Analysis of Student Learning

During my placement at Giles High School, I conducted a pre and post-assessment of material taught on poetry
and literary devices associated with poetry. The assessment covered roughly two weeks of material during my
instructional unit.
The assessment was given to my 4th and 5th period 10th grade class. Some students were excluded from the
results either due to insufficient data or other circumstances that prevented them from being able to take the
assessment at the appropriate time.
Overall, there were 17 students in 4th period and 16 students in 5th period who took the assessment.
Of the 33 total students, 18 students were male and 15 were female.
The assessment that students received is provided below:

Name: ________________________________________ Date:_______

Poetry Assessment Period:_____
Directions: Circle the letter of the best answer for each question.

1. Symbolism is:

A. A pattern of sound that includes the
repetition of consonant sounds.
B. The use of an object, person, situation,
or word to represent something else (an
idea) in literature.
C. An actor’s speech directed toward the
audience, that is not heard by other
actors.
D. Any story that attempts to explain how
the world was created.

2. Any kind of concrete (sensory) image whether literal or figurative:

A. Hyperbole C. Onomatopoeia
B. Metaphor D. Imagery

3. A comparison of two things NOT using “like” or “as”.

A. Simile C. Metaphor
B. Alliteration D. Assonance
4. A traditional Japanese poem consisting of 3 lines with a syllable count of 5,7,5 (17 total) is called a:

A. Limerick C. Haiku
B. Sonnet D. Metonymy

5. “ABBA” and “ABCB” are examples of:

A. Alliteration C. Imagery
B. Rhyme Scheme D. Shape Form

6. A comparison between two things using “like” or “as” is known as:

A. Simile C. Stanza
B. Metaphor. D. Prose

7. Assigning human-like characteristics to an inanimate object is known as:

A. Onomatopoeia C. Imagery
B. Metonymy D. Personification

8. Which sentence is an example of metonymy?

A. Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? D. Suddenly, BOOM, the Kool-Aid man
B. All hands on deck! burst in.
C. The wind ran its fingertips over my
shoulders.

9. Which of the following shows an example of alliteration?

A. The blue baboons broke the broomsticks. C. There once was a man from Peru, who
B. Do you like blue? dreamed he was eating his shoe.
D. To be or not to be: that is the question.

10. The attitude of an author towards a subject is known as:

A. Theme C. Refrain
B. Tone D. Persona
11. A single section of a poem composed of multiple lines is called a:

A. Haiku C. Stanza
B. Limerick D. Shape Form

12. A 5-lined, humorous poem with the rhyme scheme of AABBA is a:

A. Ballad C. Prose
B. Sonnet D. Limerick

13. A poem composed of 14 lines, using formal rhyme schemes and typically with 10 syllables per line.
They are often about love:

A. Sonnet C. Ode
B. Eulogy D. Serenade

14. Which of the following is an example of onomatopoeia?

A. She tore through the closet like a C. I flew over the handlebars and, SMACK,
tornado. crashed onto the pavement.
B. Washington chose not to pass the bill D. My dog is the world’s smallest vacuum
yesterday. cleaner.

15. A poem where the first or last letter of each line spells out a word or phrase is called:

A. Acrostic C. Stanza
B. Iambic D. Persona

16. A certain line that is repeated throughout a poem is called a(n):

A. Enjambment C. Theme
B. Refrain D. Symbol

17. The voice or speaker of a poem; similar to a narrator in prose.

A. Personification C. Oxymoron
B. Persona D. Tone
18. The overall message or life lesson of a text is the:

A. Symbolism C. Shape Form

B. Imagery D. Theme

19. Poetry written to look like a certain object is known as:

A. Imagery
B. Personification
C. Shape Form
D. Acrostic

20. A figure of speech in which contradictory terms appear together is a(n):

A. Oxymoron
B. Onomatopoeia
C. Enjambment
D. Hyperbole
After grading and collection of data from both pre and post-testing, the following data for each
question was recorded. The following charts showcase the total number of correct answers for
each question on both pre and post-assessments.

Question 1

30

25

20

15

10

Pre-Test Post-Test

Question 1 showed an 18% increase from pre to post-testing.

Question 2

30

25

20

15

10

Pre-Test Post-Test
 Question 2 showed an 18% increase from pre to post-testing.

Question 3

30

25

20

15

10

Pre-Test Post-Test

Question 3 showed a 15% increase from pre to post-testing.

Question 4

30

25

20

15

10

Pre-Test Post-Test

Question 4 showed a 12% increase from pre to post-testing.

