Data Analysis

I gave my pretest on Friday, March 20, 2015 at 11 a.m. This happened to be right before the class
did a fun activity that every student looked forward to. Every student was present for the test, except for
Student B, Josh, and Alison.
The classroom environment was as follows. The students had come in from morning recess and
had just settled down after getting drinks from the drinking fountain. I took the time to explain that this
was a pretest for science and walked them through each section of the test so that the students knew what
they needed to do in each section. During the test, my students stayed in their seats, and I had Matt and
Sarah come to the front table where I read them the questions on the test.
As seen in table one, there were eleven questions on this pretest which were divided among four
sections. The first section of questions, which consisted of 1-3, was multiple choice. The second section
of questions (questions 4-7) were true and false. Questions 7 and 8 asked the students to check all the
boxes that applied to the question asked (e.g. check all that are examples of using force.) and questions 10
and 11 asked students to draw and describe a lever and the forces that are applied to it when we move it
and the forces applied when we throw a ball.
1. A force is ___________.
a. A strong wind
b. Any push or pull
c. Any object moving
d. All of the above
The purpose of this question is to find out if
students knew how to define a force.

3. What happens when two objects of

different size that are going in opposite
directions crash or collide?
a. Both objects stop moving.
b. Both move in the same direction.
c. The larger object will move in the
opposite direction it was going and
the smaller object will slow down.
d. The smaller object will move in
the opposite direction it was
going and the larger object will

2. Which of the following is not an example

of using force?
a. Flying a kite
b. Walking
c. Pulling a wagon with toys in it
d. Sitting on the ground
The purpose of this question is to see if students
know the difference between things at rest and
things that we do using force.
4. An engine is an example of a simple
machine.
a. True
b. False
This question was asked to see if students knew
what a simple machine was and was not.

slow down.
The purpose of this question is to see if students
know what happens when two objects of different
masses collide with each other going in opposite
directions.

5. A simple machine changes the direction

and the amount of force that we apply to it.
b. False
a. True
Students were asked this question to see if they
understood that simple machines change the
direction and the amount of force that we apply to
them.
7. An object at rest will not move unless you
apply a force to move it.
b. False
a. True
This questions was asked to see if students
understood that an object at rest would stay that
way unless a force acted on that object.

9.

Check all that are simple machines

Wedge
Robots
Lever
Incline plain
Wheel
Car
Pulley
Screw
Engine
IPad

This question was used to see if students could

identify the six simple machines, and to see if
students knew the difference between a simple
machine and other types of machines.
11. Draw and describe the forces involved when
throwing a ball.

6. There is no force involved when flying a

kite.
a. True
b. False
This question was asked to see if students
understood that if an object is moving there must
be a force moving it even if that force is not seen
(e.g. the wind pushing the kite)

8. Check all of the boxes that are examples of using

force.
Flying a kite Watching T.V. during spring
break.
A paper sitting on a desk
Reading a book
Moving a book
A running dog
This question had students identify the examples of
using force. This helped assess wither students
understood where force was used in their daily
lives.
10. Draw and describe a lever and the forces
involved when we use one.
This question was used to see if students could
draw a lever, identify how we apply force to use it,
how the lever moves when we apply force and if
they could describe that in one or more sentences
clearly.

This question was used assess if students could

draw an activity they do every day, draw the forces
involved, and describe how force is involved.

I gave my posttest on Thursday April 2, 2015 at the conclusion of my unit. This test was given
right after students had finished with a weekly spelling test. During the posttest, most of my students

worked quietly in their seats and finished the test in a few minutes, but a few students did not want to take
the test and decided to be a distraction for others. This problem was quickly remedied, and those students
took the test without any other problems. For this test, Student B, Josh, and Matt were absent. I chose to
read the test to Alison, Student D (who sometimes needs help concentrating during a test), and Sarah
(though she refused to come and work at the table).
All of the questions for the posttest where the same, except for question 1, which I decided to change
because some of the students were confused by it when they answered the question on the pretest. The
new question was:
1. A force is __________
a. a calm day
b. any push or pull
c. a pencil sitting still on the table.
d. all of the above.

Analysis of Student Data for the Pre and Posttest

Chart 1: Student Scores Overall shows the total points earned by each of the students that took the
pretest and the posttest. The results are ordered from the students who scored the lowest score on the
pretest to the students who scored the highest score on the pretest. The students could score 24 points
possible on both the pre and posttest.

