Teaching Inquiry - Getting a baseline

So, today I got together most of my baseline data for my focus students, for my teaching inquiry. (I have one more test to do, plus student voice.)

I am focusing on 5 students in my Year 10 class, 2 males and 3 females. They all identify as Maori. (Stats for the class: 19 students, 11 females, 8 males, 9 in total identify as Maori (47%) - 3 males and 6 females.) The focus students are also all performing below (if not well below) Level 5 of the NZC across all areas (mostly), which is where a Year 10 student should be. (See data table below for initial baseline data.) All 5 students are also currently not working at a level that will prepare them for achieving in NCEA Level 1, across all subjects - this is based on 'Junior Certificate' data, tracking, and predictions, that our school also focuses on alongside academic achievement. The Junior Certificate is based around the NZC Key Competencies.

				Level 5 NZC - OTJ
		e-asTTle	ARB	Writing Creatively	Writing Formally	Responding to text
Student A	Male	3B	4	Well below	Well below	Well below
Student B	Female	4P	2	Below	Below	Well below
Student C	Female	3P	4	Below	Below	Below
Student D	Male	3B	-	Below	Well below	Well below
Student E	Female	3A	-	Below	Below	At

Notes for the above data:
e-asTTle - the above e-asTTle results need to be taken with a grain of salt. Many students in this particular class (including many above) openly admitted to just picking random answers on the test; one student above even admitted that he did not read the passages OR the answers, and just randomly picked. However, this is one of the data measures, and is reasonably accurate (in terms of where I would think they would be). Student B, who scored at a 4P, is one of the students who did not try during the test.

ARB #1 (Term 2) - Student D was stood down when this test was given, and Student E was absent. The Assessment Resource Bank test was a Level 5 test (where students should be at) and tested the Making Meaning strand of the English curriculum (Reading) - essentially it tested the students' Reading Comprehension levels (do they understand what they read). There were a range of questions to answer after reading an article, ranging from 'very easy' to 'difficult'. The test was marked out of 9.

ARB #2 (Beginning of Unit) - I will update this when the students have completed this test.

Writing Creatively and Writing Formally - students were judged, through a range of 'portfolioed' writing, at what level they were working (based on the NZC). As mentioned, they should be at Level 5 of the NZC. This is an Overall Teacher Judgement (OTJ) based on a range of their work, including formative assessment work. These writing areas look at a student's: ideas, structure, use of language features, and understanding of audience and purpose. Students could be given: well below, below, at, or above.

Responding to Text - again, this is based on an OTJ, judged from a range of student work and where they are performing. It specifically looks at how a student responds to texts, both written and visual, both studied in class and read for personal reading. It looks at a student's understanding of: ideas, structure, use of language features, and audience and purpose. This area also includes reading comprehension-type tasks.

The following are sample pages of the focus students' work:

Student A

Student B 

Student C 

Student D 

Student E 

So, two more aspects of my baseline data to sort. We should be starting the unit at the beginning of next week (all things going to plan). Fingers crossed!