Student Academic
Progress Assignment
(SAPA)
By: Avery Walker
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Goal: By the end of the unit, 100% of my students (25) will get above 60% on the post-test. 50% of my
students (13) will get above 80% on the post-test.
For this assignment, I evaluated academic growth for my 6th period pre-algebra class. In this
period there are 25 students with 8 female and 17 male. Of the 25 students, 8 are Caucasian, 12 are
Hispanic, 4 are African American, and 1 is Kurdish. Of the 25, 6 consistently achieve A’s on their
assignments and tests, 13 consistently achieve B’s and C’s, and 6 achieve scores below C. Of the highest
performers, 3 are Hispanic, 2 are Caucasian, and 1 is African American. Not one student has any
learning disabilities nor any IEP’s, however more than a few students hardly put in enough effort.
The unit I have selected to use is on perimeter and area. This unit will consist of five lessons and
the post-test will occur on the 6th day. In this unit, the students had to know the basic shapes of regular
polygons prior to this unit. Within the unit the students had to understand what perimeter and area
defined as and how to find the perimeter and area of regular polygons and composite figures. The
students were given formula sheets for both the pre-test and the post-test. The pre-test and the posttest had the same questions and they covered squares, rectangles, parallelograms, circles, trapezoids,
and triangles. For each of those shapes the student had to find perimeter and area of each shape.
The tests were 12 questions long with eight regular polygon questions being worth eight points
and two composite perimeter and two composite area questions being worth nine points. In total the
tests were worth a total of 100 points. I thought that the students would be able to follow the formula
sheet for the pre-test but as it came out, most students did not understand what some of the letters
meant and therefore they were unable to figure out the problems. The highest score on the pre-test
ended up being a passing grade of 64%, however, it was the only passing grade. Only one other student
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got above a 50%, while the rest of the class all got below a 50%. There were no multiple choice
questions, it was all open-ended. If I had any multiple choice it was possible that my students could
easily guess the correct answers. I like to see what the students actually know and allowing them to only
show their work in order to get full credit achieves that purpose. For the pre-test a few students could
understand the concept of perimeter and were able to assume what they needed so they could get the
correct answer. For the perimeter portion, most student got their points from this section. However, on
some questions, they had to use the knowledge from past math classes such as the term equilateral to
know the lengths of varying sides on certain shapes. If they didn’t understand this, then they would be
unable to solve the question. For area, it was only if the students knew how to use the formula, they
were able to get it right. All others would just guess or leave the answers blank. While the questions are
worth multiple points, I always give partial credit on tests because in math, one little error makes the
entire question wrong. With area, students use calculators and plugging in one number wrong changes
the outcome of their answer. So, just marking answers as either correct or wrong is something that I do
not believe in. For composite area and perimeter, only one student got both composite perimeter
questions correct and no one got the two composite area questions correct. The overall result of the
tests is shown later on in the graphs with students being given random numbers to represent their
overall scores on each test.
The pre-test was given on a Friday immediately after another units quiz. From the pre-test,
there was a wide range of questions missed. I thought most students would be able to know the
perimeter of a triangle just by looking at it, but about one-fourth of the students missed that question as
well. It is possible that the students were being lazy and did not want to do the test, but regardless, I still
had to cover all shapes for perimeter and area. The results of my pre-test did not change anything that I
had planned to teach and to cover with my students. The wide range of confusion made it impossible for
me to not cover anything, so I had to stick with my 5 lesson plan. Sticking with this 5 lesson plan was
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unfortunate for me because I do enjoy giving a review day, but because of tight scheduling, I was unable
to do so. Regardless the results of the pre-test are shown below.
Pre-Test Score
Pre-Test
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Student Number
In this graphical representation, this shows each students randomly selected number by me and
their pre-test scores. This data shows that Student 7, had the highest pre-test grade of 64%. This student
is female and of Hispanic descent. As the data shows, student’s 1, 2, 4, and 10, all received 0% on the
pre-test. Now I do not think it was because the student’s did not want to take the test, however, it is
possible that the student’s felt they did not need to do well on this test so they put little to no effort into
it. A strength of this test is the fact that it truly tested the student’s knowledge on this unit. It did not ask
for any more than what a student should know for area and perimeter. A weakness is the fact that it was
a test. Many students do not excel at tests and they have anxiety issues when it comes to taking it.