Student Scores Overall (Chart 1)

25
22

22

20

19

Number of Points Scored

20

16

16

15

16
13

11

15 15

13

13

11

10

5
2

22

13

13
10

8
6

12

88 8

12

11
99 9

00 00 0

Student Name
Pretest

Post test

As we can see from the data, the highest score on the pretest was Jasmines with a score of 13, the
lowest scores on the test belonged to Student M and Sarah, which was a 2. Alison got a twelve on the
posttest without ever taking the pretest. Every student except Student F, Student C, and Sarah had gains
and many students came close to doubling their pretest score.
In the following table (Table 2), the students pretest and posttest scores and the number of points
that each student improved are included along with any designations for subgroups. The table is
organized from the highest student improvement to the lowest student improvement. For this analysis, I
will use the following abbreviations: GATE for gifted and talented, R for students who struggle with
reading, W for students who struggle with writing, B for students who are behavioral problems, ELL for
students who are working to learn English, IEP for students who have an Individualized Education Plan,
Mi. for minority students, and M for students who struggle with math.

Table 2 Student Data Displayed Along with Subgroups

Student Name
Sub Group
Pretest Score
Posttest Score
Improvement
Student K
6
22
16
Student N
5
20
15
Student M
2
16
14
Alison
IEP, B
NA
12
12
Nathan
R,W, IEP
4
16
12
Reshiea
ELL, Mi.
5
16
11
Jasmine
GATE
13
22
9
Student H
6
15
9
Mandy
4
13
9
Student J
11
19
8
Student L
7
15
8
Elisabeth
ELL, Mi.
3
11
8
Student A
5
13
8
Jason
R,M,IEP
4
11
7
Student E
7
13
6
Student I
8
13
5
Student D
7
12
5
Student G
4
8
4
John
GATE
8
10
2
Ryan
R,W, B, ELL, Mi.
4
6
2
Student F
9
9
0
Student C
8
8
0
Sarah
R, W,IEP, B
2
2
0
Josh
ELL
NA
NA
NA
Student B
NA
NA
NA
Matt
R,W, IEP
9
NA
NA
Key: IEP = Individualized Education Plan B= Behavioral Problem GATE = Gifted and Talented
W=
Struggles with Writing R=Struggles with Reading Mi.=Minority Student
ELL =
Students whose first language was not English M=Students struggle with math

As you can see from the table, most of the students had large improvements. Six of the students
scores improved by 16 to 11 points, nine students improved their score by 9 to 6 points, five students
improved their score by 5 to 2 points, and only three students did not have any improvement. Also,
looking at the data in the table, we can see that six of my students who were a part of any subgroup

improved their score by seven or aboveseven is the median for the improved score dataand five of
them improved their score by six or less points.
In Chart 3, we have the results for each student on the pretest. Since questions 1-7 were true or
false, an x was put in the chart to indicate that they answered that question correctly. Questions 8-11
required more complex answers, so they were worth more on the test. Question 8 was worth three points,
question 9 was worth six points, and questions 10 and 11 were worth four points each.
On the pretest, most of the students missed questions 1, 3, and 4. Also, most of the students got
zero points on the select all that apply and the draw and describe questions. However, a majority of
students had questions 6 and 7 correct and many of the students scored at least two or three points on
question number eight, which asked them to select all that are examples of using force.
Student Performance on Each Item of the Pretest (Chart 3)

Student
Alison
Elisabeth
Jasmine
Jason
John
Josh
Mandy
Matt
Nathan
Reshiea
Ryan
Sarah
Student A
Student B
Student C
Student D
Student E
Student F
Student G
Student H
Student I
Student J
Student K
Student L
Student M
Student N

1
Na

Na

2
Na
x
x

3
Na
x
x

4
Na

5
Na

x
Na

Na

Na

x
x
x
Na

x
x
x
x

x
x

x
Na
x

x
Na
x

x
x
x
x
x

Na

Na
x

Na
x
x

x
x

x
x
x

x
x

6
Na
x
x
x
x
Na
x
x
x
x
x

7
Na

x
Na
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x

x
Na
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x

x
x
x
Na
x
x
x
x

8
Na
0
1
0
2
Na
2
2
2
2
0
0
2
Na
3
1
3
2
1
2
3
2
2
2
0
2

9
Na
0
4
0
0
Na
0
3
0
0
0
0
0
Na
0
2
1
2
0
0
0
2
0
0
0
1

10
Na
0
0
1
0
Na
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Na
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
0

11
Na
0
2
0
3
Na
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Na
1
0
1
0
0
0
1
3
0
2
2
1

Next, Chart 4 shows a similar set of data for the post test. Again the cells with an x and that are
highlighted green shows students that answered the question correctly or received 50% of the available
points on the question.
Student Performance on Individual Items of the Posttest (Chart 4)

