Lauren Kinsella

EDUC 7762

Dr. Terry

Impact on Student Learning Analysis

Introduction:

This cross-curricular unit was conducted in an 8th grade Language Arts classroom that

included gifted, on-level, and students with disabilities. There are 7 gifted students, 11 on-level,

and 5 students with special needs in the learning environment. In this unit, students explored

Social Studies topics by researching the Civil Rights Movement, and gained mastery of the

Language Arts concepts of explanatory writing and research. Students conducted research on a

topic of their choice as related to the civil rights movement, wrote an explanatory essay using

their research, and created a presentation to present to the class.

Because this unit was cross-curricular, students were assessed on a variety of Language

Arts as well as Social Studies standards. However, this analysis will focus on the impact of

student learning on the Language Arts standards of explanatory writing, in conjunction with the

8th grade writing assessment

Assessments:

Pre-assessments:

o Students were given a timed-writing pretest to assess explanatory writing skills.

Essays were graded using the 8th Grade Writing Rubric.

o Students completed a KWL chart about the civil rights movement. This data is not

included in this analysis, but it was used to differentiate by interest and

background knowledge level.

Informal: Teacher monitored student progress throughout the unit through one-on-one

conferences, research progress checks, rough drafts, and peer editing check off sheets.

Formal: Students will complete 2 final products.

o Explanatory essay – will be graded using 8th grade Writing Test Rubric (see

attached).

o Presentation – students will create a presentation of their choice to demonstrate

what they learned about the civil rights movement from their research.

Analyzing and Reporting Data:

Whole Gifted Group:

Gifted Results of Writing Pre-Assessment by Writing Domain

Domain 1:

Ideas

Domain 2:

Organization

Domain 3:

Style

Domain 4:

Conventions

Total

Score

Student #1 8 4 4 5 21/25

Student #2 6 4 4 5 19/25

Student #3 6 5 4 5 20/25

Student #4 4 4 3 5 16/25

Student #5 6 4 3 5 18/25

Student #6 4 4 3 5 16/25

Student #7 6 4 4 4 18/25

Gifted Preassessment Domain 1: Ideas

Consistent Control of Ideas (8)Sufficient Control of Ideas (6)Minimal Control of Ideas (4)

Gifted Preassessment Domain 2: Organi-zation

Full control of the Components of Organization (5)Consistent control of the Components of Organization (4)

Gifted Preassessment Domain 3: Style

Consistent Control of the components of style (4)Sufficient control of the com-ponents of style (3)

Gifted Preassessment Domain 4: Con-ventions

Full command of the com-ponents of conventions (5)Consistent control of the components of conventions (4)

Based on the preassessment data, it was clear that most gifted students need additional skill

development in the areas of idea development and style. Additionally, most gifted students

showed mastery of conventions and organization in the pretest. Instruction was differentiated to

focus on ideas and style for the whole gifted group, and specialized instruction was provided to

the small number of gifted students who needed additional instruction on conventions and

organization.

Gifted Results of Writing Post-Assessment by Writing Domain

Domain 1:

Ideas

Domain 2:

Organization

Domain 3:

Style

Domain 4:

Conventions

Total

Score

Student #1 10 5 4 5 24/25

Student #2 8 5 5 5 23/25

Student #3 6 5 5 5 21/25

Student #4 8 5 4 5 22/25

Student #5 8 4 3 5 20/25

Student #6 6 5 4 5 20/25

Student #7 8 4 5 5 22/25

Gifted Post-assessment Domain 1: Ideas

Full command of the com-ponents of ideas (10)Consistent Control of Ideas (8)Sufficient Control of Ideas (6)Minimal Control of Ideas (4)

Gifted Post-assessment Domain 2: Organi-zation

Full control of the Components of Organization (5)Consistent control of the Components of Organization (4)

Gifted Post-assessment Domain 3: Style

Full command of the com-ponents of style (5)Consistent Control of the components of style (4)Sufficient control of the com-ponents of style (3)

Gifted Post-assessment Domain 4: Con-ventions

Full command of the com-ponents of conventions (5)

The post-assessment data indicates that the gifted population showed growth in all areas. In the

target areas of ideas and style, by the post assessment most of the gifted students showed full

command of style and ideas and would exceed standards on the 8th Grade Writing Test. The data

also demonstrates that targeted differentiation created growth for those students who were

lacking in organization and conventions.

