Examining Results

by Carol Brown Dodson

The day you've been preparing your students for has arrived at last. It's the day of the OGT Reading Test. Test booklets have been distributed, and students begin the test. A student in your class reads the passage titled, "Hope Is the Thing with Feathers," an informative article about passenger pigeons. After reading all seven paragraphs in the passage, the student looks at the following multiple-choice question:

As the teacher, you can probably predict what the student will do next. You've already told your classes to reread the paragraph referred to in the question, in this case paragraph 5. Since the paragraphs are numbered, the task is easy. Yet countless students will simply choose an answer without reviewing the paragraph.

You've also told your classes that they sometimes have to "read between the lines," in other words, to infer what the writer means. Of course, students who listened to you and who got it will be cued by the phrase "add to the reader's understanding" that the answer is not stated in the text and instead must be inferred.

The careful, attentive reader reads paragraph 5 again and notices that the author summarizes information from a number of people who were awed by the sight of the pigeons. By including information about where the pigeons were seen, the author makes it obvious that a huge flock of passenger pigeons was not unusual to see. The student might think about times when a large flock of starlings or cowbirds has flown overhead, causing the student to think for a minute of a science fiction scene from a book or movie. The enormous flock then, while startling, is not unusual.

Now the student looks at possible responses, rejecting or accepting each response, one by one. Response A might be a correct response in paragraphs 1-4, but it is not the purpose of paragraph 5, and so the diligent test-taker rejects that answer. What about response B, "how people reacted to their appearance"? Looking back at paragraph 5 again, the student determines that this is a possible correct answer but decides to consider the other two responses before choosing B. Response C can't be correct because paragraph 5 details numerous sightings in many different areas. Going on to response D, the student quickly discards that answer because the author discusses sightings by explorers, not by scientists. This student wisely marks B as the correct response and moves on to the next question.

How Did Students Perform on This Question?

According to the Ohio Department of Education's performance data, only 43 percent of public school students selected answer choice B for question 43 on the March 2004 Ohio Graduation Test for Reading. Fewer than half the students taking the test gave the correct response. Ohio students tend to perform quite well when they are asked to answer questions at the literal level. They can find information in the text. However, when students are asked to dig deeply into text to discover information that is being inferred or suggested rather than directly stated, they are often unable to perform the task.

How Can I Help Them Improve?

One way to improve students' success on an inferential question is to help them think their way through the possible responses to the question. Let them see how they can find the correct response by using the same logic as that given above. This technique is often best taught through the use of similar questions for class discussion and for classroom assessments. Consider asking students to work in small groups to eliminate incorrect responses and to identify correct answers.

A useful place to go for help is the Ohio Resource Center website, where you'll find assessment items from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) included in the ORC collection of resources. The items are correlated to Ohio Academic Content Standards. The NAEP item referred to below is particularly useful for teaching students to respond to questions in which information must be inferred from a careful reading of the passage. In this case, students read an article about Gary Soto and some of his poems, after which they are asked to determine the author's attitude toward Soto. The only way to know the author's attitude toward Soto is by making inferences based on what the writer says. Nowhere in the passage will students find the author's attitude directly stated. The NAEP item is particularly useful because the passage, the performance data, sample student responses, and scorer comments are included. Part of the ORC catalog page appears below. (The complete ORC record, along with a link to the NAEP item, is available at http://www.ohiorc.org/record/?id=2101.)

NAEP Assessment Item, Grade 8: Gary Soto: Author: Attitude Soto/poems
Responding to an article about author Gary Soto, students write a critical response about the writer's attitude toward his subject. This is a sample constructed-response test item used in a past National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) assessment. From this test item, a visitor may view the reading passage and choose to access information regarding general performance on this item, a scoring guide and student responses (in the case of constructed-response items), and performance on this item by various subgroups. The NAEP website also allows visitors to build a printable database of questions by clicking on "Add Question" in the upper right hand corner of the screen. NAEP Reference Number: 1998-8R4, No. 7. (Author/ncl)

How Well Do Students Perform on a Constructed-Response Item?

Now let's take a look at how students respond when presented with a constructed-response item. In the case of a 2- or 4-point question, students are expected to write a short answer (2 points) or an extended response (4 points). An adequate student response usually includes a direct answer to a question regarding author's purpose, theme, figurative language, or other elements, followed by examples or details from the passage to support or prove the answer.

After reading the poem "My Father and the Figtree," students are asked the following question:

The response to this 2-point question receives a 0 score point only if no answer is given or if the response doesn't provide sufficient evidence of understanding the task. Of students taking the March 2004 Ohio Graduation Test for Reading, 58 percent received a score of 0. Only 19 percent of the students received a score of 2. In order to receive 2 points, the response must include a plausible theme for the poem and an example from the poem to support the choice of the theme. To receive 1 point, the response must include a plausible theme for the poem, but the support from the poem is either missing or incorrect.

