Kennedy 1

Hannah Kennedy
ENGL 428
Impact of Student Learning

I. Description

This analysis of student learning represents data collected from Matthew Rezac’s sixth

grade English classroom at Shawsville Middle School in Shawsville, VA. Although there are

69 students in total within the five classes, only two class periods consisting of 19 students

were included in this study. Students who were absent within these classes were not included

in the results to control variables and to keep data consistent. Out of these 19 students, 11 are

male and 8 are female, and 95% of the students are white and 5% are Hispanic. Both of these

classes perform at grade level and do not need to have a co-teacher present.

The unit of study analyzed in this report was supposed to be a four-week (twenty day)

poetry unit consisting of figurative language, sound devices, poetic forms, and imagery.

However, due to the Covid-19 virus, we had to convert this unit into an online format.

Although I still managed to give the students their pre-test before the schools closed, I was

not be able to give an accurate post-test, meaning that the end results of my data are a

projection of how I believe, based on previous work, the students would have performed on

the post-test.
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The goals of this unit of study include:

a. Students will be able to differentiate correctly between prose and poetry.

b. Students will be able to recognize elements of poetry including line, stanza, and

speaker.

c. Students will be able to correctly identify and replicate various types of figurative

language within poetry including simile, metaphor, personification, and hyperbole.

d. Students will be able to correctly identify and replicate various types of sound devices

within poetry including rhyme, rhyme scheme, repetition, refrain, alliteration, and

onomatopoeia.

e. Students will be able to correctly identify and replicate poetic forms including haiku,

limerick, and free verse poetry.

f. Students will be able to correctly identify and replicate imagery and mood within

poetry.

The students were assessed for these skills through a 15-question multiple choice test

using paper and pencil. These questions required students to identify specific definitions of each

poetry term, as well as questions that required the students to identify these terms within excerpts

of poetry. Although the post-test was not able to be given, if it had been, the questions would not

have been altered or re-arranged in any way, no questions would have been added, and the test

would have been given in the same way as the pre-test.

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English 6 Poetry Knowledge Assessment

1. _______ - A group of lines forming a single unit in a poem.

A. Meter
B. Paragraph
C. Stanza
D. Style

2. What poetic form is this poem in?

There was a young girl on a tower

Who looked just as fresh as a flower.
Her hair was like silk,
Her skin smooth as milk,
But her breath made the strongest knight cower.

A. Limerick
B. Ballad
C. Haiku
D. Free Verse

3. __________ - The repetition of the same consonant sound at the beginning of words.
A. Alliteration
B. Rhyme
C. Repetition
D. Tone

4. _____________ - figure of speech in which a thing, idea or animal is given human

like qualities.
A. Idiom
B. Hyperbole
C. Onomatopoeia
D. Personification
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5. Which poetic form this poem an example of?

An ocean voyage.
As waves break over the bow,
The sea welcomes me.

A. Limerick
B. Ballad
C. Haiku
D. Free verse

6. “When the Sun paints the desert with its gold” is an example of a(n) –

A. Simile
B. Rhyme
C. Alliteration
D. Personification

7. What poetic device can be found in this poem?

Bright streaks whiz through

the sky.
Thunk! Whoosh!
Brightly colored explosions
sizzle and pop, pop, pop.

A. Onomatopoeia
B. Alliteration
C. Simile
D. Metaphor

8. What type of figurative language is “They fought like cats and dogs” an example of?
A. Metaphor
B. Alliteration
C. Rhyme
D. Simile
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9. What is the rhyme scheme of this poem?

A Bird, came down the Walk -

He did not know I saw -
He bit an Angle Worm in halves
And ate the fellow, raw,

A. A, B, C, D
B. A, B, B, C
C. A, B, C, B
D. A, A, B, C

10. What poetic form or poetic device is this poem an example of?

Time the terrifying tiger

Tiptoes through tangled trees
His twitching tail thumping
His terrible teeth terrifying
turtles.
Who tumble away.

A. Ballad
B. Personification
C. Hyperbole
D. Alliteration

11. What are type of figurative language are these lines an example of?

“I’m so hungry I could eat a horse.”

