Assessment Data and Analysis

The pre-test and post-test consisted of short and long text formation in the language of
Spanish. The scoring for each test was done similarly. The post-test incorporated more text to
assess how much the students understood throughout the unit. The pre-test had a smaller text
formation section. A longer text formation section was incorporated on the final assessment. I
was hoping to pique students interest throughout the unit by providing many examples of highfrequency phrase formation in order to make their learning experience more challenging
throughout the unit.
Data Analysis
Subject Narrative
The set of participants studied for this data analysis consisted of a group of 9th-12th grade
students who were in a Spanish Level 1 class. The goal was for the students to learn about
descriptive adjectives in order to be able to correctly describe a person, place, or thing in
Spanish. Data was gathered through both a pre and a post-assessment.
The pre and post assessment(s) consisted of the use of Pear Deck. Pear Deck is an
interactive website that helps teachers understand student progress. Through Pear Deck teachers
can create a presentation, post questions, and exercises that students are able to answer while the
teacher monitors both individual and class progress. Such design allows for teachers to regularly
check on student understanding and progress. When various question slides display on the
screen, students can answer the question individually on their devices, before the teacher reveals
the correct answers.

The pre-assessment will gather data through the students listing of descriptive adjectives
and the post-assessment will gather data through the students writing of a descriptive paragraph
regarding an assigned character from Guess Who.
The learning targets that I will examine are the following: 1) Students can identify
adjectives. 2) Students can describe things and people using adjectives. 3) Students can describe
things and people using adjectives that match in gender and number.
Data Analysis and Discussion
Pre-Assessment Analysis
In regards to the pre-assessment analysis, I asked the students to list as many descriptive
adjectives as they could. This was something they had to do through Pear Deck in a free response
text box. I did not assign a grade to the pre-assessment because my purpose, at the beginning of
the lesson, was simply to see where students where at and what they knew in regards to
adjectives. If they listed more than three adjectives, I considered them familiar with descriptive
adjectives. Likewise, if they listed less than three adjectives, I considered them unfamiliar with
descriptive adjectives.
Out of the 27 students that were in class that day, 26 responded. 19 students listed more
than 3 descriptive adjectives and 8 listed less than 3. One student did not list any adjectives; the
students free response text box was left blank. Within the group that was familiar with
descriptive adjectives, 9 females listed three or more descriptive adjectives and 12 males listed 3
more descriptive adjectives. Within the group that was unfamiliar with descriptive adjectives, 2
females listed nouns and 6 males listed personal pronouns and nouns.

More than 3 Descriptive

Adjectives
Less than 3 Descriptive
Adjectives
No Response
Nouns
Personal Pronouns

The above chart displays a visual representation for the results from the pre-assessment
regarding students familiarization with descriptive adjectives. On the x-axis it shows the two
subgroups that were analyzed, these being females and males. On the y-axis, the dark blue bar
shows that 9 females and 12 males listed more than 3 descriptive adjectives. The red bar shows
that 2 females and 6 males listed less than 3 descriptive adjectives. The green bar shows that one
female did not respond. The purple bar, as well as the teal, represents the number of students who
were unfamiliar with adjectives, as they listed nouns and personal pronouns. Specifically, the
bars show that 2 females listed nouns and 6 males listed nouns and personal pronouns, instead of
adjectives. The results illustrated on the bar graph, tell me that some students were confusing
adjectives with nouns and personal pronouns.
What I liked about the pre-assessment that I had for the students was the way I introduced
it and the information it provided me. I presented it as a Do Now and it was the hook of my
lesson. I had never used a pre-assessment before so, being able to see how useful it is, was very
beneficial for me. This is because I was able to gather key information about what students knew

and what they were able to do prior to instruction. For example, through the pre-assessment I
was able to see that more than half of the class (i.e. 21 students) was familiar with descriptive
adjectives. Additionally, I was able to see how unfamiliar other students were with descriptive
adjectives (i.e. 8 students).
Moreover, the pre-assessment provided evidence that helped me effectively match
instruction with the needs of students. This included decisions about content, pacing, and specific
learning activities. I was able to clearly see this through the use of technology, and take
advantage of this opportunity to change various details in my lesson plan. Specifically, it showed
that 21 students knew what descriptive adjectives were, which meant that I could pace my lesson
faster. Also, I didnt have to include as many examples as I thought I would. They rapidly
grasped the context. Consequently, this allowed me to get to my third learning target quickly,
which was: students can describe things and people using adjectives that match in gender and
number. Because students knew common adjectives, I was able to dig deeper into the lesson and
focus on how adjectives have to match in gender and number. Prior to teaching my lesson, I did
not expect to successfully accomplish the learning target but students potential and motivation
allowed me to do so.
Furthermore, the pre-assessment allowed me to see that students like to be challenged at
an appropriate level, especially with the incorporation of technology. Performance tasks on Pear
Deck, such as quick-writes, fill-in the blanks, and matching both encouraged and engaged
students. I had never seen them as involved and participative in the classroom. I think that
students are more likely to demonstrate continuous progress and growth through challenging
activities and through the incorporation of hands-on technology, like Pear Deck.

