REVISED SECTION
The core curriculum results report narrative has been revised to respond to reviewer feedback. Outcome data have been added and are described below. In the original application work habit grades were submitted as outcome data. Because there is access to student data from the previous school year, the revisions reflect the changes made that now include grade point averages (GPA) as the outcome data instead of work habit grades. The Core Curriculum Results Report has been revised to include GPA outcome data.
Learning Styles
Fourth grade students were introduced to the different learning styles and strategies to use to assist their learning. Based on data on the pre-and post-survey, 95.2% of the students were able to name a strategy associated with their primary learning style. Because the lessons were taught early in the school year, work habits grades were compared and showed only a slight increase of 1% between the interim grading period and end of the quarter. To measure the effectiveness, we looked at the student’s GPAs. We found the average GPA at midterm was 3.25 and by the end of the quarter the GPA was 3.48, indicating a 7% increase. To see if it is possible that the impact might increase over a longer period of time, we looked at GPAs at the end of 2nd quarter and found an overall increase of 10%. This led to the conclusion that students may need more time to fully engage the strategies they are taught. The plan is to continue the unit on learning styles, but we will work with the teachers to identify specific assessment, such as unit tests, that provide immediate feedback and data that can be easily compared.
8-Tips for Test Taking
Third grade students were introduced to test taking strategies. To teach the lesson, 168 third grade students made foldables. The perception data indicated that students showed positive growth between pre-and post-testing. By the end of the lesson 92.3% of the students were able to identify strategies they could use to prepare for testing. Work habits grades for 2nd and 3rd quarter were compared and resulted in an impact of negative 9%. When the GPAs from n=16 selected third grade students were compared for 2nd and 3rd quarter, there was an increase of 4%. We noticed that GPA increased while work habit grades decreased. We believe it may be due to the way the teachers calculate work habit grades. Our plan is to continue the lessons, but we will not wait until the end of the quarter to determine impact. Instead, we will identify a specific test/assessment, such as a spelling test, to measure the impact.
Goal Setting
The goal setting lesson was developed to help challenge 172, fourth grade students and instill confidence in them to succeed. By the end of the lesson, the percent change between pre-and post-intervention survey questions was 53.4%. Work habit grades were compared and resulted in a 4% increase between 1st and 2nd quarter. To determine the lesson effectiveness, we compared 10% or n=17 randomly selected students’ GPAs. The average GPA after 1st quarter was 3.17 and after 2nd quarter it was 3.38, indicating only a slight increase of 6%. We determined that in order to accurately show the effectiveness of the lesson, we must teach the lesson and track students success based on a specific goal, such as, improving a math fact quiz. Students would then be able to utilize the strategies they learned and see immediate results of their efforts. We will continue to present the lesson as written, but be more intentional when identifying specific outcome data.
What We Learned
What we have learned from the lessons is that if we want to accurately show the impact of lessons in data, we must ensure that what we teach is closely linked to the output we expect. This involves careful planning. Reviewing GPAs grades at the end of the quarter is a start, but there are many other variables that can impact grades either positively or negatively. In all three lessons, students showed increases in their attitude, knowledge and skills as reflected in the pre-and post-testing. However, work habit grades and GPAs lagged behind, leading us to believe that identifying measurement data must be carefully considered. Waiting until the end of the quarter proved ineffective. Therefore, we will identify specific assessments, so there are immediate results that can be closely matched to the skill we want to measure.