Data Analysis
1. Describe how well your class met the three school goals for student performance, which are
that:
Each student will achieve a score of 7 out of 10 on each assessment of a targeted objective
from the Voluntary State Curriculum.
Each student will achieve a score of at least 4 out of 5 for homework completion and
accuracy on a scale of 1 – 5, where 5 indicates that homework is always complete
and accurate.
Each student will have at least a 95% school attendance rate.
There are three important goals dealing with student performance that should be met
inside of the classroom. One of the goals is that the students achieve a score of atleast
7 on each objective from the voluntary state curriculum. My class did not achieve
this goal at all. For the first objective 44% of the students met the criteria, but only
24% of students met the needs for the second objective, and only 20% of the students
received a 7 or higher for the third objective. All of these scores are below 50%,
which means that a great portion of my class is not learning the information. The
second goal that is to be met is that the students obtain a score of atleast 4 for
homework completion and accuracy. 16 out of 25 students achieved this goal, which
means that only 36% of the class did not receive this score. Finally, the last objective
is that students have a 95% attendance rate. Only 7 students met this goal, and I
believe this is a main factor why my students did not do well on achieving the
targeted objectives in the first goal. Attending school is one of the main reasons for
success inside of the classroom. Although my students did well on the homework
portion, they failed to achieve the goals concerning reaching the targeted objectives
and attending school.
2. Describe patterns you see when you look at attendance and/or homework data and each
student’s average performance on Goal/Objective 3.
Overall, there is a strong positive correlation between completing homework and the
average scores students receive inside of the classroom. Studies have shown that
completing homework is one of the main reasons students do well in their school
work. A majority of my students prove that doing homework benefits the work done
inside of the classroom, but there are some students who have high homework scores
but low performance. For example, student number 14 has a homework score of 4 but
low scores for objective number three. There is a variety of different reasons that
could explain this. For instance the student may have a learning disability causing
them to have trouble testing inside of the classroom, but home may provide them with
a better environment for learning. The student may also be receiving extra help at
home but lacking the instructional assistance they need inside of the classroom.
Although this occurs, it is rare. My classroom statistics prove that doing homework
outside of the classroom benefits the student’s performance, while getting low scores
on homework hurts the overall performance of the student.
3. Describe patterns you see when you look at the “Additional Data” worksheet (LEP, MSA
scores, and IEP) and each student’s average performance on Goal/Objective 3.
As I mentioned in the question above, special needs is one of the reasons students
may perform badly inside of the classroom. While looking at the “Additional Data”
worksheet, I noticed that there are many IEP and ELL students inside of my
classroom. When working with students who have disabilities, it is important to give
them extra help inside of the classroom so that they have the same change to succeed
as any other student. Perhaps in this situation, the students are not receiving the
correct amount of assistance needed for the students to triumph over their disability
and succeed inside of the classroom.
Instructional Decisions
1. Select one of the patterns you described above in Step 2 or 3 related to Goal/Objective 3.
Identify and explain specific strategies you would implement to improve student
performance based on that pattern.
One of the patterns I noticed is that students who get low grades on homework overall
do worse inside of the classroom. The homework score is based on completion and
accuracy, so I would stress to the students the importance of completing their
homework on time and putting effort into their work outside of the classroom. As an
incentive for students to complete their homework, I would try to make it interesting
so the students would want to do their homework. For example students enjoy using
technology, so perhaps I would make the homework assignments technology related.
Also, I might give rewards to the students for turning in their homework. By giving
the student a reward for their good behavior, they will be more likely to complete
their homework more often.
2. Look at all the performance data, including the “Additional Data” worksheet, and identify
other adjustments in instructional strategies that need to be made for the class or group of
students. Support your decision based on the data findings.
I noticed in the data findings that most of the scores for the students were rather low. I
believe that this is mostly due to the fact that there are many students with learning
disabilities in my classroom. Working with children who have learning disabilities is
a challenging task, but it is one that every teacher must face. One of the ways I could
better this situation is by getting extra staff in the classroom. By having more teachers
in the classroom, the students will be able to have more small group and individual
instruction. Students need a lot of help to complete challenging tasks, and this
statement is even more true when dealing with special needs students.
3. In an actual classroom, you would generally have more information on your students than
provided here. With this in mind, describe what additional student information would be
useful to make further instructional decisions and explain why that information would be
useful.
Some additional student information I would receive would be the exact needs of my
students and information about their personal life. The additional data sheet simply
gives me information about how many different kinds of special needs students there
are in the classroom, but if this was a actual classroom I would know exactly what
type of learning disability my students have. By knowing more information about
their disables, I would be able to focus more time and provide alternate assignments
for the students who need extra help. Also, knowing about a student’s personal life
may be helpful as well. Sometimes students have a rough home life, and need extra
attention inside of the classroom. For example, if a student has problems at home they
may need extra help inside of the classroom that they are not receiving at home.