Assessment of Student Learning

a. Data/results discussion
In order to create a baseline for data on student knowledge on this topic, the open-ended
response prompt was given to them as an entrance ticket into class. They were presented with the
same question that will be used as the post-assessment at the end of the unit. The question was
presented on a PowerPoint (see attached presentation in lesson plan). Students first discussed
openly what a kingdom involves. What makes a kingdom a kingdom was the focus for the day
to see if students had the ability to describe what a kingdom meant to them. Several of them
knew what a kingdom was, but the inconsistency arises when they attempt to explain the origins
of a kingdom; hence the focus for this section of study. Students were asked to create an open-
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
0 1 2 3 4
Kingdom of Ghana Pre-Assessment
Students
ended response predicting how the kingdom of Ghana became one of the wealthiest kingdoms in
West Africa. The slide contained the following text:

Between the 9
th
and 11
th
centuries CE, the kingdom of Ghana because one of the wealthiest and
most powerful areas on the continent of Africa.

Make a prediction: How did the kingdom of Ghana become extremely powerful?
Use a lined sheet of paper to construct your open-ended response. It should be at least 5
sentences and include many details to be thorough. Its ok if your prediction is wrong!

The requirements were underlined (5 sentences, open-ended response, many details).
They were informed that their response would be graded according the NJ Ask open-ended
response that the class has used all year. Therefore, they are well aware of the expectations for
the point-rubric (see attached rubric). Above is a chart of the data results. 1 student received a 0,
10 received a 1, 5 received a 2, and 1 received a 3. No students received a 4. The scores were
low for several reasons. Firstly, most of the students did not provide 5 sentences. Secondly,
several of the students presented great ideas, but incorrect ones in this instance. Many claimed
that the people voted a king into power. Half of the students who received a 1 predicted that the
kingdom conquered many people to become so powerful. The student who received a 3
referenced trading leading to wealth, pulling on information previously learned about the Tuareg
people of Africa trading to become a stable society.

b. Modifications

ELL students were expected to attempt the pre-test prompt. Their answers were accepted at
shorter lengths than 5 sentences. However, for the post-assessment, their answer was heavily
scaffolded rather than open-ended. They were presented with a graphic organizer that touched
upon the main ideas expected to be in the open-ended answer. Because the ELL students in this
class struggle with creating long responses, they were asked short responses for several questions
that focused on the key concepts from the lesson. Students who needed extra time also received
extra time to construct their response. See attached graphic organizer for ELL students on the
following page.






































c. Assignment

Students received a lined sheet of paper at the end of the unit that posed the following
question: How was the Kingdom of Ghana able to obtain their wealth and power? They were
again graded according the modified NJ Ask Open-Ended response rubric. Below is the
breakdown of the post-assessment grades.



The results were exceedingly better than the pre-assessment writing response and
demonstrated significant growth in comprehension of the relationship between trading and
wealth/stability for a kingdom. One student received a 1, 2 received a 2, 6 received a 3 and 8
received a 4. No student received a 0. Therefore, all responses were on topic and attempting to
answer the prompt accordingly. The students receiving a 4 not only identified taxes as the reason
behind Ghanas wealth, but they also explained what was being traded, how the people in Ghana
acted as mediators, the importance of location on the trade route, and the necessity of the various
groups who were trading and their resources. The students receiving a three attempted to explain
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
0 1 2 3 4
Kingdom of Ghana Post-Assessment
Students
the relationship between taxes and wealth, but were not as thorough as the ones receiving a 4.
The students who received a 2 or a 1 either were incorrect in their explanation or were lacking
critical details that help us understand their writing. The following three samples of student work
show students who exceed expectations, meet expectations and miss the expectation.






































Analysis of Student Learning
a. Pupil Data

Students names have been replaced by letters to respect student privacy, yet illustrate
learning gains from instruction. The chart reflects students scores on the Kingdom of Ghana
open-ended writing response that was given to them a day before and a day after the lesson on
the silent gold and salt trade. The scores range from 0-4, 0 being the lowest and 4 being the
highest, and are based on the NJ Ask open-ended holistic rubric for writing.
Student Pre-Assessment Score Post-Assessment Score
A 1 2
B 1 4
C 1 3
D 3 4
E 2 3
F 1 4
G 2 4
H 2 4
I 1 3
J 1 2
K 0 1
L 1 3
M 1 3
N 1 4
O 2 4
P 2 4
Q 1 3

