. reading skills, that can be tricky. Will wait until 3rd quarter to see if
they will make any changes to RS instruction.

the school.
situation.
routines.
Actions
12-13 Last meeting - Discussed plans for 3rd Quarter and preparation for NeSA tests
before - Each subject area looked at what units will be taught in 3rd quarter
Christmas and possible timing.
Break -
shortened Consequences
meeting due - Brainstorming meeting. Teachers gave a guesstimate of where they
to 6th Grade would be and what they would cover. Was a good picture of what
LITT data I could collect.
Terrific
Titan Award Balanced Leadership Connections (Responsibilities & Characteristics)
Assembly - Communication - establishes strong lines of communication
the school.
situation.
routines.
53
- Input - involves teachers in the design and implementation of
important decisions and policies
Actions
1-10 First - Reviewed plans for 3rd Quarter from subject areas (English,
meeting in Reading, Science, and Social Studies)
2017. Did a - Looked at possible NeSA testing dates - those will be finalized in
lot of February from Dr. Tracy. Last year 6th Grade tested at the end of
reviewing April, could be earlier this year.
and - English teachers discussed and reviewed best practices for TDA
planning.
NeSA Consequences
testing can - In the future, around NeSA time, time will be a factor - English
get hectic, so teachers will be planning specific units to get students more practice
it is at TDA.
important - Social Studies and Science teachers will look to integrate more TDA
that we get practices into their units as well.
an idea of
where we Balanced Leadership Connections (Responsibilities & Characteristics)
are headed - Communication - establishes strong lines of communication
and when - Focus - establish clear goals and keep those goals in the forefront of
we will be the school.
assessing - Flexibility - adapts leadership behavior to the needs of the current
TDA on situation.
NeSA - Order - establishes a set of clear standards and procedures and
routines.
Actions
1-24 *1-17 - Looked at Science and Social Studies units and identified specific
meeting was topics for TDA activities.
cancelled - English teachers are starting a new TDA paper - will be available at
due to Snow the first part of Feb for data.
Day.
Consequences
- Science needs to get through units with good pace to get activities in
Continued
before students take NeSA.
some
planning
aspects with
Science and
Social
the school.
Studies.
54
English will - Flexibility - adapts leadership behavior to the needs of the current
start a paper. situation.
I think it will - Order - establishes a set of clear standards and procedures and
be the last routines.
data point I - Input - involves teachers in the design and implementation of
collect from important decisions and policies
English - Change Agent - willing to challenge the status quo
teachers. - Knowledge of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment -
Focus of Actions:
1-31 meeting was Discussed progress on TDA over the past few weeks. Started discussion on
to introduce Science and English cross-curricular paper - Earthquake research paper.
Earthquake Looked at last year’s plans to see what could fit with this year’s schedule.
Paper
(Science and Consequences:
English - With less time in each class (compared to last year’s block schedule)
curricular the window to do this project is a little smaller than last year. We do
connection) not want to impede on NeSA prep time for ELA teachers.
and tie into
TDA and Behaviors: I will be sure to make sure all teachers have a voice in
Science designing this schedule of this project and make sure there is ample time to
standards. prepare for NeSA tests

