Artman Assessment Commentary

Secondary History/Social Studies
Task 3: Assessment Commentary
TASK 3: ASSESSMENT COMMENTARY

Respond to the prompts below (no more than 10 single-spaced pages, including prompts) by typing your responses within
the brackets following each prompt. Do not delete or alter the prompts. Commentary pages exceeding the maximum will not be
scored. Attach the assessment you used to evaluate student performance (no more than 5 additional pages) to the end of this
file. If you submit a student work sample or feedback as a video or audio clip and you or your focus students cannot be clearly
heard, attach a transcription of the inaudible comments (no more than 2 additional pages) to the end of this file. These pages
do not count toward your page total.
1. Analyzing Student Learning

a. Identify the specific learning objectives measured by the assessment you chose for
analysis.
[There are three learning objectives that I went over during my three-day lesson. They will be
labeled #1, #2, and #3 to correspond with the day they were taught. Please note that learning
objective #3 took place on the day of the assessment so it covers objectives that are different
from the previous two. The learning objectives are:
#1: Students will be able to show how the economy changed as a result of black Tuesday by
explaining in our individual conference and accurately answering questions.
#2: Students will be able to show how the great depression affected the life of the American
people.
#3: Students will be able to talk about the great depression and black Tuesday followed by a
summative assessment by writing three paragraphs and turning it in.
Please also note that in my summative assessment, there are only two questions that I actually
tested on. I felt that my students didnt need to have three questions to choose from and that
they would get the same assessment from picking from two questions. The assessment
changed as a whole from requiring three paragraphs, to only one. This is also due to the time
restraint my class had, they only got about 20 minutes to take it.
Please also note that since I let them choose a questions to answer, most of my students were
assessed on only one learning target. Though they did put in information from both days and
had to understand the American People as well as the economy to answer both questions.]
b. Provide a graphic (table or chart) or narrative that summarizes student learning for your
whole class. Be sure to summarize student learning for all evaluation criteria submitted
in Assessment Task 3, Part D.
[The chart listed below breaks down the scores of the assessment that I gave at the end of my
unit. There were four possible points with this assessment breaking down to a letter grade a
point. 4 is equal to an A, 3 is equal to a B, 2 is equal to a C, 1 is equal to a D, and zero is equal
to an F. Out of the class, two people received a zero, meaning they submitted a totally blank
assignment. All others receiver a numbered score of at least a one because they at least
attempted to answer the questions that I gave them. Even if they didnt know a lot, if they tried
they at least got a score of one out of four. The data is broken down like this: one received a
score of one, six students received a two, nine students received a three, three students
received a four, and 12 students either did not submit an assessment or were absent on the day
it was given. It should also be noted that it is not uncommon to have a high number of absences
throughout the week, though this number is higher then average. ]
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c. Use evidence found in the 3 student work samples and the whole class summary to
analyze the patterns of learning for the whole class and differences for groups or
individual learners relative to
facts and concepts
inquiry, interpretation, or analysis skills
building and supporting arguments or conclusions
Consider what students understand and do well, and where they continue to struggle
(e.g., common errors, confusions, need for greater challenge).
[All my focus students had a good understanding of some of the facts and the concept when it
comes to the economy. One wrote how the GDP dropped during the Great Depression. They
knew this and could talk about it during the test. Another focus wrote how Black Tuesday
affected the US economy by having the Stock Market fall and went on to talk about how the
American people were not able to trade stocks. They could have gone more in depth with this,
but they had a good understanding of what happened on Black Tuesday. The Third student
talked about how the stock market fell and then went in depth about how jobs and housing were
affected by the Great Depression. They understood the most about Black Tuesday and the
Great Depression and was very advanced.
