Data Analysis

Using data in NOCTI is vital to student and program success. The NOCTI is given twice over the course of the program. The Pre-NOCTI (written only) is provided to students in the 2nd year of the program. The Post-NOCTI is given towards the end of the 3rd year of the program. In effect, juniors (11th grade) take the Pre-NOCTI, and the seniors (12th grade) take the Post-NOCTI (written and performance) before graduation.

This structure of pre-test and post-test allows the teacher to do several things.

1. Track the progress of students between pre-test and post-test. We can identify where students are weak in the pre-test, and then adjust our instruction & curriculum to compensate for weak task list (PAL) duty areas or NOCTI areas. You may need to support the class as a whole, or individual students.

2. Validate your program scope & sequence, syllabi, and curriculum. Cohorts who consistently perform well on the NOCTI will validate that your courses and curriculum are aligned correctly to the program task list. If your students are not doing well, it would be best to discuss changes to the course structure, syllabi, and curriculum with your administration (AP and/or SBTL) and your Occupational Advisory Committee (OAC).

3. Expose students to the exam and the type of questions they will encounter on the exam. Students who are familiar and somewhat comfortable with the testing environment will spend more time focused on the questions instead of trying to navigate the exam format.

How to Analyze Pre-NOCTI Scores - Cohort/Group Results

In the example below, we are looking at the Communications Technology, 10.9999, program.

After receiving the testing cohort's results in PDF and Excel format, it's best to copy and paste the data from their Excel document into a blank Google sheet or Excel document. Use 'conditional formatting' and use a general rule of 50% to set up colors based on whether each standard's cut score was met. Notice that there is a third column that shows the 50% mark.

How to Analyze Pre-NOCTI Scores - Individual Student Results

In the same Google Sheet document, the individual student report (names redacted) and special populations flags (EL, SPED) were added. This gives us a way to identify how the special populations are doing against other students. Conditional formatting was also used in order to determine if students would be considered proficient, basic, or below basic (green = proficient, orange = basic, red = below basic).

With this system, we could determine and anticipate a few things:

1. Which students will need more support with specific content to review and master.

2. Where the curriculum is weak or thin. There also is the possibility that the cohort simply hasn't covered the material yet.

3. Whether the diverse populations need more support, and how are they performing versus other students.

4. How far do you need to move each student in order to be marked as proficient or advanced in the Post-NOCTI.

Post-NOCTI Results

Once students have taken the Post-NOCTI, this will give you another opportunity to compare and analyze assessment data. For ease of use, it's best to add another 2-3 columns in the Pre-NOCTI spreadsheet to input Post-NOCTI results for individual students and the cohort.

Data points to analyze:

1. Was your adjusted curriculum and planning successful?

2. How much did your students grow from pre-NOCTI to post-NOCTI? It would be good to analyze the cohort and individual students.

3. Did your diverse learners grow at the same pace as the other students?

4. Which duty areas still stayed weak? Which duty areas grew more than expected?

5. Review the cohort data with your administration and OAC for suggestions and improvement strategies.

More resources on NOCTI data analysis

1. https://www.nocti.org/credentialing/how-to-start-putting-your-data-to-work/

2. https://www.nocti.org/services/reporting-and-data/

3. A Guide to Student Occupational Competency Testing in Pennsylvania 2021-2022 ->