RachelStannard

Form2
ComprehensiveUnitFormat,PartBDesignofAssessment:
PreandPostAssessment
Context&Overview:
Thiscomprehensiveunitonfossils,integratedwithopinionwriting,wastaughtto274thgrade
studentsatMarvinB.SmithElementarySchoolintheAlamanceBurlingtonSchoolSystem.Thisunit
wasimplementedoverthecourseofthreeweeks,withLesson1startingonMonday,November2nd
andconcludingwithLesson10onThursdayNovember19th.Theformativeassessmentwas
administeredonThursday,October29thandthesummativeassessmentwasadministeredonFriday,
November20th.Eachlessonlastedforroughly45minutes.

EssentialUnderstanding(bigideaofunit):
Thebigideaofthisunitisnotjustaboutwhatfossilsareandhowtheyareformed,butwhat
thesefossilscantellusaboutaplantoranimal.Studentswillbeabletoshowtheirinferencemaking
skillsthroughanopinionpiecetheywillwriteaboutanassignedfossilandwheretheythinkthe
organismlivedandhowtheythinktheorganismlived.Theywillthencollaboratewithaclassmateto
peeredittheirworkandfurtheradvancetheirwriting.Theformativeandsummativeassessmentwasa
10questionsshortanswerandmultiplechoicetestthatcoveredthebasicsofwhatafossilisto
applicationquestionsofthatknowledge.Itisdesignedtoassessfactualknowledgeaswellasinference
makingskills.

AssessmentofLearningandInstructionalEffectiveness:
Thepreandpostassessmentsadministeredtostudentswerethesametask,meaningthatthe
diagnosticassessmentandsummativeassessmentweretheexactsame.However,Iusedanadditional
summativeassessment,anopinionpiecewrittenbystudents,toprovideadditionalinformationto
evaluatestudentmasteryandapplicationofknowledgefromtheunit.Thepreandpostassessmentisa
10questionstest,consistingof6shortanswerquestionsand4multiplechoicequestions.Theshort
answerquestionsvaryfromlowerlevelsofBloomstaxonomy(Whatisafossil?)tohigherlevels
(Whatdofossilstellusabouttheareaitwasfoundin?).Themultiplechoicequestionsare
comprisedofthreeapplicationquestionsandonefactbasedquestion.Thediagnosticassessment
servedasawayformetogaugetheknowledgeoffactsandconceptspriortoteaching.
StudentMastery:
Thisassessmentwillallowmetomeasurestudentsmasteryoftheunitslearningoutcomes
becauseIwilleasilybeabletocomparestudentsknowledgebeforetheunitandthenaftertheunit.If
mystudentswereabletoincreasetheirscorefromtheformativeassessmenttothesummative
assessment,thenIwillbeabletodeterminewhatknowledgetheygainedthroughoutthe10lessons.
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Myassessmentswerealignedwiththestandardsthatthisunitencompassedandthelearningtargetsset
foreachlesson.
JustificationofItemTypes:
Thesequestionswerecreatedtoassessstudentmasteryoftheunitslearningoutcomes.