“Her phone was blowing up!”
“It’s raining cats and dogs.”
“I walked a million miles to get here!”

A. Hyperbole
B. Personification
C. Metaphor
D. Simile
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12. What poetic device can be seen in this poem?

Have you ever heard the planet

Hold its breath before a storm?
Like an audience in wait
Before the curtains are withdrawn.
It’s the gentle buzz of wild things
Straining leaves toward the sky,
The steady thrum of wings
Taking their owners somewhere dry.

Then for a second it’s nothing

But the beat of nature’s heart,
Until as though its lungs have burst
The grey sky rips itself apart.
And just like that the earth’s alive
As it collectively exhales,
The wind whips through the trees
Whilst they all bend beneath its wails
Then as the first drop falls
There is a gasp, and then a pause,
Before it seems the whole world breaks
Into a deafening applause.

A. Imagery
B. Alliteration
C. Metaphor
D. Hyperbole

13. How many stanzas and lines are in the poem in question 12?
A. 4 Stanzas, 10 lines
B. 2 Stanzas, 40 lines
C. 2 Stanzas, 20 lines
D. 3 Stanzas, 15 lines

14. __________ - is a comparison of something using like or as.

A. Alliteration
B. Imagery
C. Simile
D. Metaphor
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15. _________ - is language that emphasizes sensory language to help the reader see,
hear, feel, smell, and taste the scenes described.
A. Tone
B. Imagery
C. Metaphor
D. Line
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II. Analysis of Results

Number of Students Who Answered Correctly on the Pre-Test and

Hypothetical Post-Test
20

18

16

14

12

10

0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
on on on on on on on on on n n n n n n
e sti e sti e sti e sti e sti e sti e sti e sti e sti tio tio tio tio tio tio
Qu Qu Qu Qu Qu Qu Qu Qu Qu es es es es es es
Qu Qu Qu Qu Qu Qu

Number of students who answered correctly on the pre-test

Number of students who scored correctly on the hypothetical post-test

a. Analysis of Individual Questions

Question 1 – 15 Students (78%) answered the question correctly for the pre-test, and I projected

that all 19 (100%) would have answered the question correctly on the post-test, resulting in a

22% gain.

Question 2 – 7 Students (37%) answered the question correctly for the pre-test, and I projected

that 13 students (68%) would have answered the question correctly on the post-test, resulting in

a 31% gain.
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Question 3 – 4 Students (21%) answered the question correctly for the pre-test, and I projected

that 12 students (63%) would have answered the question correctly on the post-test, resulting in

a 42% gain.

Question 4 – 7 Students (37%) answered the question correctly for the pre-test, and I projected

that 15 students (79%) would have answered the question correctly on the post-test, resulting in

a 42% gain.

Question 5 – 6 Students (32%) answered the question correctly for the pre-test, and I projected

that 19 students (100%) would have answered the question correctly on the post-test, resulting in

a 68% gain.

Question 6 – 4 Students (21%) answered the question correctly for the pre-test, and I projected

that 8 students (42%) would have answered the question correctly on the post-test, resulting in a

21% gain.

Question 7 – 9 Students (47%) answered the question correctly for the pre-test, and I projected

that 16 students (84%) would have answered the question correctly on the post-test, resulting in

a 37% gain.

Question 8 – 8 Students (42%) answered the question correctly for the pre-test, and I projected

that 15 students (79%) would have answered the question correctly on the post-test, resulting in

a 37% gain.

Question 9 – 3 Students (16%) answered the question correctly for the pre-test, and I projected

that 10 students (53%) would have answered the question correctly on the post-test, resulting in

a 37% gain.
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Question 10 – 4 Students (21%) answered the question correctly for the pre-test, and I projected

that 9 students (47%) would have answered the question correctly on the post-test, resulting in a

26% gain.

Question 11 – 3 Students (16%) answered the question correctly for the pre-test, and I projected

that 14 students (74%) would have answered the question correctly on the post-test, resulting in

a 58% gain.

Question 12 – 8 Students (42%) answered the question correctly for the pre-test, and I projected

that 18 students (95%) would have answered the question correctly on the post-test, resulting in

a 53% gain.

