Mehelanie Fernandez

Lindsey Richards
4th Grade 44 Students
Math and Science
Special Needs: One 504
Assignment #1

The entire 4th grade level has a rotational schedule. Being a math and science classroom,

I am teaching and managing 2 different classes of 44 students total. Both classes have 22

students total but the girl to boy ratio is completely opposite from each other. My home class

consists of 10 girls and 12 boys while the other class consists of 12 girls and 10 boys. Majority of

the students have Filipino descent in them whether it is full or part. There is also a large number

of students who are mixed, being that they identify with more than one ethnicity. With in mind

that the school’s surrounding community has a high military population, there are also a few

students in my classroom that are in a military family. In both classes, there are students who

have a severe nut allergy, therefore, any snacks in class must be made from a nut-free facility.

Finally, between both classes there are no classified ELL or SPED students.

At Keone’ula Elementary School, an assessment method that the entire 4th grade level

utilizes are diagnostic and summative tests for units. When the grade level meets as a whole, they

split into their teams being the other teachers in the grade level that teach the same subject in the

rotational schedule and work on the DDIC (Data Driven Instruction Cycle) in a shared

document. On the DDIC document, the teachers input the results from their class after taking the

diagnostic and summative test. Before administering the diagnostic test, the teachers look at all

the standards. There are priority standards and supporting standards. Each priority standard must

have a success criteria in order to assess if the student has met the goal. If the student has not met

the standard and shows that they have no idea how to solve the problem, they are marked with

red. If the student is almost there at meeting the standard they are marked with yellow. If the
Mehelanie Fernandez
Lindsey Richards
4th Grade 44 Students
Math and Science
Special Needs: One 504
student completes the success criteria and meets the standard they are marked with green. Once

all the data from the grade level are inputted, the teachers will look for the areas with the most

red and come up with strategies together to support the students. Diagnostic tests only assess the

priority standards, while the summative includes the supporting standard.

A recent diagnostic unit test that the students took was for unit 3, mainly focusing on

multi-digit multiplication and division using both the standard algorithm, area model, and

solving multi-step word problems using the four operations. As my mentor and I were looking at

the data from our home class, we kept in mind that the majority of the students will probably be

marked with red. We then noticed that an entire column was marked red. This simply meant that

100% of the students had no idea how to multiply 2 by 2 digit numbers using both the standard

algorithm and area model. Ideally, it would be amazing to have 100% of the students to

understand the concepts. Instead, my mentor and I then made it a goal to have at least 75% of the

students know how to multiply 2 by 2 digit numbers using both methods. We agreed we would

want more than 50% but also kept in mind that goals need to be measurable and reasonable so

that is where 75% came from.

To my surprise, the diagnostic and summative assessments for units cannot be modified

to meet the needs of students who have different learning needs. Since it is a grade level

assessment, no modifications are allowed, even the 2 SPED inclusion classrooms in the grade

level have to take the same test. The assessments are created based on what a 4th grader is

supposed to know how to do according to standards. In a sense, if the assessments were to be

modified then it would not be considered accurate. While the assessments cannot be modified,
Mehelanie Fernandez
Lindsey Richards
4th Grade 44 Students
Math and Science
Special Needs: One 504
the assignments can. The teachers may modify the assignments for their students accordingly. As

of now my mentor teacher does not modify assignments for her class because there is no student

who absolutely needs it. Otherwise, the assignments are to prepare the students to the way the

assessment is.