ECE 661

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ANALYZING STUDENT WORK: CONTENT BASED ASSESSMENT

Grade Level: K-1

Process (used for individual student evaluation or group assessment of work products)
STEP 1: Assessing and Identifying Proficiency
Read the assessment prompt and/or rubric and identify:
• What are the students expected to do?
Response:
Students are instructed to write their name at the place on the page marked
Name.
Students will write a sentence that starts with the prompt: I like . . .

• Which standards (CCSS or content standards) or curriculum expectations are

being assessed?
Response:
Writing Standards Grade K Text Types and Purposes
1) Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to state an
opinion or a preference about a topic or part of a book (e.g., I like dogs
better than cats because…; My favorite part of the story is when...; I
think it was funny when…).

Language Standards Grade 1

Conventions of Standard English

1. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar
and usage when writing or speaking.
2. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English
capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.

• What assistive devices, if any, will students be able to use (i.e. calculator, ruler,
protractor, number charts, graph paper, scrape paper, etc.)
Response:
Paper provided has a designated place for the student’s name and a
designated area for two lines of writing.
Regular and colored pencils.
Sight words of the week are posted on the white board—K words: like, I, we,
see, my, the. 1st grade words: animal, how, make, of, some, why.
Adapted from: Rhode Island Department of Education & the National Center for the Improvement of Educational
Assessment, Inc.
ECE 661
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The alphabet is displayed on a word wall.
Students were provided spelling assistance if they asked. Words requested
were play, outside, hunting, Disneyland, animals.

• What do you consider to be a proficient response on this assessment? Exactly

what do students need to say or write for you to consider their work proficient?
Response:
Write name using standard writing convention of left to right, recognizable
letters. Use capital and lower-case letters according to convention.
Develop a response that forms a complete sentence to the I like . . . prompt.
Use proper punctuation such as a period at the end of a sentence.

• Does the assessment give students a clear opportunity to demonstrate what

they know or have learned? Provide a clarifying statement for how…
Response:
Students worked with me in groups of two and three.
All were asked to write their name on the paper where it says Name.
I read two cards to the students, then the students and I read the cards
together. Those who understood words read the ones they knew.

Card content:

1. An illustration of kids and a classroom is on the card along with the

sentence, “We like to go to school.”
2. The second card shows a family and the sentence reads, “I have a big
family.”

I prompted the students to discuss what kinds of things they like.

Students were asked to tell us what they like by writing a sentence that
starts, “I like.”
Students were not asked to draw a picture, yet they all did.

Adapted from: Rhode Island Department of Education & the National Center for the Improvement of Educational
Assessment, Inc.
ECE 661
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STEP 2: Identifying Strengths and Needs if working with a group of learners

Do a “quick sort” of students’ work by the general degree of the objectives met,
developing, or not yet.

Met Students have already demonstrated

objectives consistency with key knowledge and skills for
the assignment.
Developing Students are appropriately prepared to meet
objectives the demands of the assignment.
Not Yet Students have not yet met the pre-requisite
objectives knowledge of skills necessary to complete the
assignment.
Jacob Eryn Melody
Cora Celine Hazel
Robin Cohen Helvi
Gracelyn Putruq

Sorted lists:

Met Developing Not Yet

objectives objectives objectives

36 % of class 36 % of class 27 % of class

STEP 3: Identify the prerequisite knowledge (skills) the students

demonstrated they are able to use (items may be bulleted within each category).
These are the strengths or skills demonstrated by student within each category of
your pre-sort.

Met Developing Not Yet

progressing work samples incomplete work samples
best quality work
samples

Adapted from: Rhode Island Department of Education & the National Center for the Improvement of Educational
Assessment, Inc.
ECE 661
Work sample form
Students wrote their Students know how to Students can write
name in the designated write their names. their names using
space. lower case letters.
Single attempt at each
Students can write a letter. Students write from
sentence using upper left to right.
and lower case letters Students write words
correctly. in an attempt to Students draw pictures
answer the “I like. . . “ with details like
Students leave space prompt. fingers, doors and
between each word. windows.
Student drawings are
Students recognize the detailed with faces,
importance of correct fingers, animals,
spelling and asked for houses with windows
help if needed. and doors.

Students use
punctuation at the end
of the sentence in most
cases.

Students illustrate
their sentence through
drawings that tell a
story.

Content of drawing is not

necessarily a match to the
sentence.

Adapted from: Rhode Island Department of Education & the National Center for the Improvement of Educational
Assessment, Inc.
ECE 661
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STEP 4: Identify the missing information/skills and the misconceptions and/or

wrong responses in the table that follows. You may need to review the
separate groups of work samples to ensure that you have no gaps.