How Can They Improve Their Responses?

Although it may be useful to remind students to answer every question and to provide them with other test-taking strategies, it is essential that students have an understanding of theme. An outstanding lesson for teaching the concept of theme may be accessed at the ORC website. This lesson helps students to understand four themes―poverty, racism, disrespect, and protest―often identified in To Kill a Mockingbird, by incorporating blues and other literature of the period. (The complete record along with a link to the lesson can be found on the ORC website, http://www.ohiorc.org/record/?id=4560.)

Identity, Oppression, and Protest: To Kill a Mocking Bird and the Blues
African American history during the Jim Crow era includes encounters with poverty, racism, disrespect, and protest. Harper Lee develops all four of these themes in her famous 1960 novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. To help students understand these ideas, this lesson incorporates the blues and other literature of the time. Students begin by examining how authors and artists represent the idea of manhood. Working in small groups, students analyze various texts for universal themes and research the connections between themes expressed in stories, songs, and film and the historical events of the same era. Ultimately, students will be asked to consider both African American oppression and activism through a variety of lenses. (author/ncl)

Why Do Students Miss Easy Questions?

So far, the focus has been on difficult questions, but sometimes we see a question that most students get right. The March 2005 administration of the Ohio Graduation Test for Reading reveals an item that nearly all Ohio tenth graders answered correctly. After reading a passage taken from A Summer Life by Gary Soto, students are asked to respond to the following multiple-choice item by identifying an appropriate subtitle for the story.

The performance data for this item indicate that it was quite easy―88 percent of the students taking the test answered the item correctly. But what if you have a student or perhaps several students who answered this item incorrectly? You have reason to be concerned about any student who has difficulty with such a question.

Answering one question incorrectly doesn't necessarily mean the student needs intervention or support; however, a wrong response to an easy item does send an alarm that here is a student who may need additional help. Additional assessment of the student's reading is needed, initially in the classroom. But ultimately you may wish to refer this student to a reading specialist who can determine whether a problem exists and, if so, can work with you to develop ways to intervene. If you have several students who performed poorly on an item that was answered correctly by most of the state's students, you will find some of the following ORC resources especially useful.

One good lesson for teaching students to analyze what they read by responding to questions revolves around a reading of A Raisin in the Sun. Guiding questions for helping students comprehend the play are included on this site. (The complete record can be found on the ORC website, http://www.ohiorc.org/record/?id=4016.)

Quest for the American Dream in A Raisin in the Sun
People of all backgrounds live in America and come to America dreaming of social, educational, and economic opportunities as well as political and religious freedoms. In this extended lesson, students read and analyze the play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry. Discussions and assignments center on literary elements and figurative language. Students also explore how the social, educational, economic, and political climate of the 1950s affected African Americans' quest for "the American Dream." The critical reading and analysis of the play is complemented with a close examination of biographical and historical documents that students use as the basis for creating speeches, essays, and scripts. This lesson can be integrated into larger units of study on American literature or adapted for cross-curricular instruction. (author/ncl)

A particularly effective lesson for helping students develop and practice reading strategies relies on a high-interest novel as the basis to engage students in comprehension strategies and in activities for addressing the strategies. (The complete record can be found on the ORC website, http://www.ohiorc.org/record/?id=4414.)

A High-Interest Novel Helps Struggling Readers Confront Bullying in Schools
Problems with bullying and violence plague many schools. This lesson helps students understand these problems in depth. Using a realistic, high-interest novel, The Bully by Paul Langan, and interactive reading strategies (such as T-charts, response journals, and readers theater), students discuss and deal with the many issues that surround bullying. Working in small groups, students brainstorm solutions as they consider what can be done to prevent bullying. This lesson provides many comprehension strategies, complete with downloadable activity sheets and graphic organizers, to support a deeper understanding of the text. The novel, written for adolescents, tells the story of a freshman's experience at an urban high school, and should be very appealing to a wide range of readers. (author/ncl)

Performance data released by the Ohio Department of Education provide additional information for analyzing the performance of your students. By reviewing comments included with the performance data, it's easier to understand how benchmarks are assessed and scored. Yet, while results are useful, nothing can substitute for teaching students the skills, strategies, and knowledge defined by the Ohio standards.

Carol Brown Dodson is the outreach specialist for the Ohio Resource Center. Dodson was an English language arts consultant for the Ohio Department of Education and is past president of OCTELA (Ohio Council of Teachers of English Language Arts). Dodson, formerly a high school English teacher, department chair, and supervisor of English language arts in Columbus Public Schools, serves on the Ohio Graduation Test Reading Content Committee.

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