While the quality of students’ work may very well be the focus of the analysis, the work conveys significant information about how students think about science, what they understand about a social issue, or how they make sense of a character.
Interesting to think about what could be present in our students' work that we aren't consciously processing.
hen we look at student work, it is far easier for us to focus on what is missing than what is there.
This is very true. It's important that we view our students in the most asset-based way possible to have positive relationships and enable them to have positive self-esteem. Focusing on what is already there can also tell us what we do not need to spend as much time focusing on going foward.
select 2-3 pieces from low, medium and high achieving students.
Is this for all teachers? Just elementary? Just secondary? I want to make sure that I have a valid sample size, as all my learners are so unique.
Whose work would most benefit from our analysis?
I am not exactly clear on this point. Would certain students' work benefit more from analysis than others? That does not make sense to me.
What are the most important decisions
Analysis is done to influence decisions in teaching, so what decisions need to be made is a valid way of deciding how to analyze work.
Time for analysis and reflection are in short supply in most schools.
Exactly. Time spent analyzing work needs to be used wisely, so having a clear aim sounds like a good idea.
determine the gaps between students who struggle with specific content and others who seem to learn it effortlessly
How can we really find out what is different between these students? This sounds like a question that goes beyond student work analysis.
Whose work should they look at?
I typically look at all my students' work, but perhaps I should focus on a smaller subset?
What do studentsneed to do to meet the standards or to improve on their work?
And how can we as teachers help them achieve that?
t intrigued the students?
How can we maintain student interest and keep them hooked? This is important to build upon.
What do the students’ responses indicate about the effectiveness of the assessment? How might the assessment be improved?
Student understanding tells us about how well we as teachers have done our jobs. This applies even to writing assessments, because if there was a common confusion it was likely a bad question. While we are looking at student work, it is about evaluating ourselves.
students challenging themselves?
Need to consider what is a challenge for students because it will be different for every student and affect their work.
Which students are making it? Which students are not?
Are there patterns to the groups of students? How can I target support to specific groups of students to help them learn? I struggle with this frequently,
How does this work demonstrate growth from students’ previous work?
I often forget about this when I am grading. I am looking at where they are now, but need to remember where they started.
What is “good enough”
This is important to consider. It tells you what the standard is for students, which you need in order to analyze the competency of their work. Are they on level? Advanced? Falling behind?
Young adult literature, when paired with intentional pedagogi-cal choices, is a powerful tool to fulfill our aims.
Young adult literature can be incredibly powerful and is targeted for our students. It should not be ignored in favor of "more sophisticated" canonical literature.