DATA ANAYLSIS | Capstone Conferences

Analyzed Data

Pre and Post Test

Before the unit of Fictional Narrative writing began, the students completed a pre-test. The pretests were graded with a district created a second-grade narrative rubric. The rubric was divided into four different sections, ideas, organization, word choice and voice, and sentence fluency and conventions. Students were able to score a 1, 2, 3, or 4 within each section. When students scored a 3, they were meeting grade level expectations and, therefore, receive a proficient grade. A score of a 4 would be considered excellent work and above expectation. Writing assessments have a total of 16 points possible.

The highest score achieved on the pretest was 12. The lowest score achieved on the pretest was a 4. Between these two scores many students received between a 6 and 8, which places their overall score in a high beginning level or a low progressing level. Students are expected to score at the level of proficient (11), meaning the majority of my students are needing growth to meet the district standard.

Following six weeks of instruction all students showed positive growth from the pre to post test. In fact, 85% of my students received a proficient or advanced, meeting the grade level standards for narrative writing. Of the 85% of students meeting 2nd grade standards, there were two students that received an advanced total score (14+). These students exceeded second grade standards and were able to write skills that will be covered within third grade writing. Three students received a score placing them in a progressing level. Even though these students did not meet every grade level standard, they did positively grow in their overall score. Showing growth as writers that they can continue to build upon for years to come. All students in my classroom were able to positively progress their individual writing ability.

After the pretest, the data suggested that organization was the largest need among all students within the classroom. The results from the post-test showed a tremendous growth among students in the specific area of organization. The post-test data showed that there were no students that scored a 1 within Organization. Only 4 students scored a 2 for Organization. 14 students had now received a 3 (proficient level) in the area of Organization, meaning these students were meeting second grade expectations. There were even 2 students that grew into the advanced score of a 4 within Organization, exceeding grade level expectations. Looking at the data points from the post-test, it was clear that understanding the needs of my students and teaching to their specific point of focus was a success.

The results of my pre and post test show that students as a whole class grew in each category of the writing rubric. By the post test, there were no students that received a 1 in any category of the assessment; the amount of students that received a 2 also significantly decreased in each category. The majority of students were graded at a 3, meeting grade level expectations. In fact, 90% of students met grade level expectations or above regarding the categories ideas and word choice. 80% of students met grade level expectations or above in word choice. 85% of students met grade level expectations or above in sentence fluency.

Writing Goals

Writing goals were a form of data that was collected in my research each day over the course of six weeks. The goals were differentiated for each student depending on the specific skills which they showed needed improvement. Going into conferences with each student, I already had knowledge from the data of the pretest of what skills to look for. From there, I was able to extend skills based on what skills the student was showing or lacking in their writing, at the time.

Through the course of the six-week study, students had to master a skill in order for it to be marked as accomplished. I felt that in order to see the writing skill reciprocated into the post-test, the students needed to show a great understanding of the skill and its application. Going into the research, I assumed that if I saw a goal included just once within the student’s writing, it would not be an engraved skill that they continually show in their work. I made sure that when the students demonstrated their goal in their writing, it was done correctly, on their own, and shown more than once. For example, when a student had a writing goal to capitalize all letters at the beginning of a sentence, their goal would only be marked as mastered if it was done throughout the entirety of their story. If there were a few sentences that still began with a lowercase letter, the student was reminded of their goal and encouraged to go back and edit.

Student Goal Record Sheet Example

There was also one student that took the whole 6 weeks to apply one skill. This was a writer in my class who had an IEP for speech services. His speech, at times, interfered with his writing performance. Since this student did receive services 2-3 times per week to aid in sound and spelling, I made his goal different from that, as it was addressed in another area of instruction. This student had struggled all year in having a layout and flow to his writing. Because of this high area of need, he was given a goal of planning out his stories before he began his writing draft. This goal was accomplished by the utilization of a graphic organizer to plan out his stories. The organizer allowed this student to think through the main ideas that he wanted to tell and weed out the irrelevant details. This was a heavy skill, especially for a low-skilled writer. It was a goal that I did not want to rush; it was important I made sure that this student grew over the six week period with this hefty goal. As each story was planned, his ability grew stronger. While he only achieved one writing goal, it improved his overall writing ability to tell a structured and focused story. This student increased his score by 3 total points over the six-week study, showing great growth in his writing ability, progressively approaching to grade level expectations.

