Improve Student Test Performance on Math Regents

Veronica Kourany V.Kourany@gmail.com Gregorio Luperon High School 9th and 10th Grade

INTRODUCTION:

At Gregorio Luperon High School, the students’ regents results show the average is below the citywide average. The principal and the teachers offer extra review after school, try their best to provide resources and conduct mock regents to try to improve those results every year. Students need to be aware of these results. We want you to be a Public Policy Analyst and get involved on how to improve our test scores. You will be responsible for analyzing the problem, coming up with a solution and presenting your findings.

TASK

Your task is to identify reasons why students score low on the regents. You will be working in groups of four and each person will have a role. Each group will present to the class their solutions creating:

A PowerPoint An Oral Presentation Displaying the Evidence (can be combined with the PowerPoint) A Page Essay

PROCESS/RESOURCES

You will be broken up into groups of 4 and within your groups you can decide who will write the Essay, who will create the PowerPoint, who will be the collector and organizer of the evidence/data and finally, who will be the presenter of the group.

1. In your essay, you need to address the problem, include your evidence, identify the causes and include your solution. Use the worksheets provided from the six steps of the PPA found below to gather all your information before starting your essay.
2. In your PowerPoint, you need to address the problem, include your evidence, identify the causes and include your solution. Display the evidence on the PowerPoint (with a chart, pictures, etc.….)
3. To collect evidence (can be included within the PowerPoint):

· Research previous data and organize it in a matter where you can display it.

· Create a personal survey for students in the school to answer and organize your findings to display.

Your group will use the 6 steps of the Public Policy Analyst (PPA).

1. Define the Problem (given)

2. Gather the Evidence using Worksheet #2
3. Identify the Causes using Worksheet #3
4. Evaluate an Existing Policy using Worksheet #4
5. Develop Solutions using Worksheet #5
6. Select the Best Solution  (Feasibility vs. Effectiveness) using Worksheet #6

Resources you can use:

Google

Bing

• 2017-18 Luperon School Report Card Data
• 2016-17 Luperon School Report Card Data
• Luperon Report Card Data (2003-2016)
• Math Regents for ELLs
• Graduation Requirements for ELLs

· 2012 Scores

• Regent Scores 2017

EVALUATION

Rubric for PowerPoint and Oral Presentation

	Awesome 4	Admirable 3	Acceptable 2	Unacceptable 1	Self- Assessment	Teacher Assessment
Critical thinking	Thoughtfully and accurately interprets results, shows in-depth understanding of major ideas	Identifies relevant arguments, justifies results, offers reasons	Usually justifies results and offers reasons	Misinterprets data, gives unjustified arguments
Quality of information	Covers topic thoroughly, includes details that support the topic	Includes essential information, includes some supporting details	Includes most essential information, details are somewhat sketchy	Lacks essential information
Organization	Well organized and coherent, topics are in logical sequence, includes clear introduction and conclusions	Organized, some topics are out of logical order, conclusions are generally clear	Some organization, topics jump around, conclusions are unclear	Not organized, topics make no sense
Grammar and spelling	All grammar and spelling are correct	Only one or two errors	More than two errors	Very frequent grammar and/or spelling errors
Visual design	Visually appealing, clean simple layout, text is easy to read, graphics enhance understanding of ideas	Visually attractive, text is easy to read, colors enhance readability, graphics and special effects do not distract from understanding ideas	Text is sometimes hard to read, sometimes graphics or special effects distract from understanding	Text is very difficult to read, layout is cluttered and confusing
Oral presentation	Well prepared, speaks clearly, makes eye contact with audience, delivers with ease, invites questions	Engages audience, fluid delivery, uses different approach other than simply reading screen, invites questions	Clear and understandable, uses limited delivery techniques	Not clear, not understandable
Teamwork	Willingly accepts and fulfills individual role in group, sensitive to feelings and needs of group members	Fulfills individual role within group without prompting, respectful of others	Works toward group goals with occasional prompting, maintains positive attitude	Works toward group goals only when prompted, needs occasional reminders to be sensitive to others
				Total

CONCLUSION

You have conducted your Public Policy Analyst with using the six steps on the issue of Student Performance on Mathematical Regents. Congratulations!

STANDARDS

NYS Standards

Social Studies

Standard 1: Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of major ideas, eras, themes, developments, and turning points in the history of the United States and New York.

ELA

9-10R1: Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly/implicitly and make logical inferences; develop questions for deeper understanding and for further exploration.

Mathematics

Statistics and Probability

AI-S.ID.1. Represent data with plots on the real number line (dot plots, histograms, and box plots).