Running Head: DATA ANALYSIS PLAN 1

Data Analysis Plan

ETEC 643: Technology and Learning II Section 47

Elva Fanty

California State University, San Bernardino

Dr. Baek

February 28, 2017

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Data Analysis Plan

Introduction

As a second grade teacher, I encounter students that are struggling to read on a

daily basis. I work in a low income school, with students that struggle to read, and with

families that do not view school as a priority in their life. Many of my students families

do not have English speaking parents to help their students learn to read or do their

homework. Many of my students tell me that they do not have books at home. Students

that are slower or struggling often are lacking in confidence and motivation to make

gains in their reading ability. I am always looking for a way to motivate these students

and increase their confidence. I would like to see if having a pretend pet would help

these students the same way that therapy dogs help patients. I will research if reading

to a dog can help students read with more fluency, accuracy, comprehension, and

happiness.

Research

Research Questions

Three research questions were created to carry out the investigation. The

research questions are as follows:

Is there a difference in second grade students reading quality (speed, accuracy,

comprehension) between students with stuffed animal (to pretend they have a

pet) and students without a stuffed animal?

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Is there a difference between how happy second grade students are when they

read with a stuffed animal or without a stuffed animal?

Does knowing how to care for and respect animals help second grade students

read with more speed, accuracy, comprehension, and happiness?

Research Type

A mixed method process was used to collect and analyze the data. Both

qualitative data and quantitative data were used to measure students growth in fluency,

accuracy, comprehension, and happiness. The quantitative data was collected from the

students fluency, accuracy, and comprehension tests. A rubric was used to help

measure student accuracy based on the amount of details that the students are able to

give after reading the story. The qualitative data was collected from the students

happiness surveys. Students were given all of these tests before the research started.

Students were given the tests again after the experimental group was given their dogs.

Students were given their dogs to read with 20 minutes two different times a day and

when students were finished with their other classwork early.

Population and Sample Size

The population of this research study is composed of second grade students that

attend Bubbling Wells Elementary School, where I teach second grade. There are 22

second grade students in my classroom. To make the selection of students I used

random assignment method. I pulled the students names out of a jar. I selected 11

students that will be my experimental group (reading with stuffed animals) to compare

scores with the control group (not using stuffed dogs to read with). I will select 11
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students to teach using a stuffed dog. Students were given their dogs to read with 20

minutes, two different times a day, and when students were finished with their other

classwork early. All of these students read every school day, over a span of 4 weeks.

Data Collection

Fluency and Accuracy

For this research project, the fluency test that was used is commercially

developed. The researcher used Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills

(DIBELS) 6th edition. Two groups of students were tested, the control and the

experimental group. The students were each tested individually. The students were

given this test before the experiment and after the experimental group has been given

their stuffed dogs (at the beginning and at the end of a 4-week period). The

experimental group did not have their dogs for this test in either instance.

Each of the students read the passage, having never seen it before, for one

minute. After the minute is up, the student was asked to give a retell of what they just

read. This provided cognitive, observed data for the accuracy of the story. The

researcher calculated the number of words read in one minute, minus the number of

mistakes made by the student, to give a total number of words of read per minute. This

provides cognitive, observable data for each students fluency. This test provides

reliability and validity for the reading fluency and accuracy portion of the research. The

data is valid because the test used for this measurement is specifically designed to

measure fluency and accuracy only. The data is reliable because all of the students
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were given the exact same test in the exact same way. This data will be displayed using

bar graphs and Excel spreadsheets.

Comprehension

For this research project, the comprehension test that was used is commercially

developed. The researcher used a story and questions were used from the district

adopted curriculum, Treasures. Two groups of students were tested, the control and the

experimental group. The students were each tested individually. The students were

given this test before the experiment and after the experimental group has been given

their stuffed dogs (at the beginning and at the end of a 4-week period). The

experimental group did not have their dogs for this test in either instance.

The researcher had the students read a story from the Treasures book. The

students were then given a commercially developed (by Treasures) comprehension test.

This test provided cognitive information from the students about their ability to recall and

understand the story. The collection of this data was by observation, as they will be

graded by the researcher using a rubric. This test provides reliability and validity for the

reading comprehension portion of the research. The data is valid because the test is

specifically designed to measure reading comprehension only. The data is reliable

because all of the students were given the exact same test in the exact same way. This

data will be displayed using bar graphs and Excel spreadsheets.

Happiness

For this research project, the happiness test that was used is commercially

developed. The researcher used Elementary Reading Attitude Survey developed by M.

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McKenna and D. Kear. Two groups of students were tested, the control and the

experimental group. The students were each tested individually. The students were

given this test before the experiment and after the experimental group has been given

their stuffed dogs (at the beginning and at the end of a 4-week period). The

experimental group did not have their dogs for this test in either instance. The students

in the experimental group will not have their dogs for either of the surveys. Students will

be asked questions about their attitude toward reading. This survey will provide non

cognitive data. The data is collected by self-reporting, as the students will fill this out on

their own. This data will be displayed using bar graphs and Excel spreadsheets.

Data Analysis

Fluency, Accuracy, and Comprehension

Because this data is going to be quantitative, it will be analyzed using descriptive

statistics. The data will be imported into an Excel spreadsheet. I will use functions to

find measures of central tendency such as mean, median, and mode. The mean will

indicate the average of each of the two groups. The median will indicate the middle

score. This will help he determine who is above the 50 percent and who is below within

each of these two groups. The last measure of central tendency is mode. Mode is the

most frequently occurring score. I will also calculate standard deviation. Standard

deviation is a measure of dispersion. Standard deviation is the average distance of

scores from the mean. To analyze, I will take each of these measures and use t-test to

compare and make conclusions. I will use the dependent t-test to measure the pretest

and posttest for my experimental group, and I will repeat this step for the control group. I
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will take this data and do an independent t-test comparing the results of the two groups

to each other. This will help me draw conclusions to the research questions.

Happiness

Because happiness is qualitative data, I will use the steps of inductive analysis to

organize and analyze the data. First, I will organize the data into an Excel spreadsheet.

I will start by creating a coding scheme to group similar data together. Although I have

not started the analysis of this data yet, it has been collected. I do not believe that I will

have to much trouble with this step. Next, I will describe the characteristics of the

categories resulting from step one and try to make connections to the research

questions. Any connections that are made will be reflected upon and described in terms

of their connection to or ability to answer the research questions. (Mertler, p. 165)

Finally, I will interpret the data and draw conclusions to the research questions.

Conclusion

There is a growing interest in how animal interaction with humans impacts

human psychological health. We have heard tales of how studies show that animals are

therapeutic to the sick and the elderly. There has been research to show that animals

can help to lower blood pressure, increasing relaxation, and increasing confidence. I

want to see if I can adapt this theory to help my students become better readers. I will

be closer to the answers after analyzing the data.

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References

Good, R. H., & Kaminski, R. A. (Eds.). (2007). Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early

Literacy Skills (6th ed.). Eugene, OR: Institute for the Development of

Educational Achievement.

Hall, S., Gee, N., & Mills, D. (2016). Children Reading to Dogs: A Systematic Review

of the Literature., 11(2).

McKenna, M., & Kear, D., (1990). Measuring Attitude Toward Reading: A New Tool For

Teachers. The Reading Teacher. 43(9). 626-639.

Mertler, C. A. (2015). Action Research: Improving Schools and Empowering Educators.

Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications, Inc.

Szecsi, T., Toledo, M., Barbero, M., Del Campo, A. & Toledo, M. (2010). Teaching

Respect, responsibility, and kindness through dog safety lessons. Childhood

Education, 87(2), 125.