Ostendorf Due date: 11/11/13 ELED 533 Abstract

Students performances should drive what they are taught next. Data-driven decision making uses data to make decisions about what the students know, dont know, and what should be taught based on that information. This pre-assessment is designed to assess or measure my practicum students knowledge or ability related to the upcoming unit on fractions. After the pre-assessment was given, I have analyzed the student work to determine the strengths and areas of improvement for each child. Conclusions to follow include criterion-references interpretations, norm-referenced interpretations, and learning objectives for future math groups.

Ostendorf Due date: 11/11/13 ELED 533 Fractions Practice (Pre-assessment) 1. Reduce 7/28 in the lowest term: A) B) C) D) 2/5 1/1

2. Tom bought a board that was 7/8 of yard long. He cut off 2/8 of his yarn. How much yarn is left? A) B) C) D) 2/9 5/8 5/2

3. Which is greater 1/6 or 1/9? _______________________

4. What is in decimal form? ________________________

5. What fraction of the circle is shaded? _________________________

Ostendorf Due date: 11/11/13 ELED 533 Context

The environment of my fifth grade practicum classroom is extremely positive and somewhat chaotic. The classroom management is underdeveloped and almost absent. This type of environment is unorganized and hard to learn in. The classroom environment most indefinitely has an effect on the students ability to learn. That being said, there are also some good programs implemented through our school to better student learning. At least two times a week our students travel to a second or third grade class to read a picture book of their choice aloud to the Kindergarteners. Every other week there is a program that allows for a students father to spend a day in the classroom, adding another authority figure to the mix. The dads rotate through each class in their childs grade and get to spend time with the students peers and teachers. A reading specialist comes in on Tuesdays to aid the lower reading group during literacy stations. As the higher group leaves to see their regular reading specialist, this woman meets with the lower group in the classroom. This enables her to focus on a select few students in their comfortable environment for some specialized attention. The class is average size but a still a closeknit group. As you enter the classroom you first come are drawn to the left wall that is lined with the cubbies and coat rack for the children. This allows for them to put their things away and begin getting ready for class right away. In the center of the room there are tables in which the children are strategically intermingled according to their learning level. The teachers desk is in the corner, away from distractions. There is no class meeting space and the white board is located in the back of the classroom closed off by a bookcase. There is a no section of the room devoted to reading, as the students are instructed to silently read at their desks. Overall the classroom is organized in an academically constructive way that is conducive to movement and noise level. A lot of the classroom is focused in small groups and centers. The children work well together and are simultaneously improving their social skills. The classroom rules posted on the wall attempt to control the environment. They are also given a lot of freedom and responsibility, as my practicum teacher believes that independence forces the students to do their own work. Friday folders are my practicum teachers way of communicating daily with the parents about the students work and behavior. The fifth grade class itself has eighteen students, 6 girls and 12 boys. The class is extremely diverse in terms of demographics. Fourteen students are Caucasian, three are Spanish, and one is Turkish. The Turkish student was absent from school for thirty days with no explanation or note to the school until after he returned. None of the students are enrolled in the ESL program or identified with any official IEPs. In the fifth grade overall however, the school tries to emphasize math because last year their SOL test scores were lowest in math. The fifth grade team gives a morning work math problem every day to allow for any extra practice. There are also math words of the day that are introduced during reading as extra vocabulary. Some fifth grade teachers have a math word wall in their room that is changed weekly. Four students in my class, all boys, are part of the challenge program. These students are identified as gifted and are given extra enrichment outside of class. During

