The Impact of Quantative Assessment Data
Collection and Analysis to Guide Instruction
The purpose of this study is to
determine the impact of utilizing the science of data collection and analysis
to increase student success on science EOC exams. With the increased rigor of the new EOC state
assessments, it is important to make sure our students are prepared. In order for students to be successful on
state assessments, a teacher must understand where the students are
struggling. Assessment data collection
and analysis utilizing heat maps provides a feasible means to review and
understand student knowledge and comprehension.
After discussing EOC scores with my campus principal, I discovered that
utilizing data collection and analysis to guide instruction is not a campus
wide practice. It is my hope that with the
implementation of the practices described in this study, the passing
percentages for the science EOCs will improve dramatically.
This action research project
will teach teachers to be data driven.
It is easy to look at assessment class averages greater than 70% and
assume that students “get it”. The
process described in this action research project breaks assessments down by
concept or TEK to allow teachers to understand exactly where students are struggling to help ensure student
success. The passing percentage on the
Biology EOC for the 2011-2012 school year was 86%. It is my hope with the implementation of the
practices described in this study, the passing percentage for the Biology and
Chemistry EOCs for the 2012-2013 school year will be above 95%.
It is no secret that data
collection and analysis is at the heart of reliable research. According to Dana (2009), data collection and
analysis is part of the action research process. As already stated, this study is proposing
using the science of data collection and analysis to increase student success
on science EOC exams. As a fairly new
teacher I had never put much emphasis or thought into the importance of
assessment data collection and analysis, but after utilizing the process last
school year (2011-2012) and seeing the success it brought my students on the
Biology EOC (100% passing), I became more interested. After relocating and finding a teaching
position at a new school, I discussed my previous use of assessment data
collection and analysis with my new principal.
He encouraged me to implement the practice with my students this year
and to report back to him with my findings and results. With positive results, he hope to implement
this practice campus wide for the 2013-2014 school year.
Since this research project
currently only involves myself and my students, I did not have to share my
vision of the project with others (besides my principal, initially). I did explain to my students that I would be
collecting data from their assessments, but that the data would not be grouped
by student, only by concept. I explained
that anyone looking at the heat maps (data analysis) would not even know what
group of students the data came from. I
also made sure to explain to the students that I was collecting the data to
improve their success and they expressed an eagerness to learn the areas where
they were struggling.
Again, since this project only
involved myself and my students, it was very easy to manage the organization
and operations. To implement this
project I have been following these steps:
1) Collect assessment data from every summative unit
assessment administered. This is
facilitated through the use of scantrons or e-instruction clickers.
2) Compile data into heat maps (organized by
TEK) for data analysis.
3) Use heat maps to determine which
TEKS/concepts students are struggling with.
Review or spiral back if necessary.
4) Recompile assessment data into heat maps
after large summative assessments (fall semester exams and Mock EOCs) to
provide comparative data from throughout the school year (allows monitoring of
long term retention).
5) Continue to use heat maps to determine which
TEKS/concepts students are struggling with.
Use this data to develop review days early in the spring semester to
spiral back to difficult concepts.
The great aspect of this action
research project is that it addresses the needs of all students. By collecting and analyzing assessment data
from every summative assessment, teachers are able to monitor the progress of
both individual students and classes as a whole. This information gives teachers the
opportunity to reflect upon their students’ learning as well as their
instructional techniques. This
reflection encourages the use of differentiated instruction to continue to
strive to meet the needs of all students in the classroom with the end goal
being the increased academic achievement of all students.