However, in my opinion it is the best way to get a representation on the student’s knowledge in this
subject.
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I expected all 25 students to receive 60% or better on the post-test after the 5 lessons. I also
expected half of my students or about 13 students to receive a grade of 80% or better on the post-test.
As the graph below shows, I succeeded only in one of my goals, that 13 students get 80% or above.
Post-Test Score
Post-Test
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Student Number
All students got 50% or above, however my goal of all students getting above 60% was not
achieved. Three of my students received grades under 60% and each of these students are the ones who
consistently fall under the category of receiving grades below a C. I did achieve the other goal however
which was that at least half of my students would receive scores of 80% or above. According to their
standards this is about right since 6 students normally achieve A’s and 13 are split between B’s and C’s.
So if we take half of the B and C group we would have 13 students achieving 80% or above on this test.
Fortunately we had 14 students achieve this! Then only 6 students received grades below a C, which is
about the norm in the class. So what does this really say about my teaching then? It could be that the
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students who work to achieve higher grades will continue to get higher grades, while those who do not
work for those high scores will continue to get those grades below a C.
This post-test was given after the fifth day of instruction. The only bad thing about administering
the test on day 6 was that it was given after the weekend. If I had the time, I would have given a review
on this day instead of a test, but because of timing, I had to give the test at this time. This data truly
reveals not just the class’ knowledge in this subject but the amount of work each student gives. I believe
each student is capable of attaining a higher score, it is just the work ethic they wish to put in which
determines how well they truly will do. In the next graphical representation, I believe it shows how hard
the student worked during the unit, from pre-test to post-test.
Tests Scores
Pre-Test and Post-Test Comparison
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Student Number
Pre-Test
Post-Test
In this graphical representation, it shows the results side by side with how well the students did.
Student 7, who achieved the highest pre-test score, also had the highest post-test score. Student 7’s
only mistake in the test was missing a number when adding up the sides of a composite figure. Student
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14 had the biggest progress increase. Student 14 scored just 16% on the pre-test, but on the post-test he
had the 2nd best grade in the class with a score of 96%. I believe this truly evaluates the student’s work
ethic. You can clearly see that Student 14 worked very hard to raise his pre-test score. Student 24
however did the opposite. He originally scored a 56% on the pre-test, but only managed to increase his
score by 16% and scored 72%. Unfortunately whenever you see results like this, you wonder what went
wrong. For this student it most likely comes down to paying attention in class during the lesson.
Regardless, the graphical representation shows how well the students did in comparison with the pretest and the post-test.
In the next graphical representation, it shows each tests average score for the total class.
Average Comparison
100
90
80
Score
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Average pre-test
Average post-test
The average pre-test score was about 25%. This means that on average, the students would get
three correct answers and miss nine. This makes sense since the three that were mostly correct was the
triangle and rectangle perimeter questions and the circumference of a circle question. The average posttest score was 78%. This means that the students got about 9 questions correct. The most frequently
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missed questions were, a perimeter word problem, then a trapezoid area question, and finally one of
the composite area questions. The average post-test scores are brought down by the three grades
below 60%, and if all were just at 60%, then the average test score would have been at 80%. These
averages difference was an amazing 53%. This shows their knowledge as a whole class greatly increased
with result of the five lessons.
In this next analysis, I will go question by question showing the results of the students as a
whole class. The questions of the test were given in order of the graphs. First it was the perimeter of the
triangle.
Perimeter Triangle
8
7
Points Possible
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Pre-Test
Post-Test
Most students did not have any difficulty when it came to finding the perimeter of the triangle.
However, as I said before, there were a few that did not know what to do and therefore they ended up
missing the question. For the post-test though, every single student got this question correct. This
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means every single student understands that the perimeter of the triangle comes from adding up the
sides.
Perimeter Rectangle
8
7
Points Possible
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Pre-Test
Post-Test
The next question dealt with the perimeter of a rectangle. The students were only given two
sides of the rectangle and they had to remember the definition of a rectangle to know that opposite
sides are congruent. For the pre-test it seems that a few students did not remember this. So for the
post-test, I made sure I covered that when covering perimeter and area of rectangles. Clearly it worked
because all students got this question correct too for the post-test. This question and the previous one
were the only questions where all of the students in the class were able to get the questions correct. All
of the following questions, at least one student missed it so they would receive partial credit.
