Laila Taylor

ITEC Portfolio Artifact Reflection

Standard 2.8 Data Analysis:

Candidates model and facilitate the effective use of digital tools and resources to
systematically collect and analyze student achievement data, interpret results,
communicate findings, and implement appropriate interventions to improve instructional
practice and maximize student learning.
1. Briefly describe the artifact and the context in which it was created. What was/were
your individual contribution(s)?
The Data Overview presentation was created for ITEC 7305. The Data Overview is a
comprehensive report of State grade level assessments for the past three years at Hahira
Middle School. The report consists of two years (2012-2013, 2013-2014) CRCT data and
2014-2015 Georgia Mile Stones data. The data was observed to label areas of strength
and weakness for the school, observe the differences in the data from one test to another,
and observe any areas for growth in student learning. I gathered all of the data from the
School Longitudinal Data System (SLDS) in our grading system with the help of the
Academic Coach, since I did not have access to data other than my classes. Once I
gathered all of the data I looked for areas in demographic groups that had areas of
weakness to see if there was a common theme for a particular grade or subject level. The
Data Overview presentation can be viewed on You Tube at the following address;
http://youtu.be/kzNr6pn5l4I?hd=1
2. Explain how this artifact demonstrates mastery of the standard/element under which it
is placed.
The Data Overview artifact demonstrates my ability to use digital tools such as SLDS,
google slides, PowerPoint, screencast, and YouTube to create an informative presentation
over school data. The data from Hahira Middle School was systematically collected for
the past three years on the state wide test for 6th, 7th, and 8th grade. I drilled down the data
by subject areas, gender, race, socio-economic status, and special education for each
grade level. After the data was broke down it became clear that the standards for the
Georgia Mile Stones Test and the Criterion Reference Competency Test were very
different. The GMAS is much more rigorous than the CRCT which resulted in less
students reaching the Exceeds category for HMS, this was reflected in the data. There
was also a clear deficit that I was able to interpret in the results for male students in

Laila Taylor

ITEC Portfolio Artifact Reflection

English Language Arts, especially male SES students. This was a trend was observed in
all three grade levels. I was also able to see a trend for 7th grade students in the 20142015 school year data, there was a decrease in scores in all subject areas except social
studies. One area that 7th grade teachers said they changed this year was less drill and
review before the state test. The teachers in the other subject areas used review stations
and activities to review. However, Social Studies used review papers that the students
completed and the teacher reviewed whole class. The students created flash cards review
that they worked on for one month before the state test. In years past the other subject
areas had used Study Island as review throughout the year but felt like administrators
wanted more group review so they did not use this as much the next year and saw a
decrease in student achievement. I created a You Tube presentation as well as a google
slides presentation that was shared with the certified faculty at my school. The
presentation discussed the findings that I found when completing the Data Overview but
also some future goals based on the strengths and weaknesses observed. The Academic
Coach helped me come up with the goals for the school. Some of these were
incorporating more literature focused on the interest of boys into the curriculum. As well
as adding a Maker Space in the Media Center to increase the amount of boys visiting the
media center. Some goals for 7th grade was to review throughout the year but designate a
longer review time before the state test. The teachers are encouraged to use Study Island,
Moby Max, and Front Row Ed as review sources for students to use in class and at home.
The presentation ended with the many strengths of Hahira Middle School. We have high
achievement and less than 15% of the school falls in the level 1 area. Our scores are
always above the state and district level for Lowndes County.
3. What did you learn from completing this artifact? What would you do differently to
improve the quality of the artifact or the process involved in creating the artifact?
I learned so much from completing this artifact. For one, as an academic teacher I only
had access to data in SLDS for my subject area only. Digging through the data was eye
opening, I thought that I would observe more of a difference based on race rather than
gender. Females overall did well in all academic areas and had a higher % of students in
the Exceeds category for all subjects. The main thing that I would do differently would

Laila Taylor

ITEC Portfolio Artifact Reflection

be to spend more time drilling down in the data. I spent almost a month categorizing the
data but because of the enormous amount of data collected more time would have
produced more explanations of deficits.
4. How did the work that went into creating the artifact impact school improvement,
faculty development, or student learning? How can the impact be assessed?
The impact was that I shared the presentation with the certified staff at my school and
created goals with the academic coach. Several teachers were surprised by some of the
results and interested in how I collected the data as well as created the charts in google
slides. During professional learning teachers were able to comment directly on the
google slides presentation and teachers were able to view the comments in real time.
This helped create real dialogue between teachers in other grade levels that would not
have been able to meet otherwise.