Student/classroom data is used to determine what to teach and when to teach it. A common phrase is "Use the data to guide instruction," but what is that really asking you to do? And how do you make that happen?
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Very simply: After looking over the assessment scores you should modify your practices accordingly.
When the data shows that students understand and/or demonstrate the anticipated outcomes, then you can continue as planned.
When the data shows that students, or some of the students, need additional instruction and review, you should modify your plans and reteach to those who need it. By analyzing the data, you can make well-informed decisions for modifying the curriculum, instruction, and/or assessment specific to the lesson introduction, content exploration, guided practice, independent practice, and/or closure.
While the curriculum map tells you what order to teach the content; the data tells you when to move on.
Digging Into Data
Larger Picture Questions
How well did the class do as a whole?
What are the strengths and weaknesses in different standards?
How did the class do on old versus new standards taught?
How were the results in the different question types (multiple choice vs. open-ended, reading vs. writing)?
Who are the strong and weak students?
“Dig in” Questions
Bombed questions – did students all choose the same wrong answer? Why or why not?
Break down each standard – did students do similarly on each question within the standard? Why?
Sort data by students’ scores – are there questions that separate proficient and nonproficient students?
Look horizontally by student – are there any anomalies occurring with certain students?
Planning With Classroom Assessment Data
Formative Assessments:
In the classroom you are using a variety of formative assessments - question/answer sessions, classroom discussions, quizzes, work period activities, exit tickets, etc. It wouldn't be possible or reasonable to analyze all of these assessments in a timely measure and use all of the data.
1. Choose Formative Assessments according to the information you are wanting to measure.
2. Sort the assessments into 3 piles - mastered, almost there, needs help Use these groups to provide small-group or individualized instruction to differentiate the content.
Design the next activity based on students' needs - some students may need to read a little more, watch a short video, practice another attempt.
Create stations for students to rotate through during work period. One of the stations can be one-on-one time with you or the co-teacher.
Ask your co-teacher to work with a small group, while you work with the larger group (or switch groups).
Students who mastered the content in the formative assessment are ready for what comes next in the content.
TIP: After recording your formative assessment data, you must analyze the data and modify your practices to accommodate your students’ progress.
When the data show that students understand and demonstrate the anticipated outcomes, then you can continue as planned.
When the data show that students, or some of the students, need additional instruction and review, you must modify your practices.
By analyzing the data, you can make well-informed decisions for modifying the curriculum, instruction, and/or assessments specific to the lesson introduction, guided practice, independent practice, and closing.
Summative (Standards-Mastery) Assessments:
Summative Assessments provide the data you need to determine whether the students learned the material you taught during the unit/course.
Try out a question-error analysis on summative assessments to identify students' strengths and weaknesses!
1. Create a spreadsheet with a list of students in the first column.
2. In the columns following student names, title each column question #1, question #2, etc.
3. When grading each student's assessment, mark the question numbers that were incorrect with a color-fill, X, emoji, etc.
As you study each sample of student work, try to identify the types of errors you see (or components of the work that are missing). This will leave you with an analysis of the questions most commonly answered correctly and incorrectly. Use this information to discover learning gaps, misconceptions, poor assessment questions, and more.
Click to see the Question Analysis template or scroll down to the Additional Resources section below!!
Data Analysis Questions
Data Analysis Questions
Collecting data allows you to plan instruction based on what your students need. It provides a snapshot of where the students are in relation to the standards. Reading the data is a great start! It is very important to know where your students are on the continuum, but you can't stop there. Knowing this information about your students, but not modifying the lesson makes it useless.
Use the following analysis questions to help guide your action plan:
Formative Assessment Analysis
Did the student understand what you were teaching?
Is the student ready for the next set of information?
Can the student show his/her learning in a way aligns with the standard? For example, the standard says, the student can describe _________. Can the student describe _________?
What stands out to you? Any trends?
Why is this data important?
If this data remains constant, what might be the possible consequences for your students?
What might need to happen next to impact this data?
Summative Assessment Analysis
What are the common learning gaps?
What information did students routinely master?
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the students?
What content do I need to reteach?
Which students need small group instruction?
Are there questions that were answered incorrectly by a majority of students?
Are there questions that were answered correctly by a majority of students?
Question-Error Analysis
What might the students have been thinking to make this error? What are our hypotheses?
How can we find out which of our hypotheses is true?
What different instructional strategies could we use to fix or undo whatever led to this error and to help students solidify their skills and concepts?
How are each of us going to plan and manage time and tasks in class so that we’ll get 15 minutes (or whatever it takes) to reteach the skills and concepts? [Target at least two times a week for groups of students who don’t have it.]
How can the team help? Determine whether there is a way to share/exchange knowledge, skill or students to benefit both students and colleagues.
What items did your students do well on? Why?
Which items posed the greatest challenges? Why?
Which distractors (wrong answers) are students frequently choosing in multiple-choice questions? Why?
What might you do immediately to address these areas of need? To unravel students’ misconceptions?
Standards-Based Content Analysis
Which unit essentials/learning targets are your students’ areas of strength?
What practices are you using that might account for these successes?
How can you strengthen and spread use of these practices? How can your content/department team help?
Which unit essentials/learning targets are areas of need for your students?
How might you teach these essentials and learning targets differently/thoroughly/better next time?
What can you do to address these areas of need immediately?
Student Work/Project Analysis
What criteria for success are your students doing well on? Why do you think?
Which criteria are students frequently not yet proficient? Why?
Why are your students missing points on open-response?
What errors or confusions are evident in the work?
What worked well in this unit that you want to continue doing?
How can we improve the curriculum and instruction the next time we teach this unit?
Are the errors due to...
misconceptions of the content?
rushing through the work?
not reading directions/text thoroughly?
What can you do to immediately to address these areas of need and unravel students’ misconceptions?
Additional Resources
Additional Resources
THE MAIN IDEA -- Driven by Data -- 4-10.pdf
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