DRAFT- REVISED 11/29/06DRAFTDRAFT
COLLECTING & ANALYZING INFORMATION
Using Classroom Level Evidence
Classroom evidence looks at the information that can be taken from each classroom where there are similar grades or from one grade to the next. Classroom evidence provides a picture of what is happening with student learning. Classroom evidence can look at individual groups of students (cohorts). It can also be used to help inform instruction; provide feedback to students, teachers, and parents; inform reporting; and track achievement trends.
Example: Grade 5 Reading (Classroom Teacher Assessment)
Student Reading in Grade 5 classroom
Questions to ask:
1)What does the information tell you about performance in this classroom?
2)What does this not tell us? What else do we need to know?
3)What is happening to the most challenged/ most able students?
4)What patterns or trends are noticed?
5)Where should the target area(s) be?
6)What does the information say about boys/girls, Aboriginal students, ESL, Special Education, Gifted and French Immersion students in the classroom?
7)What does the information say about students not meeting, meeting or exceeding expectations?
Using School Level Evidence
School evidence looks at the information that can be taken from each school. School level evidence can help to inform instruction; monitor achievement of groups of students and individual students; provide feedback; inform reporting; track achievement trends; inform school-wide decision making and inform school plans.
Example: Behaviour Reports
Questions to ask:
1)What does the information say about student behaviour in school?
2)What does it not tell us? What else do we need to know?
3)What does the information say about the behaviour of boys and girls in the school?
4)What does the information say about behaviour patterns or trends?
5)What does the information say about area(s) that need improvement, area(s) that need targeting?
Using District Level Evidence
District level evidence can help to inform instruction; track achievement of students; inform in-service planning; accountability; inform resource allocation; provide schools with school to district comparisons; identify groups that are not succeeding; and to inform school and district planning.
Example: Social Responsibility (Using Performance Standards)
A school has a goal to “Increase Socially Responsible Behaviour”.
Objective 1 under this goal is to “Increase peaceful problem solving”.
The school selects one or more aspects of the Social Responsibility
Performance Standards to collect data about student behaviour.
The Performance Standards are being used in 11 elementary schools and two middle schools in the district. The school and district will also be collecting and monitoring suspension data as another measure of performance. Baseline results for Grade 3 and 6 students are shown in the below chart.
Goal: Increase Socially Responsible Behaviour
- Objective 1: Increase peaceful problem solving in the school
Indicators/evidence
What data did we look at? / Results to Date
How are we doing? / Target
What do we hope to achieve? / Comments/Summary of Progress
District-wide Assessment; Grades 3
and 6
BC Social Responsibility
Performance Standards:
Solving Problems in
Peaceful Ways. AllGrade 3 and 6 students in the school, assessedby classroom teachers
(June 2005) / June 2005
% at each level of BC
Performance Standards
Percent fully meeting or
exceeding expectations
combined
Grade 3 74%
Boys 67%
Girls 82%
Aboriginal 67%
Grade 6 64%
Boys 54%
Girls 76%
Aboriginal 46%
gr. 3 n=115
(96% participation);
Aboriginal n=30
gr. 6 n=131
(93% participation);
Aboriginal n=26 / Increase the percent of
students who "fully
meet" or "exceed"
expectations for Solving
Problems in Peaceful
Ways.
Increase the percent ofboys who fully meet or
exceed expectations in
this area.
Increase in the percent ofAboriginal students who
fully meet or exceed
expectations. / Baseline data has now been establishedand will be supported with structuresand strategies.
The results show that at both grades, teachers’ratings of girls were substantially higherthan for boys. Aboriginal students, overall,
were less likely to be assessed as
fully meeting or exceeding expectations than non-Aboriginal students.
When Grade 3 and Grade 6 data werecompared, younger students weremore likely to be rated as fully meetingorexceeding expectations than were
older students.
The lower pattern of ratings for Aboriginalstudents is troubling, and the basis for these decisions by school staff needsto be carefully examined to ensure
that there is no systematic bias in theresults. A similar examination of ratingsfor boys also needs to be undertaken. Thismay involve a focus group of teachers.
Some questions to ask:
1. What did the evidence tell you about the “social responsibility” of all students?
2. What does it tell you about the most challenged/the most able?
3. What pattern is happening in the school/ in the district?
4. Do we need to address the difference in results between boys and girls?
5. Have all sources of information been considered?
6. Are there missing pieces of information?
7. How are we tracking the evidence over time?
8. How do we move students from not meeting expectations to fully meeting or
exceeding expectations?