Met Developing Not Yet

possible skills to work on
for
this group of students:
Sentence writing with
development of idea.
Expanded illustrations
with detail that matches
caption.
Beginning and ending
punctuation of a sentence.
Identifying syllables.
The use of vowels in
words.
possible skills to work on
for
this group of students:
Fluidity in letter creation.
Practice letter making with
some letters using the
whole space between the
lines and some using only
the bottom half.
Use of capitalized first
letter of name.
Placement of words in a
sentence.
Build repertoire of words.
Space between words.
Practice using words.
possible skills to work on
for
this group of students:
Fluidity in writing skills.
Spacing of letters within
the word.
Identify the beginning
sounds of words.
Identify the ending sounds
of words.
Understanding of the
purpose of words.

STEP 5: Identify Instructional Next Steps

Based on the analysis of the students work samples, ask yourself:
▪ What patterns or trends are noted for the individual or the group?

▪ Think about a range of instructional strategies that will be beneficial for the
individual or the group? Then based on your analysis of student data
(responses), within each category, identify specific instructional strategies

Adapted from: Rhode Island Department of Education & the National Center for the Improvement of Educational
Assessment, Inc.
ECE 661
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to be used in the support of learners in meeting the identified objectives.
Complete the table:

Instructional Strategies/ Next Steps

What will you focus your instruction on for the student or students in each group?
Met
Students who demonstrated full
competence in this assignment need
to focus on the following skills next:
Learn to recognize and spell
last name in print.
Expansion of sentence
writing practice.
Expand repertoire of words.
Lessons on punctuation.
Understanding of audience
and how to write a sentence
that other people will
understand.
Respond to prompts with
more detail.
Write multiple sentences to
tell a story.
Developing
Students who demonstrated partial
competence in this assignment need
to focus on the following skills:
Learn to recognize and spell
last name in print.
Develop automaticity of
name writing.
Learn letters and their
sounds.
Practice writing letters.
Practice identifying first
letter of words.
Practice writing short
sentences with scaffolding.
Expand repertoire of words.
Not Yet
Students who attempted to complete
this assignment need to focus on the
following skills:
Practice letter writing.
Letters and their sounds.
Learn recognize and use
simple sight words.
Understand the purpose of
words.
Link between words and
pictures.
Storytelling using drawing
and introducing words when
ready.

Adapted from: Rhode Island Department of Education & the National Center for the Improvement of Educational
Assessment, Inc.
ECE 661
Work sample form

Self-reflection on your process (Reflect on the use of such an informative assessment tool
and how you think this tool or similar type of process could be used in your developing
practice.):

Kiana School, where I have been spending my practicum time, has been short staffed this
Fall, so I have had the chance to become an Instructional Aide for a very experienced K-1
teacher. My 30 hours observing are long passed. I have been able to take on the Language
Arts and Math stations as the children move through their learning centers each morning. It
has been fascinating to begin to understand the learning process. I will be interested in
conducting a second assessment of the group at the end of my time in Kiana, which will be
mid-December.

This is a K-1 class and we have been in the first month of instruction for this year. There is
one first grader, Helvi, who is not in the Met Objectives group. In fact, she is in the Not Yet
group because she spends lots of time drawing but does not use words. I think she was not
doing her best work on the day we worked on this assignment, so the difference between this
and a December assessment may be telling for this student. The other older students fall in
the Met Objectives area, where I would expect them to be, and the younger students are split
between Development and Not Yet.

The more I reviewed each student’s writing the more I noticed. I realized for example, that
Eryn was attempting to answer the prompt with “I like mom and dad,” but she does not
understand yet where to put the words. Celine also attempted to answer the question with
drawings of friends and the word friends written adjacent to the pictures.

I have questioned whether I should have provided word spellings for the Met Objectives
group. I rationalized that by asking for a word spelling they recognize the importance of
spelling words properly, which in itself distinguishes the more capable group from the others.
I would have liked to see their own spelling of hunting though. Having asked them to spell
on their own recently, I think they would probably have left out the vowels.

This method of learning about the progress of the students and how to purposefully plan for
the next steps of instruction helped me appreciate the research and professionalism associated
with reading development. The process will be very useful in practice.

Adapted from: Rhode Island Department of Education & the National Center for the Improvement of Educational
Assessment, Inc.
ECE 661
Work sample form

Met Objectives

Adapted from: Rhode Island Department of Education & the National Center for the Improvement of Educational
Assessment, Inc.
ECE 661
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Developing

Adapted from: Rhode Island Department of Education & the National Center for the Improvement of Educational
Assessment, Inc.
ECE 661
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Not Yet

Adapted from: Rhode Island Department of Education & the National Center for the Improvement of Educational
Assessment, Inc.
ECE 661
Work sample form

Adapted from: Rhode Island Department of Education & the National Center for the Improvement of Educational
Assessment, Inc.