 Question 5

30

25

20

15

10

Pre-Test Post-Test

Question 5 remained stagnant from pre to post-testing, with no increase or decrease.

Question 6

30

25

20

15

10

Pre-Test Post-Test

Question 6 showed a 3% increase from pre to post-testing.

 Question 7

30

25

20

15

10

Pre-Test Post-Test

Question 7 showed a 15% increase from pre to post-testing.

Question 8

30

25

20

15

10

Pre-Test Post-Test

Question 8 showed an 18% increase from pre to post-testing.

 Question 9

30

25

20

15

10

Pre-Test Post-Test

Question 9 showed a 15% increase from pre to post-testing.

Question 10

30

25

20

15

10

Pre-Test Post-Test

Question 10 showed a 9% increase from pre to post-testing.

 Question 11

30

25

20

15

10

Pre-Test Post-Test

Question 11 showed a 3% increase from pre to post-testing.

Question 12

30

25

20

15

10

Pre-Test Post-Test

Question 12 showed a 36% increase from pre to post-testing.

 Question 13

30

25

20

15

10

Pre-Test Post-Test

Question 13 showed a 30% increase from pre to post-testing.

Question 14

30

25

20

15

10

Pre-Test Post-Test

Question 14 showed a 9% increase from pre to post-testing.

 Question 15

30

25

20

15

10

Pre-Test Post-Test

Question 15 showed a 30% increase from pre to post-testing.

Question 16

30

25

20

15

10

Pre-Test Post-Test

Question 16 showed a 6% increase from pre to post-testing.

 Question 17

30

25

20

15

10

Pre-Test Post-Test

Question 17 showed a 24% increase from pre to post-testing.

Question 18

30

25

20

15

10

Pre-Test Post-Test

Question 18 showed an 18% increase from pre to post-testing.

 Question 19

30

25

20

15

10

Pre-Test Post-Test

Question 19 showed a 21% increase from pre to post-testing.

Question 20

30

25

20

15

10

Pre-Test Post-Test

Question 20 showed a 21% increase from pre to post-testing.

 Overall Averages
90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
All Students

Pre-test Post-test

Overall, the total class average of all students who took the assessment saw a 16% increase from
63 to 79.
Class-period variation:
During data analysis, I compared the data of averages from students in my 4th period class to my
5th period class. 4th period was often louder and generally more disruptive than 5th, and so I had
curiosity in which group would respond more to my teaching. Results were as follows:

4th period:

120

100

80

60

40

20

Pre-Test Post-Test

4th period’s students had an overall 14% increase in their averages.

5th period:

120

100

80

60

40

20

Pre-Test Post-Test

5th period’s students had an overall 19% increase in their averages.

Given the data provided, 5th period was shown to have a higher increase in performance on
the post-test than 4th period.
Male vs. Female Variation:
Another object of my data analysis was the performance of the male demographic of my class
versus the female demographic. In analyzing the data, the following results were obtained:

Female Results:

120

100

80

60

40

20

0
Female Female Female Female Female Female Female Female Female Female Female Female Female Female
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Pre-Test Post-Test

Overall, the female population saw a 14% increase on post-test scores.

Male results:

120

100

80

60

40

20

0
Male Male Male Male Male Male Male Male Male Male Male Male Male Male Male Male Male Male Male
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

Pre-Test Post-Test

Overall, the male population of the class saw a 19% increase on post-test scores.

Given the data provided, the male population of the 10th grade saw an overall greater
increase between pre and post-assessments than the female population.
Specific Student Variation:
During my analysis, I was also curious as to how my instruction resonated with students that
have various personality types. As such, I found two students who were polar opposites of each
other and analyzed how their assessment results changed to determine which student type
responded better to my teaching style.

Student 1 was a male from my 5th period class. Although he was intelligent, he was often loud
and disruptive, and had a particular ability for distracting other students. We had a rough start,
but we formed a good student-teacher relationship as my instructional unit progressed:

Student 1
80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
Category 1

Pre-test Post-test

Overall, as our relationship improved, and he began to pay more attention, student 1 improved
greatly in my class, and his assessment results show a 40% increase.
Student 2 was a female from my 4th period class. She suffered from crippling social anxiety and
NEVER spoke out loud in class. She would speak with me, but only very briefly at certain times,
such as when we discussed grades.

Student
90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
Category 1

Pre-test Post-test

Although there was little direct contact or direct one-on-one instruction with student 2, she
seemed to steadily improve under my wing as well, and showed a 35% increase in her
assessment results.