KAITLIN BARNES
STUDENT ENGAGEMENT WITH DATA
I have several structures in place to invest my students in their own reading data. By involving students in the goal-setting, reflection, and data-tracking process, I am giving them more ownership over their learning, engaging them in their own growth, and helping them identify the areas in which they need to improve the most.
​
Please use the Table of Contents below to navigate this section of my website. Clicking on each underlined subtitle will bring you back to the top of this section.
​
TABLE OF CONTENTS
My school district requires students to take a series of snapshot assessments throughout the school year. These assessments are similar in content and format to the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) test, which is the state standardized test that my students take in March.
​
After they complete a snapshot assessment, students compare their test grade to their STAAR goal that they made earlier in the school year. They articulate if they met or did not meet their goal, and if they did not meet their goal, they write how many points away they were from meeting it. Next, students identify which questions they missed and which questions they got correct, coloring in a tracker as they go. Then, they analyze those questions to determine the TEKS that align to the questions they missed and mastered. Students use that analysis to determine the reading objectives in which they are strong, and the objectives in which they need more practice. Afterwards, students reflect on their mindset during the test and how their test results make them feel. These assessment reflections are a structure that guide my students in examining their own learning and identifying their academic strengths and areas for growth.
This student met their STAAR goal and had been completing the action steps they identified to be successful. This reflection also helped me see how students felt during the test and after seeing their grade.
This student did not meet their STAAR goal and had not been completing all of the action steps they identified to be successful, which helped me know that I needed to have an individual check-in about how she could improve her performance. This student was pulled for tutorials and eventually ended up scoring an 84% on the STAAR test in March.
At the beginning of the second semester, students set a STAAR-specific performance goal, based on their 4th grade STAAR performance, MOY benchmark test performance, and class performance during the first semester. Students make a list of concrete, actionable steps that they can take to help themselves reach their STAAR goal. The goal-setting sheet also has a space for parents to sign and agree to help their child in several ways, and I sign each student's goal sheet as well, pledging to assist students with small group instruction, after-school and weekend tutorials, and engaging instruction. These goal sheets are referenced throughout the second semester as we continue to take district snapshot assessments, TEKS-centered quizzes, and objective mastery quizzes. Like the assessment reflections, setting STAAR goals and action steps help students examine their own performance and work habits, giving them further ownership over the learning process.
This student identified action steps that included participating in class and asking questions, reading daily, and studying our interactive notebook. Including the "asking questions" action was a big step for her, because she usually did not participate verbally in class.
This student included action steps that involved studying our weekly vocabulary words, reading twice as much as I require daily, and studying pages from our interactive notebook. This student knew that including the "studying" item would help her in particular, because she often rushed on quizzes, making silly mistakes that could have been avoided if she had a more thorough understanding of the concepts.
Another way that I get students invested and engaged leading up to the STAAR exam is through a system called Objective Mastery. Objective Mastery is implemented beginning in January, and requires students to read short passages and answer a set of questions that target a specific TEKS. This system has several benefits. First, it helps me spiral objectives from earlier in the school year so that students are constantly reviewing the TEKS. Second, it helps me identify the objectives that large groups of students are struggling with, so that I can review that TEKS with the class. Objective Mastery gives me real-time data that helps me understand student progress on specific objectives, and I use that data to guide my planning of what skills to review. Third, it helps me see which students are struggling on which objectives, and I use that data to pull small groups. Objective Mastery also helps invest students in their own progress. They start to think of Objective Mastery as a game and enjoy seeing their row fill up with the objectives they have mastered.
The Objective Mastery crate is set up so that students can access it whenever they have finished early. Directions and degree requirements are posted behind the crate. Setting it up like this allows students to have ownership over the space and access the materials without needing to ask me for permission or assistance.
Inside the Objective Mastery crate, there are folders for each TEKS. When students are done, they put their answer sheet inside the "To Be Graded" sheet. If they do not finish in a class period, they place their answer sheet in the "Still Working" folder for their class and can continue the next day. To increase ownership over Objective Mastery, students are responsible for keeping the crate neat and organized.
In the Objective Mastery bin, there is a folder for each TEKS that is tested on the STAAR. Students start with "Form A," which is a short passage and several STAAR-aligned questions. Students must score above 75% in order to master that objective and have it recorded on the chart. If students do not pass Form A with 75% or higher, they receive small group review from me and can then try "Form B," which is a different passage and set of questions that tests the same TEKS. Students can earn prizes for each Objective Mastery "degree" that they earn. Mastering 6 objectives will earn them a Bachelor's Degree, mastering 11 objectives will earn them a Master's Degree, and mastering 16 objectives will earn them a Doctorate Degree.
Objective Mastery data is posted on the cabinet next to the Objective Mastery crate. Underneath the class trackers are the posters for Bachelor's, Master's, and Doctorate degrees. Posting them publicly helps students see how they are doing and how their class compares to the others.
This picture shows what a class Objective Mastery tracker looks like. Red boxes mean the student scored 100% on that TEKS, and purple means they scored 80%. Differentiating mastery levels by color helps students evaluate their own performance at a glance.
This is an example of what an Objective Mastery passage and question set look like. While passages are pulled from a variety of resources, I write my own STAAR-aligned questions to ensure that I am matching the rigor and language of the STAAR test. Students know that if they do not use strategies on their answer document, it will not be graded, because I expect them to use strategies and provide evidence for their answer choices on the STAAR test.