Entry 5: Assessment Data Analysis Ryan Swift

I. Explanation

For this entry, I collected data from a unit of instruction over types of chemical

compounds and nomenclature rules. I created my own spreadsheet that I used to keep track of

my students degree of understanding. The Summary Data sheet is broken down by lesson

objectives and tracks the progression of student learning over the course of the unit. This

spreadsheet is a summary of analysis of the data from the pre-assessment, formative

assessments, and summative assessment organized by class and focus student. The objectives

that have -% were objectives that were assessed in the Ionic vs Covalent lab on which all

students scored 100%. I was hesitant to put 100% in for those objectives since they worked in

groups for that lab and the summative data clearly showed that students did not reach that

level of content mastery for all of those objectives. Since the data will not fit in a word

processing document the link can be found below, and the analytical questions will be

answered in this document.

Data Analysis

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tBAKh50gWed8dVXNWzckQQR0JrP5Cp5N7C0qsKn

mS5k/edit?usp=sharing

II. Pre-Assessment

What does this data mean?

This data shows that most of my students know how to find the number of valence

electrons for an atom. This was to be expected since I covered this concept in the previous unit.

There were also some students in every class that had been exposed to the chemical formula

and name for table salt, which explains why the scores for the written formulas and names of
Entry 5: Assessment Data Analysis Ryan Swift

ionic compounds was not 0%. I also had 1 student who had some exposure writing formulas for

covalent compounds which is why the average score for the covalent compound objectives was

not zero in 5th hour. The only other learning objectives for this unit that did not have scores of

0% were the behavior of electrons in metallic bonds and properties of ionic and covalent

compounds. These are a little misleading as they were multiple-choice questions, which means

students could use their prior knowledge to make an educated guess as to the correct answer.

Overall, the vast majority of my students have not had any exposure to most of the content

that I plan to cover in this unit. This means that I should spend a little less time on valence

electrons and spend it on the other learning objectives.

What does this data mean for instruction for the Focus Students during the unit?

Focus student A still remembers the content we covered about valence electrons which

is good. The rest of the objectives however will be brand new to her which means that I should

continue with my current accommodations for her and then reassess where she is at after each

formative assessment.

Focus student B also still remembers how to find valence electrons and must have had

some exposure to writing ionic compounds as he got 2 of the 3 questions correct. He also was

able to write the formula for Carbon Monoxide, which I will attribute to some exposure to

literature on the dangers of carbon monoxide. Overall this individual student will not need as

much exposure to ionic formula writing, so I will go ahead and start planning some

supplemental activities for him.

Entry 5: Assessment Data Analysis Ryan Swift

III. Formative Assessment

How did the data from these formative assessments impact learning during the unit?

The data from my formative assessments basically let me know that I was doing a good

job of teaching the content. There were no objectives that were clearly in need of revisiting.

The class averages for each quiz were in the upper B to lower A range. The students who scored

below the average just needed a little more individualized attention which I was able to provide

during class and seminar or after school.

How did the data from these formative assessments impact focus student learning during the

unit?

Focus student A scored well on the formative assessments and only made small

mistakes in writing covalent names because she mixed up the number prefix for one and nine.

This meant that the normal accommodations for this unit were just fine and that I could

proceed with content delivery as normal for this student.

Focus student B also scored very well on all of the formative assessments. This student

aced the quizzes on covalent compounds, hydrates, and acids but scored a 95% on the quiz that

covered writing names for ionic compounds. The mistakes were small and easily rectified and

after talking to the student I realized they had rushed through that quiz. Overall the only

additional learning moment that resulted from these formative assessments was to make sure

that they took their time.

Entry 5: Assessment Data Analysis Ryan Swift

IV. Summative Assessment

What does this data mean for learning during the unit?

Overall students showed excellent levels of content mastery. The learning objectives

that showed the least amount of growth were the conceptual questions about ionic and

covalent properties. I think this can be attributed to the fact that students did not have to have

them memorized for their lab which was what I used for their formative assessment. When it

came time for the test students still didnt not try to actively memorize those concepts and it

showed.

What does this data mean for focus student learning during the unit?

Both focus students A and B showed substantial growth in all of the learning objectives

for the unit. As I pointed out in section about the overall learning of all students, these students

showed the least growth in the objectives that were assessed during the lab. Both students also

made the same mistake on one of the questions about Hydrate formulas which caused that

learning objective score for these two students to appear much lower than the other

objectives. It is important to note however, that there were only two questions covering this

objective which is why the scores look drastically lower than the other objective scores.
Entry 5: Assessment Data Analysis Ryan Swift

For future instruction, what have you learned about how students learn and the efficacy of

your instructional style? What would you change, if anything?

This data shows me that my instructional methods work for all of my students and that

students have no trouble learning concepts that follow specific patterns or rules. After seeing

the lower scores on the objectives formatively assessed in the lab, I would have modified the

test questions to focus more on the application of the knowledge, like the lab, and less

memorization. I think keeping continuity of assessment styles would show a more accurate

portrayal of knowledge learned.