4 Ostendorf Due date: 11/11/13 ELED 533 reading on Tuesdays they are sent to a separate classroom but are still expected to complete their daily reading group work. There are four other students who have extremely low grades in all subject areas. These students test in reading at a second to third grade reading level. In math, they are placed in the lowest math group and are still receiving poor grades (D and below). After talking with their math teacher, none of these four students meet the fifth grade NCTM standards in numbers and operations. They have a lot of problems with the place-value structure of the base-ten number system and have a problem decomposing and composing numbers. This standard should have been mastered at the Pre-K-2 level when learning how to multiply, add, and subtract. These students can sort, classify, and order objects by size, number, and their properties with ease but have problems representing these patterns and functions using words, tables, and graphs. In terms of geometry, they can recognize and sort two-and-three dimensional shapes but do not know their properties or cannot develop definitions. In terms of data analysis and probability, these students do have trouble representing data using pictures and graphs, as well as decomposing numbers, which is why fractions may be a hard concept for them to understand. There are four fifth grade classes in my school, and each fifth grade teacher specializes in two subjects. My cooperating teacher teaches Science and Social Studies. This homeroom is split into different math and reading groups, and will travel to another classroom during math and reading time. Both of these classes of students are grouped and assessed as one whole on levels of ability for Math and Reading. The classes alternate between Science and Social Studies every 9-week period, with my class going as a whole to Science when the other 5th grade class comes to Social Studies. After talking with my teacher about what kind of pre-assessment to give, we decided to focus on fractions. Students at the fourth and fifth grade level should continue to foster the development of number sense, especially with decimals and fractions. Students with good number sense understand the meaning of numbers, should learn the relative effect of operating on fractions and decimals and learn how to use mathematical symbols and language to represent them. At this level of math instruction, students should develop strategies for reading, writing, and judging the size of whole numbers, fractions, and decimals by comparing them, using a variety of models and benchmarks ( 1 2 or 0.5). Additionally, students should develop and use visual models, benchmarks, and equivalents, and to add and subtract with common fractions. Students should develop an understanding of how whole numbers, fractions, and decimals are written and modeled and practice should include estimation of sums and differences of common fractions and decimals, using benchmarks. This assessment aligns with Math SOL 5.2 and 5.6. 5.2 5.6 The student will a) recognize and name fractions in their equivalent decimal form and vice versa; The student will solve single-step and multistep practical problems involving addition and subtraction with fractions and mixed numbers and express answers in simplest form.

Ostendorf Due date: 11/11/13 ELED 533 SOLs that are implicitly addressed: 1.8 2.3 3.3 3.7 4.2 The student will recall basic addition facts i.e., sums to 10 or less and the corresponding subtraction facts. (Question 2) Identify and write fractions for halves, thirds, fourths, sixths, eighths, and tenths (Question 4) Identify, write, fractions using a model that include mixed numbers, model fractions including mixed numbers, and write the fraction names (Question 5)

The student will add and subtract proper fractions having like denominators of 12 or less. (Question 2) The student will a) compare and order fractions and mixed numbers (Question 3) b) represent equivalent fractions (Question 1 The student will d) given a model, write the decimal and fraction equivalents. (Question 5) The student will b) simplify fractions, using common multiples and factors (Question 1) d) solve single-step and multistep practical problems involving addition and subtraction with fractions(Question 2) The student will a) recognize and name fractions in their equivalent decimal form and vice versa; and (Question 4) The student will solve single-step and multistep practical problems involving addition and subtraction with fractions and mixed numbers and express answers in simplest form.

4.3 4.5

5.2

5.6

Ostendorf Due date: 11/11/13 ELED 533 Assessment Scores and Analysis

Criterion Referenced Data

Number of Students Who Understand the Standard 20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Student data