Overall, what I learned the most from the pre-assessment that helped me develop my
lesson was seeing where the students where. Specifically, what students knew and were able to
do with descriptive adjectives prior to instruction. The pre-assessment results, which showed up
immediately through the interactive website, Pear Deck, provided the information I needed
regarding decisions about content, pacing, and specific learning activities.
Post-Assessment Analysis
In regards to the post-assessment analysis, I assigned each student a character from
Guess Who and had them write a paragraph describing their character using ser, tener, and
llevar. They also had to describe their characters hair and eye-color, as well as three other
characteristics. The main purpose of this assessment was to see whether or not students
successfully described their character using appropriate adjectives, as well as appropriate gender
and number agreement. This means that the adjectives they used matched the gender of the
character they described, as well as the quantity of the characteristic they described.
Just like I did not assign a grade for the pre-assessment, I did not assign a grade for the
post-assessment. I presented the assessment as an informal activity in the classroom and it was a
way to assess students on the go. If they described their character with the appropriate adjectives
and if they appropriately used gender and number agreement in their description, I considered all
of the learning targets of the lesson to be met. This is due to the fact that such appropriate
description meant that: 1) Students can identify adjectives. 2) Students can describe things and
people using adjectives. 3) Students can describe things and people using adjectives that match
in gender and number. Similarly, if students did not describe their character with the appropriate
adjectives and if they did not appropriately use gender and number agreement in their
description, I considered the second and third learning target of the lesson not met. However, if

students described their character with the appropriate adjectives but did not appropriately use
gender and number agreement in their description, I considered the first and second learning
targets of the lesson to be met.
Out of the 27 students that were in class that day, 27 responded. Within the group that
successfully described their character, 11 females and 13 males appropriately used adjectives, as
well as gender and number agreement in their description. Within the group that did not
successfully describe their character, 2 females and 1 male did not appropriately use gender and
number agreement in their description but they did use the appropriate adjectives for their
character.

Successful Description of
Character
Unsuccessful Description
of Character
Partial Successful
Description of Character

This particular bar graph shows how successful students were in providing an appropriate
description for their assigned character. There are two subgroups: one being females and the
other one being males. It appears that, while 11 females gave a successful description of their
character, 2 did not. This means that, those two females gave a partial successful description of
their assigned character. On the other hand, it appears that, while 13 males gave a successful

description of their assigned character, 1 did not. This means that the one male student partially
described his assigned character.
Notice, the subgroup that most successfully described their character consisted of males.
This is probably due to the fact that, in Spanish, a lot of the adjectives, as well as gender and
number agreements end in (o), which makes sentence formation masculine. This means that,
male students do not have to change the gender or the number agreement because it is already in
the masculine form. Perhaps, this could be a reason why there were more male students that
successfully described their character.
Students had a high degree of success identifying adjectives. By the end of the lesson, all
27 students comprehended what descriptive adjectives were in Spanish and they could identify
them. Additionally, they had a high success describing things and people using adjectives. All 27
students knew how to appropriately use adjectives to describe things and people. However, they
had a medium success using adjectives that matched in gender and number. My main goal was
for students to understand descriptive adjectives in the language of Spanish and be able to at least
identify them. This goal was definitely achieved; 27 students left the classroom knowing about
descriptive adjectives in Spanish. The goal that I thought would be difficult to achieve consisted
of students using adjectives that matched in gender and number. I thought that only a few
students would understand this concept but more than half of the class achieved that goal, which
made me very happy. This, as mentioned before, was due to the fact that on the pre-assessment,
students already showed a familiarization with descriptive adjectives. Such familiarization
allowed for me to pick up the pace of the lesson and spend more time on gender and number
agreement.

Looking back, there was one component of the pre-assessment that I would change.
Instead of asking students to list as many adjectives as they knew in Spanish, I would ask them
to list at least 3. I think that the more specific your instructions are as a teacher and the more
detail you ask for, the clearer results you will get. Moreover, you will be able to use those results
and apply them more easily for data analysis. Having clear results will allow you to better
improve future assessments.
Overall, I wouldnt say that the results demonstrated highly effective teaching on my part
but because the three learning targets of the lesson were moderately achieved, I would say that
results demonstrated effective teaching for the overall class and the subgroups. Specifically, I
think that the results demonstrated more effective teaching for the class than for the subgroups.
My concern with the subgroups is that, as explained before, the subgroup that most
successfully described their character consisted of males. This is most likely due to the fact that a
lot of the adjectives, as well as gender and number agreements end in (o), which makes sentence
formation masculine. Perhaps, I should have given the male subgroup more practice and
activities with female descriptions. For example, I should have assigned the male subgroup
mostly female characters to see how effectively they can change the adjectives (i.e. from
masculine to feminine) and appropriately match them to gender and number. Having done that
would make me feel more confident in the effectiveness of my teaching.
In order to increase achievement results in my lesson, I would add more practice
exercises regarding gender and noun agreement. Specifically, I would add exercises that consist
of changing a masculine description to a feminine description. This would cognitively challenge
the whole class and it would provide them, especially males, more practice with gender and
number agreement.

