ASSESSMENT ANALYSIS AND CRITIQUE

Lani Ashberry

April 21, 2014

CHANGES TO TEST

New TOS for Test

New Test

On April 2, students took their Night test for their WWII Unit. Because of the snow, I had

to make a few modifications to the test. Students have been busy working on their research papers,

which is a SOL requirement for tenth graders. I decided to add some research terms to the test and

two questions that have students inserting parenthetical citations. These ten questions were added

to the beginning of the test. I think these questions were pertinent to their research paper process

and rather than have them complete a separate quiz with this information, I combined them with

the test since many of the students are using Night as a source for their research paper.

CLASS MAKEUP

There are a total of 22 students in this

class. There are 14 boys and 8 girls in the class.

As an average, girls scored higher on the test

than the boys. There are 3 African Americans, 1

Other, and 18 Caucasians in the class. There are

four students with an “A” in the class, 6 with a

“B” in the class, 6 with a “C” in the class, 4 with

a “D” in the class, and 2 with a “F” in the class

by the end of the third quarter. The average

score on the test for the entire class was a 77.

14 BOYS VS. 8 GIRLS

Boys (14) Girls (8)50

55

60

65

70

75

80

85

76

79

Students

RACE

Caucasian (18)

African American (3)

Other (1)

0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00% 70.00% 80.00% 90.00% 100.00%

76.80%

72.60%

94.00%

Race

SCORE ON TEST BASED OFF WHAT GRADE THEY HAVE IN THE CLASS AT THE END OF THIRD

QUARTER

"A" Students (2) "B" Students (6) "C" Students (6) "D" Students (4) "F" Students (2)0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

10091.5

85.3

71.364.75 65.5

Test Grade

COMPARING TWO STUDENTS’ TESTS

I compared an “A” student’s test with a “D” student’s test. We will call the “A” student Jake and the

“D” student Connor. Jake’s final grade at the end of the third quarter was a 98 and Connor’s was a 66. Jake

received a 99 on his test and Connor received a 60. Jake did well on the entire test. The only part that he had

trouble with was on the parenthetical citations. Connor also had issues with the parenthetical citations and

other sections of the test, especially the short answers. I implemented a reading quiz at the beginning of Night.

Jake received a 100 on that quiz and Connor received a 25. Jake always volunteered to read the novel when we

were in class; whereas, Connor did not. Connor did participate in discussions, but only moderately. Jake was

never late on turning in assignments. Connor was late a few times and even received a 0 on a CEEW quiz.

I worked with Connor to get him from a “F” to a “D” before the end of the third quarter. His low quiz

grade and 0 were from earlier in the nine weeks when I first took over the class. His average was in the 50’s

until I had him turn in all of his late assignments and I made sure to stay on top of him for his last two big

assignments: research paper outline and reader response journal for Night. He completed these assignments on

time in a workshop that I conducted in the computer lab.

VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY

Overall, I believe the test was valid and reliable. The only issue with the test comes down

to which two questions students picked to answer for the short answers. I provided four short

answer questions and students were able to choose two of the four questions to answer. Although, I

did allow students to answer all of the questions if they wanted and I would choose the two best

answers for test grading purposes. The other two questions were for bonus points. Many students

chose to answer more than two questions, so that they could receive bonus points. While at

Gloucester High School, I have been asked to provide students with choices when it comes to tests

and essay prompts. I provided ninth graders with three essay prompts on a novel this semester and

they had to compose a timed 5 paragraph essay in class.

CHOICE

Giving students the opportunity to choose their prompts is effective as long as you do not

give them too many choices. “The research suggests that teachers should give students choices,

but not too many. John Guthrie, developer of Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction, recommends

that teachers offer fewer choices to less experienced students—for example, simply letting them

choose between two preselected readings. With more advanced students, teachers can expand the

number of choices—for example, asking them to ‘choose three or four concepts of ecology and

locate several animals that can be used to illustrate these concepts’” (Goodwin).

TWO QUESTIONS THAT TROUBLED STUDENTS THE MOST ON THE TEST

_______________: Henley, Patricia. The Hummingbird House. Denver: MacMurray, 1999.

Print.

_______________: “The Impact of Global Warming in North America.” Global Warming:

Early Signs. 1999. Web. 23 March 2014.

Only one student in the class did not have points taken off on this part of the test. The other 21 students

received 1-4 points off on these two questions. During the test review, we practiced parenthetical citations, but

obviously, next time, I need to spend more time on this part. Students were instructed to provide the parenthetical

citations on the line provided and if they need a page number for a book, they should use the number 15. Many

students did not thoroughly pay attention to the directions and forgot to add the number to the citation. Neglecting

this number caused for points to be taken off. Next time, I would make sure to REITERATE that students should

follow ALL of the directions.

THERE WERE ONLY THREE QUESTIONS THAT ALL STUDENTS HAD CORRECT ON THE TEST

14. Auschwitz – the largest and deadliest camp.

22. Why was Eliezer sent to the infirmary?

a. His golden tooth

b. His infected foot

c. His stomach cramps

d. His migraines

27. What did the sign hanging on the front gates

of Auschwitz mean?

a. “To Conquer a Nation”

b. “Destroy By All”

c. “Welcome to Auschwitz”

d. “Work Makes You Free”

WHAT WOULD I DO DIFFERENT NEXT TIME…1. Read more of the novel in class.

2. Although we had a Socratic Seminar before the test, I was a little disappointed with their

participation. In this class, students had not had a Socratic Seminar before, so they were

unfamiliar with the procedures. They did not take notes on their handouts and they had issues

with proper etiquette: taking turns speaking and staying on topic.

3. I would REITERATE to the students that they need to follow ALL of the directions on the

test.

4. I am debating if an essay at the end of the test would be effective, because I realized that some

students still struggled with some of the deeper symbols and meaningful passages in the novel.

Or maybe, I would add a passage analysis after the short answers.

5. I would spend more time on the parenthetical citations.

CONCLUSION

Students averaged a 77 on my test (54-99). Students who were “A” students averaged an “A” on

their tests. The same can be said about those that averaged a “B,” “C,” and “D.” These results make me

believe that my test was appropriate, valid, and reliable. It is evident that they learned from this test. Not

only do I base my opinion off of the results, but I base it off the fact that when I went over the tests with the

students, most of the students were disappointed that they forgot the correct answer. They knew the correct

answer, but they either made a bad choice or they could not clearly articulate the correct answer.

Besides the parenthetical citations, most students struggled with the fill-in-the-blank and short

answers. I loved teaching this unit and this is only one component to my WWII Unit. I also taught excerpts

from Hiroshima, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, and Farewell to Manzanar. Students have also

been working on their research papers at home and during workshops in class. I have learned a lot from

this test and realized that even if I construct a test that I feel is reliable and valid, there is a chance that

something can hinder conclusive and correct results. Also, I need to be prepared to make modifications to

my tests. Weather in Virginia is unreliable; therefore, I need to be flexible with my lessons.

WORKS CITED

Goodwin, Bryan. “Research Says…/Choice is a Matter of Degree.” ASCD. 10 September 2013.

19 April 2014. Web.