b. Measuring Learning

Overall, the class did a phenomenal job in constructing their open-ended answers.
There were several 4-point responses that left no room for improvement because of the thorough
detail. Even students who scored lower identified the key ideas that were intended to appear in
the response; their answers were just not as thorough as expected. This high outcome and
illustration of learning is partly because of the type of lesson that helped them understand the
important concepts. The lesson was a hands-on simulation. Students had to trade their own salt
or gold and give taxes to the kingdom of Ghana. Going through the motions helps form the key
principles of trading and its impacts in students minds for future use. No students received a 0
on their response, meaning that even the student who received a 1 had a minimal or very
simplistic idea of the impact of trading. By answering this prompt, students showed that they not
only understood that trading was important, but that the impacts of trading (taxes, economic
growth, power) are what affect communities and people greatly. A noticeable trend in
assessment is writing length for certain students. Although they may understand concepts, when
they go to answer the prompt they do not provide the required amount of writing. This then
lowers their score. For ongoing assessments, we will need to practice how we can expand out
writing into an appropriate-length response. Students need to understand that their response
should be able to be totally understood by a stranger who has no prior knowledge on the topic.
This will ensure the detail and thoroughness expected from those students who are brief in their
writing to give them the grade that they deserve.
Student N grew significantly from a 1 to a 4. Her answer on the post-assessment was
more than 5 sentences. It not only touched upon the fact that taxes led to Ghanas wealth, but it
also mentioned how the kingdoms location on the trade route led to their power. She most likely
grew in her response score because of her role in the simulation. She was the monarch, and she
had the most power in the lesson as she collected gold and salt taxes from the Wangarans and
North Africans. Because she had the power, she was most likely able to connect strongly with
the simulation and remember what happened while she constructed her excellent response.
Student K grew, but not to the classroom expectations for the assignment. He
originally scored a 0 on the pre-assessment because he refused to make a prediction. He simply
wrote stuff when asked what he thought led to the rise of the kingdom of Ghana. His post-
assessment indicated that he was paying attention during the lesson because he wrote, They got
power from taxes. He vaguely referenced the prompt by stating taxes led to power, but he was
not specific and used the term they. This student in particular is difficult to engage when he is
frustrated. The pre-assessment questioned frustrated him because he did not know the answer.
Although encouraged to make a prediction, he shut down when he knew he automatically did not
have a clue as to what the right answer was. Rather than take a harmless guess, he mockingly
wrote stuff. He referenced taxes in his post-assessment, but did not meet the requirements as
far as length, detail and content. This student is a repeat offender for not hitting requirements in
writing assignments. He does well on multiple-choice tests, and presents a glimmer of
understanding on writing assignments. He most likely sees the writing prompts as more work
than he feels is necessary to answer the question, thus illustrated by his vague, one-sentence
answer for an open-ended. He participated in the simulation and made the necessary connections
during classroom discussion and reflection on the simulation. Therefore, his growth is present in
the response, but because of his refusal to follow the directions and requirements, his score was
low. It is critical to focus on his effort and motivation for further assessments, and maybe
provide other types of shorter, more frequent assessments for him.
Student D grew from a 3 to a 4 in her writing response. Her growth is the result of her
focus on details that are specific to this unit of study. In her pre-assessment, she referenced
trading because we recently did a mini-lesson on the Tuareg Warriors and their stability from
trading. However, she saw that the kingdom of Ghana was trading differently from the Tuaregs.
They mediated the trade, and gold and salt was being traded and taxed. Her response included
the details expected that were lacking in her pre-assessment, like the resources being traded, the
location on the trade route, and the taxes. Because of this added detail, she illustrated a complete
understanding of the impact of trading on the kingdom of Ghana.
The assessment was extremely appropriate for the students because of the upcoming
NJASK testing that includes open-ended responses. Students have been practicing their open-
ended skills all semester, so this writing response was nothing out of the ordinary for them. In
addition, the prompt required critical thinking. Rather than saying, How did trading lead to the
wealth of the kingdom of Ghana, students were presented with How did Ghana become
powerful? They had to make the connection themselves, and then explain how trading, taxing,
and their location on the trade route led to the wealthy, stable kingdom. They ended up analyzing
the relationship between the trade routes and the rise of powerful African kingdoms without even
realizing it. Based on the data, I would provide more detailed directions/expectations for the next
writing response. Many students received a 3, and while the goal for all students is significant
growth, many students were capable of going above and beyond to get that 4. In the directions
for the post-assessment, it would benefit the students if they had a list of items expected to
appear in their writing (what led to their wealth, why, what did they do, how does this reflect
power, who was involved, etc.) in addition to the writing content and length requirements. This
added direction would hone their focus on to what needed to be included for that 4-point
response.

