Data Analysis: Pre-AP Civics Exams

Narrative: Data has been gathered from Ms. Shupes Pre-AP Civics class, consisting of 33 students, 18 boys and 15 girls, all freshmen. The goal of this class is to prepare students interested in taking AP classes in the future, for these courses. Part of this preparation is to give students assessments similar to past AP exams, in order to develop their test-taking skills throughout the course. The very first exam of the semester covered the legislative branch and public policy, and consisted of 30 multiple choice, 10 short answer-term identifications, and 2 free response essays. This course only lasts for one semester, meaning this is the first time these students are experiencing high school civics, and may possibly be the first class dedicated solely to civics they have taken. With this in mind, I did not expect the entire class to ace the exam the first time. The test is quite challenging, especially for the students who have to take it after only being in the class for a little over a month. The majority of scores exam on the exam were well below proficient; as a result, the students were allowed to take the same exam a second time a week later. To help them boost there scores, Ms. Shupe and Mr. Daves presented a 50 minute lecture for tips on how to effectively study for, and advice for what to do when taking, these type of exams. With this in mind, I predicted students would improve their scores significantly the second time, as they know what to expect and have been given tips on how to better prepare for them. I obtained the results of both scores from Ms. Shupe, and input the data into excel in order to find the average of the total points for each test and also the average difference of scores between tests. Further, the data will be divided based on gender and where students sit in the classroom to help determine what is needed to accommodate them.

Data: The exam focuses specifically on the following Colorado State Standard for Civics: 4.2 Purposes of and limitations on the foundations, structures, and functions of government.

Student Test 1 Test 2 Out of Points Possible 120 1 101 2 33 3 66 4 40 5 34 6 62.5 7 78 8 94 9 68.5 10 53 11 47.5 12 62 13 68 14 74 15 84 16 82 17 57 18 76 19 82 20 75 21 70 22 78.5 23 66 24 39 25 59 26 95 27 62 28 74 29 55 30 68 31 36 32 79 33 89 Average 66.91

Difference 106 43 80 47 35 68 91 96 80 62 55 78.5 76.5 82 94 83 67 82 88.5 86 77 82 72 50 75 102 77 87 67 75 53 87.5 96.5 5 8 14 7 1 5.5 13 2 11.5 9 7.5 16.5 8.5 8 10 1 10 6 6.5 11 7 3.5 6 11 16 7 15 13 12 7 17 8.5 7.5 8.83

75.80

The chart above lists each individual score, as well as the average for both tests and the difference between tests. Keep in mind, these are the raw scores without the curve that was

added, and it is out of a total of 120 points. The students averaged ~55% on Test 1, and improved slightly on Test 2 by averaging ~63%. Column1 Boys Girls Avg: Test 1 Avg: Test 2 Avg: difference 64.97 73.18 8.09 68.97 78.59 9.63

Looking at the chart above, we notice girls score 4-5 higher on both tests, and show a higher average of improvement between tests. This is not surprising, considering most of the boys are not as diligent on in-class readings, assignments, and group work, as the girls are.
120 100 80 60 40 20 0 Avg: Test 1 Avg: Test 2 Difference 79.33 70.75 61.17 71.1 Front of Class Back of Class

8.59

9.8

This chart presents average scores by where students are seated within the classroom. It is interesting to note, while the front of the class scored approximately 9 points higher than the back of the class on each test, the back of the class improved, on average, by over one point higher than the front of the class. Discussion: Surprisingly, the students did not improve as much as I predicted. A score of 84 points would have yielded a 70%, and only 10 students scored at or above an 84; however, this was still an improvement as only 5 students yielded this result on the first exam. Both subgroups on average, scored below a 70%; although, there is still an improvement of at least 8 points for each subgroup, it is not a sufficient gain. On the three sections of the test, students scored the highest on the short answer questions, and struggled with the multiple-choice and free response essays.

The results of the assessments reveals the students do not fully understand the role of congress and the function of public policy, as the CDE Standard above states. However, it could be related to the form of assessment itself, but this is controlled externally; therefore, I will provide students with strategies to improve their knowledge of the content, which will be oriented with methods to build their comfort levels with this form of assessment.

Teaching Strategies: These exams proved to be very challenging for the students, but I believe scores can be raised by guided practice, which does solely require them to retake these assessments over and over again. The essay portion will be addressed heavily, mainly because students almost always answer them last causing them to rush and lose points. For each topic covered in a unit, I will create an essay question, similar to what will be on the exam, for the specific topic, and assist the students in answering it. First, I will present the question and we will break it down piece-bypiece as a class. I will then ask, what key vocabulary terms could possibly answer the question, and if any can be connected with each other in a sentence. Next, I will ask for students to volunteer to write a sentence on the board until the class feels as though the question has been answered sufficiently. Each time we do this activity, I will lower the amount of assistance I provide with the goal being to get students to be able to do this own their on as a group, then as individuals. Growth will be measured by students ability to collaborate and master this activity; for this, I will have students write a reflection on: how they felt they did overall, what they are struggling with, and how they can improve. The multiple-choice and short answer identification questions will follow a similar guided practice as above. At the beginning of each class, three multiple choice questions and one short answer question will be posted as part of the students write to learn activity. The students will answer the questions individually in their journals, and then, we will go over them as a class. After this, they will reflect on how they did on and think of ways they can improve. Additionally, quizzes will be posted online using Google Forms, containing 10-15 multiplechoice questions. Students will be required to take these quizzes at home, and use of the Internet to look up answers will not be forbidden. For the goal is to get students familiar with the

wording of the questions and answers, so that they will have a better idea of how to read and answer these questions. Another issue that may help students scores, and their productivity in class, is to rearrange the layout of desks. Currently, they are seated in five rows that all face the front of the class; instead, the desks will be arranged in a horseshoe shape in order to make the class more centered on the students. In addition to this, the disparity between boys and girls will be addressed by placing the students girl-boy-girl-boy in the new horseshoe arrangement. While this isnt a major problem, it would help to break up the cliques within the classroom and allow the students to be focused on learning instead of socializing. If students do not show improvement in participation, mastery of content skills, and assessment scores, the seating arrangement will have proved not to be a factor affecting their performance in class. Overall, I feel as though I would score similarly to my students if I were in their shoes. Advanced Placement courses are challenging for students; however, they must not be scared away from taking these classes due to the difficulty of the tests. Although, it is not within my range of power to change the AP assessment, I will give my all for students to tame this metaphorical lion rather than run away from it.