Trull 1

TWS 5: Pre-Assessment Analysis

Explanation of What Students Know
In order to determine what my students already know regarding the topics in the
upcoming unit, A Struggle for Equality, I conducted three pre-assessments that measured my
students knowledge, understanding, past experience, and dispositions toward the topics of
equality and inequality, slavery, Native Americans and the Trail of Tears, and the U.S.
Constitution and Bill of Rights. For the first pre-assessment, I conducted a K-W-L chart that
measured the students knowledge of the disciplinary content that will be covered in the
upcoming unit. I asked students to tell me everything they knew and all they wanted to know
about the following topics: The U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights, slavery, and the Native
Americans and Trail of Tears. Out of these three topics, students seemed to know the most about
slavery and the least about the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. At the beginning of the year,
we talked about the Native Americans in Georgia before the settlement of the Europeans;
therefore, they knew some about Native Americans, but most of the students did not have
knowledge of the Trail of Tears or an understanding of the devastation it caused.
For the second pre-assessment, I gave my students the following writing prompt: Martin
Luther King Jr. once said, I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, sons of
former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit together at the table of
brotherhood. The struggle for equality has existed since the beginning of time. How do you
interpret past and present struggles for equality? How do you see a struggle for equality in your
own life? This pre-assessment not only measured their knowledge of past and present issues
surrounding equality and inequality, but it also allowed them to connect their past experiences of
inequality to the theme of the upcoming unit. In their essay, every student recognized the past
struggle for equality; however, each student interpreted this past struggle in various ways. For

Trull 2
example, most students talked about the struggle for equality among the races, however, only a
few students actually mentioned the word slavery. In their essays, students also talked about
the past struggle of equality for women. Most of the students believe that inequality still exists
today, yet two of my students continued to feel that the world embodies equality. When my
students wrote about the struggle for equality that exits today, they connected the continuation of
inequality with their own experiences. Students wrote about some of the things that make them
feel unequal among their peers. For example, students talked about how they are discriminated
and treated unfairly because of their age, appearance, socioeconomic status, popularity at school,
family structure, intelligence, talents, race, and gender. Overall, most of my students know that
there was a struggle for equality in the past and that it still exists today; however, these essays
prove that my students dont know much about why there was a struggle for equality or about the
historical events surrounding this struggle.
For the third pre-assessment, I gave the students an anticipation/reaction guide that
consisted of absolute statements that represented the issues we will be talking about in the
upcoming unit. This form of assessment not only tested their content knowledge and knowledge
of the theme, but it also allowed me to understand their current attitudes and dispositions related
to the topics and issues to be covered. For example, the statements referenced the Civilization
Policy forced upon Native Americans, the power struggle between the state and national
governments, rights of individuals, the Indian Removal Act, slavery, the cotton gin, and the
importance of multiple perspectives. This allowed me to see that more than half of my students
are undecided, based on their noncommittal answers, concerning the attitudes and dispositions
intended as a result for this unit. Because of this, I know that I will need to form learning
experiences that will help them to strengthen and build upon these dispositional objectives.

Trull 3
Response to Final Question
When I conducted TWS two, I found that my students had an interest in the inequality of
todays society. After assessing three pre-tests that gauged the students prior knowledge about
the content, their attitude and dispositions regarding the content, and their reaction to the subject
of past and present equality, I have a better understanding of their current knowledge and why
they are interested/concerned about the issue of inequality. They are concerned about this topic
because each one of them has experienced some form of a struggle for equality. Some faced
inequality because of their skin color, their gender, their appearance, their possessions, or their
lack of a parent. They know about some of the events in our historys past that represented
inequality; however, they are still struggling with the understanding of why it existed and why it
still exists.
I chose to analyze the three pre-assessments of two different sub-groups of students. The
first group consists of five boys who are all close friends. They sit together at lunch and in the
classroom and they also hangout outside of school together. Each one of these boys possesses the
potential to reach great success; however, because they sit together in class, they sometimes
become distracted. Their potential as well as their tendency to become distracted is evident in
their pre-assessments. When assessing the KWL, two didnt follow directions and the rest were
able to tell me that they knew some about slavery, even less about the U.S. Constitution and Bill
of Rights, and nothing about The Trail of Tears. They all understand inequality, have experienced
it before, and see that it exists today. Three out of the five boys were indecisive in some of their
dispositions toward the content, as demonstrated through the anticipation guide. The second
group consists of four Caucasian boys in the classroom. These students are not friends with each
other and rarely interact. On the KWL pre-assessment, three out of the four boys knew some
things about slavery, two knew about The Trail of Tears, and only one knew something about the