Reflection on Teaching Effectiveness and Professional Growth
The simulation itself was the most successful activity in this lesson because of the level of
engagement it offered the students. While it illustrated the relationship between trading, taxes
and African kingdoms, it also offered each student the chance to role-play a certain character
interacting with others. Many students learn best when doing things hands-on. The most
unsuccessful activity during this lesson was the recap at the end of the simulation because.
Although later discussed the next class before the reflection writing piece, students should have
covered the reasons behind the monarchs wealth in more detail right after the simulation to have
a more lasting impact. However, classroom management became an issue. Students became very
excited about their gold and salt pieces and who had more. They lost focus and turned their
attention to their friends and how many they each had, and what could be done after the
simulation to acquire more. Rather than do a reflection during the next class, perhaps they could
do a brief exit slip to focus their attention on the simulation instead of their friends and peers.
As far as planning and preparation in Domain 1, this was taken into consideration by
making different colored role cards/tokens for each class. Therefore, if students got tokens from
their friends in the halls from other classes, it would be noticeable because it would be a different
color. Knowledge of students also came into play when considering the ELL students and the
monarch. The monarch was the only role pre-assigned, and it was always a student who handled
responsibility well and who demonstrated the potential for leadership qualities. If the monarch
was not stern and vocal, the activity would not play out according to plan. The ELL students
were also grouped in a larger group with students who they often worked with who had no
problem assisting them with questions or activities. This transitions into the classroom
environment, Domain 2.
The space in the classroom was most noticeable in this lesson because it was physically
rearranged to visually represent the continent of Africa. If students performed the simulation
without the visual aids of the rearranged space, they probably would not have understood it as
profoundly as they did as far as the relationship geography had with trading and the kingdom. In
addition, the classroom had a set of rules that were pre-established in the beginning of the year to
create a comfortable and safe learning environment. If students seemed to get out of hand during
the simulation, the rules were reinforced, the main one being show respect to others. The teacher
managed the procedures strongly during the lesson by acting as the facilitator and manager if
students were taking too long on certain steps. Students would be given time limits or were urged
to move to the next step in order to complete the activity.
As mentioned earlier, the students were strongly engaged in this lesson because they were
role-playing and participating in a trading segment. This reflects nicely on Domain 3, Instruction.
While students were engaged in the simulation, before and after the simulation they were
questioned about their experience and what happened. The activity was student-led, and the
learning was as well afterwards when students answered critical thinking questions posed by the
teacher in a group discussion. The questions were answered with fluency and accuracy because
of the hands-on nature of the lesson. It allowed for deeper understanding that lasted with the
students through the end of the unit because it stood out to them.
Finally, this reflection and paper itself speaks strongly towards Domain 4, professional
responsibilities. After the activity, students completed a reflection piece. Then, they re-attempted
their open-ended response. This data was compiled into chart and spreadsheet form to keep on
file and refer to when looking at student growth and what should be done differently next time.
In addition, after the activity, I completed a reflection on my own about what went well and what
went poorly. This can be used the next time I do the simulation, or any other simulation. If I were
to teach the lesson again, I would pre-assign all of the groups to cut down on transition time in
the beginning of class. I did not because I was concerned about students who were absent, but
even if I pre-assign the groups and students are absent I can be flexible in moving students
around into different groups to make them even. In addition, I would do an exit slip at the end of
the simulation to keep students focus on the simulation itself and what they are getting out of it
rather than comparing their wealth to their peers constantly. Remaining fixated on their peers
detracts their attention from the goals of the activity and follows with them after they leave the
classroom. Instituting more structure like this would make sure students remain focused on the
simulation and what they should be getting out of it, rather than the smaller details that they
remain fixated on at the end of the activity. I would also like to ask another social studies teacher
for advice in managing simulations in order to perfect my management and facilitation for next
time.
The most significant insight on student learning gained from this lesson was the
confirmation of many aspects of constructivism. Piaget assured that children generate knowledge
and meaning from an interaction between experiences with ideas. The nature of this lesson and
the positive results of the assessment point out that students do learn a great deal by doing. They
had ideas of trading in their minds already from the other units of study. However, by
participating in this simulation and seeing what happened to them and others when they traded
and were taxed, students could see for themselves and connect personally with the ancient
traders. This was the first simulation I attempted to organize in student teaching. Therefore, my
performance and the performance of my students will improve in the future when I have more
experience with simulations. Management of the classroom is key in these instances in order to
keep the students under control when they get excited about this new and exciting lesson.
Focusing more on finding out how to prompt students to complete the simulation without
pushing them or having them move on because of time constraints would make them feel more
confident and comfortable. This knowledge or disposition can be gained from more simulations
in classes or also from speaking to veteran teachers for advice on managing simulations to get
the most out of the experience for the students. In addition, in keeping with Domain 2, the lesson
could be improved in the future if other spaces besides the classroom are utilized. While the
space in the room was adequate, decorating the library or the gymnasium like a jungle or desert
and having the students participate in the simulation on a larger, more visual scale, might make
the simulation stronger.