Throughouttheadministrationofthe10lessons,Iwasabletoseewheremasteryofacertaintopicwas
attainedbystudents,versuswhereitwaslackingandneededadditionalfocus,attentionandtime.I
chosetoincludebothfactbasedquestionsandapplicationquestionsintheformativeassessmentto
gaugewheremisconceptionslied.Ichosetoincorporatebothshortanswerquestionsandmultiple
choicequestionsinordertoensurethatastudentwasnotgettinganswerscorrectbysimplyguessing.
Theshortanswerquestionsallowedmetoviewbothaccuraciesandinaccuraciesintheirschema,
whilethemultiplechoicequestionsallowedmetoanalyzetheirdeductivereasoningskills.Byusing
thesamesummativeassessment,Iwasabletoevaluatethespecificareaswherestudentsimproved.
Theadditionalsummativeassessment,theopinionessayonfossils,wasamajorfactorinviewingthe
applicationoftheknowledgeandskillslearnedthroughoutthisunit.Theformativeassessments
throughouttheunitwereimplementedinordertoanalyzewhatstudentsspecificallyunderstood(ordid
notunderstand)inalesson,iftheyhadanoverallunderstandingoftheconcepts,andifthey
understoodthevocabularythatwasintroducedinacontextualsetting.Theseformativeassessments
variedinstyleinordertocatertothediverselearnersintheclassroom.Particularformative
assessmentswerecreatedinordertoengagevisuallearners,auditorylearners,etc.
InstructionalEffectiveness:
Whilecorrectingthediagnostic,summativeassessmentsandadditionalsummativeassessment,
Iwasabletoanalyzeandestimatemyinstructionaleffectiveness.Studentshadneverreceivedformal
instructiononfossils,sotheknowledgedisplayedonthediagnosticassessmentwasgainedoutsidethe
classroom,mainlythroughbooks,televisionshowsandmovies.Naturally,thereweremany
misconceptionsaboutwhatafossilis,becausestudentstypicallyjustreferredtowhattheyhadheard
aboutfossilsinmoviesaboutdinosaurs.Bycorrectingthesummativeassessments,Iwasabletosee
justhowmuchmystudentshadlearnedoverthecourseofunit,andhowtheirmisconceptionswere
addressedandalteredwithaccurateinformation.Theirimprovementfromthediagnosticassessmentto
thesummativeassessmentsisthemainwayIwasabletoevaluatemyinstructionaleffectivenessfrom
thisunit.
AnalyzingtheResults:
Seeingasmyformativeandsummativeassessmentswerethesametask,Iscoredeachbased
offthesamecriteria.Theseguidelineswerecreatedbeforestudentscompletedtheminorderto
increasethereliabilityofmyassessments.Eachassessmentwasatotalof10points,1fpointoreach
question.Studentsreceivedpartialcreditfortheshortanswerquestionsiftheywereontherighttrack,
buteitherdidnotquiteanswerthequestionathand,onlyansweredhalf,etc.Multiplechoicequestions
wereeitherfullcredit(the1point)ornocredit.Ifastudentdidnotansweraquestion,theyreceivedno