Question 13 – 5 Students (26%) answered the question correctly for the pre-test, and I projected

that 19 students (100%) would have answered the question correctly on the post-test, resulting in

a 74% gain.

Question 14 – 13 Students (68%) answered the question correctly for the pre-test, and I

projected that 18 students (95%) would have answered the question correctly on the post-test,

resulting in a 27% gain.

Question 15 – 14 Students (74%) answered the question correctly for the pre-test, and I

projected that 17 students (89%) would have answered the question correctly on the post-test,

resulting in a 15% gain.

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i. Student Performance Based on Gender

Comparison of Results Based on Gender

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
Male Female

Average Pre-test Score Average Post-test Score

 The male students’ pretest average was 35% with a hypothetical post-test average of

72%, showing a 37% gain.

 The female students’ pre-test average was 44% with a hypothetical post-test average of

81%, showing a 37% gain.

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iii. Student Performance Based on Class Period

100
1st Period Pre & Post-test Score Comparison
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Student 1 Student 2 Student 3 Student 4 Student 5 Student 6 Student 7 Student 8

Pre-test Score Hypothetical Post-test Score

1st Period Pre-test Score Hypothetical Post- Percent Gain/

test Score Decrease

Student 1 47% 87% 40% Gain
Student 2 33% 80% 47% Gain
Student 3 80% 100% 20% Gain
Student 4 33% 80% 47% Gain
Student 5 47% 87% 40% Gain
Student 6 40% 80% 40% Gain
Student 7 33% 73% 40% Gain
Student 8 33% 63% 30% Gain
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4th Period Pre & Post-test Score Comparison

100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Student 1 Student 2 Student 3 Student 4 Student 5 Student 6 Student 7 Student 8 Student 9 Student Student
10 11

Pre-test Score Hypothetical Pst-test Score

4th Period Pre-test Score Hypothetical Post- Percent Gain/

test Score Decrease

Student 1 33% 87% 54% Gain
Student 2 27% 67% 40% Gain
Student 3 33% 73% 40% Gain
Student 4 53% 100% 47% Gain
Student 5 47% 93% 46% Gain
Student 6 47% 87% 40% Gain
Student 7 33% 93% 60% Gain
Student 8 27% 67% 40% Gain
Student 9 40% 87% 40% Gain
Student 10 33% 80% 47% Gain
Student 11 20% 53% 33% Gain
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vii. Comparison of Results of Two Individual Students

Pre & Hypothetical Post-test Scores of Two Individual Students

100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
Student 1 Student 2

Pre-Test Score Hypothetical Post-test Score

Student 1’s pre-test score was 33% and the hypothetical post-test score was 80%, resulting in a

47% gain.
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Student 2’s pre-test score was 47% and the hypothetical post-test score was 93%, resulting in a

46% gain.

III. Reflection

Although I was unable to give a formal post-test, I have still been able to teach the core

goals of my poetry unit online. Out of those who have been able to participate, I have been

extremely delighted in the amount of material that the students have been able to understand and

grasp. Based on the material that I have received from these students within the past and based

on the results that I have been able to receive online; I truly believe that these students would

have been able to improve greatly on the post-test.

Even though the pre-test ultimately gave me a good idea on how much I needed to go

over certain material within my unit, I knew that I could not solely rely on the results of a

multiple-choice test. Although the two classes that I chose do not have students with IEP’s or

504’s, there were several students who were concerned about taking a test on something they had

not been taught yet. Even after I calmly explained to the students that this is simple a knowledge

assessment, that it was just for me and would not be graded, and that even if they didn’t know an
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answer it didn’t matter and that that was the entire point of the assessment, the students had

testing anxiety. The students were already worried about the post-test before they had even taken

the pre-test. As an educator, this definitely made this a hard activity to out on my students, and

while it was informative, I do not think that simply relying on data-driven instruction provides an

accurate picture of how a classroom and its’ students truly function and learn. Even though I was

not able to give a post-test, I was still able to learn that tests are not necessarily an accurate

representation of student learning and comprehension. Even if I had included accommodations to

all students, or read the test aloud to the entire class, I know that this study would still yield the

same results: that a student cannot be truly judged by percentages on a paper, and that these

percentages and results cannot replace what can be understood within the classroom itself.