Throughout the rest of my career, I am dedicated to use data in the following two ways: One, to continue to use line item analysis of practice test responses; and two, to have students compile an ongoing portfolio of the writing skills.
One change in my line-item analysis procedure will be based on a suggestion by my classmate Randolph. He places a large sheet of paper on his board--with question numbers already written on the sheet. As he returns papers, he has the students check off next to the question numbers they missed. This way, his students get a huge visual of which questions the class as a whole missed. This visual also shows the students which sections of the tests they did well on and which they did poorly on. It will also enable me to quickly lead a review of the questions most of the class missed and allow me to skip over the questions the students easily mastered. I was worried that this method might make some students uncomfortable as they are forced to check off all the many answers they missed. However, Randolph suggests that, in the melee of the checking off process, no one really pays attention to who missed which questions. Also, I have come to think that it will actually be an affirmative process for the students to see that they aren't the only ones missing more than half the questions. Also, if we keep the posters up, the class can see their progress across the year.
Moreover, I am committed to continuing and refining my use of portfolios of student writing. I want my students to develop ownership of their success and mistakes. Thus, I am asking my students to track their own errors on a master header sheet in their portfolio. This way, they will be able to see that they have, for example, made comma splice or subject/verb agreement errors on their last three essays. Students very often can find errors in their own work, but more often than not, they struggle to find their own errors. I truly want the students to learn from their own mistakes--and especially not to repeat them. Next year, I will be giving more specific grades based on student improvement and requiring the students to review their portfolio before each writing experience.
