Section 1: Students

The assessment is given to a group of high school students in the Douglas County School System. Out of the five high schools in the county, Lithia Springs High School is considered Title One for the 2014-2015 school year. The students tested are 17 to 18 years old. They are all seniors in high school. The majority of the students come from an economically disadvantage household as well as receive free and reduced lunch. There are 7 males and 13 females included in the testing group. The group is a diverse bunch with 8 African American students, 4 Hispanic students, 6 Caucasian students and 2 multi-racial students. Out of the 20 students tested, 4 of them have minor disabilities and have optional testing accommodations that can be made for them.

Section 2: Course

The test is a common district assessment for Douglas County School System. It is a Macroeconomics unit test created by multiple economics teachers around the county. All economics students are required to take the common district assessments created for the class and report data out to their supervising administrators. The test is based off of the Georgia Performance Standards for the required Economics course. Specifically, the test is based off of the three Macroeconomics standards as well as the 11 elements that go along with them.

SSEMA1 The student will illustrate the means by which economic activity is measured. a. Explain that overall levels of income, employment, and prices are determined by the spending and production decisions of households, businesses, government, and net exports. b. Define Gross Domestic Product (GDP), economic growth, unemployment, Consumer Price Index (CPI), inflation, stagflation, and aggregate supply and aggregate demand. c. Explain how economic growth, inflation, and unemployment are calculated. d. Identify structural, cyclical, and frictional unemployment. e. Define the stages of the business cycle; include peak, contraction, trough, recovery, expansion as well as recession and depression. f. Describe the difference between the national debt and government deficits.

SSEMA2 The student will explain the role and functions of the Federal Reserve System. a. Describe the organization of the Federal Reserve System. b. Define monetary policy. c. Describe how the Federal Reserve uses the tools of monetary policy to promote price stability, full employment, and economic growth.

SSEMA3 The student will explain how the government uses fiscal policy to promote price stability, full employment, and economic growth. a. Define fiscal policy. b. Explain the government’s taxing and spending decisions.

Objective QuestionsSSEMA1 The student will illustrate the means by which economic activity is measured.

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,24,26,35,36,38,39,40

SSEMA2 The student will explain the role and functions of the Federal Reserve System.

20,21,22,23,25,27,28,37

SSEMA3 The student will explain how the government uses fiscal policy to promote price stability, full employment, and economic growth.

29,30,31,32,33,34

Section 3: Descriptive Analysis

By using Excel descriptive statistics the calculated mean for this assessment is 70.625. The average score being right at the proficiency point shows that we have to pin-point which standards were most missed and remediate. The chart below shows which questions were most missed and the overall average that got the question correct. Red and grey mark incorrect questions while green is a correct answer.

Based on above charts, the following questions require more attention as a whole:

1. Question 22. Question 163. Question 184. Question 195. Question 206. Question 237. Question 278. Question 289. Question 3010. Question 3111. Question 3212. Question 3313. Question 3414. Question 3715. Question 39

The Spearman-Brown reliability formula had a score of .56. This shows that the test may not be reliable as it would have been ideal to have a higher score. This could show that the content taught might not have been taught in a way that we aligned well with the standards or that the test itself didn’t align completely with the standards.

Section 4: Student Strengths & Weaknesses

Student Strengths/WeaknessesMB Weaknesses were scattered amongst the objectives for the test. Most were

found in identifying actions done by the Federal Reserve and Government under monetary and fiscal policy. Others were minor vocabulary weaknesses. For the most part this student has an understanding of the basic Macroeconomic vocabulary.

JB Weaknesses surrounded concept application of monetary and fiscal policy. This student is very strong in macroeconomic vocabulary listed in the objectives for this unit.

VB This student struggled with monetary policy application and the tools of the Federal Reserve System. He was strong in macroeconomic vocabulary as well as Fiscal policy application and tools.

JF Weaknesses were scattered amongst the objectives for this unit test. Basic vocabulary and application of Fiscal and Monetary Policy need to be remediated for this student.

BF This student struggled with application of monetary and fiscal policy across the board. He has some strength in the macroeconomic vocabulary that is listed in the first objective.

JG Weaknesses surrounded concept application of monetary and fiscal policy. This student is very strong in macroeconomic vocabulary listed in the objectives for this unit.

GG This student showed weaknesses in Government and applying Fiscal Policy. Strengths for this student are definitely in objective one vocabulary.

DH This student struggled with monetary policy application and the tools of the

Federal Reserve System. He was strong in macroeconomic vocabulary as well as Fiscal policy application and tools.

HH Overall this student showed strengths across the board in the Macroeconomics unit. There were some scattered weaknesses grouped around Fiscal policy but not many.

WJ This student struggled with the Federal Reserve and the understanding of what they do. They showed strength in applying monetary policy and fiscal policy as well as the macroeconomic vocabulary in objective one.

DJ This student struggled with monetary policy application and the tools of the Federal Reserve System. He was strong in macroeconomic vocabulary as well as Fiscal policy application and tools.

JJ Overall this student showed strengths across the board in the Macroeconomics unit. There were some scattered weaknesses grouped around monetary policy but not many.

AM Weaknesses were scattered amongst the objectives for this unit test. Basic vocabulary and application of Fiscal and Monetary Policy need to be remediated for this student.

LM A lot of the weaknesses for this student revolved around basic vocabulary of the macroeconomic unit. They showed strengths in the application of fiscal and monetary policy.

JM This student struggled with application of monetary and fiscal policy across the board. He has some strength in the macroeconomic vocabulary that is listed in the first objective.

JN Weaknesses were scattered amongst the objectives for this unit test. Basic vocabulary, specifically GDP and Business Cycle, and application of Fiscal and Monetary Policy need to be remediated for this student.

AN Weaknesses were scattered amongst the objectives for this unit test. Basic vocabulary and application of Fiscal and Monetary Policy need to be remediated for this student.

MO Weaknesses were scattered amongst the objectives for this unit test. Basic vocabulary and application of Fiscal and Monetary Policy need to be remediated for this student.

LR Weaknesses were scattered amongst the objectives for this unit test. Basic vocabulary, specifically the Business Cycle, and application of Fiscal and Monetary Policy need to be remediated for this student.

AS This student struggled with application of monetary and fiscal policy across the board. They have some strength in the macroeconomic vocabulary that is listed in the first objective.

Section 5: Improving Plan

After looking at individual Unit strengths and weaknesses it is obvious to me what needs to be done differently. The instructional objectives can not be changed

or adjusted as they are state mandated however the instructional strategies needs to be adjusted. Overall, the students showed strength in the Macroeconomic vocabulary. Objective one is just know basic vocabulary for the unit. Objective 2 and 3 expect a little more application of the vocabulary. They are the higher order objectives. The instructional strategies need to be adjusted to better prepare students to apply the concepts. They need more practice doing just that.

This class needs to be grouped into smaller groups. This is already a small class, however putting them in smaller groups to practice he concepts will help with higher learning.

Looking at the questions most missed does not surprise me. After teaching this unit, I know I need to include stagflation, debt and deficit in my initial economic indicator lessons. These vocabulary terms were left off and only briefly discussed during the review portion of instruction. In the future an individual lesson will be included for the vocabulary terms.

The reliability for this test was very low. In order to improve the reliability for this test a revision will have to be made. There needs to be multiple questions per standard. The amount of questions per standard needs to be relevant to the level of instructional time given in the classroom. It is hopeful that making the necessary assessment revisions will increase the reliability. We will know that the reliability has improved if we see similar results for each question per standard.