points.Thesequestionsweretheshortanswerquestionsonthediagnosticandformativeassessment
withtheanswerIwaslookingfor:
1. Whatisafossil?Afossilistheremainsleftbehindbyplantsoranimalsthatlivedlongago.
2. Whatisoneexampleofanorganicmaterialandoneexampleofaninorganicmaterial?
Anexampleofanorganicmaterialwouldbeanythingthatcamefromsomethingthatwas
living(i.e.aleaf)andaninorganicmaterialwouldbeanythingmanmade(i.e.awaterbottle).
3. Whatdofossilstellusaboutthespecies?Afossilcantelluswheretheorganismlived,what
itate,etc.
4. Wheredowefindfossils?WecanfindfossilsanywhereonEarth.(Ifstudentlistedmultiple
environments,insteadofjustsayingeverywhere,theywillreceivefullcredit.)
5. Whatdofossilstellusabouttheareaitwasfoundin?Fossilscantelluswhatthe
environmentusedtobelikebasedoffoffeaturesontheorganism.(i.e.ifafishfossilwas
foundsomewhere,wecandeducethattherewasoncewaterthere)
6. Doeseverythingthatoncelivedgetfossilized?Explain.No,inorganicmaterialsdonotget
fossilized,onlyorganicmaterials.
Thefollowingaretheanswerstothemultiplechoicequestions:
7. D
8. B
9. D
10. C
*Thediagnosticandsummativeassessmentsareattached*
AdditionalSummativeAssessment:
Inordertoassessmystudentsabilitytoapplytheknowledgeandskillstheylearnedinthe
scienceheavyportionofthisunit,studentswroteanopinionessayonafossil.Studentswere
strategicallyassignedafossilandhadtowritewheretheythinkitlivedandhowtheythinkitlived.
Thepromptgiventostudentswasasfollowed:
Congratulations!YouhavebeenaskedtointerviewattheSmithElementaryMuseum,oneofthebest
intheworld,tobetheirheadpaleontologist.Inordertogetthejob,youhavetoshowthemjusthow
muchyouknowaboutfossils.TheywillgiveyouapictureofafossilandhaveyoutellthemWHERE
youthinkyourorganismlivedandHOWyouthinkyourorganismlived(thiscouldmeantalking
aboutwhatitate,whatitmighthavedone,whoitspredatorswere).Whilethereisacorrectanswer,it
ismoreimportantforthemtoseeWHATyouinferredaboutthefossilandWHYyoureachedyour
conclusions
Studentsweregivenapictureoftheirfossilandsomeadditionalinformationinorderto
formulatetheirhowtheorganismmighthavelived.Studentscompletedagraphicorganizerbefore
writingtheirroughdraftoftheiropinionpiece.Theythenpeerconferencedandmadecorrectionsto
theirpiecefortheirfinaldraft.Theirpeerusedaprovidedchecklisttomakesuretheopinionpiece
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includedallrequiredaspects.Attheend,studentshadtowriteonestrengththeythinktheirpartners
piecehadandoneaspecttheythinkneedstostillbeimprovedupon.Thiswritingheavyportionofthe
lessonwascompletedoverthecourseof5lessons.Attachedisarubricusedinscoringtheopinion
pieces.Studentscouldhavereceivedamaximumof12pointsinthefollowingfourcategories:
purpose,reasons,evidenceandconventions/organization.
Reliability:
AnotherreasonIchosetoadministerthesame10questiondiagnosticandsummative
assessmentistoenforcethereliabilityintheunit.Byusingthesameassessment,Iwasableto
confidentlyscorethetestthroughitsrepeatedadministrations.Ialsolimitedtheassessmentsto10
questionssothatIwasnotassessingtoomanydifferenttypesofitemssubsequentlyincreasingthe
reliabilitybecauseoftheinternalconsistencydisplayed.Iorderedthequestionsontheassessments
strategically,startingwithfactbasedquestionsandthenmovingtotheapplicationofthatknowledge.
Similarly,theshortanswerquestionsandmultiplechoicequestionswereorderedstrategically.The
