Pre and Post Test Data
Blank pre/post test
Filled out pre/post test
Conclusion
At the beginning and at the end of my study I gave a test that measured upper case letter recognition, lower case letter recognition, and letter sound identification. My study found that all students increased their alphabet knowledge in each of the three categories. At the beginning of my study, students could identify an average of 11.84 upper case letters, 10.42 lower case letters, and 7.32 sounds. At the conclusion of my study, students could identify an average of 16.37 upper case letters, 15.84 lower case letters, and 14.26 letter sounds. For example, one students went from knowing 16 upper case letters to 25, as well as from knowing 9 letter sounds to knowing 25 (see post test picture above). This shows using the Enhanced Alphabet Knowledge (EAK) Strategy in combination with name writing did have a positive effect on students' alphabet knowledge.
Name Writing
Conclusion
For my study, I used name writing in combination with the EAK strategy. The data for this name writing graph was collected from my pre and post tests. During the test I asked students to write their first and last name. It is developmentally appropriate for students to still write some letters backwards. With this in mind, if a student wrote letters backwards but in the correct order it was still counted as correct. On the pre test, 10 of the 19 students (52.63%) in the study could write their first name correctly. On the post test, 18 of the 19 students (94.74%) could write their first name correctly. This shows that practicing name writing often in combination with the EAK strategy increased students' ability to write their name.
Feelings Survey
Conclusion
At the beginning and at the end of my study I gave a feelings survey that measured student attitudes toward a variety of alphabet knowledge related questions. Four of the key questions on this survey were: how do you feel about letter sounds, how do you feel about letter names, how do you feel about writing your name, and how do you feel about writing letters. For each of the questions I asked students to circle a happy face for great, straight across face for ok, and sad face for not good. The graphs showcase overall students felt confident, or great, about each of the questions. After giving the pre-test the feelings surveys were reviewed. This revealed that many students circled all happy faces even when they did not know any letters or sounds. With this in mind, I decided not to give the feelings survey a second time at the conclusion of the study. These graphs represent the average answers to the four main questions that were asked.
Exit Tickets/Anecdotal Notes
During each small group lesson anecdotal notes were collected. These documented several areas during the lesson. While students were reading it was documented whether they could identify sight "heart" words within text as well as sound out unfamiliar words. It was also documented whether or not students were able to identify letters, identify letter sounds, write letters, complete an action for the letter, and write their name. These notes were used as a formative check after each lesson. If a student was still struggling with a letter this was taken into consideration and the letter was retaught at a later time. After reviewing the anecdotal notes and comparing the information to the post-test data, I noticed the reteaching of letters that students struggled with overall seemed to work. For example, there were times I commented in the notes that a student was struggling with the letter "C" so I would go back and reteach this letter to the student. After looking at the post-test data, that same student was able to correctly identify the letter "C" and its sound.
The exit tickets were also used as a formative check at the end of some lessons. Some example questions I asked on the exit tickets were: “Write the letter A, both upper and lowercase.” “What letter makes the S sound?” “Write your name.” The exit tickets were used in a very similar way to the anecdotal notes. When a student would struggle with a letter or sound I would reteach the information to the student. The exit tickets had the same effect on student post-test data as the previously mentioned effect with anecdotal notes.
Anecdotal Notes
Exit Tickets
T-Test
T-Test for Alphabet Knowledge
A paired-samples t-test was conducted to determine the effect of the use of the Enhanced Alphabet Knowledge strategy in combination with name writing on students' ability to correctly identify letter names and sounds. There was a significant difference in the scores prior to implementing alphabet knowledge and name writing strategies (M=29.58, SD=24.81) and after implementing (M=46.47, SD=29.79) the alphabet knowledge and name writing strategies; t(19)= 5.5991, p = 0.00001294. The observed effect size d is large, 1.28. This indicates that the magnitude of the difference between the average and μ0 is large. These results suggest that the use of the Enhanced Alphabet Knowledge strategy in combination with name writing had a positive effect on students’ ability to identify letter names and sounds. Specifically, the results suggest that the use of the Enhanced Alphabet Knowledge strategy in combination with name writing to identify letter names and sounds increased student ability to identify letters and sounds.
Triangulation of Data
The combined use of pre and post tests, exit tickets, and anecdotal notes as forms of data collection worked together to show the growth my students made. The pre and post tests were a form of quantitative data that allowed me to see where my students were at both before and after instruction occurred. Exit tickets were a form of quantitative data that allowed me to see whether the lesson I gave students was retained. Anecdotal notes were a form of qualitative data that allowed me to gather data in the moment to see how students were understanding the information. I would use the data from these notes to create an exit ticket that would then allow me to see how the information was retained. The pre and post tests were then another form to see if the letter knowledge was gained during the lessons.