Whole Group minus the Gifted Population:

Whole Group Results of Writing Pre-Assessment by Writing Domain

Domain 1:

Ideas

Domain 2:

Organization

Domain 3:

Style

Domain 4:

Conventions

Total

Score

Student #1 6 3 3 3 15/25

Student #2 6 4 3 4 17/25

Student #3 4 3 2 3 12/25

Student #4 8 4 3 4 19/25

Student #5 6 4 2 3 15/25

Student #6 4 3 2 4 13/25

Student #7 2 2 2 4 10/25

Student #8 4 1 2 4 11/25

Student #9 4 3 3 3 13/25

Student #10 6 3 4 3 16/25

Student #11 4 2 2 2 10/25

Student #12 6 4 3 3 16/25

Student #13 6 4 4 3 17/25

Student #14 8 5 4 3 20/25

Student #15 2 1 2 2 7/25

Student #15 2 1 2 3 8/25

Student #16 6 3 3 4 16/25

Whole Group Preassessment Domain 1: Ideas

Consistent Control of Ideas (8)Sufficient Control of Ideas (6)Minimal Control of Ideas (4)Lack of control of the com-ponents of ideas (2)

Whole Group Preassessment Domain 2: Organization

Full control of the Components of Organization (5)Consistent control of the Components of Organization (4)Sufficient control of the com-ponents of organization (3)Minimal control of the com-ponents of organization (2)Lack of control of the com-ponents of organization (1)

Gifted Preassessment Domain 3: Style

Consistent Control of the components of style (4)Sufficient control of the com-ponents of style (3)Minimal control of the com-ponents of style (2)

Whole Group Preassessment Domain 4: Conventions

Full command of the com-ponents of conventions (5)Consistent control of the components of conventions (4)Sufficient control of the com-ponents of conventionsMinimal control of the com-ponents of conventions

Based on the preassessment data, it was clear that the whole group minus the gifted students

need instruction in all 4 domains of the writing rubric. The preassessment also provided groups

for remediation for students who had “minimal control” of any of the domains. Many of the

gifted students used research to increase their idea development and style, while the on-level

students worked on organization and conventions. At the end of the unit, the on-level students

made significant growth in these 2 areas.

Whole Group Results of Writing Pre-Assessment by Writing Domain

Domain 1:

Ideas

Domain 2:

Organization

Domain 3:

Style

Domain 4:

Conventions

Total

Score

Student #1 6 5 3 4 18/25

Student #2 6 5 3 4 18/25

Student #3 6 4 3 4 17/25

Student #4 8 5 4 5 22/25

Student #5 6 4 3 4 17/25

Student #6 6 4 3 5 18/25

Student #7 4 3 3 4 14/25

Student #8 6 3 2 4 15/25

Student #9 6 4 3 5 18/25

Student #10 8 5 4 4 21/25

Student #11 6 4 3 4 17/25

Student #12 8 5 4 5 22/25

Student #13 8 4 3 5 20/25

Student #14 8 5 4 4 21/25

Student #15 6 3 2 4 15/25

Student #15 4 3 2 4 13/25

Student #16 8 4 4 4 20/25

With the whole group, the most growth was seen in the areas of conventions and organization.

Whole Group Post-assessment Domain 2: Organization

Full control of the Components of Organization (5)Consistent control of the Components of Organization (4)Sufficient control of the com-ponents of organization (3)Minimal control of the com-ponents of organization (2)Lack of control of the com-ponents of organization (1)

Whole Group Preassessment Domain 4: Conventions

Full command of the com-ponents of conventions (5)Consistent control of the components of conventions (4)Sufficient control of the com-ponents of conventionsMinimal control of the com-ponents of conventions

Sub-Group: (gender)

To further analyze the impact of student learning on the gifted population, I broke down

the data by gender. Out of the 7 gifted students, there are 4 girls and 3 boys.

Gifted Results of Writing Pre-Assessment by Writing Domain

Domain 1:

Ideas

Domain 2:

Organization

Domain 3:

Style

Domain 4:

Conventions

Total

Score

Girl #1 8 4 4 5 21/25

Girl #2 6 4 4 5 19/25

Girl #3 6 5 4 5 20/25

Girl #4 4 4 3 5 16/25

Boy #1 6 4 3 5 18/25

Boy #2 4 4 3 5 16/25

Boy #3 6 4 4 4 18/25

Gifted Results of Writing Post-Assessment by Writing Domain

Domain 1:

Ideas

Domain 2:

Organization

Domain 3:

Style

Domain 4:

Conventions

Total

Score

Girl #1 10 5 4 5 24/25

Girl #2 8 5 5 5 23/25

Girl #3 6 5 5 5 21/25

Girl #4 8 5 4 5 22/25

Boy #1 8 4 3 5 20/25

Boy #2 6 5 4 5 20/25

Boy #3 8 4 5 5 22/25

Overall, the girls and boys in the gifted group scored comparable on the post assessment.