All in all, all three students knew something about the economy during the Great Depression,
though some knew more than others. Focus students #1 wrote the least, though they still
understood what GDP was and knew that it affected the economy. They were unable to make
too many connections about the economy though so this meant they got a 1 out of 4. Focus
student #2 is a good median between the high and the low scoring students. They were about to
identify what Black Tuesday was and how it affected the economy. They were also able to talk
about how it affected the stock market in its ability to trade. Though they didnt add a lot of extra
facts after writing this, and therefore they got a 2 out of 4. The last student, focus student
number 3, could accurately answer both questions and support their answers with facts that we
learned during the lessons. They could talk about how the economy changed after 1929 as well
as Hoovers response to the Depression. Because of this and putting more facts in a short
answer, they could get full points and earn a 4 out of 4. This is a good analysis of my entire
class, since everyone who turned in an assessment could talk about facts, just to various
degrees. Everyone knew facts and concepts, it just depended on how much they wrote about.
My students seemed to do well in the facts area of this unit. All of them could talk a little bit
about what affected peoples lives during the Great Depression and how the stock market was a
factor in this. Focus student one was a bit of an anomaly though, being the only one in the class
to make the connection to GDP. Focus student two on the other hand was a much more
average fact giver, talking about the stock market, which is something a lot of students in my
class decided to go with since I focused on this for the first day. Focus student three on the
other hand did a much more in depth review of information in their response. They could give in
depth responses to what Black Tuesday was, what date this took place on, what trickle-down
economics is, and how many banks shut down because of this. Because of this, these three
focus students made for a good examination of my entire class. Like focus student one, a lot of
my students gave just one fact, admittedly it was a good fact to give, but needed more to get full
points on the assessment. Focus student two gave more facts then focus student one, but
lacked in other areas, showing that some students gave more facts. Focus student three gave a
lot of facts and was an anomaly. They gave the most facts out of any student in the whole class.
This shows that I had a few outliers, on the low and high side, but most students were in the
middle when it came to facts. This shows where my class is and how they did.
Only one thing that I saw students make mistakes on, at least in facts, came in the form of Black
Tuesday. Focus student one mistook Black Tuesday as the day all the banks closed during the
Great Depression. While this was a result of Black Tuesday, it is not what happened on Black
Tuesday and therefore, it shows that I didnt spend enough time talking about what happened
on Black Tuesday. Also, focus student two made the mistake of calling Black Tuesday, Black
Friday. This was common in my class, though I am not sure they meant to do this or just
mistyped. I feel like this could go either way for my students though and depends. Either way
you look at it, these mistakes show that I did not spend enough time on Black Tuesday and they
really needed more time to look at what took place on Black Tuesday and how it differs from
Black Friday.
All three of my focus students could make some sort of interpretation or analysis of historical
events in my assessment. Focus student #1 could interpret that when the GDP fell, the
American people were no longer able to able to keep their investments because of this. It was
interesting that they could talk about this and that they could say that since the GDP fell, people
lost their investments. While this is not a great interpretation of the events that happened in the
1930s, they were still able to discuss this. Because they could make this connection, but not
able to make any others, they received a 1 out of 4 on this assessment. Focus student #2 could
interpret historical events much more effectively then focus student #1. They could talk about
how Black Tuesday affected the stock market and the Americans people ability to trade like they
did in the 1920s. Though it is not explicitly tied to the 1920s, they dont mention it, they talk
about how the stock market changed. This shows me that they understand that the 1930s was a
time of change, but they may not be able to interpret it to how it was in the 1920s. I would have
like them to compare more to how it was different from the 1920s, but the fact that they knew
that the stock market changes and it was different was a good use of their analysis skills.
Because they could do some form of inquiry and analysis, they received a 2 out of 4 on their
assessment. My third focus student could use their interpretation and inquiry skills to make
connections to what life was like in the 1930s. They could make the connection between the
President at the time, Hoover, and his response to the Great Depression. They talked about
how he didnt do anything and how he thought that the system would fix itself in time. They were
also able to use Trickle-Down Economic theory and make a connection to the theory as well as
president Hoover. Since they could make these connections as well as other, they got a 4 out of
4.