Standards of Learning

The graph above shows which standards were explicitly and implicitly identifie in the pre-assessment. While SOL 5.2 and 5.6 were the standards that the pre-assessment was directly focused on, the skills from the other standards listed had to be used to answer questions related to SOL 5.2 and 5.6. Some of these standards were addressed by multiple questions in the pre-assessment but if a student demonstrated understanding of the standard in one of the questions they received credit for understanding that standard. This was done because it is necessary to understand that standards build off of each other and some skills require multiple previous standards to have been previously met. For example, standards 1.8, 2.3, 3.3, 3.7, 4.2, 4.3, and 4.5 are necessary to be understood in order to master SOLs 5.2 and 5.6. This is reflected well in the scores of the four challenge (higher-level) students. They were given credit for each lower standard and therefore received a 5/5 on their assessment demonstrating mastery of 5.2 and 5.6 Some students were given credit to certain standards often time by how students chose how to represent their knowledge/ show their work. For example, if a student was not given credit for SOL 3.7, adding and subtracting fractions, they still got credit for SOL 1.8, the ability to recall basic addition facts if they showed how to set up an addition problem, drew 5+2=7, etc. Finally, students that answered question 4 on the pre-assessment correctly (converting to its decimal form) received credit for understanding SOL 5.2. Students who answered question 2 correctly received credit for SOL 5.6 (part 1 only) solving single-step fraction problems and those who correctly reduced 7/28 (question 1) received credit for 5.6 (part 2 only). We notice that most of the SOLs represented are in fourth grade. This is because students begin to first regularly work with fractions in fourth grade. Students struggled mostly with writing the decimal and fraction equivalents. A lot of

7 Ostendorf Due date: 11/11/13 ELED 533 the students have not yet learned about decimals so this conclusions makes sense. There were mixed results when simplifying fractions, using common multiples and factors. This is a fourth grade SOL and should be mastered at a fifth grade level. Another result that received mixed results was SOL 3.7: the student will add and subtract proper fractions having like denominators of 12 or less. This is troublesome seeing that this is a third grade SOL. However, students had no trouble with the other third grade SOLs which is a great sign! They all could identify fractions using a model and write the fraction name; every single student received credit for this SOL. This data allows the teacher to see where students need the most help, what concepts are familiar or foreign, and if previous knowledge is still making sense to the students. Using this data, we can see that this class could benefit from some review of common multiples and factors, reducing fractions, the value of benchmark fractions, and adding and subtracting fractions with like denominators.

Norm Reference Data

Raw score on pre-assessment 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 0 5 10 Student Number 15 20 Score 18, 4

The data found in the graph above simply identifies the grade that each student scored on his or her pre-assessment out of 5 (ex: 1 out of 5, 2 out of 5, etc.) It is important to understand that these raw scores are not a sole indication of how much understanding a student may or may not have; however, many times the raw score and the understanding are related. The majority of students did well on this assessment scoring at least a 3 or higher. The mean and mode score on this assessment is a four, which I would label as above average. This means that the class showed decent knowledge about fractions. A few do fall below a three which would project that those students may need extra practice with fractions before moving on to decimals. Because all four challenge students seemed to have no trouble with this assessment and scored the only 5 out of 5s, it leads me to believe that they have already had the opportunity to practice with fractions. The norm reference data can be interpreted as a range of ability and struggle in the classroom. Most teachers would use this data as a group-selection indicator. I

8 Ostendorf Due date: 11/11/13 ELED 533 would use this along with previous knowledge of the student and other assessments to group students. These scores allow us to see which students need more help. Low scores do not necessarily mean that a student needs more help but the mastering of certain lower standards is essential for growth. The student with the low score may just need to be asked questions in a different way or need additional help. High scores also do not indicate that student knows everything that there is to know. They may have just had more practice with those types of problems. This does however give a starting point for teachers to figure out how to better teach their students. Student 1 This student performed well in all areas of the assessment. He is a challenge student and excels in math in particular. He has a strong grasp on fractions and decimals and has been witnessed helping other students with adding and subtracting fractions during their morning work. He also understands how to multiply fractions. His next step in math should work towards diving fractions and working with percentages. This student received a four out of five on the pre-assessment. This challenge student has trouble solving single step and multistep problems involving addition and subtraction with fractions only. He excels in comparing and ordering fractions in a given set from least to greatest and greatest to least. This student did very well in all aspects of the assessment. He is the third challenge student and understands how to reduce fractions, subtract fractions, and determine the relative size of fractions. This student understands common denominators as he showed his work to determine which fraction was larger by converting their denominators both to their LCM of 18. This last challenge student also did very well in all areas of this assessment. He can compare fractions, recognize their decimal form, and can determine the fraction of an area shaded. He also understands how to reduce and subtract fractions. This student struggled with finding the common multiple of 7 and 28. He does not understand how to reduce fractions. Because he does not yet understand relative size he does not know how to compare fractions. He has not yet been introduced to decimals yet, therefore he incorrectly wrote as decimal 1.2. You can tell that he knows what a decimal point looks like but does not know there is a correlation between fraction and decimal. This student showed a lot of work on his pre-assessment allowing me to see some of his thinking. He showed a strong understanding of reducing fractions by showing the multiples of 7 in a number line fashion. He was able to correctly subtract the two fractions, as he showed that he knew you only had to

