2/2/07

Yesterday we gave the Comparing and Scaling pre-tests. We also gave the post-test for this book as a pre-test. The test that Yvette and I created checked our students' prior knowledge about ratios and fractions.

I have graded only eight of the thirteen quizzes so far because, for some reason, five of my students were not in school yesterday. But I am really impressed with what I've seen on the quizzes I graded. About half of my students were able to correctly order fractions, decimals, and percents. All students were able to put most of the numbers in order, but many were confused by the decimal 0.08. Otherwise, they had some trouble finding the percent of a whole. I plan to review some of these ideas with my students as we continue on through the first few investigations of the book.

We just had a meeting to decide about points to grade this test. It was really weird. Last year we must have all decided on our own points for the grading of the post-test. But this year, as a seventh grade, we've decided that we should be as consistent with tests/grading as possible. That way, when we look at the data at the end of the year, we'll be able to compare one another's data.

Anyway, four of us sat down to talk about points on the test, so that we could all grade the pre-tests. All four of us had very different points on the test -- I had 59, Yvette had 56, another teacher had 33, and the fourth had 46 points. We had a lot of debating to do. The biggest problem we had was deciding whether we should make some of the problems worth 2 or 3 points. I wanted 3 points for each problem: 1 for work, 1 for correct answer, and 1 for the label of the answer. But at least two of other people didn't think that labels should be a part of the answers. One of their arguments was that the ISAT is multiple choice, so students will not need to write labels. Yvette agreed that was true, but said that, with the extended response, students will need to be writing labels and explaining their thinking. After MUCH discussion, we decided that each problem will be worth 2 points, and each group of two to three problems will get 1 point for having labels on ALL answers. Overall, there will be 47 points on the test.

I re-graded the test this morning, and most of my students scored below 50%. However, I have one student who got a C. This week I will sit down with Yvette and talk about what we should do with our students who did well on this test before they even started the book. Should these students continue to work on the book with us, with some added extensions? Should I have them work at their own pace with some guidance from me, and then move on to something else? I am just wondering what would be the most effective way to challenge and teach these students.