All three of these students could interpret, make inquiry, and analysis historical events as well
as economic theory and facts. Because of this, they are a good section of my class to look at.
Focus student 1 could talk about how the GDP dropped during the Great Depression, though
they were not able to go too in depth with it. But since they could make some interpretation of
these facts, they got a 1 out of 4. The second focus student could be able to talk about how
Black Tuesday, though they miss wrote and said Black Friday, and how that led to the Great
Depression. This is what most students could do and talk about how with their interpretation
skills. It shows that most students were at a two level, which is a C and passing. The last focus
student could talk about how and interpret what happened in the 1930s in more advanced ways
then most of the students in the class. This shows the section of the class that has advanced
analysis, inquiry, and interpreting skills. Because of this, they got a 4 out of 4, which is an A and
means they are advanced. All three-showed different level of skills, and therefore are a good
place to look at what was happening in my classroom.
All three focus students could interpret at least a little bit, and this shows that my class could as
well. Focus student one is an outlier, not making many interpretations. They did make one, with
talking about the GDP, but they made by far the fewest of all the focus students. They show that
a lot of my students did interpret the facts, but they could have gone farther. The second focus
student made more of an interpretation of the facts then focus student one, talking about how
the stock market crashed causing the Great Depression. This shows more interpretation then
the previous student and shows that more students could make a few interpretations. Focus
student three could make more connections to the facts, but still lacked a bit in this area. They
still got full points and did a good job, but their connections were by far their weakest are. There
best area in this section was their ability to make connections. They talked about how the Great
Depression led to legislations so that it would never happen again. This was impressive
because I didnt expect this. They were also the only one to make this connection, so that made
them an outlier. All three students had at least some lacking in this area, which makes me think
that I need to work on making historical connections and interpreting facts that we go over in
class.
All of my focus students, and students in general, were required to form some sort of conclusion
while they were writing the paragraph that was required of them for this assessment. Both
prompts were designed in a way to make sure they could conclude a few things about the
1930s. One, they could make conclusions about the economy and the other, they could make
conclusions about peoples way of life during the 1930s. The making of these conclusions was
very important in answering the question in its entirety and needed to use some sort of higher
level of thinking to answer them. Particularly the questions about the life of the American people
during the 1930s could have been taking in any direction. They could have talked about the rich,
the poor, farmers, or any other group of people during the 1930s, they just had to make the
connections.
Focus student #1 did not too that well at making these connections to peoples lives or the
economy of the 1930s. They did talk about the GDP and how a lot of people lost their money,
but they were unable to give much detail or come up with many ideas about life in the 1930s.
They were also able to talk a bit about banks, but this was when describing what Black Tuesday
was, which was a mistake. This earned them a score of 1 out of 4. Focus student #2 did a good
job making connections to life in the 1930s through the economy and the life of the American
people. They did talk about how people were no longer able to sell their stocks on the stock
market. This shows that they could make some connection to life in the US as well as the
economy since we spent a lot of time talking about the stock market and how it was popular in
the 1920s. Though, they were not able to make any deep connections, there was still
connections that were made, so they earned 2 out of 4. Focus student #3 could make more
connections than any other student of the ones that I chose to focus on. They could make
connections to how there were preparations in the future so that this would never happen again.
The fact that they could make this connection was remarkable since we didnt spend a lot of
time on what was going to happen, that is in the next unit. They were also able to talk about how
many people rushed to get their money, causing banks to close. Making this connection to the
great depression and peoples lives was very well done. Both connections earned them a 4 out
of 4 for this assessment.
Building and supporting an argument was a bit of a challenge for them, though they could do it
to a certain degree. All three could say why Black Tuesday affected the American people or
what happened after the Great Depression started. For example, focus student one did well with
talking about the economy and how the GDP dropped after Black Tuesday. This was an
excellent conclusion, since this is what happened after Black Tuesday. Focus student two could
talk about how the Great Depression affected the American people after Black Tuesday. Making
this connection is something that a lot of my students could do, so the fact that they did this
shows that a lot of my students were at this place when I gave the assessment. Focus student
three was also able to make conclusions in this assessment and show that they knew what was
going on during the Great Depression. Their best connection was about how the stock market
changed and caused a lot of changes for America. Though they also struggled since they were
not able to make any in depth connections about this, they didnt even explain what the changes
were. All three of my focus students could make a conclusion about the Great Depression,
some were just able to do better than others.
