Analyzing Student Learning
For Task 3, you must analyze all of your students' assessments and draw some conclusions about learning. I walk you through it in the video below. If you feel you need step by step guidance through Task Three, you might consider my Ultimate Guide to Task Three.
How to Complete the Whole Class Analysis
IMPORTANT:
Before you begin analyzing your student work, you need to have Evaluation Criteria. If you have been procrastinating in making your Evaluation Criteria, you cannot complete Task Three well if you have not made your Evaluation Criteria. I have a great explanation of Evaluation Criteria here.
Planning for Work Samples: Work samples may be text files with scanned student work OR, for oral assessments of pre-k or primary grade students, a video or audio file. For each focus student, a video or audio work sample must be no more than 5 minutes total running time. Video and audio work samples are an option for any handbook.
Evaluate all of the students' work with your Evaluation Criteria.
Consider how you will present the data (results) for the whole class. The video above shows many examples and I discuss how to analyze student work.
You will need to organize the data in a graph or table. This will help you find learning patterns and it will be used for prompt 1b.
Tables are representations of data organized into different categories by rows and columns.
Graphs are graphical representations that provide a more visual way to understand and analyze data, showing the relationship between two or more variables.
You may use either a table or a graph to display your data but graphs do a better job of showing trends. If you do not know how to make a graph, view this. It isn't hard.
Look for learning patterns (patterns of learning). As you look at your table or chart, you are looking for patterns.
Identify two or three patterns of learning. Consider these things as you look through the student work and data to help you identify these patterns.
What did many or most students understand?
What were common errors or partial understandings?
Select 3 student work samples that are examples of the patterns of learning in the class. These 3 students will be your focus students. These work samples will be Part A from your Evidence Chart. You will submit 3 files - one for each focus student.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Contrary to a ton of misunderstanding and misinformation out there, you do NOT choose focus students (unless you are SPED or Early Childhood). Instead, you choose work samples. You are only naming the work samples Focus Student 1, Focus Student 2, and Focus Student 3. (See approximately page 27 of most handbooks, under the section called What Do I need to Think About - for Task 3 - and you will see this: "Select 3 student work samples that represent the patterns of learning (i.e., what individuals or groups generally understood and what a number of students were still struggling to understand) you identified in your assessment analysis. These students will be your focus students for this task."
This would be a great time for you to view this video about choosing your work samples. Choosing good work samples will make writing Prompt 1c much easier on you.
How to Write for Task 3, Prompt 1: Rubric 11
Writing the Whole Class Analysis
Prompt 1a simply asks for you to identify the objectives that your assessment was to evaluate.
Prompt 1b wants a graph, table or narrative that summarizes whole class learning. This part is important because you will be referencing the numbers/percentages from this graph or table in order to provide evidence of whole class trends. (Please look at step 3 above and watch the videos above if you have not done so.)
The majority of Rubric 11 will be scored from Prompt 1c. This prompt ask you to, "Use evidence found in the 3 student work samples and the whole class summary to analyze the patterns of learning for the whole class and differences for groups or individual learners relative to [your subject specific emphasis.]"
In Prompt 1c, you want to write a paragraph for each learning pattern that you found. (Remember, you need to find 2 or 3 patterns). Then use this paragraph outline to write about each of those learning patterns.
Suggested Components for each paragraph for each of your Learning Patterns
The (first, second, etc.) learning pattern that I found when analyzing my whole class learning was....
Describe the pattern
State the evidence from prompt 1b that supports your assertion that this is a learning pattern
Give an example (quote or thorough description) of this learning pattern from at least one of the work samples
Which of your Subject Specific Emphasis (the bulleted items in prompt 1c) does this learning pattern relate to?
Discuss any differences in whole class learning. For example, did all of the class show this or were there some outliers? Did the pattern just present within certain groups of students?
As you write, use this video to help you understand the prompts and to write responses that will score well on Rubric 11.
Do you want to have my outlines at your fingertips?
If so, check this out.
Don't let edTPA Stand in Your Way!
Mamaw Yates
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