Cheri Ecker

Professor Engelhardt
21 April 2016
Student Work Analysis1

A) Reaching Consensus about Proficiency:

a. What are the students expected to do?
i. Students are expected to respond in writing to a prompt that is based upon
their recent reading of Never Fall Down. The idea is that the first person to
respond responds to the initial prompt. The second person responds to the
first response (not the prompt), and so on and so forththus the silent
discussion.
Debriefing after the activity will involve students vocalizing their response
to the silent discussion.
b. Which standards or curriculum expectations are being assessed?
i. Colorado Department of Education, Reading, Writing, and
Communication (tenth grade) standard 2.1.2.b. Provide a response to text
that expresses an insight (such as an authors perspective or the nature of
conflict) or use text-based information to solve a problem not identified in
the text (for example, use information from a variety of sources to provide
a response to text that expresses an insight) [italics mine]
c. 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?
i. Students need to respond at least twice in order for them to be considered
proficient within the silent discussion. They need to respond either to the
original prompt or a comment/question of one of their peers.
d. Did the assessment give students a good opportunity to demonstrate what they
know?

1 Questions are taken directly from Student Work Analysis Protocol. Rhode Island
Department of Education & the National Center for the Improvement of Educational
Assessment, Inc. Accessed via EDUC 463, Spring 2016.

Absolutely. Students were encouraged to share their thinking on the

subject/topics being discussed. They were given enough time to think
about the passages, could make use of their books to look up key passages
(in order to have more context, identify events, etcetera), and had the
opportunity to respond to various passages, prompts, and ideas. The
format of the assessment itself helped level the playing field, so to speak,
in that there was no rush, students could read and respond at their speed
and in their own way.
B) Diagnosing Student Strengths and Needs
a. This particular assessment was intended to gauge the involvement of students
who generally do not participate in regular class discussions and Socrative
Seminars. With this foundation in mind, my objectives were partially met, mostly
because one of the students who never comments had to leave at the beginning of
class (this student was ill).
However, as planned, the students who generally do not participate in oral
discussions were given either red, pink, or orange colored pencils. The reddish
nature of their pencils allowed me to determine the extent of their involvement.
While my color-coding worked for the most part, one student picked up a purple
marker (fortunately, for me and my assessment, I observed her as she wrote her
comments, which in turn allowed me to include her responses as I determined the
effectiveness of the assessment. However, had I not been paying attention to her, I
would have lacked the necessary data to determine the effectiveness of my
assessment. Moving forward, if I conduct similar assessments I will have to think
of another way to ensure the accuracy of my data.
C) Choose a few samples to review from each level (low, expected, high) and discuss and
identify the prerequisite knowledge that students demonstrated that they knew.
a. Based on the comments, most (but not all) students demonstrated that they had the
prerequisite knowledge to effectively complete the taskthey needed knowledge
of the chapter under consideration. Most responses demonstrated that students
understood the prompts and the chapter. Having said that, since the aim of my
assessment was not about assessing student knowledge of the chapter, per se, but
rather it was to assess the level of involvement of students whose voices are
largely absent in oral class discussions, their requisite knowledge was minimalit
was their voice, albeit in writing, that I was looking to for.
D) Using the reviewed samples from each level, discuss and identify the misconceptions,
wrong information, and what students did not demonstrate that was expected.
a. I explained for students to respond to either my prompt or one of the responses of
their peersthis they did. There were many who even raised questions of their

own. Some spoke of the futility of Arns (the protagonist) situation, which
demonstrates a level of connection and analysis.
However, most of the students missed the concept of a silent discussion entirely.
Rather than engaging in an actual silent discussion, most students chatted before,
during, and after the activity. This is an area of concern that was raised by my
cooperating teacher, and a valid one; some students may not have been able to
focus well with the noise that was present in the room. Students may have
misunderstood what was fully expected of them. They did a great job participating
and commenting twice, but they apparently missed the need to be altogether
silent. In the future I will need to be sure that this is clear to all students. I will
consider what alternatives might support a discussion of this nature in a classroom
that has trouble be quiet anyhow.
E) Identifying Instructional Next Steps.
a. What patterns or trends are noted for the whole class?
i. Students were excited about the activity, and they all did a really good job
participating in the silent discussion. I had wondered how well received a
silent discussion might be for students who dont always read their book
and who like to talka lotin class.
I did note a trend or pattern of short responses. While some students raised
additional questions, there were several responses that were short and/or
almost repeats of other comments.
b. What instructional strategies will be beneficial for the whole class?
i.

