I’ve been trying to use more data in my analysis of my classroom instruction. I’m not obsessed with the numbers, but I have been convinced that the use of data can help me think about how to bring my students along. I suppose this idea has its roots in the vast amounts of numbers now being provided by our state from our standardized testing. That information has been helpful in identifying overall weaknesses of our school and that has helped me make some shifts towards open response, non-fiction reading and more.
This year, our principal asked our team of teachers (our Community of Practice) to set an ELA goal early in the year. We decided that our goal would be around open response writing to reading, which is something I have been doing yeoman’s work around this year and last year with my students. I see the difference in the quality of their writing. Anyway, our goal was that 80 percent of our sixth graders would be “meeting the standard” of our open response rubric by January. (The “meeting the standard” is connected to our standards-based reporting.) I’ve been keeping charts of how all of my students have been doing as a way to document their growth.
In September, after administering an open response question to some literature, this is what the numbers looked like. You can see that only 7 percent of my sixth graders were where we needed them to be. Many were in the “progressing” stage, which is what one would expect at the start of the year. What the numbers don’t show is that the writing across the board was pretty weak. They had trouble with using evidence to support their answers, with showing connections in the text, and with using critical thinking skills for analysis.
In December, that gap began to close. Notice in this next diagram how the shift began to move from various sections, upward. That was a good trend. But we were still far away from our January goal.
Two weeks ago, they were given another open response assessment. On one hand, we’re nowhere near our goal of 80 percent in the Meeting category, and I am wonder if that was even a realistic goal for us. On the other hand, notice how few students there are now in the lower bracket — the Beginning to Understand category — which is where our struggling writers have often found themselves. We’ve worked hard on graphic organizing and structure, and that is paying off for a lot of kids. And there is a slight shift from Progressing into Meeting, just not nearly enough.
So yesterday, I began to ponder my own roles. Am I being consistent with my scoring from September through the present? (I think so). What does it mean if not everyone “meets” the sixth grade standard around writing? What else can I be doing to support the development of my students as writers and thinkers? I think, as teachers, this kind of internal inquiry never ends. I feel like I am in a constant state of trying to make my approach more effective and more engaging for my students.
Peace (in the sharing of the data),
Kevin