Discussed Actions:
2-7 and Continued to finalize schedule for last piece of the project. Continued to
reviewed look at schedule and when to start this project.
Science and
English Consequences:
cross-curricu We are well within the window, we have had some absences of team
lar paper. members - which makes planning a little difficult, but I anticipate that we
What needed will be right on schedule.
to be taught
and when. Behaviors: Be sure to communicate all information to other group members
who have been absent. Continue to press the group forward and make sure
we are on schedule.
55
One last Actions:
2-14 “big write” English teachers announced that they are going to do one last paper before
before they head to Earthquake research and NeSA prep. Students will start their
NeSA prep. research for their Earthquake papers on the week of Feb 27th
Talked
about using Consequences:
Science There should not be any consequences for students completing both.
Earthquake Teachers need to make sure they are not overlapping projects.
paper for
extra Behaviors: Continue to monitor the scheduling of the Earthquake paper and
practice on get ready to collect data from other projects.
TDA
strategies. Balanced Leadership Connections (Responsibilities & Characteristics)
Gained Actions:
2-21 data from Reading teachers gave anecdotal records from the assignment that they did
reading that involved TDA strategies in their classrooms. We looked at data and still
teachers on see a good trend heading into NeSA. Start date for Earthquake Unit is set
a reading for March 1st.
TDA
activity they Consequences: Need to make sure Earthquake unit starts and ends on time
did. Set a to give English teachers plenty of time to prep for NeSA.
date to start
Earthquake Behaviors: Need to transfer data into a visual for project
research in
Science and
English. Balanced Leadership Connections (Responsibilities & Characteristics)
56
Actions:
2-28 Closure to All team members gave their final data pieces and trends. Reflected on the
SIP project. project.
Collected
final data Consequences: Timing did not match up with our plans. Changes in testing
pieces and times and dates forced an early closure of project.
analyzed
final trends. Behaviors: Need to compile everything and get it ready to turn in.

57
Appendix M
School Improvement Project Plan of Action Planner
NAME: Dylan Kendall EDL SIP PLAN OF CADRE 32 Date 11/18/16

ACTION PLANNER
Current building/district goal project aligns to: (from Chapter 2)
SIP Problem Statement: (As written in Chapter 2) Project (Learning) Goal: (from Chapter 2)
After analyzing classroom data, which included NeSA scores, MAP scores, For the School Improvement Project, the team will be
and TDA written assessments, it became clear that students’ text-dependent focused on text-dependent analysis (TDA) in reading and
analysis skills need to improve. With state assessments requiring students to writing in sixth grade. Due to the addition of
showcase their text-dependent analysis and close reading skills, students text-dependent analysis on the NeSA English-Language
need to practice these skills in all core subject areas. With the high test score Arts (ELA) assessment, it was determined by staff that an
expectations and class periods only being 47 minutes long, sixth grade improvement of existing instruction and assessment was
students need extra time in all subject areas to strengthen their needed. The project team determined a systematic approach
text-dependent analysis skills. Using Science and Social Studies to expose on text-based analysis in reading, writing, science, and
students to specific content text-dependent reading and writing strategies can social studies classrooms would be beneficial to student
take some of the burden off of Reading and English teachers, while success in that area. The project team also noted the
strengthening the content understanding of students in Science and Social importance of cross-curricular concepts and if students get
Studies classes. exposure to text-based analysis in four classrooms instead
of just one, the learning could be more powerful and
Target Population: Shared 6th Grade students among core teachers at meaningful to each student.
(Statement of what your team hopes will improve as a
result of the SIP.)
Data Points (used to Best Practice Research (Best Practice) supporting intervention & citation
support problem Strategies/Interventions (from (from Chapter 3):
statement – from Chapter 3) - the
Chapter 2) strategy/intervention by name Title: RACE strategy to analyze text
1. NeSA ELA - RACES strategy Citation:

Data from - Questioning Strategies Island Trees Union Free School District. (2014). Close reading,
2015-16 from Reading instruction vocabulary, and text dependent
School Year - Coding Method questions: Three key strategies to
implement common core standards. [PDF
2. MAP Data EDL SIP Target Project document]. Retrieved from
from Spring (Intervention) Period: (Project http://www.islandtrees.org/pdfs/curriculum/
2016 and start/end date) October 2016 - TSCC2014.pdf
Fall 2016 March 2017
Title: Specific strategies for students to use while they read and
3. Anecdotal EDL SIP Target Measurement respond to texts.
Records Period: (May be shorter period of
Boyles, N. (2012). Closing in on close reading. Educational
from team time than total Project Time)
Leadership, 70 (4), 36-41.
teachers October 2016 - March 2017
Boyles, N. (2014). Close reading without tears. Educational
(English,
Reading, Leadership, 72 (1), 32-37.
and Science)
58
Dollins, C. (2016). Crafting creative nonfiction: From close
reading to close
writing. The Reading Teacher, 70 (1), 49-58.
Fisher, D. & Frey, N. (2014). Contingency teaching during close