Trull 4
U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. When reading their essays, I saw that all four boys have
experienced inequality before; however, they have all experienced it in different ways. For
example, Duncan experienced discrimination because he was white, David struggled for equality
when he was being bullied, Joshua continues to struggle for equality because of his familys lack
of money, and Cody experiences inequality because he lacks a father in his life. Because I have
analyzed these different sub-groups, I have a better understanding of where different individuals
stand in relation to the future content, and I can, therefore, better plan more appropriate and
engaging instruction (Popham 10).
The accuracy of the inferences I make through these three pre-assessments are critical
because my understanding of the students knowledge, abilities, and attitudes will form the basis
for my future instructional decisions. I will modify the design of my integrated unit, The
Struggle for Equality, in order to properly balance what the students already know and what
they do not know in order to produce challenging learning experiences (Popham 5). Because my
students know more about slavery than the other topics, I will make sure to devote more time
establishing a foundation of the other topics while continuing to build on their current
foundational knowledge of slavery. Knowing that most of my students have experienced some
type of inequality in their life, I want to make sure to emphasize the importance of past struggles
for equality, while also addressing present-day inequalities and incorporating, in the daily lesson
plans, ways to help my students overcome their current struggles. As evidenced through the
anticipation guide, most students are struggling with what they value and what they believe. I
plan to revolve my daily lessons around not only the content standards, but also the attitudes and
dispositions I want my students to possess.

Trull 5

Essay on the Struggle for Equality

A: The struggle for equality stil

exists today

6% 0%

B: The struggle for equality do

not exist today

29%

21%

C: The struggle for equality exi

in the past

D: The struggle is based on ra

E: The struggle is based on ge

4%

F: The struggle is based on ag

39%

ANTICIPATION/REACTION GUIDE:
PERCENTAGE
OF
STUDENTS
WHO
AGRRED
A: It's okay to force someone to be
civilized as long
as it will
help bothWITH
parties THE
in theSTATEMENTS
long run.

B: Individual states should have more power than the National Government

C: People should have the right to speak about their beliefs, to worship in their own way, and to be tried by a jury
15%
28%
D: It's okay to make someone move off their own land if you provide them with even more land somewhere else
8%
E: If someone works for you, they are considered your property
9%
29%
5%
F: The invention of the cotton gin increased the use of slavery in the South
6%

G: It's important to recognize and value different perspectives

Graphic Representations of Pre-Assessment Data

Trull 6

Trull 7

KWL Chart: US Constitution & Bill of Rights

Know
Want to Know
The Bill of Rights contains the first 10
What is in the Constitution?
amendments
Who wrote the Constitution?
The Constitution was amended 27 times
Why do we need a Bill of Rights?
The Bill of Rights states that all people
Why do we have more laws than we do
of the right to be free
rights?
They were both made by the
government
The Constitution was signed on July 4th
The Constitution contains the Bill of
Rights
KWL Chart: Native Americans & The Trail of Tears
Know
Want to Know
The Trail of Tears passed through
What happened?
Milledgeville
How far was the Trail of Tears?
The Native Americans were forced to
Where did the Trail of Tears start and
walk on the Trail of Tears
end?
Why were the Native Americans forced
to give up their homes?
Why is it called The Trail of Tears?
What is the Trail of Tears?
KWL Chart: Slavery
Know
Want to Know
Underground railroad
What are the famous slave stories?
Used for labor purposes
Why were slaves black and not white?
Started during the colonization of North
How long did slavery last?
American and ended after the Civil War
Why did we have slavery?
Best way to make a profit
How bad was slavery?
Brought Africans to America
How old is the practice of slavery?
They were traded, sold, and owned
Why were people treated unequally?
Abraham Lincoln abolished slavery
There was a lot of it in the South
There were no black slave owners
They were raped and beaten
Slaves were not only blacks
They had to pick cotton
They worked without being paid
Lynching

Common Themes Represented in KWL Charts

Trull 8

Trull 9
References
Popham, W. J. (2003). Test Better, Teach Better: The Instructional Role of
Assessment. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.