Section VI: Assessment Data & Analysis
1. Pre- and post assessment grading criteria and scoring are explained.
When I gave the students the pre-assessment I explained to the students that there was credit for completion but no points taken away for wrong answers. It is a tool for me to know what to teach and what they know to find new challenges for each student if they are ready for them. The silhouette assignments will be graded on the same scale that their previous projects have been. When given the final assessment it is clearly explained that it is a district assessment and is to be taken seriously like a test. The students are also made aware they I cannot help them on this assessment so if they are not sure of an answer to guess or leave it blank, but not to worry about loosing points for getting a question wrong.
2. Pre- and post assessment results, including individual, cluster/sub-group, and gain scores, are presented in charts and/or graphs.
When I gave the students the pre-assessment I explained to the students that there was credit for completion but no points taken away for wrong answers. It is a tool for me to know what to teach and what they know to find new challenges for each student if they are ready for them. The silhouette assignments will be graded on the same scale that their previous projects have been. When given the final assessment it is clearly explained that it is a district assessment and is to be taken seriously like a test. The students are also made aware they I cannot help them on this assessment so if they are not sure of an answer to guess or leave it blank, but not to worry about loosing points for getting a question wrong.
2. Pre- and post assessment results, including individual, cluster/sub-group, and gain scores, are presented in charts and/or graphs.
Your browser does not support viewing this document. Click here to download the document.
3. Pre- and post assessment results and patterns are analyzed (1) by student and (2) by cluster/sub-group.
The students will be handed back all assessments and go over them together at the end of the semester after the district assessments are done and have been inputted into the computer system. However, after looking at the results of the final assessment I met with the class to have a discussion on what happened to cause such a loss in knowledge according to the results.
4. Results of pre- and post-assessments are synthesized to answer the questions, "What do these assessments show about the learning that did or did not occur in the unit?"
These assessments are suppose to show the growth in knowledge of each student. However, after grading the final assessment I see a drastic decrease in knowledge in areas that were pretty strong in the pre-assessment and then a slight incline in knowledge that was less apparent in the pre-assessment to the post assessment. In just looking at these results you would see little growth in knowledge occurred while a larger loss of knowledge occurred. After grading these I met with the class on the last day I was teaching and we discussed what happened. The general response was that the format of the final assessment was confusing or weren't given enough time to complete it and didn't go back to finish.
5. Evidence from the unit instructional assessments that support or contradicts pre and post findings is explained.
Looking at these two assessments and the results that they provided suggests there could be a problem in the format of the second assessment due to the loss of knowledge that was already there during the first assessment. I also think there would be better accuracy in the results had the assessments been closer to the format. The formants I think were just too different and the final assessment had some definite gaps that should be filled. At the end of the last class with these students we did a review on the questions and topics of the unit and the understanding seemed to be pretty strong for silhouette, organic and geometric shapes, 3-D, 2-D, why we plan and why we reflect. So I am leaning towards the formatting of the second assessment causing some confusion. Then again these students have also done lots of testing lately and might very well just be sick or testing or have learned that they can't be forced to test so they choose not to answer questions. I have noticed that in dealing with silhouettes students can describe what it is and identify but then in their projects they don't seem to completely grasp the concept. For example, they keep wanting to draw in details on their black silhouettes even though you don't see details on a true silhouette.. It makes me wonder if there is something in their brain development that just doesn't get this concept or can't grasp it fully until further developed.
6. Strengths and weaknesses of the assessment plan are discussed.
I think the biggest weaknesses in the assessment plan are within the final assessment that I used from the district. Many students seem to struggle with the format of this assessment, which I don't blame them as there were points I was even confused on. The first assessment seemed to go better. Although this also may highlight that students are to used to a more traditional assessment with multiple choice questions and need to be pushed to experience and become confident with other types of written assessments. I do think it would be good to include the projects as assessments in most cases, but in this case i am not sure they are a good source. To many students rush through projects because their neighbor is ahead of them or they just want to get onto the next thing or access to art library. Not to mention their fine motor skills are still developing and in these two projects struggled with cutting enough that it would be unfair to compare the two with an added difficulty on cutting matte board during the second project.
The students will be handed back all assessments and go over them together at the end of the semester after the district assessments are done and have been inputted into the computer system. However, after looking at the results of the final assessment I met with the class to have a discussion on what happened to cause such a loss in knowledge according to the results.
4. Results of pre- and post-assessments are synthesized to answer the questions, "What do these assessments show about the learning that did or did not occur in the unit?"
These assessments are suppose to show the growth in knowledge of each student. However, after grading the final assessment I see a drastic decrease in knowledge in areas that were pretty strong in the pre-assessment and then a slight incline in knowledge that was less apparent in the pre-assessment to the post assessment. In just looking at these results you would see little growth in knowledge occurred while a larger loss of knowledge occurred. After grading these I met with the class on the last day I was teaching and we discussed what happened. The general response was that the format of the final assessment was confusing or weren't given enough time to complete it and didn't go back to finish.
5. Evidence from the unit instructional assessments that support or contradicts pre and post findings is explained.
Looking at these two assessments and the results that they provided suggests there could be a problem in the format of the second assessment due to the loss of knowledge that was already there during the first assessment. I also think there would be better accuracy in the results had the assessments been closer to the format. The formants I think were just too different and the final assessment had some definite gaps that should be filled. At the end of the last class with these students we did a review on the questions and topics of the unit and the understanding seemed to be pretty strong for silhouette, organic and geometric shapes, 3-D, 2-D, why we plan and why we reflect. So I am leaning towards the formatting of the second assessment causing some confusion. Then again these students have also done lots of testing lately and might very well just be sick or testing or have learned that they can't be forced to test so they choose not to answer questions. I have noticed that in dealing with silhouettes students can describe what it is and identify but then in their projects they don't seem to completely grasp the concept. For example, they keep wanting to draw in details on their black silhouettes even though you don't see details on a true silhouette.. It makes me wonder if there is something in their brain development that just doesn't get this concept or can't grasp it fully until further developed.
6. Strengths and weaknesses of the assessment plan are discussed.
I think the biggest weaknesses in the assessment plan are within the final assessment that I used from the district. Many students seem to struggle with the format of this assessment, which I don't blame them as there were points I was even confused on. The first assessment seemed to go better. Although this also may highlight that students are to used to a more traditional assessment with multiple choice questions and need to be pushed to experience and become confident with other types of written assessments. I do think it would be good to include the projects as assessments in most cases, but in this case i am not sure they are a good source. To many students rush through projects because their neighbor is ahead of them or they just want to get onto the next thing or access to art library. Not to mention their fine motor skills are still developing and in these two projects struggled with cutting enough that it would be unfair to compare the two with an added difficulty on cutting matte board during the second project.