reading.
The Reading Teacher, 68 (4), 277-286.
Citation:
Cummins, S. (2013). What students can do when the reading gets
rough.
Educational Leadership, 71 (3). 69-72.
Illustrates what research-based practice will be implemented
“Local Measures” – (report the process in Planner/Report and the results in Chapter 5) How will intervention
strategies be measured? Avoid NRT. Use classroom-based & other measures that can be used frequently. Ideally,
use measures already in place. Focus on identifying ways to describe the impact of the implementation.
Impact on: Learner, Teachers, Curriculum, Classroom. Consider quantitative and qualitative data; summative
and formative sources. Include a minimum of 3 data sources for triangulation.
Strategy/Sub-Strategy Local Measurement/Data Local Measurement Data Local Measurement Data Source &
Source & description Source & description description
NE Department of Education Science text-dependent Reading comprehension and
RACES Strategy Rubric scores from English analysis response on forces, reflection passages using RACES
teachers. motion, and Earth’s crust strategy. Anecdotal records and
(using Readworks.org rubric scores.
materials). Rubric scores and
anecdotal records.
Anecdotal records from Reading Reading teachers will use During Text-Based Analysis units,
Questioning Strategies teachers. Weekly quiz grades text-based analysis anecdotal Reading teachers will provide
from Reading Instruction (check for understanding) and records to determine if students weekly quiz grades accompanied
anecdotal records. are understanding material. with anecdotal records.
Social studies teachers will use Science reading Social Studies teachers will provide
curriculum materials on Ancient comprehension responses on students’ written research project
Questioning Strategies Civilizations from TCI textbook magnets, forces, motion, and data using the NDE state rubric.
from Reading Instruction materials. the Earth’s crust
(Readworks.org materials)..
Anecdotal records.
Will multiple measurements that describe the impact be used? Y Do you provide for a minimum of three
different data sources? Y Save any samples created to be included as appendices. (surveys, pre/post tests,
observation protocols, etc.)
59
Specific Activities to Person (s) Time-line Time-line Resources Staff Dev. Needs
Implement the Accountable Begin End Training needs for best practice,
Strategy/Interventions & (Be specific!) (Be specific!) measurement procedures; other
Measure
(Detailed description of
steps & activities to take to
implement and measure. Be
detailed enough that others
could follow this plan
without your leadership…)
Text-Dependent Analysis Reading October 2016 May 2017 NDE rubrics, NDE Text-dependent Analysis
Training from the and English materials, Workshop in Lincoln, NE
Nebraska Department of teachers conference
Education October 2016 materials,
May 2017 etc. Review TDA and RACES notes
Reading October 2016 from Reading and Writing
RACES Strategy - and writing teachers.
instruction to students teachers May 2017 NDE rubrics, Review TDA and RACES notes
November 2016 materials, from Reading and Writing
Reading conference teachers.
Reading - introduce teachers materials,
specific questioning December 2016 classroom Review TDA and RACES notes
strategies to identify November 2016 posters. from Reading and Writing
specific information in 6th Grade teachers.
Text-Dependent reading Science and reading
situations. social January 2017 December 2016 curriculum,
studies posters with Review TDA and RACES
Social Studies and Science teachers information procedures
- Readworks.org Reading February 2017 on it.
comprehension. Early -February
Questioning strategies to 2017 Readworks Review TDA and RACES
help understand text English passages for procedures. Refresh science
teachers Late-February Late-February science, TCI teachers.
2017 2017 social studies
Writing - Text-Dependent passages and
Analysis paper. 7 Wonders materials Review TDA and RACES