Student 2

Student 3

Student 4

Student 5

Student 6

Ostendorf Due date: 11/11/13 ELED 533

9 subtract the numerators since the denominators were the same. He only struggled with writing fractions in decimal form but was very close in writing as .05. This student was particularly nervous about completing this pre-assessment, as he is a perfectionist. I believe this may have impacted his performance. He struggled with converting a fraction to a decimal and reducing a fraction. He was close in reducing 7/28 to because you could tell that he was dividing 7 into 28 and knew that it was 4 exemplifying his strength in division. He understood how to recognize what fraction of the model was shaded, how to subtract fractions from a word problem, and recognize that 6 parts of something is larger than 9 parts of something. This student struggled with his multiplication tables in reducing his fraction. He wrote 7X3 on his paper and mustve thought that was 28 instead of 21, as he chose as his answer. He has not been introduced to decimals yet as he had no idea how to answer that particular question. He drew a picture of a circle shaded in half to represent the decimal of . This means he understands the value of and has had a lot of practice with models and shading. He excelled in this particular skill as well as subtracting fractions and recognizing the parts of fractions. This student missed three questions, one dealing with reducing fractions and another deciding which fraction was larger. He understood the fact that reduce meant equal to because he drew an equal sign but did not know how to mathematically reduce the fraction. By picking 1/9 to be larger than 1/6 he simply picked the larger number. This student also did not know how to relate a decimal to a fraction. On the other hand, he showed his work in subtracting the fractions and understood the value of a fourth of a circle. This student struggled with his multiplication tables when he tried to divide 7 into 28, leading him to the incorrect answer. This student does not yet understand how to compare the size of fractions or how to convert them to decimal form. This student partitioned the circle into four parts showing understanding of fractions as part of a whole. This student did very well in all areas of this assessment. She can compare fractions, recognize their decimal form, and can determine the fraction of an area shaded. She also understands how to reduce and subtract fractions. This student did very well in all areas of the assessment except for reducing a fraction to an equal but smaller size. She can subtract fractions, recognize the decimal form of , and

Student 7

Student 8

Student 9

Student 10

Student 11

Student 12

Ostendorf Due date: 11/11/13 ELED 533

10 determine the fraction of an area shaded. She also accurately compared the size of two fractions and determined which was larger. This student missed questions concerning the decimal form of a fraction and the subtraction of a fraction from a world problem. She set up a regular subtraction problem vertically and subtracted 2 from 7 and 8 from 8. She figured out the numerator was 5 but put the denominator as 0 (8-8). This means this student is strong in subtraction but has not yet learned how to subtract fractions. She understands that a fraction is a part of a whole and their relative size. This student scored extremely well and only showed difficulty with one areas of the assessment; reducing fractions. This is mistake is supported in that her previous work shows struggles with multiplication and divisions facts. This student struggled with most of this assessment. She did understand how to subtract fractions and set up a vertical subtraction problem to figure out the answer. She does not however, understand how the relative size of fractions, their decimal form, or how to reduce them. She crossed off the reduction of 7/28 as 1/1 showing that she recognizes 1/1 as a whole. This student missed all but one question on this assessment. She showed that she has had practice with shaded representations of fractions but struggles with reducing fractions, subtracting fractions, comparing fractions, and converting fractions to decimals. This student struggled with finding common multiples and reducing fractions, as well as, understanding relative size of fractions, and fractions in decimal form. He did however show knowledge of subtracting fractions and representing fractions as a model. This student excelled in comparing fractions and determining the fraction of an area shaded. He understands how to reduce and subtract fractions but struggled with recognizing 1/2 in their decimal form.