questionsrangedforlowerlevelsofBloomstaxonomy(remember,understand)ontothehigherlevels
(apply,analyze).ThehighestlevelofBloomstaxonomy,create,wasexhibitedinthestudentsopinion
essay.
Additionally,Isetcleargradingcriteriaandguidelinesbeforetheadministration,andensuing
scoring,oftheassessments.Settingtheseaheadoftimeallowedmetoscoretheassessmentsina
reliablefashion.Inordertoincreasereliabilityonmyassessments,Imadesurethattheenvironment
thatthestudentstooktheminweretheexactsame.FormyECstudents,Itookthemasidebothtimes
andmadesuretoreacheachquestionoutloudtothemandforthemultiplechoicequestions,the
answersaswell.Thefactthatthepreandpostassessmentswerethesamelenttoreliabilityaswell
becausemystudentsexperiencedthesameassessmentbothtimesandweregradeusingthesame
criteriaandguidelinesbothtimes.
Validity:
Alongwiththereliability,camethevalidityofthepreandpostassessments.Whilemakingthe
assessments,Ialsohadtoensurethateachassessmentwouldgivemeavalidunderstandingofstudent
masteryofthesetlearningtargets.Inordertodothat,Ihadtomakesurethatallmystudents
understoodexactlywhatthequestionwasasking.Ididthisbyreadingallofthequestionsoutloudto
theclassbeforeIphysicallyhandedthemout,tomakesurethattherewasnoconfusionastowhatthe
question(s)wereasking.Ifstudentsdidnotunderstandoneofthequestions,Igladlyanswereditout
loudtotheentireclasstoclearupanyconfusion.
Ialsoincreasedthevalidityofmyassessmentsbyguaranteeingthattheywerealignedwiththe
learningtargetsaddressedinourunit.Iwantedmystudentstodemonstratetheskillsandknowledge
thattheylearnedintheunitthatIhadtaughtthem.Therefore,includingquestionsthatdidnot
encompassthoseskillswouldhavebeenunfairtostudentsandmyassessmentwouldhavelacked
validity.Whenscoringtheassessments,ImadesuretousetheguidelinesthatIcreatedbeforegiving
outmyassessmentinordertoprovideeachstudentwiththesamequalityofgrading.Allofthese
actionshelpedtomakemyassessmentsandinferencesbasedoffofmyassessmentsmorevalid.
Bias:
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Iavoidedbiasatallcostswhengradingtheformativeandsummativeassessments.Icoveredup
nameswhenscoringandfocusedsolelyattheanswersinfrontofme.Themultiplechoiceanswers
wereparticularlyeasytoscorebecausetheanswerwaseitherrightorwrong,therewasnooptionfor
partialcredit.BynotbeingabletoaccessthenameofthestudentwhoseshortanswerquestionIwas
grading,Iwasabletoeliminatebiasaswell.Again,theguidelinesIhadpreviouslylaidoutformyself
allowedmetoavoidbiaswhenevaluatinganindividualstudentsworkduringthediagnosticand
summativeassessments.
Accommodations:
Duringmypreandpostassessments,theonlyaccommodationsImadewereformyEC
students.Itookthemtothebacktableandreadeachquestionoutloudtothem.Therestoftheclass
wascapableoftakingtheassessmentsontheirown.Theywereabletoreadthedirectionsand
questionsandanswerthemindependently.IdidcheckinonJacobandMichaeltomakesurethatthey
wereontaskandcompletingwhatIaskedthemto,butthiswasduetotheirbehaviornottheir
academicachievement.Anthony,ourstudentwhospeaksnoEnglish,wasobviouslynotrequiredto
partakeintheseassessments.MycooperatingteacherusedthetimethatItaughttherestoftheclass
thisunittoworkwithhimoneononeandimprovehisbasicEnglishlanguageskills.
AnalysisofStudentLearningData:
StudentName
James
Landon
Anica
Logan
Isabella
Anhette
ABriana
Paige
Ian
Jesse
Nikki
Cevyn
Anthony
Jacob
Destanee
Jon
Allan
Makenna
Decariah
Steven