of the World. Rubric grade English and Early March (6th grade procedures. Refresh social
(using NDE rubric) Science Late Feb 2017 2017 curriculum) studies teachers.
teachers
NDE rubrics,
Science and English RACES
Text-Dependent Analysis Early March posters
paper (Earthquakes). English and 2017
Rubric grade using NDE Social
rubric Studies NDE rubrics,
teachers Science
content
All SIP instruction
Social Studies and English team on
Text-Dependent Analysis members Earthquakes
Paper (Greece). Rubric and Earth
Grade using NDE rubric Science.
60
Mr. Kendall NDE rubrics,
Triangulate data and look Social
for patterns within that Studies
data. Provide specific content on
examples to include in Greece and
appendicies (collect mythology.
throughout project)
Anecdotal
records from
Present information and all teachers,
findings to Cadre 32 and exemplar
Norris Middle School papers,
administration anchor
papers
SIP Project.
Put
highlights
and findings
into
presentation.
Ethical Considerations: Explain… Students will be numbered randomly and will appear as “Student 1, Student 2, etc.”.
How will provide for confidentiality? How will Teachers will appear as “Teacher 1, Teacher 2, etc.”
you safeguard participants?
How will you share results? With what audience? I will share my results with Cadre 32 members, project team, English department at
(school site, Cadre) Norris Middle School, and the administrators of Norris Middle School.
How project complies with current SIP
initiatives? The project complies with NMS’ Reading School Improvement goal (All students
How is project consistent to school will improve reading skills). This project works on identifying if students can
policy/guidelines? improve their text-dependent analysis skills by mining text and providing specific
Any district forms needing completion for your information.
project?
Have you completed the EDL IRB Exemption
Form? (if appropriate)
NOTE: Keep in-depth field notes to document all steps and decisions made.
Appendix N
61
School Improvement Project Plan of Action Report
NAME: Dylan Kendall EDL SIP PLAN OF ACTION REPORT CADRE 32 Date
03/10/17
Current building/district goal project aligns to: (from Chapter 2)
SIP Problem Statement: (As written in Chapter Project (Learning) Goal: (from Chapter 2)
2) For the School Improvement Project, the team will be focused on
After analyzing classroom data, which included text-dependent analysis (TDA) in reading and writing in sixth grade. Due to
NeSA scores, MAP scores, and TDA written the addition of text-dependent analysis on the NeSA English-Language Arts
assessments, it became clear that students’ (ELA) assessment, it was determined by staff that an improvement of existing
text-dependent analysis skills need to improve. instruction and assessment was needed. The project team determined a
With state assessments requiring students to systematic approach on text-based analysis in reading, writing, science, and
showcase their text-dependent analysis and close social studies classrooms would be beneficial to student success in that area.
reading skills, students need to practice these skills The project team also noted the importance of cross-curricular concepts and if
in all core subject areas. With the high test score students get exposure to text-based analysis in four classrooms instead of just
expectations and class periods only being 47 one, the learning could be more powerful and meaningful to each student.
minutes long, sixth grade students need extra time
in all subject areas to strengthen their (Statement of what your team hopes will improve as a result of the SIP.)
text-dependent analysis skills. Using Science and
Social Studies to expose students to specific
content text-dependent reading and writing
strategies can take some of the burden off of
Reading and English teachers, while strengthening
the content understanding of students in Science
and Social Studies classes.
Target Population: Shared 6th Grade students

