Student Self-Graphing as a Strategy to Increase Teacher Effectiveness and Student Motivation

M s. Wilson and Ms. Turner coteach third grade together. Their school is in its first year of implementing a comprehensive, integrated, three-tiered (CI3T) model of prevention to meet students’ academic, behavioral, and social needs. As part of their secondary intervention, Ms. Wilson and Ms. Turner have embedded timed, repeated reading to promote oral reading fluency in small guided reading groups for students who are identified as at risk. In an effort to track student progress, the schoolwide assessment team (SWAT) has asked teachers to collect curriculum-based measures (CBM) on reading fluency using Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS). The teachers have been tracking their students’ progress via an online database. This coteaching pair also has three students who were identified as moderate risk on a systematic behavior screening. These students participate in Check-in, Checkout (CICO). Each student begins and ends each day with a positive contact with Ms. Turner, the CICO mentor. She provides each student with positive feedback and a new CICO daily point card and makes sure he or she is ready for his or her day (i.e., brought all materials to school). At the end of the day, the students check out with Ms. Turner. At this time, Ms. Turner graphs the students’ daily progress by recording the number of points earned in a Microsoft Excel database. In addition, the teaching pair has one student in their classroom who does not initiate social interactions. They decided to implement a social skills self-monitoring intervention to promote conversation skills. With DIBELS data, the CICO daily point card, self-monitoring sheet, and ongoing academic assessments, there was a plethora of data that needed to be collected, entered, and analyzed. In addition, the teachers felt as though the students would benefit from seeing and understanding their performance data. Ms. Wilson and Ms. Turner believed that their students were ready to take ownership of their progress. They set out to find a strategy to help manage their data and improve their students’ academic, behavioral, and social skills performance. They came across student self-graphing in their research. They wondered if student self-graphing would alleviate some of their tasks and if it is an appropriate strategy for their students. If so, what types of graphing systems should they employ? Many teachers face challenges similar to those of Ms. Wilson and Ms. Turner in their classrooms. Managing and analyzing multiple forms of data can be overwhelming. Perplexed by additional responsibilities (e.g., preparing for and participating in high-stakes testing, developing longterm standards-based lessons, attending staff meetings, educational conferences, and school programs), teachers are serving an increasingly diverse group of learners within the general education setting, including students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). Students with EBD are at risk for school failure because of behavior, motivation, and learning deficits, but research has indicated that the negative effects of EBD can be mitigated through proactive academic, behavioral, and social skills interventions (Kauffman & Landrum, 2009). Many schools across the country are adopting multitiered models to identify students for appropriate interventions and monitor their progress. In general, multi-tiered models provide a continuum of support based on student need, with the goal being early detection and intervention for struggling students. Ms. Wilson and Ms. Turner’s school has chosen to implement a CI3T model of prevention (Lane, Kalberg, & Menzies, 2009). The CI3T model combines the academic framework of response to intervention, the behavioral framework of schoolwide positive behavior supports, and an additional social skills element. A multi-tiered model such as CI3T is a practical way for schools to support students and allocate school resources. The model is composed of three tiers of intervention: (a) primary or universal support (Tier 1), (b) secondary or targeted group interventions (Tier 2), and (c) tertiary or specialized individual interventions (Tier 3). The SWAT team monitors the progress and outcomes of the primary plan using academic and behavioral data. They also help teachers identify students for more targeted supports such as a supplemental reading program (e.g., Stepping Stones to Literacy; Nelson, Cooper, & Gonzalez, 2004), a targeted behavioral intervention (e.g., CICO; Crone, Horner, & Hawken, 2010), or a social skills intervention (e.g., Social Skills Improvement System; Elliott & Gresham, 2007). Specific entry (e.g., two office discipline referrals within 3 weeks or scoring at moderate risk on the Student Risk Screening Scale (SRSS) (Drummond, 1994) and exit criteria (e.g., zero office referrals for 2 months or screening at low risk on the SRSS) are used to determine the students’ response to the intervention STUDENT SELF-GRAPHING