Strength and Weaknesses of Pre and Post Assessments

As mentioned before, I had three learning targets for the lesson that I taught on
Descriptive Adjectives. These included: 1) Students can identify adjectives. 2) Students can
describe things and people using adjectives. 3) Students can describe things and people using
adjectives that match in gender and number. Overall, results showed that students successfully
learned to identify adjectives in Spanish, as well as describe things and people using adjectives.
Results also showed that not all students left the classroom being able to describe things and
people using adjectives that match in gender and number. Data gathered throughout the pre and
the post-assessments showed the aforementioned results.
I believe that the reason why students achieved the first and second learning targets of the
lesson is because of two reasons. 1) Some students were already familiar with adjectives in
Spanish, which could be due to the fact that they had taken previous Spanish classes. 2) The way
in which I carried out the lesson effectively suited their learning needs, allowing them to grasp an
understanding of descriptive adjectives. I know that the way in which the lesson was taught was
effective because students were not only following along throughout the presentation of the
lesson but they were also responding to the questions I asked through Pear Deck correctly. The
use of Pear Deck really allowed me to assess student understanding on the go, and make these
assessments.
Although the learning targets of my lesson were achieved and the main objective of my
lesson was met, there is always room for improvement. Three areas that I would focus on to
improve my lesson would be; first providing more detailed instruction, second, developing
stronger assessments, and third, providing more accommodations for students. I think that giving
students more detailed instruction would improve student achievement, as it would challenge

them to engage more, and at a higher level, initially. For example, in the pre-assessment, I asked
students to list as many adjectives as they could. Instead of asking them to list as many, I should
have asked them to list at least three. This is because not every student provided a list of
adjectives. The way in which I framed the instruction was not sufficiently cognitively
challenging. Some listed one adjective, one student didnt list any adjectives, and others went the
extra mile by listing almost 10 adjectives. However, as a teacher, my goal is to challenge each
and every student to go the extra mile. Therefore, having specific instructions is important, as it
challenges students to step out of their comfort zone and extend their thinking.
In addition to the first previously mentioned focus area, I would also focus on developing
stronger assessments to improve my lesson. I could assign more value to the assessments by
assigning a grade to them. Sometimes, when you assess on the go, students dont take the activity
or assignment seriously. Moreover, if they see that it doesnt count for a grade, some students
will not invest as much effort in producing the best that they can. Therefore, I believe that
designing assessments that count for grade would increase the value of my lesson, as well as the
effort that students put into it.
Furthermore, if I critically evaluate my lesson, I could hypothesize that the use of Pear
Deck weakened the strength of my assessments. Since Pear Deck is an interactive website where
everything is on the go, perhaps the pace of it affected the value that students assigned to the
assessments. Maybe a pre-assessment, as well as a post-assessment, that was presented in a more
traditional form, such as a mini quiz, could have encouraged students to add more value and
focus to their responses.
Lastly, the third area I would focus on to improve my lesson would be providing more
accommodations for students. Although technology is something that excites students, and meets

the needs of visual and kinesthetic learners, it does not work for all learners. There are some
students that struggle with the pace that it presents and requires. Some students are very fast at
the computer; theyre fast at typing, managing tabs, and multitasking (i.e. working on another tab
while they wait for the internet to load). However, not all students are as agile with technology as
their peers. Therefore, I think that, in order to improve this lesson, I should offer students the
opportunity to write their answers down on a piece of paper and then hand them in at the end of
class. This however, would require students who chose to stray away from technology, to
participate in class.
The benefit of Pear Deck is that students responses display on the projector without
showing their name. Unfortunately, that would not be the case for those who choose to write
their answers on a piece of paper. I would still encourage them to share their answers with the
class. The option to opt out from technology would be accommodating to students with anxiety
and/or hyperactivity. For those students who get easily overwhelmed, having nothing on their
desks but a piece of paper and pencil to write down their answers would create a safe
environment for them. Then, when I ask them to provide their answer(s), they can refer back to
their paper and say what they wrote, without feeling the pressure of being put on the spot. For
those students who tend to get easily distracted, such as hyperactive students, having nothing but
a pencil and paper on their desk would also be beneficial for them. This would stop them from
getting distracted (i.e. opening additional tabs on their computers) and it would help them follow
along with the lesson more easily.