Student
Alison
Elisabeth
Jasmine
Jason
John
Josh
Mandy
Matt
Nathan
Reshiea
Ryan
Sarah
Student A
Student B
Student C
Student D
Student E
Student F
Student G
Student H
Student I
Student J
Student K
Student L
Student M
Student N

1
x
x
x
x
x
NA
x
NA
x
x
x
x
NA
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x

2
x
x
x
x
x
NA
x
NA
x
x
x
x
NA
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x

3
x
x
x
NA
NA

x
x
x
NA

x
x
x

x
x
x

NA

NA

NA
x
x
x
x
NA

NA
x
x

NA
x
x

6
x

7
x

x
x
NA
x
NA
x
x

x
x
x
NA
x
NA
x
x
x

NA
x
x

x
x

x
x
x

x
x
x
x
x
x
x

x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x

x
x
x
x
x
x
x

NA
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x

9
3
2
3
1
2

NA

10
3
1
6
2
0

NA
3

NA

NA
4

NA
2
3
2
0
2

NA

6
6
0
0
5

2
NA

2
0
0
0
1
NA

0
3
5
0
1
5
5
5
6
4
4
5

1
2
4
1
2
NA

NA

NA
1
3
3
2
2
2
3
3
3
2
2
3

11
1
1
3
1
1

0
1
0
0
1
NA

1
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
3
2
3
3

1
2
1
1
1
1
0
3
3
2
1
2

From this data, we can see that more students got question 3 correct then they did on the pretest.
More students also got questions 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, and 7 correct. Ten students (43%) got the total number of
points available, ten students got two points, and only three students scored less than two on question 8.
For question 9, ten students scored between five and six points, five students between three and four
points, and seven students scored between zero and two points. For question 9, the students did well when
I questioned them in the lesson about simple machines verbally, and from the table we can see that a
majority of students improved on their scores from the pretest. However, a small majority missed points
on questions ten and eleven. This tells me that the concepts of force and motion were taught well in my
lessons, but I needed to spend more time talking about the six different simple machines and how the
simple machines are the most basic kind of machine that we can use to do things. I also needed to have
students spend more time practicing the skills required to draw and describe.
From the data that was collected during my lessons, it does not surprise me that a majority of
students got question three correct. Most of the students during Lesson 5: Design an Experiment wrote
that when a bigger ball collides with a smaller ball, the bigger ball stops or slows down and the smaller
ball bounces to the side or starts heading in the same direction that the bigger ball is heading. Also, by
looking at the formative assessments for lessons 1, 3, and 6, I saw that most of the students did not
describe their pictures, and some students did not even draw the correct thing. This indicates that the data
collected from the posttest and the formative assessments validates the results of questions ten and eleven.
Subgroup Performance
In my mentor teachers classroom, there are twelve students that are a part of a subgroup. Chart 4
below shows the classs average percentage score and compares it to each of the students scores who are
English language learners. In this chart, the blue bars are the scores for the pretest and the orange bars are
the posttest scores. By each of the students names I have included their language proficiency level.

ELL's Scores Compared to the Class Average (Chart 4)

0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0

Josh WIDA 1

Elisabeth WIDA 5

Reshiea WIDA 5

Ryan WIDA 5

Whole Class

Pre test

13%

21%

17%

26%

Post test

46%

67%

25%

55%

Pre test

Post test

Looking at the chart, we can see that everyone except Josh had improvement from the pretest to
the posttest. The low test scores for Josh were because he was not present to take either the pretest or the
posttest. The ELL with the highest gain was Elisabeth who went from scoring 15% on the test to scoring
45%. Only one of the ELL students beat the class average of 55%, and that was Reshiea. Elisabeth and
Ryan did really well on questions 1 through 8, but they struggled with questions 9 through 11. Looking at
the formative assessment data that I collected on these students, I saw that much of the time they drew a
picture but struggled to write a sentence that was relevant to what they were drawing.
The next chart (Chart 5) takes all of the students that struggle with reading and compares their
score to the classs average score. In this chart, the pretest scores are labeled in blue and the posttest
scores are labeled in green.

Low-Level Readers Compared to the Class Average (Chart 5)

60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%

Jason

Ryan

Sarah

Class Average

Pretest

17%

17%

8%

26%

Posttest

46%

25%

8%

55%

Pretest

Posttest

From this data, we can see that every low-level reader improved when they took the posttest
except for Sarah. Jasons score went from 17% to 46%, which is a difference of 29%, and Ryan went
from 17% to 25%, which is an increase of 8%. None of the students matched the class average, but Jason
was 9% away from doing that. These three students did well on questions 1 through 3 but struggled with
4 through 7 and did not do very well on questions 8 through 11.
Sarahs results were expected. By looking at her formative assessment data and pre/posttests, I
can see a correlation between how much work she put in during class to how well she did on the test.
Often the work that she would turn in was scribbled or drawn on, and she had to be urged to work during
any of my lessons.
The next chart (Chart 6), compares the scores of all of the students who struggle with writing to
the class average. In the chart, the color orange is used to represent the pretest scores and green is used to
represent the posttest scores.

