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| Details of Assessments of Overall Project/Visual Data Pre-Study Measures Pre-study measures were performed on three different students from two special education English classroom. Each classroom is being taught by this educator/researcher. The concepts presented in both classrooms mirror each other, but the actual material is different. In one class the literature novel is Lord of the Flies by William Golding and the other class is reading The Contender by Robert Lipsyte. Each student’s pre-treatment data will be presented and discussed separately. To protect the identity of the students, only first initials will be used. A graph is presented for each student for five past MCAS (Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System) test scores according to the Department of Education’s MCAS rubric for open responses. Three more graphs are presented on each student for the following data: number of sentences used to answer each exam; average number of words per sentence for each exam; and average number of syllables per sentence for each exam. C The first student is C. C is a female student who is mildly intellectually impaired. Her I.E.P. (Individual Education Plan) team determined that C’s educational needs would best be met in a separate environment that also taught the regular curriculum with accommodations. It was further determined that C will participate in the state wide assessment known as MCAS with state approved accommodations. To obtain an accurate assessment of C’s ability on the state wide assessment, the following state approved accommodations were implemented; small group setting, read test, clarify directions, and extra time as needed. Copyright laws for using the Massachusetts MCAS examinations state that while commercial use is prohibited, teachers may copy and use them for educational purposes and credit the Massachusetts Department of Education. The excerpt titles and prompts are included in the appendix. The titles of the five previous MCAS excerpts used to test each student participant are as follows: 1. “Sci-Fi master of 50 years has seen his own fantasies come true” 2. “The Speech They Only Wish They Could Make” 3. “The Angry Winter” 4. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass 5. “Bob the Dog” |
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This educator/researcher obtained the following data on C.
Each number at the lower portion of the graph represents the corresponding title from the above list. The scoring rubric for the D.O.E. consist of a point spread from 0 to 4, with 4 being the highest amount of points awarded to a single response, (see appendix). A score of ‘zero’ or ‘one’ is considered to be in the failing range. C received a ‘one’ for the first, second, and fifth open response exam prompts. She received a score of zero on the third and fourth prompts.
This graph denotes the number of sentences C produced for each prompt. 
This graph shows the average number of words used per sentence.
This graph demonstrates the average number of syllables per sentence. Observing this data collectively, informs this researcher that C is struggling to produce cohesive written paragraphs that relate to the topic of the prompt. For prompt number one, she received a score of one. She wrote four sentences which contained an average of nineteen words per sentence, with an average of 23 syllables per sentence. The sentences and words she brought together failed to produce a passing score. The average number of syllables C used per sentence closely mirrors the average number of words she used per sentence. While the number of sentences varied across the five responses, each was less than ten, the most being seven. There is a correspondence between the number of sentences and receiving a score of one. The responses with the higher number of sentences received a score other than zero. The low number of sentences overall, however, failed to give the respondent enough support and detail to create a well developed essay. The third and fourth graphs bear a remarkable resemblance to one another, and follow the same pattern as the response for prompt one. The number of words per sentence is closely matched by the number of syllables per sentence. C’s responses, also, indicate that her written vocabulary is limited to mostly single syllable words, varying occasionally from one to three multi-syllabic words. Extended calculation of the data reveals the mean, median, and mode of each category per all five responses. The mean is equivalent to the average; the median to the middle number of the series; and the mode to the number that occurs most frequently in the group.
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E The second student is E. E is a male student who has been diagnosed as learning disabled in the areas of reading, written language, and math. The I.E.P. team determined that E should receive educational services for English Language Arts in a separate class that focuses on the regular high school curriculum with accommodations. The team further determined that E is eligible to take the Massachusetts state wide assessment examination known as MCAS, with state approved accommodations. To obtain an accurate assessment of E’s ability on the state wide assessment, the following state approved accommodations were implemented; small group setting, read test, clarify directions, and extra time as needed. After the five previous MCAS prompts were given and scored, this researcher/educator obtained the following data on E.
Each number at the lower portion of the graph represents the corresponding title from the previous list. Again, the prompts remained the same for all three students. E received a score of zero on prompts ‘one,’ ‘two,’ and ‘four,’ and a score of one on ‘three’ and ‘five.’
This graph shows the number of sentences E used for each response.
This graph demonstrates the average number of words E used per sentence.
This graph presents the average number of syllables E used per sentence.
Taking a close look at the data reveals that E did not respond to prompt number one, “Sci-Fi master of 50 years has seen his own fantasies come true.” This researcher chose to keep this data because of it authenticity of E’s ability to respond to analytical prompts pertaining to literature. Further analysis shows that E only used one sentence to respond to prompt number five, “Bob the Dog;” however, he wrote 46 words to receive a score of one. Even though E produced five sentences for prompts two and four, both responses scored a zero on the state’s MCAS rubric. The data, also, illustrates the same phenomenon as C’s data. The third and fourth graphs are almost duplicates of each other, suggesting that E’s written vocabulary is limited to mostly single syllable words. Extended calculations show the mean, median and mode for all five responses to be the following:
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A The third student chosen for this single-subject research is A. A is also a female student who is mildly intellectually impaired. The I.E.P. team determined that A’s educational needs would best be met in a separate environment that also taught the regular curriculum with accommodations. It was further determined that A will participate in the state wide assessment known as MCAS with state approved accommodations. To obtain an accurate assessment of A’s ability on the state wide assessment, the following state approved accommodations were implemented; small group setting, read test, clarify directions, and extra time as needed. After the five previous MCAS prompts were given and scored, this researcher/educator obtained the following data on A.
Each number at the lower portion of the graph represents the corresponding title from the previous list. A received a score of zero on prompts ‘one’ and ‘four,’ and a score of ‘one’ on prompts ‘two,’ ‘three,’ and ‘five.’
This graph shows the number of sentences A used for each response.
This graph illustrates the average number of words A used per sentence.
This graph depicts the average number of syllables A used per sentence.
Closer inspection of the data reveals that A left prompt number one blank. Again, this researcher chose to keep this data as an indication of A’s authentic response to an analytical prompt pertaining to literature. A wrote two sentences to respond to prompts ‘two,’ ‘three,’ and ‘four,’ and one sentence to respond to prompt ‘five.’ A’s written vocabulary also lacks variety in regards to single versus multi-syllabic words. As with the other two subjects, the third and fourth graphs almost produce a one to one correspondence. A did attempt to create a correct response by writing more words, as revealed by the third graph. A wrote an average of between sixteen to twenty-eight words for responses ‘two,’ ‘three,’ and ‘four.’
Extended calculations illustrate the mean, median and mode for all five responses to be the following:
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