My focus students also struggled in some way when making conclusions and or arguments.
None of them could make an in-depth argument about what happened during the Great
Depression. All of them are still at a point where they are struggling with this. Though, they are
not the only ones. All my class is not able to make in depth connections, conclusions, or
arguments, so they are still a good focus point when looking at my class as a whole. I think this
is where I need to help them the most, they just repeat what I say a lot of the time and dont
make many strong conclusions that are independent. I think this will come naturally the more I
work with them, but I need to take the time to explicitly teach what I am looking for and how to
make these connections in a historical setting.]
d. If a video or audio work sample occurs in a group context (e.g., discussion), provide the
name of the clip and clearly describe how the scorer can identify the focus student(s)
(e.g., position, physical description) whose work is portrayed.
[ ]
2. Feedback to Guide Further Learning
Refer to specific evidence of submitted feedback to support your explanations.
a. Identify the format in which you submitted your evidence of feedback for the 3 focus
students. (Delete choices that do not apply.)
Written directly on work samples or in separate documents that were provided to the
focus students
[I chose to write my students feedback directly on the paper they turned in to me. This was the
easiest for them and me, since they submitted their assignment over Google Classroom. After I
gave feedback to each student, I was able to return it directly to them without having to wait. I
also did not give them a copy of the rubric I used to grade it, so I did not feel like writing the
feedback on a rubric they did not see would be helpful. My mentor teacher does not give them
individual copies of the rubric, rather he hangs the general ones on the wall and lets them refer
to them when they are being graded. Because of this, I felt that giving them a rubric would not
make much sense since they are not used to working with one. Plus, since I could return it
instantly to them when I am done grading on Google Classroom, I felt that was the best way to
go and to just write it where they would have the best chance to look at how they did. ]
b. Explain how feedback provided to the 3 focus students addresses their individual
strengths and needs relative to the learning objectives measured.
[All three learning objectives used during this unit could be talked about in all three of my focus
students assessments and I talked about it in their feedback. For example, focus student one
focused on learning objective #1, Students will be able to show how the economy changed
because of black Tuesday by explaining in our individual conference and accurately answering
questions, buy talking more about the GDP and the economy. This showed that they had a
good understanding of this and that they could talk about the Economy. I talked about this in
their feedback too, since they were the only one that could talk about the GDP. They did need to
work more on explaining their ideas more thoughtfully though. I told them that they should have
made a connection to Trickle-Down Economics since it was part of the questions and they
should go more in depth with their answer. There second question they answered was also just
not correct. Black Tuesday is not when the banks crashed, it was when the stock market
crashed. Making this error was important to note so I made sure to correct them in my feedback.
Focus student two did a good job and was more focused on both learning objective #1 and
learning objective #2. Learning objective #2, Students will be able to show how the great
depression affected the life of the American people, talks about how the American people were
affected. They talked about how The American People were not able to trade stocks anymore
after Black Tuesday and because of this, their lives changed. They were also able to talk more
about how the stock market crashed and how that affected America. They were one of the few
students who could address both learning objectives in one paragraph, showing that they had a
good grasp on the content, and I told them that when writing my feedback. I did tell that that I
would like to see them go more in depth with how they are talking about the economy, I know
they can do it, and how they need to be careful when talking about historic events. They
mistyped and talked about Black Friday instead of Black Tuesday. It was a simple mistake so I
didnt subtract points for it, but it was still something that I wanted to make them understand. A
lot of my feedback had to do with talking about how they could have gone farther and what they
could do to improve on their assessment.
