Your strategy for reflecting on final exam data can be tricky depending on what information you are awarded by the end. The good thing about a final exam is that you probably know what is going to be on it. You probably know the format, length and question layout. These are all good things! You can very easily prepare your students for the test.
Then you’ll get the data back. There are some things you will get, and other parts you won’t. This is going to be unique to your situation. Perhaps you’ll get an item analysis, or just final scores. Regardless, I think you will benefit from this exam reflection process.
Anecdotal Evidence
First off ask the kids what they think of the test. They will give you such good information if you ask the right questions. Ask them what they thought about the test overall. Was it easy, fair or difficult? What was the hardest question? What part of the test was most annoying or difficult? Make sure to ask about the types of questions. This will give you more information about where the kids are gassing out and lacking the test stamina.
Evaluating Test Scores
Another way of reflecting on final exam data is item analysis. That’s a great thing! It’s a ridiculous amount of data, but it is good that you can ACTUALLY pinpoint the students’ strengths. What I would do here is take a look at the test (or ask the kids if you can’t look) and find an easy, medium and hard question. Then find out how your students handled those questions. See what they did well with, and what they didn’t do so well with.
Evaluating Common Wrong Answers
Common wrong answers are maybe my favorite way to evaluate test data. These are the things that kids aren’t understanding. There’s no single reason why kids get answers wrong. Uncovering the reason is kind of like a puzzle. You can ask the kids of course. But you can also take a hard look at the data.
If it turns out that your students have very similar wrong answers there is usually something that went wrong in your teaching. Something that you taught didn’t land right with the kids. This can be something that is especially tricky for the kids or based in a common misconception.
Typically when the answers are all over the place it means that the kids guessed. This can also mean that something you taught didn’t land the way you wanted it to. But it can also mean that this topic is something that you missed, or didn’t fully prepare the students for. This is good information to have. You can go back to your lesson reflection process or journal and adjust how you teach these lessons.
Sectioned Test Scores
Maybe you don’t have an item analysis. You might have overall section scores. This means you have a score for the multiple choice section, the free response and essay sections. The thing is, you should know your students. You are able to make a prediction about what kids are going to do well and in what sections. Of course, they are just predictions, but there really shouldn’t be too many surprises. These scores can help you to really determine what types of questions your students need help with.
Total Test Scores
This is the worst situation to be in. You only get a final score, you can’t see the test, or the questions. Because you only have one score, this is going to come down to a lot of anecdotal evidence. Ask the kids what they thought of the test, look for surprises, and see what you can do to help the students moving forward. Here, the kids do most of the reflecting on final exam data.
It’s important to be diligent with this. There is no reason to give a final exam and walk away. The more information you can scrape out of this test data the better a teacher you can be. It’s so important to do this for your students. Let the students from this year help you teach your students for years and years to come.
You can learn more about how I use my students to help me grow here!
Test Reflection Guide
You can get my free guide to test reflection here!
