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Written by Ridwan Olatilewa | ridwan.olatilewa@uamaker.nyc
Problem
In my classroom, I noticed that when we were doing Projects in class, students often did not complete assignments without intense prompting and encouragement. With demanding requirements surrounding regents exam, I decided to take this opportunity to try and discover whether using the regents exam as an incentive for students to grab hold of their learning would be an effective method of helping them build independence, and realize that the work they were doing has impacts on their life.
Hypothesis
If students have a “high stakes” test/project that is coming up, and the material being covered is focused on individual skills, then students will be more willing to take control/become more responsible for ensuring they learn the material, as measured by the amount of completed & turned in assignments.
If students are completely aware of what they’re learning, why they’re learning it, and are made aware of the impacts of what they’re learning, they will be more willing to take on the role of ensuring they learn the material.
Target group
BAND A, C, and F of Algebra 1. I picked all 4 because they all had exposure to the projects we did this year, and they all were involved in the Regents Prep.
Planning & resources
PBL and Standardized Tests_ It Can Work! _ Edutopia.pdfData collection
Data collection
Baseline data
I collected baseline data by:
Keeping track of turn in rates assignments on jump rope prior to Regents Prep
Keeping track of feel of student engagement
Surveying students at the end of the year to gauge student satisfaction post regents prep
Measuring success
To measure the success of my hypothesis, I did the following:
Went through the year (up until Spring Break) doing Projects (with some sprinkling of Algebra 1 regents questions)
From Spring Break, made a SHARP turn with a focus on 85% regents prep, 15% prep for future math classes (not necessarily mutually exclusive)
Kept track of turn in & completion rates for assignments / benchmarks
In Jumprope
Kept track of engagement levels during the weeks of regents prep, and compared them to before regents prep
Compared amounts of work (benchmarks, worksheets, exit tickets) turned in (as well as the type of work being assigned) after we started regents prep to the amount & type of work turned in before.
Overall findings & impact
I noticed that the assignments given prior to regents week were way more abstract where students needed to use multiple skills to complete the assignments. During regents week, students mostly had to use only 1 skill, throughout an assignment. (These individual skills usually involved other skills in its make-up). For example, solving equations (need to know how to solve 1 step, 2 step, multi-step equations)
In addition to this, there was the muscle of regents being important behind everything we did – this incentivized students to get work done.
With the heavy weight of the regents, students completed way more work than they did previously.
This may have been because…
Every skill took 1 day to practice
Students immediately took the skills they learned and used them on benchmarks (which were just like traditional tests)
Were more encouraging in regards to getting work done (on certain days, we had 3 teachers in the classroom.)
But even with that, students were working way more than they did before. We talked about it being something they NEEDED to pass to graduate often, and this further added to the importance that students get things done.
Student quotes worth noting on a question that asked to explain their response to the previous question:
Student survey results:
1 - Negative response
5 - Most positive response
From these responses, it’s clear that there is a need for both, so I don’t want to make the argument for throwing out one or the other.
I think the students need / want a mixture of both, where the projects they do are COMPLETELY relevant to the regents, but also real life (which can be difficult to create).
We live in a reality where while the real life math stuff is important, but having a test that plays a role in determining whether you graduate from high school feels just as (if not more) important.
If I was to do this year all over, I’d either create more regents related projects, OR figure out ways of having PROJECT days and REGENTS days.
Actionable steps
If you want to use this strategy in your classroom, I recommend …
Try to put WEIGHT behind whatever project you want students to complete
If the outcomes impact students in ways beyond just their grades, they will be more willing to perform well
Outsiders coming into the class to judge/grade
Bigger incentives? Not candy, but things that could alter their in class experience
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