Focus student three got one of the best scores on this assessment in the class, so there werent
many mistakes to go off of when giving them feedback. They also answered both questions in
their assessment, so they went off of both learning objectives in their responses. Their first
question talked about the economy and how Trickle-Down Economics affected the American
people. Their second response was more about how life in the US changed after Black Tuesday.
Because they covered both, there wasnt a lot of feedback to give, so I pushed them to go
farther. I told them that I want them to make more connections and talk more about historical
events in their future assessments and assignments. I think they are ready for the next step and
they need to be pushed to make it. Since they were so high to begin with, this was the logical
place to go when giving feedback.]
c. Describe how you will support each focus student to understand and use this feedback
to further their learning related to learning objectives, either within the learning segment
or at a later time.
[For focus student one, I plan to focus on them the most. They were not able to make many
connections or answer both learning objectives, so I want to work with them the most. They only
talked about how GDP was affected during the great depression and did not go into detail on
how it was affected other then it dropped by 15% after 1929. I want to work with them one on
one to get them to the point where he can write more about how it affected peoples lives and
was a central part of the 1930s. I want to do this with discussion since I think they needs to have
the ideas pulled from them through conversation. This should be done at a later time, but I think
it will be an affective learning strategy for them.
The second focus student needs more support with learning to express their ideas move in
depth and fully. I think if I work with them through individual activities and conversation is the
best thing I can do for them. They are also a very social person who likes to talk, so since I
know this about them, it should be easier to incorporate that into my lessons, or at least for an
individual adjustment. Especially since they could talk about how the people of the 1930s were
affected by the Great Depression, I think the natural next step would be to push them to make
deeper connections and express their ideas on a much deeper level.
The third focus student, who is by far the most advanced person in the class, needs more
individualized activities that they can complete on their own. They didnt express a ton of ideas
in this assessment, but they got everything done and could talk about what the economy and
what life was like. Because of this, I was to get them in touch with TAG options, even though
they have not been labeled, so that they can grow at an accelerated rate instead of being bored.
I think individualizing assignments as much as possible for them is the best thing for them. I
would also like to get them to see the TAG specialist to see if they qualify so that I can better
address their needs.]
3. Evidence of Language Understanding and Use
When responding to the prompt below, use concrete examples from the video clips and/or
student work samples as evidence. Evidence from the clips may focus on one or more
students.
You may provide evidence of students language use from ONE, TWO, OR ALL
THREE of the following sources:
1. Use video clips from Instruction Task 2 and provide time-stamp references for
evidence of language use.
2. Submit an additional video file named Language Use of no more than 5
minutes in length and cite language use (this can be footage of one or more
students language use). Submit the clip in Assessment Task 3, Part B.
3. Use the student work samples analyzed in Assessment Task 3 and cite
language use.
Explain and provide concrete examples for the extent to which your students were able
to use or struggled to use the to develop content understandings.
a.
selected language function,

vocabulary/symbols, AND
discourse or syntax
[Explaining: All my students, at least the ones that turned in the assessment, could explain what
they had learned in the three lessons that I taught. For example, focus student one wrote The
economy change after 1929 was that millions of Americans lost all of their investment and the
world's GDP dropped by 15%. This shows that they could explain what happened during the
Great Depression and how it affected the American people. Doing this shows great progress in
explaining and that they could fully understand the assignment. Not many students struggled
with knowing how to explain historic events in the assessment. They were all able to submit
some form of explanation, so they all had that much done. Some did far better that others, but
they were still able to finish it.
All my students could use vocabulary, though some could do it better than others. For example,
focus student two talked about how The black friday was a time when the stock exchange
completely collapsed and became part of the great depression. This shows me that they have a
good understanding of Black Tuesday though they still struggle with spelling and
differentiations. The fact that they knew this showed understanding, which can be shown using
their work and connected to the whole class. They can show that the whole class knew the
vocabulary word Black Tuesday, though they may have some areas they are still weak on. If
anything, it showed me that I need to take more time to specifically teach vocabulary so they
can better understand the meaning of specific words.