Stuggling Writers Compared to the Class Average (Chart 6)

80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%

Nathan

Matt

Ryan

Sarah

Class Average

Pretest

17%

38%

17%

8%

26%

Posttest

67%

0%

25%

8%

55%

Pretest

Posttest

This chart shows that every struggling writer improved their score, except for Sarah who only
answered a few of the questions and Matt, who was not present during the posttest. Nathan scored above
the classs average score with 67%, which is 50 more percentage points over his pretest score. All of these
students struggled with the writing and labeling component of question 11 as well as the drawing portion.
This was also seen in the formative assessment data that I collected for lessons 1, 3, and 6. Most of these
students just drew a picture that was not relative to the question and they did not write at least one
sentence that described their drawing.
Chart 7 below shows all of the students who have an IEP and compares their scores to the class
average. This chart uses blue for pretest scores and orange for post test scores.

Students with and IEP Compared to the Class Average

(Chart 7)
80%
70%
60%
50%

40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Alison

Nathan

Class
Average

17%

17%

26%

25%

50%

67%

55%

Jason

Matt

Sarah

Ryan

Pretest

17%

38%

8%

Posttest

46%

8%
Pretest

Posttest

From Chart 7, we can see that the student who has an IEP that scored the highest on the posttest
was Nathan, who did better than the class average. Alison did the next best on the test with 50%, followed
by Jason with 46%, and Ryan with 25%. Most of these students missed questions 3, which was a
multiple-choice question about what happens when a bigger object collides with a smaller object. They
also missed questions 4 and 5, which were true and false questions that asked the students to tell if an
engine is a simple machine and if simple machines change the direction and the strength of the force that
we apply to it.
In the lessons that addressed these questions, most of these students received a one or a two out of
three when the formative assessments were scored. However, on the posttest many of the students with
IEPs got questions 1 and 2 correct and received a good score on question 8. These questions all related to
activities with force, definitions of a force, and what a force is not. These three questions where part of
every lesson I taught, which helped them to do better on these questions on the posttest.
The last chart (Chart 8) compares the students scores who are classified as gifted (GATE) with
the class average. In this chart blue represents the scores on the pretest and yellow represents the scores
on the post test.

Gate Students' Scores Compared to the Class Average

(Chart 8)
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%

John

Jasmine

Class Average

Pretest

33%

54%

26%

Posttest

42%

92%

55%

Pretest

Posttest

From the data, we can see that both students did well compared to the class average on the pretest
and the posttest. Jasmine got the highest score on both tests (54% pretest and 92% posttest) and had the
largest gain. Josh came close to the class average, only missing it by 13 percentage points. Both of these
students did really well on questions 1-3, but John struggled with questions 4, 5 and 9 about simple
machines and marked several machines that were not simple machines on question 9. Jasmine only
missed two points on the test, one for question 6, which asked if there was a force involved in flying a
kite, and one point on number ten for inaccurate use of language when describing the use of a lever. On
the formative assessments, Jasmine received a three on most lessons assessments except one, and John
received mostly twos on his formative assessments.
Formative Assessments for Jasmine, Elisabeth, and Alison
For this analysis, I have chosen Jasmine, Alison, and Elisabeth. I have chosen Jasmine because
she had the highest pretest score and the highest gain of the two GATE students in class. I chose Alison
because she is one of my lower-level IEP students. I chose Elisabeth because she is an ELL who
understands English at a high level but still has problems with the language. From Jasmine and Elisabeth
I received all of the assessments, but for Alison I only have assessments for lessons two, five, and six.

