Missouri Pre-Service Teacher Assessment (MoPTA)
Library of Examples – Task 4 Non Video
Example Task 4, Step 1, Textbox 4.1.4
Below are two examples of written responses to Textbox 4.1.4 as excerpted from the portfolios of two different
candidates. The candidate responses were not corrected or changed from what was submitted. One response was
scored at the Met/Exceeded Standards level, and the other response was scored at the Did Not Meet/Partially
Met Standards level. This information is being provided for illustrative purposes only. These excerpts are not
templates for candidates to use to guarantee a successful score. Rather, they are examples that candidates can
use for comparison purposes to see the kinds of evidence that they may need to add to their own work.
The work you submit as part of your response to each task must be yours and yours alone. Your written
commentaries, the student work and other artifacts you submit must all feature teaching that you did and work
that you supervised.
Step 1: Planning the Sequence of Lessons Within the Unit
Textbox 4.1.4: Focus Students Who Reflect Different Learning Needs, for the Sequence of Lessons
Met/Exceeded Standards Level
Focus Student1:
a. Focus student 1 has a Lexile score of 1242. This score is above grade level expectation. Based on this score, I can tell
that he will have no trouble reading any of the texts I have planned for the unit. In terms of other learning goals, he likes
to be a perfectionist and at the junior level, this mentality has to change. His main learning goal will be to realize that
making mistakes are acceptable if balanced with success.
b. The areas of growth that will be focused on are social skills and critical analysis. I chose these areas of growth
because he has a tough time with confusion between having a constructive discussion and socializing. In terms of critical
analysis, he needs to begin understanding that as he gets older, the courses will become more difficult in rigor and by
effect, he will be required to keep pushing himself to increase critical analysis skills.
c. The three work samples help to demonstrate the increase in work with social skills because all three involve small
group discussions and will allow for this student to become better at working with discussion time in a positive way. As
the three student work samples display working with critical analysis and they have an increase in DOK which shows
varying and increasing critical analysis skills.
Focus Student 2:
a. Focus student 2 has a lexile score of 958. This score is below the grade level expectation. Based on this score, the
student will have a difficulty reading the more complex literature in the unit. When looking at the learning goals, this
score will hinder her ability to be effective at the assignments which require higher DOK levels of critical analysis. Her
main learning goal will be to complete the in class activities with 100% accuracy and to complete all homework and
essay work 100% with at least a 75% accuracy.
b. The areas of growth that will be focused on are collaboration, critical analysis, and time management. The reason that
I chose to focus on collaboration with her is because she has difficulty with using the collaboration time. When asked to
share her ideas with others, she chooses to not say much and to focus on working on her own. Based on discussions I
have had with several of her past teachers and past assessments I understand that she struggles with getting past mere
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understanding of ideas and beginning to analyze the information that is being discussed. In terms of time management,
she generally completes assignments before most other people and instead of using the extra time to go over her
answers and to hone what she has done on assignments, she chooses to do other things. This needs to be addressed in
order to be more effective with the course work.
c. The three assignments will demonstrate the learning progress in various ways. The assignment called "The Earth is
Precious" will demonstrate the collaboration area of growth because the second half of the assignment will involve
collaborating on the two versions of the text. It will be required for her to collaborate in order to help her own work as
well as to help her partner. All three assignments will be important in demonstrating the aspects of critical analysis in
that they will increase in expectations and difficulty and it will show her growth. Finally, the three texts will demonstrate
the learning growth of time management in that the assignments will vary in length, so she can practice using the extra
time in different ways based on the length of time required for the assignments.
Refer to the Task 4 Rubric for Textbox 4.1.4 and ask yourself:
 In the candidate’s description of identifying resources and collecting data, where is there evidence of the
following?
 Use of baseline data to identify the learning needs of each Focus Student
 Areas of growth targeted for each Focus Student during the sequence of lessons, with a reason for the
choice
 An explanation of how the three student work samples from each Focus Student will demonstrate learning
progress
 Why is the candidate’s response detailed and thorough?
Step 1: Planning the Sequence of Lessons Within the Unit
Textbox 4.1.4: Focus Students Who Reflect Different Learning Needs, for the Sequence of Lessons
Did not Meet/Partially Met Standards Level
Focus Student 1
A. By analyzing the pre-assessment data, Focus Student 1 has mastered all given shapes besides a rhombus. Since it is
common among students entering kindergarten to call this shape a diamond, Focus Student 1 will benefit from the
multiple learning activities where we analyze the rhombus and discuss why we call it by its real name.
B. Focus Student 1 will specifically need to focus on the rhombus and understand that it is the same shape as a diamond
but rather its real name. This student could also benefit from being instructed not to rush through their work and to go
back and add details or further practice the concept.
C. The student work will demonstrate their mastery of the objective and will identify if the student has made progress in
recognition of the rhombus as their already familiar shape, the diamond. The detail in the students work will
demonstrate whether the student has applied the feedback given and has made growth.
Focus Student 2
A. Focus Student 2 is going to need one on one assistance when it comes to mastering the objective This student only
scored 2/9 on the pre-assessment, only being familiar with a heart and a star. Focus Student 2 isn’t able to draw the
shapes themselves yet, so they will need assistance either hand over hand or by drawing the dotted lines for them to
trace over.
B. For this student, the specific goal I will be working on is for this student to be able to recognize 5 out 9 shapes when
given the pre-assessment for a second time. This student has no writing skills yet, so setting a goal of drawing the shapes
is asking the student to go beyond their ability, not to mention it will take the student longer than a week to master such
tasks.
C. The work samples collected from Focus Student 1 will demonstrate the student's ability or inability to draw the
shapes themselves. By analyzing the students markings, one can observe the lack of writing skills the student has. That
being said, this does not mean the student can not recognize the shapes and will therefore need to be verbally assessed
during their drawing time to see if they can identify the shape when it is pointed to.
Refer to the Task 4 Non Video Rubric for Textbox 4.1.4 and ask yourself:
 In the candidate’s description of identifying resources and collecting data, where is there evidence of the
following?
 Use of baseline data to identify the learning needs of each Focus Student
 Areas of growth targeted for each Focus Student during the sequence of lessons, with a reason for the
choice
 An explanation of how the three student work samples from each Focus Student will demonstrate learning
progress
 Why is the candidate’s response cursory and partial?
Suggestions for Use
After writing your own rough draft response to the guiding prompts, ask the question, Which parts of these
examples are closest to what I have written? Then read the 4 levels of the matching rubric (labeled with the
textbox number) and decide which best matches your response. Use this information as you revise your own
written commentary.
Lastly, using your work and/or these examples as reference, consider what you believe would be appropriate
artifacts for this textbox.