Pre-Test and Post-Test Findings & Analysis
I began the research study by pretesting my sophomores to determine their preliminary strengths regarding article organization, comprehension of main idea, and identification of essential details. The infographics below show my students’ raw scores on the pretest against their end-of-research post-test scores. The questions were scored in a binary way. A correct score earned one point while an incorrect score earned zero points. This data helped me determine if the explicit main idea instruction was useful and productive. If student scores consistently rose, I would know that instruction was effective. If student scores were stagnant or lower, I would need to rethink the use of these strategies.
Of all my English 2 students, 48 completed both the pre- and post-test. Correct responses on the pre-test and post-test are shown in the infographic below. Growth was shown in each of the three areas. Additionally, t-tests on all three indicators showed statistically significant differences between pre-test and post-test results. More detailed analysis can be found below.
I began the research study by pretesting my sophomores to determine their preliminary strengths regarding article organization, comprehension of main idea, and identification of essential details. The infographics below show my students’ raw scores on the pretest against their end-of-research post-test scores. The questions were scored in a binary way. A correct score earned one point while an incorrect score earned zero points. This data helped me determine if the explicit main idea instruction was useful and productive. If student scores consistently rose, I would know that instruction was effective. If student scores were stagnant or lower, I would need to rethink the use of these strategies.
Of all my English 2 students, 48 completed both the pre- and post-test. Correct responses on the pre-test and post-test are shown in the infographic below. Growth was shown in each of the three areas. Additionally, t-tests on all three indicators showed statistically significant differences between pre-test and post-test results. More detailed analysis can be found below.
T-Test Results by Question
Question 1: How is the text organized?
A paired-samples t-test was conducted to compare a pretest and post-test measuring text organization. There was a significant difference in the scores for the pretest (M=.167, SD=.38) and the post test (M=.563, SD=.50); t(47)=-4.78, p = .0001
These results suggest that direct instruction does have an effect on students' understanding of text organization. Specifically, the results suggest that students on the pre-test tended to score higher on the post-test.
Question 2: What is the main idea of this text?
A paired-samples t-test was conducted to compare a pretest and post-test measuring main idea identification. There was a significant difference in the scores for the pretest (M=.417, SD=.42) and the post test (M=708, SD=.71); t(47)=-3.1, p = .0033
These results suggest that direct instruction does have an effect on students' understanding of main idea identification. Specifically, the results suggest that students on the pre-test tended to score higher on the post-test.
Question 3: What specific facts or opinions are used to clarify or prove the main thought?
A paired-samples t-test was conducted to compare a pretest and post-test measuring essential details. There was a significant difference in the scores for the pretest (M=.292, SD=.50) and the post test (M=.792, SD=.46); t(47)=-5.6, p = .0001
These results suggest that direct instruction does have an effect on students' understanding of essential details.
Instructional Decisions
Using the pre-test data, I was able to tailor instruction to meet the needs of students by explicitly teaching organizational structures, the summarization of the main idea, and how to locate essential details. As indicated by the pre-test, only 18.75% of students knew how to describe the organization of the text, only 58.33% knew how to summarize the main idea of a text, and only 41.67% students knew how to identify essential details in the text. I was surprised that so few of my students knew how to talk about expository organization and spent a full mini-lesson going through the major organizational patterns in nonfiction texts. Additionally, although the pre-test data made it appear that over half of my students could already identify the main idea, further formative checks showed that many students were unable to extend their thinking past the topic of the article in our practice sessions. Therefore, I made sure to focus another mini-lesson on the "notice how details are related to the topic" step in the MAIN-I Strategy. Finally, although the pre-test indicated that over half of my students could not identify essential details in the text, informal checks proved that this actually became the simplest task for my students. Therefore, I recognized that I did not need to spend quite as much time on this task. Overall, noticing the trends and progress in each of the three areas (organization, main idea, essential details) and using the pre-test data helped me to improve instructional decisions by giving me a focus for my mini-lessons.
Connections
The preliminary data from my pre-test showed many parallels with the standardized MAP scores collected for my students. On both indicators, only about half of the students were proficient at identifying the main idea of an expository text.
The informal journal that I maintained had findings consistent with those in the pre- and post-test. For instance, I noticed through my research that the easiest task for students to complete was locating essential details in the article. Many students did not have the vocabulary to explain organizational patterns, and many students had difficulties staying on topic and moving to full summaries.
The preliminary data from my pre-test showed many parallels with the standardized MAP scores collected for my students. On both indicators, only about half of the students were proficient at identifying the main idea of an expository text.
The informal journal that I maintained had findings consistent with those in the pre- and post-test. For instance, I noticed through my research that the easiest task for students to complete was locating essential details in the article. Many students did not have the vocabulary to explain organizational patterns, and many students had difficulties staying on topic and moving to full summaries.