Discourse: All students in my class were responsible for completing writing discourse during this
assessment. Some were better writers then others, but no matter what, they were all successful
in writing something about the topic at hand. For example, focus student three wrote 1929 was
when the stock market crashed and the banks closed resulting in people having no money, jobs
and homes the president at the time thought the economy would fix itself so he did little to
nothing to help this period of time was called the great depression and resulted in many plans
so we are prepared if this happens again. This shows that they were successful in writing about
the Great Depression, though their writing skills are not the best due to the run-on sentence.
They were still able to write about it, which is writing discourse, but they need a lot more work
when it comes to making coherent writing.]
4. Using Assessment to Inform Instruction
a. Based on your analysis of student learning presented in prompts 1bc, describe next
steps for instruction to impact student learning:
For the whole class
For the 3 focus students and other individuals/groups with specific needs
Consider the variety of learners in your class who may require different
strategies/support (e.g., students with IEPs or 504 plans, English language learners,
struggling readers, underperforming students or those with gaps in academic
knowledge, and/or gifted students needing greater support or challenge).
[For my entire class, I feel like I would want to incorporate more ELD strategies to help all my
students learn more affectively. Almost all my students are at some point in the ELD program,
25 out of 33, so adding these strategies would help them all learn better. I think particularly
strategies that must do with vocabulary would be best since they need some help with that.
Writing strategies would also be helpful giving that some struggle heavily with writing a coherent
paragraph, so I need to take some time to work some into my lessons. I would also like to
implement some higher-level questions and assignments for TAG and high achieving students.
Given that focus student three was not TAG, but very high, shows that there is a need in my
classroom. They get done with their assignments, and assessments, very quickly and need
more to do. By adding this, I will help them and the TAG students in my class. I would also like
to add more reading strategies, since a lot of my students struggle with reading, though this will
go with the ELD strategies that I listed above. I need to make sure there are some ways to help
my student read, so by doing this I can help most my students.
Focus student one will by far need the most help. They are SPED and ELD so they will need a
lot of attention as they go through my class. They will need more individualized attention so they
can get the most learning possible from my class. One thing I will do is add more times where
they can go and talk to me to help. Though, I know they can be quiet so this can be a challenge.
I want to incorporate this as well as let them work alone so they can work at their own pace. We
are also lucky enough to have a SPED aid in there during their class, so they can get some
individualized attention.
Focus student two needs some help as well, though not as specialized as the other two. They
are an ELL, though they are high. They can speak fine, or at least for what I can tell, and has
little trouble reading in English. I may not be able to see their struggles so I want to make sure
there are strategies in place for them so if they do struggle, I can help them. This will be new
strategies so they can do their work more effectively as well as work time.
Focus student three is a special case, they have no formal identification, though I feel like they
need to be TAG. Because of this, I want to give them more advanced work to do so they can
work without being bored. This is also a balancing game though, since I dont want them to feel
overwhelmed. I plan to give them the work to do, but not require it to be done if they cant. This
way, that if they cant do the work or dont want to seem too different from their class, they dont
have to.]
b. Explain how these next steps follow from your analysis of the student learning. Support
your explanation with principles from research and/or theory.
[These next steps are what I feel needs to be done. I need to incorporate some sheltered
instruction strategies for all my students to learn. I want to make sure they can read affectively,
like Stephen Krashen has said, so they can learn the best they can. I also think that I need to
add more routine into my class so that my students know what is coming and wont be too
surprised. Like B.F. Skinners theory of operant conditioning, if they are trained to do the same
thing every day, then they will be able to do the same take, or at least a similar task, daily. This
will be hard, since they need to be trained to do this, but I feel it is doable. ELD education and
behaviorist theory are the next logical steps in my classroom.]

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Secondary History/Social Studies

Task 3: Assessment Commentary

TASK 3: ASSESSMENT COMMENTARY

1. Analyzing Student Learning

selected language function,

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