Impact on Student Learning Assessment Project Analysis

The Impact on Student Learning Assessment Project gave me the opportunity to see
many aspects of instruction and learning. It provided evidence of how my instruction effects the
learning of the students within my internship classroom, it helped guide my instruction to
improve students performance, and also allowed me to reflect on my performance as a teacher.
The lessons that were included in this project were taught by me in Mrs. Lewiss third grade
classroom at Skyline Elementary. With assistance from Mrs. Lewis, I was able to use standard
based and portfolio assessments to give the students a pre- and post-test. The pre-test included
multiple choice form questions whereas the post-test included some multiple choice form
questions but also fill-in-the-blank and short answer. Both the pre-test and post-test consisted of
the exact same questions. I felt that the pre-test allowed me to actually see the areas that I would
need to focus on when teaching each topic or concept. It also saved me time if I thought majority
of the class was at mastery level for any particular area. Using the post-test after the lessons were
taught was also insightful. It allowed me to see if students knowledge of the topic improved or if
any confusion occurred. It also gave me insight on my teaching techniques and its effectiveness
when teaching such topics. In this project, I will be presenting one lesson or chapter for each
subject. The subjects include Language Arts, Mathematics, Social Studies, and Science.
The first lesson in this project was a verb lesson for Language Arts focusing on helping
and main verbs. This lesson was a part of a verb unit that was being taught over the course of a
few weeks. This lesson came after action and linking verbs were taught in which helping and
main verbs were introduced. After reviewing the pre-test for this subject, it was apparent that
majority of the students were actually struggling with locating the linking verbs in the sentences.
The students were able to find the action verb which would become the main verb but couldnt

locate the linking verb which would be the helping verb. This information became critical for the
planning stage in which I was able to create an activity within the hook to review linking verbs
before moving forward. After reviewing the individual student growth chart, I was happy to see
that most of the students improved on the post-test. In a class of twenty-one students, fifteen of
those students gained a better understanding of main and helping verbs. The remaining students
scores were quite puzzling because four out of six of these students scored reasonably high on
the pre-test. After taking a second look at these students post-tests, it became apparent that these
students were not really focusing and making silly mistakes such as finding the main verb but not
the helping verb or vice-versa. The other two students needed additional instruction on
distinguishing between action and linking verbs so I allowed those students to do an activity
during centers working on these verbs. The class summary chart 1.2 showed that the class
average increased from about 74% to 80%. This information makes it clear that the students are
not yet mastering verbs but hopefully by the end of this verb unit will have reached mastery. My
ELL breakout data chart includes two students: Jonathan and Micaella. Jonathan did show an
increase in understanding of such verbs, however, reinforcement is still needed to help him reach
mastery. Micaella, on the other hand, is having a difficult time with verbs in general. I feel that
she is a more hands on student and one-on-one work sessions would benefit her.
For math, I choose to graph the pre- and post- test for fractions. In this particular lesson,
the students worked on equivalent fractions. For the previous lesson on comparing fractions, I
handed out fraction strips that made it easier for the students to compare different fractions. The
only downfall to using these fraction strips were that many students became dependent on them
and couldnt use them when testing. So I decided that I would teach the students how to draw
their own fraction strips on a piece of paper in order for them to be able to compare fractions on

the test. This also became helpful when teaching this lesson. I demonstrated to students how
fraction strips also helps you see which fractions are the same or equivalent. Giving the students
a tool in which to work with seemed to have given them a better grasp, as is verified in the posttest results. Chart 2.1 showed me that all of the students, except for Paislee, increased their
scores on the post-test. I was extremely excited by this because I found comparing fractions to be
difficult for the students to grasp. This let me know that I was having positive influence on their
understanding of fractions. The class summary chart 2.2 demonstrated that the students did
struggle with equivalent fractions before learning that they could use the fraction strips as a tool
to guide them.
The third subject presented in this project was for Social Studies. I chose to show
information on my Maps/Regions lesson. In this lesson, the students were learning about the
five regions of the United States. The students had good background knowledge on this topic
because a chapter in their social studies textbook reviewed this information earlier in the school
year. Mrs. Lewis thought it would be wise to teach it again because the students had a standardbased assessment coming up where they would have to know this information. After viewing the
individual student growth chart, it was apparent that majority knew the five regions as reported
by the pre-test. I, therefore, was able to expend my lesson to comparing and contrasting states
within each region. I was also able to focus on our state, Florida, and the landmarks and
attractions available to us. From Chart 3.1, I was able to see that nine students achieved 100%
mastery. I was also able to conclude that a few students such as Ciena, Jonathan, and Joseph
might need additional practice with identifying the regions of the United States. The class
summary chart 3.2 showed me that the objective of this lesson were close to being mastered at an
average of 90%.

My final subject presented in this project is science. The lesson that I am choosing to
graph was a pre- and post-test of a chapter they did in science on Matter. I am assuming the
students had prior knowledge of the topic based on the pre-test results. I do know, however, that
science is actually one of their specials. Students leave the classroom daily to attend classes such
as art, music, science, and P.E. Science is taught by a science teacher twice a week. It is very
likely that this topic was covered at some point. By looking at Chart 4.1, I see that many students
knowledge of the topic remained the same or increased slightly. There are a few students,
however, that I am impressed with their gains. Brian increased his score by 30% and Ernest
increased his by almost 20%. Chart 4.2 shows me that the pre-test and post-test scores were
consistent. I am hoping to actually do a science activity on this topic in small groups. I feel that
having hands-on experience with measuring matter would give the students a more concreate
idea rather than me telling them.
This project has caused me to reflect not only on how well the students are learning but
also how I am teaching them. Very often I find myself worried about whether or not I am having
a positive or negative impact on my students. I am happy to see that I am having mostly a
positive impact on these students. This project has also demonstrated to me how using
assessments as a tool is very necessary. Graphing assessments, more specifically, can cause one
to reflect on their students progress but also my own personal growth as a teacher.