Instructor Interview: Post-Observation

Strengthening Adult Reading Instructional Practices	OMB#:	Exp. Date:
	Code # — —

Instructor Interview: Post-Observation

Name of Instructor: Program:

Class Time and Day: Class Name:

Interviewer: Date of Interview:

Note to Interviewer: Be sure to complete the Instructor Background Characteristics Form after you ask the interview questions below.

A. Diagnostic Assessment

1. Prior to participating in STAR, did you use any assessments to determine learners’ strengths and weaknesses in reading other than those mandated by the program for learner accountability? Yes ____ No ____

a. If yes, which assessment(s) was used (teacher developed, name of commercially produced tests)? What did it measure?

b. Who administered the assessment? At what point was it administered?

c. What types of results did the assessments produce (total score, sub-test scores, other information)?

d. Did you use the assessment results? If yes, in what ways?

e. Were the results provided to learners? If yes, in what form were the results provided and when were the results provided?

2. Since the STAR training, have any diagnostic reading assessments been administered to learners in your reading class? Yes ___ No ___

a. If no, why have reading diagnostic assessments not been used?

b. If yes, which assessment(s) have been administered? Who has administered the assessment? Was this assessment recommended in the STAR training?

c. What types of results does the assessment produce (total score, sub-test scores, other information)?

c. How have you used the results (e.g., develop learner profile, class profile, etc.)?

d. Have the results been provided to learners? If yes, in what form were the results provided and when have the results provided?

e. Has the information from the reading diagnostic been helpful? If yes, in what ways?

B. Curriculum and Instructional Approach

1. Prior to participating in the STAR training, how did you organize this reading class?

a. What skills or topics that you teach?

b. In what sequence (if any) did you teach them?

c. What types of instructional activities did you use to teach these skills (e.g., individual responses to sound cards, oral reading, group discussion)?

d. What materials did you usually use (workbooks, story books, etc.; obtain the name of the materials)?

e. Did you usually prepare a lesson plan for the lessons in this class?

• Formal

• Informal

• “Mental plan”—not written

• None

If yes, what information did the lesson plan contain? How often did you prepare a plan?

f. What types of exercises did you give in class?

g. Where were the exercises from?

• Published materials (obtain name of materials)

• Developed by study instructor

• Developed by other instructors in the program

• Other (describe):

3. Now I’d like to ask you some questions about your use of the STAR toolkit and training.

a. When you returned from the STAR training, what did you do to prepare to teach using the information that you had learned in the training?

b. How has your use of STAR been progressing?

1. What information from the STAR toolkit and training have you used?

2. How have you organized the lessons (use of profile, other information)?

3. Have you developed lesson plans? If yes, how often?

4. Which reading components have you taught? How have you determined which components to teach?

5. Which reading strategies have you used? How have you determined which strategies to use?

6. How do you determine how much time (e.g., hours, weeks) to teach a specific reading component?

7. What has your instructional approach been in teaching reading—e.g., use of direct instruction, differentiated instruction?

4. What have been the main differences in your instructional approach and activities between the way you taught the class previously and how you are teaching it using the STAR approach?

5. In what ways has using STAR been the most challenging?

C. Today’s Class

1. Please describe the main objectives of today’s reading lesson/class.

2. Did you prepare a formal lesson plan for this class? (If yes, obtain copy of lesson plan.)

3. What information or skills that you taught was review from a previous lesson or class?

4. What information or skills that you taught was new for this class?

5. What information in the lesson is from the STAR training?

6. How did you determine which reading components to teach?

6. How did you determine which reading strategies to use?

7. How did you select the materials and/or activities to use?

8. If individual learners were provided targeted reading instruction within the class:

a. What is your process for providing focused reading instruction to individual learners?

b. How often do individuals receive the focused instruction?

c. What is the relationship of the focused instruction to the other activities in the class?

9. If class is team-taught: How do you and your co-instructor divide the teaching? Do you plan together? How is this carried out?

D. Structure of Class

1. If learners are grouped in class: How did you determine how to organize the learners in groups? When is this grouping determined (at the beginning of the term/session, during the term)? Do you regroup the learners during the term/session?

2. Are learners able to enter the class throughout the term/session? Yes No

If yes, how do you integrate a new learner into class?

3. If a new learner has difficulty keeping pace with the class, is additional assistance provided to the learner? What types of assistance are provided?

E. Use of Computers

1. Are computers used as part of this class? Yes No

2. If computers are used as part of this class, which software is used or available to learners (obtain specific name of software)?

3. Do you direct the use of the software or are learners able to select which software they use, or do both occur?

4. Who selected the software for the class? What criteria were used?

5. Does the software reinforce what you are teaching in reading? If yes, in what ways? If no, why not?

6. Are learners given any guidance in using the computer? If yes, who providers the guidance and what types of guidance are provided?

7. Are learners able to access computers outside of class? Yes No

If yes, when and for how long?

F. Use of Homework

1. Do you give homework to learners? Yes No

If yes, how frequently?

If no, why not?

2. If yes, what types of assignments so you give?

3. Do you preview the homework assignments?

4. Do you review the assignments in class?

5. Approximately what percent of the learners complete the homework assignments?

G. Overall Class

1. What are the most challenging aspects of teaching this class?

2. What aspects of the class seem to work well?

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