among core teachers at Norris Middle School
Data Points (used to Best Practice Research (Best Practice) supporting intervention &
support problem statement Strategies/Interventions (from citation (from Chapter 3):
– from Chapter 2) Chapter 3) - the strategy/intervention
by name Title: RACE strategy to analyze text
1. NeSA ELA Data Citation:
from 2015-16 - RACES strategy Island Trees Union Free School District. (2014). Close
School Year - Questioning Strategies reading,
from Reading instruction vocabulary, and text dependent
2. MAP Data from - Coding Method questions: Three key strategies to
Spring 2016 and implement common core standards. [PDF
Fall 2016 Actual EDL SIP Target Project document]. Retrived from
(Intervention) Period: (Project http://www.islandtrees.org/pdfs/curriculum/
3. Anecdotal start/end date) November 2016 - TSCC2014.pdf
Records from March 3
team teachers Title: Specific strategies for students to use while they read
(English, Actual EDL SIP Target and respond to texts.
Reading, and Measurement Period: (May be
Boyles, N. (2012). Closing in on close reading. Educational
Science) shorter period of time than total
Leadership, 70 (4), 36-41.
62
Project Time) November 2016 - Boyles, N. (2014). Close reading without tears. Educational
March 17 Leadership, 72 (1), 32-37.
Dollins, C. (2016). Crafting creative nonfiction: From close
reading to close
writing. The Reading Teacher, 70 (1), 49-58.
Fisher, D. & Frey, N. (2014). Contingency teaching during
close reading.
The Reading Teacher, 68 (4), 277-286.
Citation:
Cummins, S. (2013). What students can do when the reading
gets rough.
Educational Leadership, 71 (3). 69-72.
Illustrates what research-based practice will be implemented
“Local Measures” – (report the process in Planner/Report and the results in Chapter 5) How will intervention
strategies be measured? Avoid NRT. Use classroom-based & other measures that can be used frequently. Ideally,
use measures already in place. Focus on identifying ways to describe the impact of the implementation.
Impact on: Learner, Teachers, Curriculum, Classroom. Consider quantitative and qualitative data; summative
and formative sources. Include a minimum of 3 data sources for triangulation.
Strategy/Sub-Strategy Local Measurement/Data Local Measurement Data Source Local Measurement Data
Source & description & description Source & description
NE Department of Education Science text-dependent analysis Reading comprehension and
RACES Strategy Rubric scores from English response on forces, motion, and reflection passages using
teachers. Earth’s crust (using RACES strategy. Anecdotal
Readworks.org materials). records and rubric scores.
Rubric scores and anecdotal
records.
Anecdotal records from Reading teachers will use During Text-Based Analysis
Questioning Strategies from Reading teachers. Weekly quiz text-based analysis anecdotal units, Reading teachers will
Reading Instruction grades (check for records to determine if students provide weekly quiz grades
understanding) and anecdotal are understanding material. accompanied with anecdotal
records. records.
Social studies teachers will use Science reading comprehension Social Studies teachers will
curriculum materials on responses on magnets, forces, provide students’ written
Questioning Strategies from Ancient Civilizations from TCI motion, and the Earth’s crust research project data using the
Reading Instruction textbook materials. (Readworks.org materials).. NDE state rubric.
Anecdotal records.
Will multiple measurements that describe the impact be used? Y Do you provide for a minimum of three
different data sources? Y Save any samples created to be included as appendices. (surveys, pre/post tests,
observation protocols, etc.)
Specific Activities to Implement Person (s) Time-line Time-line Resources Staff Dev. Needs
the Strategy/Interventions & Accountable Begin End Training needs for best
Measure (Be specific!) (Be practice, measurement
(Detailed description of steps & specific!) procedures; other
activities to take to implement and
measure. Be detailed enough that
others could follow this plan without
your leadership…)
63
Text-Dependent Analysis Training Reading and October 25, March 10, NDE rubrics, NDE Text-dependent
from the Nebraska Department of English teachers 2016 2017 materials, Analysis Workshop in
Education conference Lincoln, NE
materials, etc.
Reading and October 25,
RACES Strategy - instruction to writing teachers 2016 March 10, Review TDA and
students 2017 NDE rubrics, RACES notes from
materials, Reading and Writing
Reading teachers October 25, March 10, conference teachers.
Reading - introduce specific 2016 2017 materials, Review TDA and
questioning strategies to identify classroom RACES notes from
specific information in posters. Reading and Writing
Text-Dependent reading situations. Science and November March 1, 6th Grade teachers.
social studies 15, 2016 2017 reading
Social Studies and Science - teachers curriculum, Review TDA and
Readworks.org Reading posters with RACES notes from
comprehension. Questioning information on Reading and Writing
strategies to help understand text February 20 March 1 it. teachers.
English teachers
March 1, March 4, Readworks
Writing - Text-Dependent Analysis 2017 2017 passages for Review TDA and
paper. 7 Wonders of the World. English and science, TCI RACES procedures
Rubric grade (using NDE rubric) Social Studies social studies
teachers March 10, March 14, passages and
Social Studies and English 2017 2017 materials (6th Review TDA and
Text-Dependent Analysis Paper grade RACES procedures.
(Greece). Rubric Grade using All SIP team curriculum) Refresh science
NDE rubric members teachers.
March 25, March 28, NDE rubrics,
2017 2017 RACES posters Review TDA and
Triangulate data and look for RACES procedures.
patterns within that data. Provide Mr. Kendall Refresh social studies
specific examples to include in NDE rubrics, teachers.
appendicies (collect throughout Social Studies
project) content on
Greece and
mythology.
Present information and findings
to Cadre 32 and Norris School Anecdotal
District administration. records from
all teachers,
exemplar
papers, anchor
papers
SIP Project. Put

