Madison Dickinson

Student Learning Analysis

Winter 2024

Oakland University

Introduction:

In my 8th grade U.S. History course, we are gradually moving into content involving the

growing divisions between the North and South during the mid-1800’s. This content connects to

future lessons involving the Civil War. To highlight these divisions in the unit, we divided the

differences between the North and South by organizing them into categories: Geography,

Economy, Transportation and Society. Each of these categories display the main differences

between the two regions during the mid 1800’s. Under each category, there is a set of main

contrasts between the North and South. Under Geography, we have the difference in climate and

terrain. With the North having varying land depending on where you are in the region and

multiple seasons. The South was/is flatter, with mild winters and extremely hot summers. Within

the economy category, both regions have differing methods of earning income. In the South,

most people made money through farming, with cotton being the primary crop. With this, the

South relied heavily on slavery for labor. In the North, industry was booming and manufacturing

was growing exponentially. The category that dealt with transportation describes the North

having multiple methods of transporting goods and people. Though the main proponent was

railroads as they were a new technology for the nation. In the South, most people traveled and

transported goods through waterways, making boats extremely important. Lastly, under society,

we have a multitude of components that fit. Between the North and the South, there was a huge
difference in social classes, immigration, slavery, education, and other parts that fit into this

group.

Standard and Learning Goal:

For this unit in 8th grade U.S. History, I designed a variety of learning goals to target the

students’ gained understanding of the differences between the two regions. I also connected prior

knowledge by beginning the unit with a brief recap of some of the information they had leaned

prior about these two regions. In other units, we discussed the South’s reliance on slavery and the

main differences between the North and South’s economies (highlighting manufacturing vs

agriculture). Further into the unit, I devised a learning goal that targeted two categories of

differences between the North and the South, economy and society, as those were the two most

complex topics listed. The learning goal I created was “students will be able to list two

differences between the North and South relating to their economy and society”. This learning

goal follows the Michigan Social Studies Standard 8 – U4.2.1 which states “Comparing the

Northeast and the South – compare and contrast the social and economic systems of the

Northeast, the South, and the Western Frontier (Kentucky, Ohio Valley, etc.) with respect to

geography, climate, and the development of: agriculture, including changes in productivity,

technology, supply and demand, and price; industry, including the entrepreneurial development

of new industries, such as textiles; the labor force, including labor force incentives and changes

in labor forces; transportation, including changes in transportation (steamboats and canal

barges) and the impact on economic markets and prices; immigration and the growth of

nativism; race relations; class relations.” Certain sections of the standard tie into the learning

goal listed, as many relate to the differences between the economy and society of the North and

South.
Creating a Substantive Analysis of Student Understanding:

To begin the unit, I connected the students’ prior knowledge from previous lessons in the

curriculum. I also introduced students to the idea that most of these divisions are going to further

divide the nation leading up to the Civil War. Highlighting this early on in my instruction helped

to lay out the goal of the content for students. Students also had some prior knowledge of the

Civil War, as I have been briefly mentioning it during lessons throughout the year. Students are

aware that the Civil War happened, they just have no understanding of why it occurred. With

this, I introduced the different categories to students and laid out a very basic definition of each.

With this, I connected some of this to their real life, explaining things like “We already know one

difference in geography between the North and South in terms of climate. We live in Michigan,

so we are aware of the 4 seasons we experience being a state in the North. Most of us travel to

Florida for vacation or other regions of the South due to the climate being very warm.” With the

connections to previous understandings and other real-world examples, I began slowly

introducing the content in chunks throughout the week. For each lesson, students were given a

bubble chart note sheet. On this bubble chart, students were expected to fill in the main aspects

of each category (Geography, Economy, Transportation, and Society) for the North and South.

During each lesson, I would go over a section of their notes with them in class, having students

share what they added in each category. These notes were intended to help students keep track of

their own understanding of the topics. As we continued to move through the lessons, I monitored

students’ notes and explanations during share out scenarios. Two categories stood out to me,

economy and society. These two categories had the most complicated concepts and ideas for

students to understand. I wanted to assess student understanding of these two categories as we

continued discussing these topics. These two categories also relate the most to the future units

involving the Civil War.

To assess student understanding, I developed a formative assessment that would collect

substantial data for monitoring student progress. The assessment involved two short answer

questions that students would be expected to complete on Schoology, their main classroom

resource. The first question dealt with the economy category, asking students to, “List two

differences between the North’s economy and the South’s economy. Answer in complete

sentences.” The second question was connected to the material students learned regarding the

differences between the North and South’s societies, asking students to, “List two differences

between society in the North and society in the South. Answer in complete sentences.” When

creating the formative, I noted the information that I was looking for from students. For the

economy of both regions, I was looking for students to explain two specific differences between

the North and South. Under the society question, there was a wide range of directions students

could go with their answers, with 4-5 possibilities. Society is a broad category with many

different elements fitting into this group.

To introduce this formative, I explained to students that this was for me to check their

understanding of what they currently know, making sure they are comfortable answering without

grade penalties. With this, I told them if they answer honestly, they will receive the points for the

assessment. My goal with this was to make sure students still put effort into the assessment but

eliminate the test anxiety many students have. I also made sure to clarify what it means to write

two differences, noting the expectations for the assessment. To further explain this, I gave

students a model of what it means to list two differences. For example, I went up to a student

near the front of the room and compared my shirt to theirs. I said, “See how my shirt is green and
hers is white. That is only one difference: the color of our shirts. Now, if I said one difference is

that her shirt is white, but mine is green and she’s wearing a sweatshirt, and I am wearing a

sweater that would be two separate differences. These differences would be the color of our

shirts and the style of our shirts.” This distinction was very important to make as students were

likely to make the mistake of only listing one difference as two separate differences. Students

were expected to complete the assessment without any notes or resources.