Student Goal Record Sheet Example 2

One student that I noticed made great growth was a student that scored low on the pre-test and greatly improved his score by the post-test. This student mastered 6 writing goals over the six-week study, the most accomplished among all 20 students. Most of his personal goals were focused on generating different story ideas and staying on one topic throughout the entire story. This student grew from a 1 to a 3 in Ideas, a 1 to a 3 in Organization, a 2 to a 3 in Word Choice and Voice, and a 2 to a 3 in Sentence Fluency and Conventions. The student scored an overall total score of 6/16 on is pre-test. After the research, he scored a total score of 12/16 on his post-test.

During the study I found myself asking the question, “Why is this student mastering writing goals at a faster pace than others in the classroom?”. I noticed that this student’s attentiveness had increased when I incorporated conferences within the classroom. Through reflection, it occurred to me that this student was one of my most talkative students in the classroom. In fact, this student, for the majority of times, wanted to be talking with me and telling me stories about his life. Teaching writing in a style of oral conversation greatly benefited this student. Instead of being redirected to stay quiet during the whole writing time, he was encouraged to converse and orally expand on his writing strategies. He and I were able to have many conversations that he was fully invested in.

Something particular that stood out for this student was his ability to ask in-depth questions during our conversations. When we selected a part of his writing that needed to be improved, he would ask very detailed “why” questions. He wanted to completely understand the purpose of his writing goal. I found myself breaking down the goal in multiple ways and as much as possible for why it would help him as a writer. With this great depth of knowledge on the skill he was working on, he was able to apply it successfully and consistently. The data showed that this student was positively impacted by having individual writing conferences where the conversation was encouraged.

Climate Survey

The climate survey was administered to my class at the beginning of my research, in groups of 5. The students were given an explanation of the questions and answers but were also allowed to ask questions if as they went along and they were confused.

After receiving the results from the climate survey, I was extremely pleased with the number of responses in which students “strongly agreed” with showcasing a positive classroom environment. For example, a question on the climate survey asked, “My teacher believes I can learn.” 19 of the 20 students in the classroom answered that they strongly agreed that their teacher believed they could learn. 1 student answered that they agreed their teacher believed they could learn. In my classroom, I believed in talking to students in a calm and positive manner. I tried my best to never make the students feel inferior. Instead, I worded conversations in ways that students were celebrated. This data was reassuring to see as it showed the way I interacted with children led them to understand that I believed in their potential. This was helpful data for my research as writing conferences were held one on one with the teacher and student. During this brief conference, it was crucial that the student and I were able to have a mutual conversation about what was strong in their writing and what needed to be improved upon. The students needed to be aware that when I offered guidance, it was not bashing their work; rather, it was helping them learn more and build their ability as a writer. With this trust that the students showed me from their climate survey, I knew that I was able to truthfully discuss their writing with them and set a purposeful writing goal, in order to promote growth. I also saw that 1 student answered “agree” to the question. This told me that I needed to make it a point to work with these students and highlight what they were doing well and the growth they had already made. I made it a point to show this student I saw them and the effort they put forth. Seeing the results from this question I knew I needed to continue having a positive and encouraging tone with students to encourage learning.

Of the 14 questions that were asked on the climate survey, the other question that stood out to me was “I have fun learning.” Of the 20 students that answered, 8 answered strongly agree, 11 answered agree, and 1 answered disagree. This question was the prompt that had the least amount of students answer with strongly agree. This point of data showed the greatest area of need; the data was not hurtful to my classroom as students were still being positive, it simply just showed room for my personal improvement. It made me reflect on how I presented information to students and how I had them engage in the learning. I realized that writing was a subject where the teacher did a lot of the talking and the students were typically listening. It was not the most “fun” approach to learning. With this information, I was able to add in more read-aloud mentor texts for students to listen to and learn from and have students converse with one another, acting as editors.