Students will need further instruction regarding the need to be quiet, and
even to respond beyond the minimum amount of expected responses.
While students were excited about the activity (as mentioned elsewhere),
their excitement bubbled over into words. There was lots of chatter to be
heardespecially after students had commented twice.

c. Based on the [teachers] diagnosis of student responses at the high, expected, and
low levels, what instructional strategies will students at each level benefit from?
i. Students at the high response level will likely benefit from more
instruction around the depth of discussion made possible by such an
activitythese students would be challenged by the opportunity to really
push the discussion beyond that of simple response toward that of critical
questioning and analysis.
ii. Students at the medium (or expected response) level will likely benefit
from less time (the activity had been extended). I imagine that the amount

of time that I had originally planned for would have provided for the best
outcome for the medium level students.
iii. Since this assessment/data analysis was based on students who are
generally at the lower level when it comes to oral discussion, they all (with
the exception of the student who went home sick at the beginning of class)
performed at an expected level (high for them, but expected based on what
I was hoping to see). With the foregoing in mind, moving forward I will
make two adjustments to the instructional strategies: first, I will reinforce
the need for silence throughout the discussion (in order to ensure this, I
will have students who are finished work on a word puzzle relating to the
text under consideration); secondly, I will have students move from
prompt to prompt in predetermined orders (to give a bit more freedom of
movement for those who may be hesitant to approach a prompt that is full
of students, and to limit the group congregating that happened).

The following is my actual assessment/data analysis plan prior to having conducted my

assessment and the silent discussion related lesson.

Data Analysis:

Sub-groups:
o Group T is comprised of those students who tend to talk in class; those who
willingly share their thoughts during whole-class discussions and/or Socratic
Seminars.
o Group S is comprised of those students who tend to not talk is class; those
whose voices are largely or entirely absent from whole-class discussions and/or
Socratic Seminars.

Activity:

Silent Discussion
o Students will respond in writing to either a quote from Never Fall Down or the
previous response; the idea is that the first person to respond responds to the quote
and then each subsequent response is to the previous response, thus the silent
discussion.
o Debriefing after the activity will involve students vocalizing their response to the
silent discussion.

Standard Addressed:

2.1.2.b. Provide a response to text that expresses an insight (such as an authors

perspective or the nature of conflict) or use text-based information to solve a problem not
identified in the text (for example, use information from a variety of sources to provide a
response to text that expresses an insight) [italics mine]

Assessment:

Pre-assessment
o Previous student involvement in class discussions, with special attention to March
23rds Socratic Seminar on similar themes and textually relevant connections.

Post-assessment
o After silent discussion, debrief as a group and individually with a ticket out the
door (the requirement will be for each student to either share aloud or in writing
their reactions to the activity, with an emphasis on how this approach facilitated
discussion).

Silent Discussion Instructions:

For all questions and passages, try and support your response with evidence from the book,
however, do not hesitate to make relevant connections to other books/stories we have read for
this unit. The point of this activity is for you to engage in a discussion with your peers, albeit
silently. Do your best to not talk as you move about the classroom. The first person who responds

will respond to a prompt that I have written on the top of a large sticky note, the second person
will respond to the person who went before them, and on and on. Be sure to read the whole
discussion before you make your response. Be kind. Be considerate. Use appropriate
language--please and thank you!

Selected Passages2 and Questions:

i.

Chapter 8 contains an important turn for Arn--when faced with the opportunity to run
away and maybe find his family, Arn finds that he is unable to do so; he chooses to
stay.
o After living as a captive in such horrific circumstances, why do you think Arn
couldnt run? What made him stay?
o If possible, support your conclusion with evidence from the book, however, do
not hesitate to bring in other relevant information or make other relevant
connections. (pages 111 through 112)

ii.

Now a soldier, Arn finds himself lying in a trench that the Little Fish have dug and is
more afraid than he has ever been (pages 119-120).
o What makes him more afraid now than before?

iii.

After, only six Little Fish survive. Me and Siv and Kha and three others, we huddle at
the camp, our bone chattering, waiting for the Khmer Rouge to tell us good job. But
they dont pay attention; they only want to talk to themselves or maybe sleep. Later, the
head guy, he walk past our group; now everyone asleep but me. These little fish, we got
to get more of them, he says to another guy. They good for catching the big fish.
I think about, long time ago, catching frog with Hong, how you put little frog on the
string and wait for the big one to come eat him. And I understand now. We not real
soldiers. We just bait. (bottom of page 117 through top of page 118)
o How does Arns conclusion that the Little Fish are just bait suggest insight on
Arns part?

iv.

There is a powerful passage in the first few pages of chapter 8 where Mek goes to Arns
group to say good-bye. It reads: [Meks] face very sad. Slow, he touch the gun on my
shoulder, the bullet on my chest. Then he bless me, sprinkle dirt on my head to protect me
and chant, very low, very quiet. Old Buddhist chant from before the Khmer Rouge. He
chant a long time, tear running down, the he open his eye, kiss me on the forehead.
(page 112).

2 All quotes are verbatim from Patricia McCormicks Never Fall Down. Rather than
attending to MLA, I chose to include page numbers in the format that I did in an
effort to guide students to the correct passage/context.

o What is the significance of this blessing to Mek, Arn, or the story itself?
o Why do you think Mek touched Arns gun and bullets?
v.
vi.

How important is family and community to Arn?

What is it about Arn that keeps him going?