Student 13

Student 14

Student 15

Student 16

Student 17

Student 18

Student groups I have decided that the best way to group my students is by readiness and areas of needed improvement. The highest scoring students are in a group together based on the fact that they will be dealing with higher-level SOLs since this content areas has already been taught and understood. The lowest students are grouped together because they struggled with most concepts. The group in the middle all had similar content area that they could all improve on. The groups are open and fluid so that

11 Ostendorf Due date: 11/11/13 ELED 533 students do not feel that one group is superior to another. Once they have mastered the objective of their group they will move on to join the next group. Group 1: Students 1, 2, 3, 4, 11, 18, 6 The students in this group scored in the upper range on this pre-assessment consisting of fives and some fours. They show understandings in most all concept areas except for converting fractions to decimals. Objective: Students will use white boards to convert fractions into decimals by physically dividing the numerator by the denominator. They all know how to do long division in different ways, which will be shown and explained to each other. Group 2: Students 8, 12, 13, 14 The students in this group typically scored above average consisting of scores three and four. Areas of struggle include reducing fractions and writing fractions in decimal form. They were proficient in every other aspect of the pre-assessment. Because they all had trouble only reducing fractions and since this is a skill that is to be learned in fourth grade they are all placed in a group together. Objective: Students will partner up and use manipulatives to physically make larger fractions smaller. Partner A will fraction out tokens (5 on top and 10 on bottom). Partner B will see if they can count any common factors of 5 and 10. They will write down and draw their equivalents on a piece of paper. Partner A and Partner B will take turns. Group 3: Students 7, 16, 5, 9, 10, 15, 17 These students fell in the average and below-average scoring range, scores ranging from 3 to 1. These students all knew how to create a fraction from a model but struggled with the rest of the pre-assessment. All students but one could not compare the relative size of fractions or reduce a fraction correctly. A mixture of them could subtract fractions with like denominators and none could identify the decimal form of . Three of these skills are to have been taught in third and fourth grade which is what I based this group on. Because math builds on itself it is essential to have a grasp of these prior concepts. Objective: Students will practice with adding and subtracting fractions first because this was supposed to have been understood in third grade. They will use playing cards to create their own fractions and practice adding and subtracting them with partners. The denominators of the two fractions have to be the same so they will be flipping cards for the numerators. They will write their equations on a piece of paper with the answer they came up with. If they need to they may use counters to help them add the numerators. Reflection After completing this pre-assessment and analyzing the results I learned that students learn differently and have different needs. It is important to remember that just because they are the smart kid, that does not mean that they are the best in

12 Ostendorf Due date: 11/11/13 ELED 533 every subject. A lot of students may excel in one subject and fall behind in anotherand that is okay. Grouping students by score is not effective because each child struggles with different skills. Scores do however help you form part of your high and low groups in that you are able to clearly see who is behind grade level and who is below grade level. Analyzing the SOLs helped me to see that the raw scores of students are not always telling of what they actually understand. A student may have scored a 4 out of 5 on the assessment but is struggling with a third grade skill. It is important that the absence of these skills is not overlooked because math builds on itself. If you do not possess that skill you will be lost with another concept later on. As a teacher this helped me to realize how we should be forming our math groups. We need to make sure to thoughtful place our students into the correct group so that they can use their peers as assets in their learning process. Evaluating the SOLs helped me to see where my students are coming from and how much they actually know. A lot of people get left behind or simply go through the motions but it is important that we teach for absolute understanding.