highlights and
findings into
presentation.
64
Ethical Considerations: Explain… Students will be numbered randomly and will appear as “Student 1, Student 2,
How will provide for confidentiality? How etc.”. Teachers will appear as “Teacher 1, Teacher 2, etc.”
will you safeguard participants?
How will you share results? With what I will share my results with Cadre 32 members, project team, English department
audience? (school site, Cadre) at Norris Middle School, and the administrators of Norris Middle School.
How project complies with current SIP
initiatives? The project complies with NMS’ Reading School Improvement goal (All students
How is project consistent to school will improve reading skills). This project works on identifying if students can
policy/guidelines? improve their text-dependent analysis skills by mining text and providing specific
Any district forms needing completion for information.
your project?
Have you completed the EDL IRB Exemption
Form? (if appropriate)
NOTE: Keep in-depth field notes to document all steps and decisions made.
65
Appendix O
Social Studies 5-Point Rubric for Writing
66
Appendix P
Social Studies Writing Assessment Examples
67
Appendix Q
Social Studies Writing Assessment Data Throughout SIP Project
The graph indicates the Social Studies TDA writing assessment data within the School
Improvement Project. These writing assessments were graded on a 5 point rubric. The topics
assessed were Ancient Civilizations, including Greece, Rome, and China.
● Student 7 made the most improvement from assessment to assessment out of the
entire group by jumping up two rubric points from Assessment #1 to Assessment
#2.
● Student #1 and Student #4 scored the same on all three assessments.
● Student #5 and Student #8 had lower scores on Assessment #3 than they did on
Assessment #2.
68
Appendix R
Nebraska Department of Education Text-Dependent Analysis Scoring Rubric
69
Appendix S
Norris Sixth Grade Student Writing Checklist
70
Appendix T
Norris Sixth Grade Student Writing Scoring Rubric
71
Appendix U
NeSA ELA Sampler Story “Campfire”
72
Appendix V
Student Writing Examples for NeSA Sampler Story “Campfire”
73
Appendix W
Student NeSA Sampler Story Writing Assessment Rubric Scores
The graph indicates the NeSA Sampler Story Writing Assessment Rubric Scores collected from
6th Grade English classes. These assessments are graded on the Nebraska Department of
Education Rubric. The highest possible score a student can receive is a 12, the lowest possible
score is a 3.
entire group by jumping up four rubric points from Assessment #1 to Assessment
#2.
● Students 2, 3, 5, and 7 all received the highest score possible on the rubric on at
least one assessment.
● All students made an increase from their first assessment score.
74
Appendix X
Student Close Reading Assessment Scores
The graph indicates the weekly Close Reading assessments given in 6th grade Reading classes.
These assessments are out of 10 points and are completed on Google Chromebooks.
entire group by jumping up two rubric points from Assessment #1 to Assessment
#2.
● Student 4 scored the same on all three assessments.
● Student 1, Student 2, and Student 7 had lower scores on Assessment #3 than they
did on Assessment #2.
75
Appendix Y
Science “ReadWorks” Text-Dependent Analysis Student Samples
76
Appendix Z
Science Text-Dependent Analysis Assessment Scores
The graph indicates the Text-Dependent Analysis Assessments given in 6th Grade Science
classes. These assessments were taken from “ReadWorks” and the topics were centered around
Interior Earth and the movement that occurs there.
● The maximum improvement from assessment to assessment was 2 points,

