FRIT 7236

Technology-Based Assessment and Data Analysis

Key Assessment
Spencer Landis

Section 1: Students
Students in this group consist of 26 twelfth grade students taking Economics. All students have
an expected graduation date of May 2018 and are taking college prep level courses. These
students either did not choose or were not offered the opportunity to take either honors level
Economics or Advanced Placement Macroeconomics courses. The high school is in a large
suburban area and is just below 50% of the overall student population receives free or reduced
lunch. Two of the students have individualized education plans (IEPs) with few interventions in
place such as extended time on tests. Neither one of the students utilized their extended time
accommodations for this test.

Section 2: Course

Economics is a course that requires an End-of-Course assessment. This is a one semester course
that covers several areas of economics such as fundamental economic concepts,
microeconomics, macroeconomics, international trade, and personal finance. Unit 1 of this
course is fundamental economic concepts which this test covered. The items included in this test
are intended to measure the Georgia Performance Standards listed below:

Georgia Performance Standards

SSEF1 The student will explain why limited productive resources and unlimited wants result in
scarcity, opportunity costs, and tradeoffs for individuals, businesses, and governments.
SSEF2 The student will give examples of how rational decision making entails comparing the
marginal benefits and the marginal costs of an action.
SSEF3 The student will explain how specialization and voluntary exchange between buyers and
sellers increase the satisfaction of both parties.
SSEF4 The student will compare and contrast different economic systems and explain how they
answer the three basic economic questions of what to produce, how to produce, and for whom to
produce.
SSEF5 The student will describe the roles of government in a market economy.
SSEF6 The student will explain how productivity, economic growth, and future standards of
living are influenced by investment in factories, machinery, new technology, and the health,
education, and training of people.

Section 3: Descriptive Analysis

Overall, students did not do as well on the test as I would have hoped. This was the first test of
the semester and students may not have fully understood what to expect from tests in this course.
The mean of the overall grades was a 76.79% with a standard deviation of 12.60.
Looking at individual question data, there were a few questions that students did not perform
well on. Questions #1, #8, and #28, had the average percent correct for the class below 62%.
These were all questions that included concepts that were covered in the unit, but used slightly
different terminology than that used throughout the unit. By using different terminology,
students may have been confused about what these questions were asking rather than if they
understood the content being measured.

Percentage of Correct Responses by Question

29
27
25
23
21
19
17
15
13
11
9
7
5
3
1
0.00% 20.00% 40.00% 60.00% 80.00% 100.00% 120.00%

Spearman-Brown Reliability
Based on the data, reliability for my assessment was right around .61 which is not where I
expected to see this measure. This assessment was based on fundamental knowledge of concepts
with more less higher order thinking questions than in later tests. Because of the basic nature of
the assessment I would have anticipated a higher reliability score than the estimate shows.
Odd Even z- z-even z product Rnn Rel
Total Total odd
13 12 -0.64 -0.274 0.176361 0.44 0.613449189
10 10 0.832 0.565 0.469889
10 9 0.832 0.985 0.81895
13 9 -0.64 0.985 -0.63282
8 9 1.814 0.985 1.7868
14 9 -1.13 0.985 -1.11675
8 8 1.814 1.405 2.548386
13 13 -0.64 -0.694 0.44609
12 8 -0.15 1.405 -0.21237
9 13 1.323 -0.694 -0.91842
15 14 -1.63 -1.114 1.810599
13 11 -0.64 0.145 -0.09337
12 11 -0.15 0.145 -0.02197
10 12 0.832 -0.274 -0.22823
12 12 -0.15 -0.274 0.041497
14 13 -1.13 -0.694 0.787217
13 15 -0.64 -1.534 0.985547
10 10 0.832 0.565 0.469889
13 13 -0.64 -0.694 0.44609
10 13 0.832 -0.694 -0.57729
11 7 0.34 1.824 0.62062
13 14 -0.64 -1.114 0.715818
13 11 -0.64 0.145 -0.09337
11 15 0.34 -1.534 -0.52176
9 9 1.323 0.985 1.302875
15 15 -1.63 -1.534 2.492854
Mean 11.69231 11.346154 11.50313
SD 2.035077 2.3823066

Section 4: Strengths and Weaknesses.

Based on scoring data, students have a relatively good grasp of the fundamental concepts
assessed. The areas of strength would include basic recall questions that require lower level
thinking as well as content that students may have experienced in their everyday lives. Students
had the most difficulty in areas that included higher order thinking or questions where students
were forced to apply learned concepts in situations they were not familiar with. While it would
be considered normal for students to perform relatively poorly on higher-order thinking
questions when compared to lower-level thinking questions, students showed that application of
fundamental economic concepts was an area of weakness.

Section 5: Improvement Plan

In order to improve this assessment, common terminology that is used throughout the unit as
well as the end-of-course test for this course should be used on this assessment. By doing so, it
helps to clarify what students are being asked as well as what concept is being measured by that
individual question item. Additionally, students should be assigned more problem-based
activities where application of fundamental concepts is needed in order for students to have more
frequent practice at material application before being asked to do it on assessments. These
formative assessments would provide the opportunity for feedback in order for students to have
an accurate picture of their understanding of the material.