Target Population Selection
PACE High School
Christopher Chopp
Abigail Stolz Monks
Kathryn Smoot
School Wide Focus
• School Wide Focus: There is a lower
percentage of students that passed the
USH regents than any other required
regents in our school.
School Wide focus: Evidence
Collected
Regents Exam
U.S. History
Average %
pass rate
Cohorts: graduation
year
73%
2008, 2009, 2010
Global History 87%
English
98%
Living
81%
Environment
Math A
91%
2008
2008
2008, 2009, 2010
2008, 2009
School Wide Focus: Description of
Evidence Analysis
Major Regents Pass rate at PACE
Average pass rate
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
U.S. History
Living
Environment
Regents
Math A
Average % pass rate
Global History
English
School Wide Focus: Strengths and
Weakness
• Strengths: Over the past three years, three different
teachers have taught the US History regents course.
We consider this positive because it confirms that
scores are based on students’ skills, not the quality, or
type of teaching.
School Wide Focus: Strengths and
Weakness
• Weaknesses: One major weakness of
our data is the fact that no teacher has
taught the US History regents course for
more than one year.
Year one
Year two
Year three
School Wide focus: Conclusions
• We concluded that our ninth grade
students are coming into high school
unprepared to take the USH regents
examination.
Target Population
• Students who failed the U.S. History
Regents exam and scored a 2 or lower
on the 8th grade ELA exam.
Target Population: Evidence
Collected
• 8th grade ELA scores
– All scored 2 or lower.
• US History Regents exams
• History Department Teacher Survey
Target Population: Description of
Evidence Analysis
• Our data analysis finds that our school has
51 students that haven’t passed the U.S.
History regents yet. We whittled that
number down to a target population of 26
students by eliminating 25 students that
were SPED, ELL, or transfer students that
never took a U.S. History class or exam.
Target Population: Description of
Evidence Analysis
• History content teachers confirmed
through surveys that reading and writing
are skills needed to pass the US History
Regents. Based on this we concluded that
ELA is the main factor in passing the US
History regents exam
Target Population: Description of Evidence
Analysis
Target Population: Strengths and
Weakness
Strengths: We independently gave a survey
to all four members of the PACE High
School history department. Reading and
writing was rated of moderate to great
importance by each teacher. Other skills
were rated of little to no importance. .
Target Population: Conclusions
• Conclusions: Our students that are weak
on the 8th grade ELA tests also do poorly
on the language-intensive U.S. History
regents.
Skill: Reading
Skill (reading): Evidence Collected
• Scantron Non-fiction reading test
• Scantron Vocabulary test
• US History Regents exam task analysis
(multiple choice, document-based short
answer questions, document-based essay,
thematic essay)
• US History Regents Exam Essay Rubric
• History Department teacher survey
Skill (reading): Description of
Evidence Analysis
Task
Multiple Choice
Document Based
Question Short answer
First Essay
Second Essay
Student Score
38%
80%
2/5
2/5
By looking at the scores, we noticed that students
performed the lowest on the multiple choice which
is reading intensive.
Skill
(reading):
Description
of
Evidence
Analysis
Skill
(reading):
Description
of
Evidence
Analysis
Skill (reading): Description of Evidence
Analysis
Scantron assessment Ninth grade level
Task
Student Score
Scantron non-fiction reading
comprehension assessment
Scantron vocabulary
assessment
66%
61%
This confirmed that the students were
below grade level in reading.
Skill (reading): Strengths and
Weakness
• Strengths: According to Active Literacy
Across the Curriculum by Heidi Hayes
Jacobs, 35-40% of test errors are reading
errors. This statistic reinforces our
evidence.
• All of our data consistently points to
reading as the skill that students are
lacking and most need for the US History
regents exam.
Skill (reading): Conclusions
• Our target population is below grade level
in reading, which is negatively affecting
their U.S. History regents scores.
Sub-Skill:
• Comprehension focused on
vocabulary
Sub skill
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Score %
Sub-Skill: Evidence Collected
Students Average Scores for Scantron Assessment
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
Sub-Skill: Evidence Collected
Task
Context of Word Meaning
Anonyms
Analogies
Homonyms
Sentence Completion
Synonyms
Multiple Meaning Words
Synonyms in Isolation
Homophones
Total
Student Score
97%
58%
57%
61%
44%
50%
67%
57%
63%
61%
Sub-Skill: Evidence Collected
Task
Nonfiction
Student Score
63%
Sub-Skill: Description of Evidence
Analysis
Task
Student Score
Multiple Choice
38%
Document Based
Question Short answer
80%
First Essay
2/5
Second Essay
2/5
Sub-Skill: Description of Evidence
Analysis
• In a document-based essay question from
the June 2007 regents we counted 14
high-frequency vocabulary words. These
are terms that students encounter across
the curriculum. We also counted four
specialized terms, or terms that were
specific to the study of history.
Sub-Skill: Strengths and Weakness
Score of 3
•Addresses all aspects of the task in a limited way by providing few details to compare
and contrast the effect of geographic factors on the political and economic
development of Great Britain and Japan or addresses most aspects of the task fully
•Incorporates some information from some of the documents
•Incorporates little or no relevant outside information
•Includes some facts, examples, and details, but the discussion is mostly descriptive
•Is a satisfactorily developed essay, demonstrating a general plan of organization
•Introduces the theme of the effect of geographic factors by repeating the historical context
and concludes by
•simply repeating the theme
Score of 2
•Attempts to address some aspects of the task
•Makes limited use of the documents or may only restate the contents of the documents
•Presents no relevant outside information
•Includes few facts, examples, and details and may contain some inaccuracies
•Is a poorly organized essay, lacking focus; may contain digressions or extraneous
information
•May lack an introduction and/or a conclusion or these elements may not refer to the theme
Sub-Skill: Strengths and Weakness
• Both student and
teacher surveys
support our results
by indicating that
vocabulary was of
high importance in
taking the exam.
Sub-Skill: Conclusions
• Our target population needs to strengthen
their high-frequency and specialized
vocabulary skills.
Learning Target:
Learning Target: Students need to
• Learn study strategies for vocabulary
– Teachers should continually expose students
to high frequency words throughout the
curriculum and throughout the school year
– Study strategies for specialized terms
– Test taking strategies focusing on vocabulary
Learning Target: Students need to
• Learn to decipher vocabulary within the
context of essay questions and how to
apply them to essay responses
– Teacher modeled essay writing
– Analyzing essay responses
– Continual exposure to regents style essay
prompts
Learning Target: