Strategies for Improvement on Ohio’s State Tests

1. Strategies for Improvement on Ohio’s State Tests

2. Overview • Methods of Analysis • State Performance Analysis • A Word of Caution • Extended-Response Rubrics and Strategies • Supportive Classroom Practices

3. Step-by-Step Item Analysis

4. Access the Student Success Web site. • Select tests you wish to study. • Select testing date, grade and subject you would like to view. 2. In the upper left, click “Analyze Items on Test” link.

5. Print page and leave web site open for later. • This page shows released questions in groups by question type. • How students answered each question. Average percent correct for each question by school, district and state.

6. Look through percent correct averages and identify items as strengths and weaknesses. Mark above and below average questions. • For the averages of different question types, refer to handout. • Go back to the web site and click the item number next to each question you identified.

7. In the question window, you can see each question and answer options available. • Look above and below question for more information needed.

8. Note the content theme of the question and the specific material covered. • Include any other clue words or comments that are important to the question. • Organize written comments in “above average” and “below average” groups. For Example:

9. Look at the list of comments for any trends. • Does a strong area emerge? • Are there any topics that score below state the average? • Dig Deeper: • If topics end up in both the above average and below average lists, look closer at the questions.

10. Is it Really a Strength or Weakness?

11. Caution: • This method uses comparisons with the state to judge students’ performance. • The school could outperform the state average on a question, but score poorly. • To find objective trends, also look at the expectations of the standard. • How strong are your strengths? How weak are your weaknesses?

13. Measuring Actual Performance • Look through the score report again. • This time, mark each question that scored: • Above 85 percent • Below 40 percent • Use table on handout to convert scores to a percentage.

14. Measuring Actual Performance • Go back to the Success Web site and review questions for content and clue words and record comments like before. • Identify any trends from the comments. • Does what you observe now compare to the trends you saw using the previous method?

15. Which Method Works Best?

16. Observed Trends District

17. Mathematics: • Math Trends Here • Reading And Writing Trends Here • Science Trends Here • Social Studies Trends Here Reading and Writing: Science: Social Studies:

18. Test-Wide: • Test-Wide Trends Here • Multiple-Choice ≈ (Pass Rate Here) • Short-Answer ≈ (Pass Rate Here) • Extended-Response ≈ (Pass Rate Here) • Difficult Keywords Here Pass Rates by Question Types: Keywords:

19. A Word of Caution

20. Don’t read too much into trends. • These exams do not assess all of the content standards. • Prioritize limited classroom time to: • Focus on both strengths and weaknesses • Develop students’ content and skills

21. Extended-Response Questions

22. Extended-Response and Short-Answer Questions • Typically difficult for students. • Each wants specific things from students. To find these requirements, look at the scoring guide…

23. How to Find Scoring Guides • Start on the ODE homepage. • Near the top-right of the page, click on Testing. • On the left menu, click on Released Test Materials. • Select Released Test Materials for Ohio's Grade 3-8 Achievement Tests. • Select your grade, subject and year of the test. Scoring guides are on the right.

24. Patterns of a Four-Point Question

25. Questions contain keywords and expect an answer for each one: Ex: Identify, describe, explain, compare, determine, list, draw, graph, give details, etc… • Specialkeywords: • Describe, explain and compare. • Require more depth and detail. • Worth two points since there is partial credit.

26. When reading the question, mark all keywords. If there are fewer marked keywords than the number of points, the special keywords need extra attention. • For example, instead of a quick description, a full and detailed description is needed.

27. Test makers do not make all questions in the same way: • Questions have a mix of keywords, special keywords and subjects. • The most common combinations are: • Four Keywords • Two Special Keywords for one Subject • Two Keywords on two Subjects

28. Two Special Keywords for One Subject

29. Four Keywords

30. One Special Keyword for Two Subjects

32. Extended-Response Recommendations • For Reading, Social Studies, Science and Math. • Read the question carefully and completely. • Underline each keyword (action words). • Circle each special keyword.

33. Extended-Response Recommendations • Generally, students have a harder time responding to special keywords. • Think of examples and details for each “describe, explain and compare” question. • Often the difference between a score of 2 and 4 is the lack of details or support for each of these special keywords.

34. 8 Most Often Used Keywords

35. Types of Writing Question Grade 4: • Informational Prompt • Narrative Prompt • Letter Writing • Expository Prompt • Informational Prompt • Persuasive Prompt • Narrative Prompt • Letter Writing Grade 7 and 10:

36. Writing Test Strategies Graders are given areas of importance to gauge completeness: • Treatment of Prompt/Topic • Directly Addressed/Focused • Awareness of Audience/Purpose • Clearly Adapted • Ideas, Examples and Details • Strong/Compelling/Ample Available • Organization and Development • Clearly Evident/ Exceptional

37. Writing Test Strategies Graders are given areas of importance to gauge completeness: • Sentences and Vocabulary/Word Choice • Consistent Variety/ Appropriate • Sequence and Style • Unified and Coherent/Engaging • Grammar, Punctuation, Spelling, Paragraphing • Few/No Errors - Grade 4

39. Writing Test Recommendations Students should ask themselves: • Did I answer the question completely? • Did I provide enough evidence or support to make my point? • Was my essay organized in a logical way? • Did I make good use of word choice and sentence structure? • Did I proofread my essay? (fix grammar, spelling, punctuation)

40. Short-Answer Strategies • A two-point question has two brief tasks or one detailed task • Have the same keywords and special keywords as constructed response. It asks: • Two keywords, or tasks. • One keyword for two subjects. • One special keyword about one subject.

41. Classroom Practices that Develop Needed Knowledge and Skills

42. Effective Instructional Practices • Advance organizers • Evaluation • Feedback • Corrective instruction • Mastery learning • Ability grouping • Homework • Clarity of presentation • Questioning

43. Effective Classroom Practices • Use of experiments • Teacher estimation strategies • Teacher’s high expectations • Effort reinforcement • Classroom time management • Direct instruction • Memorization • Questioning • Homework • Classroom assessment

44. Convergent Questions • Cause students to summarize and draw conclusions. • Useful to bring about combination and recombination of experiences which lead to: • Generalization • Understanding • Their importance is limited since these questions tax the lower cognitive domain. • These are too common in the classroom. • Requires students to use mainly: • Recall and limited reasoning • Problem-solving limited to facts already stated

45. Divergent Questions • Open-ended questions that lead to further questions, cause students to experiment or lead to research • These questions: • Foster thinking • Enlarge the scope of material being studied • Deepen students’ interest on the topic • These are probably the least-asked questions • There are no “right” answers • Requires students to use both: • Concrete thinking • Abstract thinking

46. Sources of Classroom Data • Newsletters sent home • District test data comparisons • Bulletin board displays • Lesson and unit plans • Scoring rubrics, if any • Homework assignments • Teacher’s grade book • Grade distribution • Student progress reports • Unit tests and daily quizzes • Student portfolios

47. Ohio Core Resources From the ODE homepage, select: • From the green “Educators menu, select “Academic Content Standards” • On the left menu select “Graduation Requirements/Ohio Core” • Scroll down, select “Ohio Core Resources”

48. Thank You! Stan.Heffner@ode.state.oh.us