Both groups made adequate growth from pre to post assessments. The major difference seen was

in the pre-test scores where the boys had the lowest half of the scores. Although growth was

made, the boys still represented the lowest half of the scores on the post-assessment.

Individuals: (Race)

To further analyze student learning, I looked at the data for 2 specific students in the

gifted population. The first student is an African American female, and the second student is a

Caucasian female.

Gifted Results of Writing Pre-Assessment by Writing Domain

Domain 1:

Ideas

Domain 2:

Organization

Domain 3:

Style

Domain 4:

Conventions

Total

Score

African-

American

Female (#1)

8 4 4 5 21/25

Caucasian

Female (#2)

4 4 3 5 16/25

Gifted Results of Writing Post-Assessment by Writing Domain

Domain 1:

Ideas

Domain 2:

Organization

Domain 3:

Style

Domain 4:

Conventions

Total

Score

African-

American

Female

10 5 4 5 24/25

Caucasian

Female

8 5 4 5 22/25

The first student is an honor roll student in all classes and is in the process of applying to

go to a magnet school in the fall. Teachers and parents comment on her work ethic and

determination. She is a leader in the classroom and often starts and participates in class

discussions. Her pre-assessment scores were the highest in the class overall and in the subgroup.

Although her pre-assessment score was high, she still strove to increase her score throughout the

learning unit. Student #1 used research to increase her background knowledge on the topic which

led to creative idea development. She was successful and managed to score a near perfect (24/25)

on the post-assessment.

The second student primarily demonstrates her gifted abilities in science and math

classes. Although she works hard, she admits that writing is a personal struggle that she is

working to overcome. Teachers and parents comment that she is quite and independent. She does

not like to work in groups or participate in class discussions. Her pre-assessment score was the

lowest in the subgroup, but she worked hard to bring her score up for the post-assessment. From

pre-assessment data, it was determined that she needed to focus on idea development and style in

her writing. For her post-assessment, student #2 conducted research on her topic, created

brainstorming maps, participated in peer and teacher editing, and used a thesaurus to increase her

word choice. Student #2 made significant growth in idea development and some growth in style.

She also improved her organization skills.

Reflection:

This learning unit was ultimately successful due to differentiation strategies that were

incorporated into the unit. Because this unit was implemented in an inclusive setting, it was

imperative that students had the ability to work specifically on the skills that they required. By

using pre-assessment data, I was able to loosely group by the writing domains where they needed

the most growth. Basically, the gifted students needed more instruction in idea development and

style, and general education students needed to start with a better foundation for conventions and

organization. By infusing technology into this unit, I was able to create learning experiences for

all four domains that students could participate in at their own pace. For gifted students

specifically, they focused on research to increase idea development. I found that by giving

students a choice in their topic, they were able choose high-interest topics which led to better

idea development, which led to better writing overall.

Within the gifted population, students scored high scores on the pre-assessment in the

areas of conventions and organization. These 2 skills tend to be basic level skills that most gifted

students mastered in prior grades. However, the pre-assessment indicated that they did need

work in style and idea development. The post-assessment indicated that all gifted students made

some growth in the areas of style and ideas. I believe that this is because I targeted their

instruction to meet these 2 areas. Students conducted research and brainstormed with a partner to

increase idea development. To increase style, students worked on varying sentence structure and

varying word choice in their final drafts. Although improvement was made, in the future I will

focus more on audience awareness and voice to further increase scores for style.

When looking at the data for the whole group minus the gifted population, it was clear

that general education students demonstrated weaknesses in all 4 writing domains. Because

conventions and organization are foundational skills, I targeted instruction to start with these two

domains. Again growth was seen in these two domains, but the post-assessment scores indicate

that there is still growth to be made. Seven out of the 16 on-level students did not receive a

passing score on the post assessment. I believe that this may be due to the fact that they did not

receive a completely balanced approach to writing instruction. Perhaps I was doing them a

disservice by only focusing on organization and conventions. I plan on creating another unit that

will focus on all four writing domains for general education students.

Upon reflecting on my teaching practices for this unit and discussing with other

Language Arts teachers, I have determined that I will focus more on idea development with all

students in the future. The Ideas Domain counts for 10 possible points, while all other domains

only count for 5 possible points on the 8th grade writing assessment. So clearly, idea development

is more important than conventions. Although I want to see my students write essays with perfect

conventions, it is more important that students develop unique and compelling ideas.