Part 5

Assignment Data Analysis & Curriculum Design: Part IV

by

Student A

CRN

EDL 0506

Standards-Based Curriculum and Assessment

Nova Southeastern University

--/--/2018

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In part one of the assignment, I had noted that there was an area of concern on the Spring

2017 End-of-Course FSA assessment relating to standard MAFS.912.G-MG.1.2: Apply concepts

of density based on area and volume in modeling situations (e.g., persons per square mile, BTUs

per cubic foot) (www.cpalms.org). Less than 37 percent of the students mastered the standard.

For parts two and three of the assignment, we distinguished different assessments and targets to

improve the area of concern. Now, we need to consider how we can help the teacher improve

this area of concern. At my school, I conducted an interview to Ms. A, Mr. B, and Mrs. C. These

teachers are from the math department that concentrate in the geometry subject. The following

questions were asked:

Interview Questions

1. What activities did you use to engage students into the lesson plan involving the area of

concern?

2. What kind of feedback did you provide to students to ensure they improved on

assessments?

3. How do you think professional development would assist you in improving on teaching

this standard?

Synthesis

The three teachers interviewed, demonstrated to have knowledge of how to ensure

learning is happening in the classroom. For the first question, all three teachers agreed that it is

important for the students to practice problems so that they get the concept. These teachers

ensure that students receive homework, classrooms assignments, and small group (in-class)

assignments. They say that this is a good method for students to engage with their peers and the

teacher so they can understand the theories. Mrs. C stated, “at the beginning of my class, I asked

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all the students to complete ‘warm-ups’ questions. These are exercises that help the student think

for 5 minutes on how to go about and solving an equation.”. For the second question, there were

a few differences among the three teachers. Mr. B said that the feedback he provided was one-

on-one. “If I noticed that a student did not understand the subject, I will call him/her to my desk

and will explain how to solve the equation. If that did not work, I would try to scaffold equations

with the student. This helped because they were basically solving equations themselves. I was

just assisting.” Ms. A stated a different task, she said that at the end of every week, she will sit

down with a small group of children (2 or 3) and ask them if there is any way she can assist the

student. This method helped the student because they would not only get support from the

teacher, but from another student as well. Mrs. C said that she provided feedback through the

homework. Once she graded the homework, those students with the lowest scores will sit down

with her and discuss how they can understand to solve geometric problems an easier way. For

the final question, all three teachers agreed that professional development is important to

improve any area of concerns they might have in their curriculum. Ms. A stated, “professional

development helps me improve as a teacher; which means that my students will be able to get a

higher quality education.”.

Analysis of Common Themes/Patterns

After the interview, I observed the assignments for the class, their assessments (such as

pop quizzes and tests), the lesson plans, and their teaching tools. I noticed that students had

mastered the basic understanding of the subject. Based on the homework given, students were

doing well. However, in the weekly assessments, they were not doing so well. This was a pattern

for all three classes. Upon reviewing the assessments, I noticed that most of the questions were

multiple choice. I asked the teachers why they had decided to do all multiple-choice questions,

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and they said it was faster to grade. In Mr. B’s class, his assessments were a mix of multiple-

choice and short responses. The short responses consisted of word problems that the student had

to find the correct value for. In the lesson plans, I noticed that all three teachers had the standards

they were working on. It also included the goals and objectives they are working on, and the

activities for those goals. In Ms. A’s class, I noticed that in the weekly lesson plan, she had goals

in a specific order. For example, on Monday her goal for students is to solve an equation on

population density, but then on Tuesday, her goal was for students to identify different 3-D

geometric shapes. Regarding activities, all three teachers had different strategies. These activities

involved warm ups at the beginning of class, group activities among students, and activities as a

class. Most of the activities was for students to show their work when solving an equation. A

teaching planning tool that I noticed teachers using was Google Docs. Teachers can get

templates from Google Doc and prepare their lesson plans. Another tool teachers were using was

the Common Curriculum which also helped them create lesson plans.

Analysis of Implemented Curriculum

Based on the observations made and the interviews, I noticed a few weaknesses. Some

teachers failed to provide the appropriate feedback to the students. This can affect the student’s

improvement on the area of concern based on the standard. The next weakness I detected was the

assessments that were being used. Most of the assessments provided multiple-choice questions.

These types of assessments will not be able to be used to measure the other target levels. The

third weakness I observed was the lesson plan structure. In my opinion, some of the learning

goals were not appropriately introduced. Even though there were some weaknesses, their

curriculum also has its strengths. The teaching planning tools are creative and appropriate. These

tools can help them plan for a more engaging lesson. The homework assignments were one of

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the other strengths. The assignments were all word problems or fill-in-the blank. This can mainly

help the student with the reasoning and the knowledge target. The type of classroom activity can

also be a strength for the curriculum. Having an engaging class can help the students remain

focused and understand the concepts needed.

Professional Development Recommendations

Based on the weaknesses implemented in the curriculum, professional development

should be implanted for the teachers. The development plan should help the teachers with being

able to provide appropriate feedback, measure assessments accurately, and how to introduce

lessons/standards. To assist Ms. A, Mr. B, and Mrs. C, the professional development should be

about the data standards. This can help teachers measure the student’s assessments correctly.

When assessments are created, teachers can gain crucial information about the student’s learning

(Learning Forward, 2015). Data that is collected can help the teachers provide the appropriate

feedback so that students can improve on assessments. Another professional development factor

I recommend is Learning Designs. This professional development can help the teacher think

about factors such active engagement, modeling, reflection, metacognition, application,

feedback, ongoing support, and formative and summative assessment, that support change in

knowledge, skills, dispositions, and practice (Leadership Forward, 2015). If the teacher can

recognize these factors, they will be able to prepare an organized lesson plan and suitable

activities according to the standards.

To make sure the professional development is ongoing, I also suggest that the school

creates a science Professional Learning Community so teachers can meet to analyze data,

collaborate, share knowledge, collaborate, focus on results, plan together, monitor their students’

progress, model teaching strategies, and celebrate achievements (Dufour, 2003)

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References

Dufour, R. Building a Professional Learning Community. For system leaders, it means allowing

autonomy within defined parameters. In The School Administrator May 2003 (See APA

guidelines)

Florida State University. (n.d.). CPALMS. Retrieved September 26, 2017, from

http://www.cpalms.org/Public/PreviewStandard/Preview/5638

Learning Forward. (n.d.). Data. Retrieved September 27, 2017, from

https://learningforward.org/standards/learning-designs

Learning Forward. (n.d.). Learning Designs. Retrieved September 27, 2017, from

https://learningforward.org/standards/data