Using Provincial Level Evidence
Provincial evidence looks at the information that can be taken from across the province in terms of student performance and success rates. It is meant to provide a comprehensive view of what achievement looks like across the province. It is a snapshot of a moment in time and one piece of information. Classroom, school and district evidence provide a more complete picture of achievement.
Example: Looking at FSA
The FSA (Foundation Skills Assessment) is an annual, province-wide assessment that provides a snapshot of how well BC students are learning basic skills in Reading Comprehension, Writing and Numeracy in Grades 4 and 7. Performance (number/percent of students “meeting/exceeding expectations”) and participation rates (number/percent of students doing the tests) are reported.
Grade 7 Numeracy (FSA)
The FSA is a large-scale provincial assessment. Be aware of this, especially when considering small numbers of students (cohorts). The overall results for smaller groups of students can be greatly influenced by the scores of a few individuals. The FSA results are best used for school, district or provincial comparisons, not for individual students.
Questions to ask about FSA:
1)What does the information say about the students in the school?
2)What does it not tell us? What else do we need to know?
3)What does the information say about how Grade 7 students perform in Numeracy?
4)What does the information tell us about girls/boys?
5)What does the information tell us about the most challenged/most able students?
6)What are the patterns or trends noticed here?
7)What was the participation rate? (How many took part? How many were excused?)
8)How does the information gathered affect the school plan?
Example: Satisfaction Surveys
The Ministry of Education Satisfaction Survey is used to find out how parents, students and educators feel about their school environment. In the survey, questions are asked about Learning, Safety, Physical Activity and Teacher Caring.
Questions to ask about Satisfaction Survey:
1)What does the information say about the students in our school?
2)What does the information tell us about the parents in our school?
3)What does the information tell us about staff in our school?
4)What trends or patterns are there here?
5)What does the information say about the area(s) that need to be targeted?
6)How does the information given become part of the school plan?
Example: Graduation Rate
Graduation rates should not be confused with completion rates. Completion rates (Dogwood Completion Rate) are determined by tracking the number of students entering Grade 8 who graduate within six years. Graduation rates are determined by tracking the number of students who are enrolled in Grade 12 as of Sept 30 who then graduate within that same school year. Graduation results are available by school and can be found in School Performance Reports. Completion rates (Dogwood) are reported only by District and Province.
Questions to ask about Graduation Rate:
1)What does the information say about the graduation rates of students in the school?
2)What does the information say about the male/female students?
3)What does the information say about Aboriginal students, Gifted students, ESL students, French Immersion students in the school?
4)What does the information say about any patterns or trends in the school, district, province?
5)What does the information say about area(s) that need to be targeted?
Example: Provincial Exams
Provincial exams are an assessment of Grades 10, 11 and 12 courses in various subject areas. In Grade 12, 40% of a student’s final grade is based on course work. Student participation rates (number of students who write the exam) are also recognized as being an important aspect of provincial exam results.
Some questions to ask about Provincial Exams:
- What does the evidence tell you about the achievement of all students (the most challenged and the most able)?
- What pattern or trend can be seen happening in the school?
- How do the school’s results compare to the district? To the Province?
- What can be said about participation rates?
- Are there groups of students who are not participating? If so, why not?
- What can we do in order to improve the participation rates of the most challenged students?
- How do we move students from achieving a C to that of a higher grade?
- How do we help students who are experiencing challenges?
Example: Transition Rates
Grade to grade transitions are the number of students who move from a lower grade for the current school year, to a higher grade in the following school year (e.g., a percentage of students who were in Grade 8, that entered Grade 9 in the following year). Grade to grade transitions generally refers to students in middle school and high school.
When the success rate of students passing successfully from one grade to the next is in jeopardy, there is cause for concern. If students are no longer attending class, or if they are not meeting the basic minimum requirements, a school must look at why the drop out rate is increasing and what can be done to address the problem.
When looking at grade to grade transitions here are some questions to ask:
- What does the data say about how our students are doing?
- What does the data tell us about the most challenged/ most able students?
- Does the evidence provide a picture of what is really happening in the school?
- What did you see when considering participation rates?
- What important points emerge? What is the evidence not saying?
- Do you notice any patterns or trends?
- Based on the evidence, what are the strengths of the school?
- Based on the evidence, what goals might be included in the school plan?
- What piece of information is missing? Why are there pieces of information missing?
- What does the information say about Aboriginal students, ESL students, Gifted students, French Immersion students?
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