UWS SECTION IV: ANALYSIS OF STUDENT LEARNING

Mean

Class Unit Test Scores

Median
Mode

86

87

88

89

90

91

92

The Entire
Class

Unit Test 1
Unit Test 2

Comparison of Multiple Choice Unit Test

Unit Test 3
Unit Test 5
Unit Test 7

83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92

Overall the entire class preformed well on the unit test, especially so
considering this is an AP course. The average for the class was an 88 with a low of
58 and a high of a 100. There were only three outliers, which will be addressed
further down, from the class of 27 students. The mode and median were both 91,

showing that overall many of the students in 3 rd block performed extremely well.
These scores are similar to those of past unit tests. Scores are much higher on
FRQ's (Free Response Questions) than on multiple choice unit test. This is likely due
to FRQ's only asking a limited amount of information and scored in a way that
makes acquiring points easy. Multiple choice unit tests require students to know
more information and be able to apply that information to the different scenarios
that they are presented with. The unit test I constructed (Unit Test 7) has similar
scores compared to the other multiple choice unit tests that students have taken in
the past. I was very pleased with the overall grades of the class considering they
took this test the Thursday before spring break. I was concerned that many of the
students would struggle because of the closeness of the test to spring break.
However, I believe that because many of my students are high achieving they were
willing to continue to learn and perform all the way till the start of spring break.

Mean

Male Test Scores on Unit Test

Median
Mode

50

100

Subgroup (Male Students)

The class average for the male students is much different from the overall
average of the class. The average for male students on the unit test that I
constructed was a 79, compared to the overall class average of 88. This was very
shocking to me when I first realized that the test scores were so much lower for the
males in my class as opposed to the females in the class. After some reflection, I
believe that the difference in test scores can be explained by examining multiple
factors. Firstly, the female students in 3rd block are abnormally bright and driven
students. Almost all of the female students in the class have an A average in the
course, therefore it is not unlikely that the male students have a lower average then
the female students because the female students set the bar extremely high.
Secondly, in 3rd block there are two male students that have the lowest grades
compared to all of the other students in all four classes. These two students overall
class averages are 74 and 73 compared to the entire class average of 92. These
two students lower the entire average of the male students in 3 rd block. Of these
two students, one of them is frequently absent due to a medical condition that he
has (but does not have and IEP or 504) and the other frequently scores low on his

tests. Both of these students' parents have been contacted to address the issue,
however their scores are consistently low. Aside from those two students, scores for
the rest of the males in 3rd block were consistent with the rest of the class.
100
90
80
70
60

Student A

50

Student B

40

Student C

30
20
10
0
Unit Test Scores

Individual Students
Three students were selected to exam closer and reflect on their learning and
my teaching was successful and unsuccessful. Student A is a white female who is a
triplet and generally does well in the course. Student B is a black male who
typically does well in the course and is engaged in class. Lastly student C is a white
male who on average scores Bs in the course but is a very engaged student.
Firstly I had every student answer a short answer question asking them what
teratogens where. This short answer was designed to assess how much my
students already knew about teratogens, substances that harm the growing child
during prenatal development. Student A completed the assignment by writing
about examples of teratogens. She specifically wrote that an example of teratogens
was "cigarettes". From examining here short answer response, I determined that
she knew something about teratogens but she does not exactly know what
teratogens are. The teratogen in cigarettes is the chemicals that are released into
the body when you smoke. Student A is very intelligent and it came to no surprise
that when she took the unit test she answered all of the questions about teratogens
correctly. Overall, she scored a 98 on her unit test. From this, I determined that
Student A demonstrated growth in her understanding of physical development and
specifically on the concept of teratogens.
Student B scored abnormally low on his unit exam. I chose to look closer at
Student B because he is usually an A/B student. His unit test average between 8590, however on this unit test he scored a 71. I examined his short answer response

and he wrote that he did not know what teratogens were. Unlike Student A, Student
B did not explain what he thought teratogens were or try and cite any examples of
what they were. He simply wrote that he did not know what they were. I looked
back at his previous writings (summative FRQs) and saw that in the past Student B
has done very well on his writing. From this and his abnormally low score on the
unit test, I was puzzled as to why Student B did poorly. I then remembered that the
entire time I was teaching my unit, Student B was often preoccupied with the March
Madness Tournament going on. I also remember Student B talking about his spring
break plans multiple times during class. Upon reflection, I realized that during the
course of teaching my unit I should have been more vigilant in keeping Student B on
task during class. Student B is very intelligent and generally motivated and
engaged in class. During the week I taught my unit I noticed that he was
preoccupied with the March Madness Tournament and less engaged than he usually
is. In the future I should always try and keep my students on task and focused,
especially when I know a break is encroaching or an event that interferes with
normal classroom operations.
Student C scored abnormally high on his unit exam. I choose student C to
exam because he typically scores between 80-88 on his exams and has an 86
overall average in the course but scored a 98 on his exam. I felt that examining him
specifically could provide some illumination on some of the positive things that I did
during my teaching. After looking at Student Cs response to the short response
question, I was surprised that he did as well as he did. Just like Student B, Student
be chose to answer the short answer question by stating he did not know what a
teratogen was. Just as student B wrote, or did not write, he did not elaborate on
anything that he knew or try and provide examples of what he thought they were.
Upon looking at his unit test, he answered all of the questions on teratogens
correctly. This shows growth on Student Cs part in a way that is not common to
him. Upon reflection, I believe that student C did better on this unit than in past
units because of the content that we discussed. Student C is a very opinionated
student who is seemingly passionate about debatable topics. I especially saw him
light up the day we discussed morality. Throughout the teaching of this unit, I saw
Student C show great interest in the topics we discussed. Upon reflection on
Student Cs success, came to the conclusion that his success was most likely due to
the interest he took in the content I taught during my time teaching. This has led
me to believe that in the future I should take great pains to make the content that I
am teaching interesting to my students. Student C showed me how interest in the
subject matter can cause a student to perform well above what they would if they
are not interested in the subject matter.
UWS SECTION V: R EFLECTION AND SELF-ASSESSMENT
Based on the students performance on the pre-assessments and postassessments scores, my students understand of developmental psychology
increased a great deal from the beginning of the unit to the end. When

constructing the unit, I took great pains to make each lesson a student centered.
With lessons that are student centered, I hoped that students would respond to
each lesson and show growth at the end of the unit. Overall, the class showed
growth and preformed well on the post-assessment test. Even though majority of
my students preformed well on the post-assessment, I found that I could learn the
most not from the students in the class that did well and always do well. I learned
the most from the students that usually perform low and preformed high and the
students that usually perform high that performed low. Upon reflection of the
students that performed high that usually perform low, I realized that students
(students like Student C) perform and learn better when that are not only engaged
with the content but genuinely interested in what they are learning. I saw students
who normally perform in the high C low B range score As on their unit test because
they were interested in the content.
I learned from students that normally score high and scored low that I always
need to take into account things that are happening outside of school when
developing and grading my unit. Student B showed me that a student that usually
performs well can become distracted by things outside of school and it can greatly
impact their grade. Before this unit, I would have never of thought that something
like the March Madness Tournament could interfere with what I teach in the
classroom. This experience has showed me that things outside of school, things
that some students view as more important than what we are learning in class, can
greatly impact my students' performance. Upon reflection, I think that it is my duty
as a teacher to stay vigilant in my students' performance in the classroom when I
know they are distracted by events outside of school. This could be the March
Madness Tournament or something as simple as the Friday football game. It is
always important that I be vigilant and demand my students very best.