Amber Metz

Senior Practicum
Clark
Pre-Assessment
Pre-Assessment Description
Goal:
The goal of the assessment I administered was to discover what students
currently know about the letters of the alphabet. More specifically, I hoped to
determine how proficient students are at identifying the upper case and lower case
letters of the alphabet.
This pre-assessment is important because I need to make sure I have a
complete understanding of the students current knowledge of the letters of
alphabet, in order to effectively teach them. This will enable me to know exactly
where they are at, and use their prior knowledge to make them feel comfortable
with learning the alphabet.
Reliability, Validity, Bias:
I feel that the pre-assessment that I administered was as reliable, valid, and
unbiased as I could make it. It was reliable because each student received the same
exact test. I also printed off a script that I said word for word to each student. I
didnt give any of the students any extra clues or hints. I also didnt tell the students
if their answers were right or wrong. I gave each student as much time as they
needed to complete the assessment, so they didnt feel rushed or stressed. The
students each took the test individually in the same corner of the classroom.
The assessment was valid because it tested what it was purported to
measure, which was what upper case and lower case letters of the alphabet the
students could identify. I wanted to find out which letters the students already knew
and which ones they needed help identifying, so each student had a sheet of paper
in front of them with a large rectangle on the top half and on the bottom half. In the
top rectangle were each upper case letter of the alphabet in no particular order. On
the bottom half was each lower case letter of the alphabet in no particular order.
From the left to right, the student was to point to each letter and as they pointed to
it state what letter it was. If they didnt know it, they could say I dont know and
move on to the next letter, or simply move on without saying anything.
Though it is impossible to make a test 100% reliable due to many factors that
are out of your control, the only bias that occurred during the pre-assessment was
the noise level of the classroom was different while each student was taking the
test. This could cause some students to not be able to focus or concentrate, so I
should have administered the test out in the hallway where it was a little quieter.
Administration Conditions
The pre-assessment was administered at 8:35 a.m. on Monday, October 19 th.
It was given during the students morning work time. I pulled the students
individually to the back corner of the room and read each of them the same script
before we got started. I let them know that if they did recognize a letter they could
take a guess or simply just move on to the next one. I asked each student if they

Amber Metz
Senior Practicum
Clark
had any questions for me before we got started on the assessment. Some students
would try and ask me if their answer was right or wrong throughout the assessment,
but I had to tell them to keep going.

Standards
The unit standard that I chose to use in my pre-assessment for the students
was CCSS.RF.K.1.d Recognize and name all upper- and lowercase letters of the
alphabet. Though I have a few more standards that I am covering in my unit, I felt
that this standard was most important to assess. I am teaching in an extended title
one kindergarten classroom, so the students that I am working with are going
through early intervention to catch up with where they are supposed to be at.
Because of this, I decided to focus on identifying each letter of the alphabet. If the
students cannot identify a letter, they are not going to be able to identify the
letters sound. This is the foundational skill that will help them identify letter sounds
and putting letters together to create words. By finding out which letters they can
identify and which ones they still need help with, I am able to plan my lessons
according to the needs of each student.

Pre-Assessment Analysis

Score

60
50
40
30
20
10
0

Student Numbers

Data Analysis

Amber Metz
Senior Practicum
Clark

Pre-Assessment Analysis

Number of Students Who Correctly Identified Item

12
10
8
6
4
2
0

Items on Test

Data Summary
These graphs shows how many letters each student in the class were able to
identify. When they were assessed they had to identify both the upper case and
lower case of each letter, so there were 52 items total. Although the class as a
whole will need to improve in all areas of reading and writing the alphabet, there are
some letters that all or most of the students already know and can identify. Every
student was able to identify the upper case and lower case letter O, as well as the
upper case and lower case letter A. The students consistently missed the upper
case and lower case G, M, H, U V, and Y. This graph shows me how me the letters of
the alphabet the students can identify and which letters I need to put more focus on
during my instruction.
The second graph shows
Unit Design
Based on the pre-assessment, I will adjust my unit design by putting more focus and
emphasis on the letters that a majority of the students do not yet know. By doing
this, I will be teaching effectively and efficiently because I wont be focusing on
letters that most of the students already know. A couple of the students mastered
all of the letters that I was planning on having entire lessons on, so I will have to
make sure to differentiate in my teaching so some students will be working more on
letter sounds instead of letter recognition.