Nate Martinez

Data analysis
The particular lesson that I will be teaching and assessing the students
on, is the purposes of government. In general, the students must identify
and define the six purposes of government, and provide examples for both
the specific and general aspects of these purposes. While there are a number
of purposes that could easily be defended, the purposes that the students
will be learning about were narrowed down to resolving social conflict,
providing public services, providing national security/ common defense,
setting goals for public policies, preserving culture, and protecting the rights
of citizens. The identification and definition of the purposes will be worth
three points, while the two examples will be one point each. All in all, each
specific purpose and attached examples will be worth 5 points, for a
combined 30 points total.
Purposes of Govt Pre-test
1) Identify and define the six purposes of government. (3 points
for each purpose)
2) For each definition provide a general and specific example of
how government fulfills the particular purpose. (1 point for
each example per purpose)
The pre-test was short, and there was very little room for subjective
grading, but for that very reason the data that I received from the pretest

was helpful in allowing me to conceptualize what I really needed to hit on

during my lesson.
Below is a chart of the scores I received from the pretest. The y-axis
correlates to the percentage grade on the pretest, while the x-axis correlates
to the individual students specified by a particular number. The blue series of
points represents each students percentage grade, while the orange series
represents the class average. Of the 33 students enrolled in the class, 5

Pre-test scores
80
70
60
50
Percentage Grade

40
30
20
10
0
Each Individual
Individual Scores

Class Average

were
absent and unable to take the test.

In this particular case, the surface level data simply informed me that
many of the students were just unaware or unknowledgeable of the content.
However, after analyzing the data further, I noticed that many students were
able to loosely define certain purposes of government and provide general

examples, but few were able to classify their definitions and examples with a
specific purpose of government. In short, these students were able to
generally grasp what the purposes were, but were unable to correctly
categorize or provide specifics. All of this data told me that I needed to
modify my lesson to help the students more cohesively grasp the
specificities of the purpose of governments.
A day after I gave my lesson on the purposes of government, which
involved students researching an individual purpose with a group p and
presenting said purpose to the rest of the class, the students took one of
their few unit tests of the quarter. The test assessed the students knowledge
on more than just the purposes of the government, but the exact pretest
questions I asked were included in the unit test. While their test includes
much more than just the purposes, I will only be looking at the scoring of the
question dealing with the purposes of government. As such, I simply had to
check the classes score on that particular question in the test to best assess
the growth of the students on this particular content.
Post Test Questions
1) Identify and define the six purposes of government. (3 points
for each purpose)
2) For each definition provide a general and specific example of
how government fulfills the particular purpose. (1 point for
each example per purpose)

Post Test Scores

120
100
80
Percentage Grade

60
40
20
0
Individual Students
Individual Scores

Class Average

Si
milar to the data collected for the pretest, I gathered both the individual
scores of the entire class and the class average. However, I decided to look
at the data of two other subgroups in order to better understand trends
related to higher and lower average grades. Below is the chart of each
students individual scores. The blue line plots the percentage grade of each
individual student, while the orange line identifies the classes average
score. Similar to the graph representing the pretest scores, the y-axis
identifies their grade percentage while the x-axis represents each individual
student specified by a unique number. All in all, almost every student
showed growth in their understanding of the content, but there were a few
students who received a lower score on the post test question.
The second graph that I compiled, with data taken from the post test,
highlights the difference between the percentage grades of the Male and

Female students. For the particular graph below, each bar stands for either
the boys, girls, or class average scores on the post test questions. I chose
this particular subgroup because the male students were both the minority in
terms of population as well as in terms of vocal participation during
discussions and class time. Based on the data taken from the test, the
female students outperformed the male students with an average of 92%.

Boy Averages Vs Girl Averages

Percentage Grade

100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0

Boys

Girls

Axis Title
Class Categories

Class Average

After looking at the first subgroup, I wanted to know if the students

particular seating assignment was a factor in determining their score on the
post test. This third chart reads very similarly to the chart based around the
first subgroup, as each bar signifies a different group of students or the class
average. Unlike the previous subgroup, the students seating position in

South Pod Averages Vs North Pod Averages

80.5
80
79.5

Percentage Grade

79
78.5
78
77.5

South Pod

North Pod

Class Average

Axis Title
Class Categories

the
classroom only showed a 2-3% change in the average score.
As I said before, nearly every student outperformed the score they
received on their pre-test, but a number of the students that struggled on
the post test, struggled with same aspects. Nearly all of the students
performed extremely well on identifying and defining the purposes of
government while providing general examples; however, most students
missed points on providing specific examples for each purpose of
government. If I were to give this test again, rather than ask for specific
examples in general Id ask for ways that the city of Fort Collins fulfills some
of these purposes. Overall the data taken from the post test shows great
growth in the scores between pre and post tests, but there were a number of
students who received too low of grade, to state that my instruction was
completely effective. If I were to teach this lesson again, I would provide

specific examples of how Fort Collins fulfills its duty as a government. That
would be one of my only big changes, because most of my students
struggled with that aspect on both tests.