Analysis of Assessment Data with Feedback:

To analyze the data provided from the students’ assessments, I separated the answers

from each question into 4 distinct patterns: students who correctly identified two differences;

students who correctly identified one difference, but their second difference was slightly

inaccurate; students who correctly identified one difference; students that did not identify any

difference. I created a spread sheet with the students’ answers to examine the patterns in student

thinking. I specifically took from one class, second hour, to create my data. With this, I made a

pie chart and a table to show student responses. In the table, I displayed a prototypical response

for each pattern identified with a feedback sample included.

Here is the data collected from the first question involving the differences between the

economy of the North and the economy of the South:

 Here is the data created from the second question which involved the differences between

the societies of the North and South:

 After collecting and analyzing the data from the formative assessment, I compiled the

results. For one, the data shows that more students were able discern 2 differences for the

economy question than they were for the society question. The conclusion I created based on

these results was that students had a more limited set of answers they could put for the economy

question. In contrast, the society question had a multitude of possible answers, as this topic is

broad and complex. I also factored in the idea of defining the two distinct categories, as the

definition of economy was more obvious in nature, leading students to the correct differences.

With the definition of society, there is many directions in which students could go with their

responses. I did define these categories for students during my initial instruction, but it should

have been clarified further. One way to improve my lessons for subsequent instruction is to

clearly define society and list the different aspects that can be included under this topic. The

other aspect I noticed when inspecting the data was that students were mixing the two categories

in their responses, adding elements of the economy question into their society answers. For

example, under the pattern of responses with students who correctly identified one difference but
were slightly inaccurate with their second difference, one student responded stating, “society in

the south is very different from the north. In the south, many people worked on farms, had

slaves, and they all agreed that it was right for them to do what they did. In the north, the people

worked in factories, worked for pay, and they also thought what they were doing was right”. In

this quote, the student identified one main difference under the society category: slavery. Slavery

was engrained in southern society during this period, so the student did correctly identify one

difference. However, the student also noted the idea of a difference in industry: farming versus

manufacturing. This difference was one I taught for the economy category, not society. Now, I

did explain to students that some of these categories can intermix with one another. Slavery, for

example, was a topic I explained could fit into both the economy and society categories as it was

extremely significant. However, I am looking for students to identify different aspects for each

category, like the difference in the social class system, education, or other ideas that fit strictly

into the society topic.

Subsequent Instruction:

Using the data to inform my conclusions, I deciphered what was needed for subsequent

instruction. Following the assessment, I retaught some ideas to curb the misconceptions students

held. At the beginning of each class period, I had students respond to a Padlet question which

asked them to identify one main difference between the North and South’s economies. This was

to confirm student understanding from the assessment data regarding the first question. Students

also shared out their answers as we connected the information to the formative assessment they

took days prior. As I continued into the lesson, I wrote on the board the definitions of the two

concepts: economy and society. I also created a list of ideas for topics under the society category.

During instruction, I explained to the students that many were confused on the definition of the
two topics, so I clearly explained and defined each subject. I then had students share out some of

the differences they identified between the society of the North and society of the South.

Students were able to look on the board to see some of the sections I listed under the society

category for insight. I had to assist some students with their answers as many were still hesitant

about the differences in the society category. I also added slavery at the top with arrows pointing

to economy and society, telling students that this applies to both topics.

After clearing up the main misconceptions from the previous formative, I gave students a

second formative assessment. To modify the original assessment, I only used one question

instead of two, which was, “List two differences between society in the North and society in the

South. For reference, society is how people live together in a region”. My main goal with

changing the assessment to contain only one question was for students to direct their

understanding to a singular category. With this, the topic of societal differences was the one that

students struggled with the most, so I wanted to see if student understanding improved for this

category. I also added the definition of society to the question to avoid students using the

differences in economy for their answers. When I introduced the formative, I restated the

example that I used before, explaining what it means to identify two separate differences.
Additional Assessment Information:

Below is the data collected and analyzed from the second assessment, with the prompt

being, “List two differences between society in the North and society in the South. For reference,

society is how people live together in a region”:

 After collecting the data from the second assessment, we can see clear improvement in

the students’ understandings. I must note that a few more students took the second assessment, as

many were absent for the first assessment. Under the pattern where students correctly identified

two differences the percentage jumped from 45.5% to 60%. 5 more students were able to answer

the prompt by identifying two of the main differences between the North’s society and the

South’s society. The last two patterns, which showed students who only selected one difference

and students who wrote no clear variation, decreased. This can only mean that those 2 students

who were originally in those bottom patterns from the previous assessment improved and were

placed under a different listing. In fact, in both of those patterns of understanding, the

percentages of students dropped from 13.6% to 8%.

Conclusion:

The initial assessment I created was designed to assess student understanding while providing

rich data. This assessment contained short-answer prompts in which students were expected to

identify two differences between the North and South’s economy and society. The results of that

assessment varied by question. For the economy-based question, a high percentage of students

were able to identify two differences between the economies of both regions. In comparison, less

students were able to identify two differences between the North and South’s societies. With this

data, I created a subsequent lesson plan in which I would clarify the vagueness of what students

understood from the first assessment. After I retaught the information, I gave students a second

assessment in which they were only required to list the differences between the society of the

North and the society of the South. In the second formative, I also added the definition of society

to assist the students during the assessment. The data from the second assessment, though there

was a few more students who took it, showed a vast improvement. More students qualified under
the pattern that showed students who were able to identify two main differences between the

societies of the North and South. The subsequent instruction of the content improved student

results and helped them grow their understanding of the divisions between the North and South.