Data to Keep

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My first year teaching, I knew it was important to keep data on my students, but I didn’t know exact quantities and qualities. The logistics of the data keeping were a bit frightening. If you teach at a data-heavy school, the process can be intimidating.

Luckily, my school was adamant that data-driven instruction was very important, but the higher-ups never kept exact tabs on the data I was keeping. I liked it that way. If your school allows for a certain degree of freedom on this matter, the next step is for you to decide what kinds of data to take, how often, etc. Here is what I learned:

            My favorite data from teaching first-grade reading:

                        -Word reading fluency once a month
                        -Running records biweekly
                        -Comprehension test weekly
                        -Spelling test weekly
                        -Phonics, vocabulary and phonemic awareness in a unit test once a quarter
                        -Dolch sight words weekly
           
I would quiz students on their sight words each week during our reading stations. I found how to create a “game” that made reading off those words a little more fun!


It can be laminated and used over again if the child doesn’t read all of the words correctly. Then I kept a separate recording sheet to record the number of correct words the child read. It’s fun, and I’m all for more fun ways to learn things!





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