DiagnosticScore
(outof10)
10
4.5
7
Absent
6.5
8
9
6.5
7
9
8
5
n/a
4.5
4.5
6.5
7
5
3
4.5

SummativeScore
(outof10)
10
6
8
10
n/a
8
10
8
10
8.5
10
n/a
n/a
5
6.5
8
5
7
8.5
5.5

AdditionalSummativeScore
(outof12)
11
11
7
12
n/a
10
11
10
12
9
12
n/a
n/a
9
8
9
Absent
12
Absent
12
5

Olivia
Jade
David
Brandon
Isaiah
Lexi
Michael

5
Absent
7.5
8
6.5
7
Absent

8.5
9
8.5
9.5
7.5
8
3.5

11
12
11
10
10
10
8

DiagnosticAssessment
Mean
6.5(65%)
SummativeAssessment
AdditionalSummative
Median
6.75(68%)
Mean
7.4(74%)
Assessment

Median
8(80%)
Mean
10.3(86%)
Mode
8(80%)
Median
11(91.6%)
Lookingatthediagnosticdata,it
isevidentthatbeforethisunit,
studentshadsomeprior
knowledgeaboutbasicconceptsaboutfossils.Theaveragescoreonthediagnosticassessmentwas6.5
pointsoutof10,or65%,whichwasmuchhigherthanIexpected.Iknewthatstudentshadheardthe
termfossilbefore,particularlyinthecontextofmoviesandbooksaboutdinosaursortheIceAge,but
wasdoubtfulastotheaccuracyoftheirknowledge.However,Iwasveryimpressedbythelackof
generalmisconceptionsinrelationtowhatfossilsareandwheretheyarefound.Onthediagnostic,a
majorityofmystudentssimplyputthattheywerefoundintheground,butitwasevidentonthe
summativethattheyknewadditionalplacesfossilscanbefound,andwhytheycanbefoundthere.I
thinkbyhaving4questionsbeintheformofmultiplechoicecouldpossiblybewhytheaveragescore
forthediagnosticassessmentwashigherthananticipated,becausetheywereabletoreachthecorrect
answerthroughtheprocessofeliminationwhereastheymaynothavebeenabletodosoifthequestion
wereaskedinashortanswerformat.Regardless,Iwasabletoidentifythecommonmisconceptions
studentshadaboutwhatfossilsareandhowtheyareformedandcouldthereforeexplicitlycoverthis
throughouttheunit.Themedianofthediagnosticwasslightlyhigherthantheaverage,at6.75points,
or68%.Ichosenottoincludethemodeofthediagnosticassessment,becausetherewere4different
modes,andIthereforefeltthatthiswastheleastvaluablewaytoexpresscentraltendencyinits
distribution.
Lookingatthesummativedata,itisevidentthatstudentsbothlearnedandretainedthe
informationthatwascoveredintheunit.Theaveragescorefortheclassincreasedby9%to7.4outof
10points,or74%.Thisshowsmethat,asawhole,myclassreachedmasteryoverthesubject.Not
includingmyECstudents,theentireclassexceptonestudentshowedgrowthfromtheirdiagnosticto
theirsummativeassessment.WhilethisaverageisnotashighasIexpected,Ithinkthisisduetothe
averagebeingbroughtdownbyacoupleextremelylowscores.Ibelievethatthemedianandmodeof
thesummativeassessmentareamuchbetterdepictionofcentraltendencyandthegrowthmadeby
students.
Theadditionalsummativeassessmentscoreshadamuchhigherclassaveragethananticipated.
Studentsweregradedusingarubricona12pointscale,withtheopportunitytoearn3pointsineach
ofthe4categories,whichincludepurpose,reasons,evidenceandconventions/organization.The
averagefortheclasswas10.3pointsoutof12,or86%.Again,thereweremultiplescoresforthe
mode,andthereforeIfeltitbesttoleavethatoutagainbecauseitisaninaccuratedepictionofits

centraltendency.Iwashappytoseesuchahighaveragefortheadditionalsummativebecausethiswas
anexhibitionofmystudentsabilitytoapplywhattheyhavelearned.Theywereabletoshowtheir
knowledgeoffossilsandtheirinferencemakingability.
Overall,Iwasveryimpressedbytheresultsoftheassessmentsandtheevidentgrowthmy
studentsmadeduringthisunit.ThedatacollectedallowedmetoseethatIwaseffectiveinreaching
mystudentsasateacher.Iwasveryimpressedwiththelevelofhardworkthatmystudentsputin
duringtheoverallunitandwasveryproudofalloftheinformationthattheynotonlylearned,butwere
abletoretain.Theseassessmentsallowedmetoobservethestrengthsandweaknessesofmyclassasa
whole.Myclasshasmadealotofstrideswhenitcomestoworkingwithpartners,andIlookforward
toseehowtheytacklesmallgroupworkinthefuture.However,Ihavealsonoticedwhatmystudents
lackintheirwriting.Theyareabletowritesomethingwhenitistheanswertothequestion,but
strugglewithwritingmorethanwhatisexplicitlyasked.Theyhadissuesincluding35sentencesin
eachparagraph,whichishowalotofthemlostpointsontheiradditionalsummativeassessment.Inthe
future,Ihopetoworkwiththemontheirwritingtoimproveitsothattheyareabletoincreasethe
lengthoftheirwritingswithpurposeandrichcontent,andnotsolelytomeetarequirement.In
conclusion,thisunitwasasuccessfulexperienceformystudents,andformyselfasateacher.