achieved by multiple students.
● Student 5 and Student 8 scored the same on all three assessments.
● All students improved their scores on these assessments over the course of the
project timeline.
77

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Improving Text-Dependent Analysis Skills in Sixth Grade With Cross-Curricular Exposure

SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PROJECT

Presented to the Graduate Faculty of

In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements

For the Master of Education Degree

Under the Supervision of Deb Stuto, M.Ed

Norris Middle School

Advisor: Deb Stuto

newest assessment in Nebraska focuses on Text-Dependent Analysis skills, which can be

scaffolding of writing instruction K-12.

Description of the School Community

District Profile, 2016).

Norris Middle School

Currently, the PLP is being replaced by teachers’ BART goals.

for a long time.

year was 44.17% (See Appendix F).

students who are Two or More Races (See Appendix G).

strengthen its connection to the Norris community.

location of the 6th grade teachers.

Norris Middle School Mission, Vision, and Purpose

Norris Middle School’s mission is,

NMS guarantees all students quality learning experiences designed to challenge,

the Future, Learn Today”.

Description of Current Continuous Improvement Process

focus on a variety of skills including comprehension, fluency, and increased knowledge of

recommendation by teachers or parents/guardians.

Description of the Project Team

Questions About Student Learning

to provide effective feedback for teachers and administrators?

3. What is needed to provide effective feedback to teachers and their lessons?

Data Analysis Process

District and Building School Improvement Goals

These goals are:

● Students will be proficient in Reading on all assessments.

● Students will be proficient in Math on all assessments.

Middle School (NMS) has the following school improvement goals:

● Improve the reading skills of all students.

● Improve the mathematical skills of all students.

Analysis (TDA) assessments (See Appendix J).

School Improvement Project Focus

importance of cross-curricular concepts and if students get exposure to text-based analysis in

Project Data Analysis/Classroom-Based Data

mining and text analysis in sixth grade.

the content understanding of students in Science and Social Studies classes.

Description of Current Reality

increase student learning levels in all subjects?”

Best Practice Focus Questions

greatest effect on students understanding text-dependent analysis?

teachers? Social Studies teachers?

● How will the project team track data?

we are assessing the same thing?

boost their text-dependent strategies.

The group of students in need of these interventions will be implemented in a pull-out

sixth grade students. These strategies include:

● RACES strategy to analyze text.

Boyles, N. (2012). Closing in on close reading. Educational Leadership, 70 (4), 36-41.

Title: RACE strategy to analyze text

Nebraska Department of Education. (2016). Nebraska department of education text-based

Title: Coding Method

Boyles, N. (2012). Closing in on close reading. Educational Leadership, 70 (4), 36-41.

Nebraska Department of Education. (2016). Nebraska department of education text-based

the content understanding of students in Science and Social Studies classes.