For lesson 1, the students were asked to draw and describe how an object at rest will stay at rest
unless a force moves it. For this assessment I had demonstrated both a book and ball at rest and being
moved. I demonstrated how to draw the ball at rest and in motion, and I had students draw the book at rest
and in motion. For lesson one, Jasmine and Elisabeth received a three because they showed an
understanding of the principle that an object that is at rest will stay at rest unless a force acts on it. They
also were the only students that illustrated this with both the book and the ball.
For lesson 2, students were asked to make predictions and observations about what would happen
when the ball, the crumpled piece of paper, and the flat piece of paper were dropped in front of a fan at
different speeds. Jasmine and Elisabeth received a three on this formative assessment because they wrote
both their predictions and observations and they used full sentences to write their ideas. Alison received a
two on this assessment because she only wrote her predictions and only wrote the word yes if her
predictions where correct.
For lesson 3, the students were asked to draw and describe a lever. It was required that they draw
the lever, show a force acting on the lever, show the resulting motion of the lever, and write a sentence
that describes what they drew. Jasmine received a three on this formative assessment because she was
able to meet all of the criteria for the assessment. Elisabeth received a one because she did not label the
lever correctly, and the sentence that she wrote does not describe how a lever works.
For lesson 4, I created a worksheet where students were asked to answer three questions after
conducting an investigation with their group. These questions were 1. Did the heavier balls go as far as
the lighter balls? Why? 2. What would you have to do to get the heavier balls to go as far as the lighter
ones? and 3. Did how much force (how hard you pushed) make a difference in how far the ball went?
On this assessment, Jasmine and Elisabeth (who worked together) got a two because they missed question
1 and answered that the heavier ball had less force.
For lesson 5, students designed an investigation where they experimented to find the answer to
the question What happens when two objects of different weights collide? For this lesson, the
assessment that they had to do was to fill in a worksheet where they had to design a test to find the answer

to that question. On this assessment, Jasmine and Elisabeth received a three because they made their own
predictions, wrote down what they would do for their test, and even made some good observations that
helped them to answer the question. However, Alison who worked with her team to get the answers as she
was doing the investigation, only got a two because she was not very specific in her writing.
Lastly, for lesson 6, students had to draw and describe the forces in throwing a ball. In this
assessment, they had to show that force is needed to get the ball moving, show the motion that the ball
takes because of the force, and describe what kind of force was used (pushing or pulling) when they
described their drawing. On this assessment, Jasmine received a three because she met all of the criteria
for the assessment; however, Elisabeth received a two because, although she was able to label the force
going in the right direction, she was not able to label the motion going in the right direction or write a
sentence that included the type of force being used to throw the ball. Finally, Alison received a one on
this assessment because she just wrote about throwing the ball and she did not label any parts of her
drawing.
Findings for the Pre/Posttest
From the pretest results, I think that many of my students struggled with what a force was and
what kinds of activities they would use a force with. Many of my students knew what a lever was, but
they were not able to show how pushing down on a lever makes one side go up and the other go down.
They also struggled with identifying what a simple machine was and would often identify complex
machines (engines, IPads, etc.) as simple machines because students were familiar with those devices.
After looking at the data from both the pretest and the posttest, I can see that one area that was
addressed very well was what a force was. Only a few students got the questions wrong that related to
force specifically. This was because we reviewed the word force in every lesson, thought of examples of
pushing and pulling, and related each activity to force and motion. Formative assessments (both formal
and informal) supports this conclusion. Often in the lessons I would ask them what a force was, and most
of the time they were able to respond that it was any kind of push or pull.

However, looking at the posttest results, I think that many of my students still struggled with
what a simple machine was. However, they did learn how to draw a lever and show how the force
pushing down on the lever makes the other side go up. A few of them were even able to make the
connection that you can use levers to lift very heavy objects much easier than if you had to lift the objects
without a lever. I think that part of the reason that they did not do as well with identifying simple
machines was because we only talked about them in detail for one lesson, and in that lesson we did not
have a lot of hands-on experiences with each of the six simple machines.
The Validity of the Assessment Instruments
All of the questions on the pre and post tests were the same, except for question 1, which was
changed for clarity purposes. All of the questions dealt with the main ideas of what a force is and is not,
what a simple machine is and how forces act on them, and how to describe an activity that they would do
(like throwing a ball) and the kinds of forces that are involved with that activity.
These concepts where the main ideas for each of my lessons. In lesson 1, I taught the students
what a force was. In lesson 2, we used a fan and students observed objects being influenced by a force
and how the strength of a force can make a difference in how the object acts. In lesson 3, we talked about
each of the simple machines, worked with a few of them, and even practiced drawing them and showing
what happens when a force acts on a simple machine. In lesson 4, we did an experiment where students
took balls of varying weights and pushed them with different strengths to see how weight effected the
amount of force needed to move an object. In lesson 5, students designed their own experiments where
two balls of different sizes collided and they recorded their observations. And in lesson 6, students
participated in an activity where they played catch and had to describe how they used force to get the ball
to move through the air.
Because all of the questions aligned with the standards, and because all of the lessons addressed
concepts that students were tested on, I believe that the instruments for testing were valid to use.