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Perimeter Rectangle Word Problem
8
7
Points Possible
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Pre-Test
Post-Test
In this question, the students were given a word problem where you had to find the amount of
fencing a house needed for a rectangular backyard with one side not needing any fencing. For the pretest it seemed that either a student knew what to do or they did not. For the post-test, it was a lot
better, however a few students would just get lost in the word problem and therefore missed the
question.
Composite Perimeter 1
9
8
Points Possible
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Pre-Test
Post-Test
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In this question, the students had to find the perimeter of a square and isosceles trapezoid that
were connected. The students had to recall their previous knowledge to remember what isosceles
meant which is why many students missed this problem. In the post-test, a few students remembered
the discussion about isosceles and therefore were able to get this question correct. Some students just
got lose and did not know what to do when reading the question which is most likely why they wound
up missing it.
Composite Perimeter 2
9
8
Points Possible
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Pre-Test
Post-Test
In this next question the students had to find the perimeter of a composite figure that was made
up of a trapezoid, rectangle, and triangle. Some sides were missing and students had to be able to figure
out what the missing lengths had to be. Most students were unable to do this during the pre-test but by
the time they took the post-test they figured out that they had all the information needed to know the
missing side lengths.
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Circumference
8
7
Points Possible
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Pre-Test
Post-Test
For some reason, circumference was difficult for some students. I ended up asking them what
letter does radius and diameter start with, in order for them to know which formula to use for
circumference. For the pre-test about half the students knew where to find the circumference formula,
but they did not always use the correct one. For the post-test this was fixed because of the lessons and
because of my “spelling” lesson.
Area of circle
8
7
Points Possible
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Pre-Test
Post-Test
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Once again the students seemed to know where to find the formula but they would use the
circumference formula when trying to find area for the pre-test. For the post-test, after giving the
spelling lesson again, the results were much better and the students knew which formula to use.
Area of parallelogram
8
7
Points Possible
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Pre-Test
Post-Test
This question originally tricked students because they were given a slant height as well as a
height. So for the ones who missed this, they either did not know what to do, or they multiplied the
wrong height. In the post-test however the students were able to fix this and knew that the slant height
was just given to distract the students.
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Area of trapezoid
8
7
Points Possible
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Pre-Test
Post-Test
This question did get better from no one getting it correct to a few getting it correct, however, it
did not get the results I had hoped it did. The question stated that the trapezoid was isosceles, which
told the students that the two triangles that made up the trapezoid were the same. This did not seem to
catch on with quite a few students for the post-test and therefore it cost them a few points.
Area of triangle and square sum
8
7
Points Possible
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Pre-Test
Post-Test
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This question had the students find the area of both the triangle and square. What got most of
them was fully reading the question. Most students just saw the triangle and square and knew to find
area. However, the question asked them to find the sum of the areas. Many students therefore ended
up getting about 1 point taken away because of this. Regardless, the students were at least able to find
the areas of both figures, which was the important part of the unit.
Composite area 1
9
8
Points Possible
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Pre-Test
Post-Test
The students had to find the area of a half circle and square which confused a lot of them. Some
students didn’t read the question and therefore did not even know where to start. Others read the
question then found the area of the square and of a full circle. They would then add those two answers
and keep that as their final answer. This is just a case of checking their work which cost many students a
few points.
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Composite area 2
9
8
Points Possible
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Pre-Test
Post-Test
This composite area question consisted of finding the area of a triangle and two rectangles. For
the pre-test most students did not know where to draw lines and therefore were unable to solve it. For
the post-test however the students knew how to draw the lines and were able to fix the problem. Some
however, still had trouble drawing the line then knowing the length of the line.
Overall I feel this unit went very well and within a good enough time frame. Although only one
of my goals was met, I expected a few students to not try as hard and therefore not reach my
expectations. I am very happy however that over half the class were able to achieve a B or higher. I wish
I had just had one more day to review everything. That way the students would have been able to get a
study day in class prior to taking the test. For a lot of students, having that extra review day is the only
studying they will ever do, so it would have been good for them. I also wish to bring in a more exciting
way of understanding what area is. I had a self-discovery lesson prepared for the students, but after
testing it out myself, I found that I did not have enough materials, nor the time to fit it in to my unit. For
future lessons, not just including this one, I plan to incorporate for teaching strategies, rather than notes
and practice. Now that I know these lessons will work, I can begin to experiment and add in a little more
fun activities.
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