I was able to add in peer conferences where they were teaching one another, not only listening to me. And lastly, I added in share time at the end of each writing class. Students that showed me during conferences that they were applying a writing skill very well, would read their work to the class. With these additions, writing became more engaging and interactive. It took the students away from a sit and listen format, which could have been classified as not fun for students. To make a change directly within the conferences, I reflected upon my own attitude while teaching writing. I focused on my tone of voice and my eagerness to meet with students. I found that it was important to approach each student being optimistic and showing them excitement. Something as little as cheering when they remembered their periods, showed the students that we could have fun while conversing. Making changes to my attitude changed the attitude of my student writers. They were excited to talk to me, to share what they had added into their story, and to take on another goal. Showing the students I was having fun reading their writing, made a positive impact on the student’s attitude to have fun and enjoy the writing process.

While this data isn’t alarming, as students still agreed that they had fun learning, it was important for me to reflect on regarding the impact of students. When students were not having fun or were not interested in the subject, it was likely that attitude would show in their work and effort. In order to create growth within my students and positively impact their writing ability, I knew that it was important for me to make changes to enhance the environment where they would strongly agree they are having fun.

Triangulate

The data I collected through my six week research study helped me regulate instruction through the course of the study. The data points all added value to one another within the study which made instruction more purposeful and targeted for student success.

The data collected from the writing pretest triangulated with the use of writing goals as it gave me a starting place to appropriately challenge each each student. The results from the pretest enriched my understanding of writing skills each student obtained or lacked at the beginning of the unit. The pretest explained that each writer had areas to grow in and confirmed that targeted writing goals would be a way to differentiate in order to meet those specific needed skills.

A triangulation of data was also found within the connection of writing goals and the post-test results. The use of writing goals enriched the overall score results of the post-test. It confirmed the ongoing growth throughout the six week study was increasing the student’s overall writing ability. It explains why the students went from a lower beginning score to a more proficient end score on the district rubric.

The results collected from the climate survey was used to enrich the use of conferences. The results from the climate survey explained that students trusted in me as a teacher and understand that I believe in their ability to develop and grow. These results confirmed that conferences were a successful strategy to be implementing into writer’s workshop. I was informed that the conferences would be beneficial because it encourages one-on-one conversations that deepen the level of trust the students and I have for one another. The targeted conversations were possible because of the trust shown from the climate survey results.

Questions

A few questions arose in trying to fully understand the results of my research. A question that came to my mind early on was the honesty within the climate survey. “Were the students being truthful in the answers they wrote within the climate survey?” A discussion was held with the students about answering truthfully.; not how they believed they should answer. The results were extremely positive for almost all of my students, in each category. It made me wonder if the students truly believed what they put down or if the answers were slightly skewed. The results I received from my students were used to guide my instruction. If the answers were different, the instruction would have have been planned differently with more accommodations in conference conversations or motivating factors for specific writers. Overall, this was a question that could not truly be answered. I had to believe that my students were being honest in their answers and that the positive and encouraging environment they noted, was what they truly felt when in the classroom.

Another question I thought of after my data analysis, “How do I help the students have a more concrete understanding of the rubric?” Throughout the study, students were working to increase their total score from the pretest to the post-test. In order to increase their grade, they had to score higher on the district provided rubric. I put the rubric into student-friendly language and gave each student a copy to provide as a reference as they read through their stories. Even with the rubric in student-friendly language and a day of whole group instruction dedicated to explaining each point on the rubric, I still felt that the students could have had a deeper understanding of how to analyze where they truly fall on the rubric. MAP data stated that students needed to enhance their ability to go back and edit their work. Throughout the study, I noticed as students checked through the rubric, many would still rank themselves at an advanced 4. In reality, most of these students were within the proficient level, 3. It made me reflect on the effectiveness of the kid-friendly rubric. I needed to reevaluate how I can increase student understanding and make it more applicable for students going forward.