Case Book Three

Char is talking with her team. They have just received last year's achievement test scores on all of their students. They have been instructed by their principal to use the test data to help them prepare their lessons, and help increase test scores for this next year.

MS. EMMER: For me, the math scores are fairly straightforward. I can figure out who needs help with computation, and number facts. I also can figure out who can do number problems. What I don't understand is how to use the data to help with lesson plans. I have to tell you that these don't tell me anything about who will be successful in doing pre-algebra. At least, not that I know of. I guess I really didn't learn that in school.

MS. WALLERS: I think that it is important for all of us to look at these scores in multiple ways. Yes, Char, knowing who needs help with some of the concepts and skills is important. That is one way to look at it. We can all do that in our subject areas. I think we have to look across the scores, and look at the strengths and weaknesses of each individual and try to develop some collective understandings of what skills are really lacking in whole groups of students. For instance, I am looking at Harriett Ruffert's scores. What a shocker to me. How did Harriett score in the 99 percentiles in math concepts, and her reading scores are still at a third grade level? Look, she has a 3.9 grade equivalent in reading. I don't get it. She has been doing average work. How is she doing for you, Char?

MS. EMMER: Harriett is a really good student when it comes to computations and math skills. Her achievement scores support that. She does struggle with word problems, usually the reading. If someone reads them to her, she is fine. I guess that since my students do word problems in groups, they could not be good readers, and I wouldn't necessarily pick that up. Maybe that is one of the ways I have to think about my lessons.

MR. GUNNY: In the past, when we have done this, we have done what Barb has said, look at the individual students, and then also look at the collective skills we have to consider. I did some highlighting on my printout. I have color coded the things I was concerned about. Can I take a minute and show you what I did? I used pink for the students where there were differences between their scoring in different areas that was more than three grade levels, or at least a thirty-percentile difference in some area. I came up with 23 students from our group that fit. Yes, Harriett was one of them. But, let me go on. I used red to color code where the students were at least two grade level below the average achievement in all areas. We have 16 in that group. I used yellow for the students who were at least one grade level below average achievement in all areas. We have 14 students in that group. I used green to color code the students who were at least two grade level above average achievement in all areas. We have 8 of those students.

MS. BATES: I remember this from last year. Homer, you did the same thing last year, same coding of green for the go on and let them achieve students, yellow for the caution, and red for the stop, and rethink what we are doing. Last year we tried that. It worked for some of them, but we never really did go back and look at the achievement scores of those students to figure out if what we did worked or not. Well, those were the eighth graders. Look now, only two of our entire group ended up in the group of students who are in the transitional ninth grade. The rest all went on. I think that it worked pretty well.

MR. GUNNY: You are right. We still should do that. This year the added difference is the pink. The students who are really a mixed set. I think that the things we tried last year helped all of us, and it won't take long to bring Char up to speed on those things, but this is a new group, and we have three years to really work with them. I think we should really look at our curriculum and try to figure out what immediate changes we need to make based on the skills that the students need to develop.

MS. BATES: If we look at the individual printouts on the students, are there certain skills that really stand out?

MR. GUNNY: Yes, for instance, all of them are weak in a couple of government basics, and in science facts related to the planets. It looks like those things weren't covered in the previous curriculum, but were on the achievement test.

MS. EMMER: So, we need to include those things in the units we build. We also have to consider how they may impact some of our other units and lessons, right? I guess I am still a little bit lost here. I really don't know what it means that the students are below or above the average. Is this their overall average or the average of the group that the test was normed on? I have to admit that I am in a bit over my head. Can I have some more time to study these and then when we next meet we can talk about this more?

Teacher notes:

• Interpreting student achievement test data may be difficult if you don't have training in what it means and how to apply it to your teaching. If you don't know, ask other teachers for their interpretation, or ask your administration to help you understand.
• Some school districts misuse test scores. They will do things like comparing how the seventh graders score this year with how the seventh graders scored last year. Technically, you shouldn't compare scores of different groups of students over different years. They come from different backgrounds, and may have always scored differently, but you wouldn't know that from one test comparison.