NEEDS ANALYSIS 4TH GRADE DIVISION TO FRACTION CONVERSION 1

Needs analysis 4th grade common core standard decimal notation for fractions

Nathaniel Suhr

Student ID: 000937313

Program Mentor: Tasha Sanchez

Assessment Code: JNT2

Month Day, Year

NEEDS ANALYSIS 4TH GRADE DIVISION TO FRACTION CONVERSION 2

Needs analysis 4th grade common core standard decimal notation for fractions

Discussion of Instructional Problem

4th grade students are required to use decimal notation for fractions with denominators 10

or 100. For example, rewrite 0.62 as 62/100; describe a length as 0.62 meters; locate 0.62 on a

number line diagram. (OSPI, 2019) Common core standards were developed to keep alignment

for students across the United States. Although it is no longer required federally, most states have

adopted them as their own to keep this alignment of grade level expectations. Students can’t be

successful in the fifth grade if there is a discrepancy between what they should know from grades

prior and what they do know. This needs analysis was conducted in order to evaluate if there was

a discrepancy.

The students are fourth graders and range in ages from 9-11. There are sixteen students

total, nine of them are boys and seven are girls. There are three Native American students, four

Mexican Americans (two that are English language learners, ELL), and nine Caucasian. Three

students are on individual education plans (IEPS) two for math and English language arts (ELA)

and one for math only. Of the sixteen students six are at or above grade level expectations for

both math and ELA. The remaining nine are below grade level at varying discrepancies including

the students on IEP’s.

Contributing Factors to the Instructional Problem

Foundational understanding of fractions and decimals are the contributing factors to the

instructional problem. Stein et al, states that fractions are one of the most complex sets of skills

covered in elementary Mathematics; nor do they represent a simple extension of familiar skills

(2006). The demographics in the local community are a cause for above average below grade

level performance in the school district. According to Office of Superintendent of Public

NEEDS ANALYSIS 4TH GRADE DIVISION TO FRACTION CONVERSION 3

Instruction (OSPI) of Washington State the Omak school districts students meeting standard on

the state assessment for 2018 3rd grade was 10.6 percent.(2019) This is well below the state

average of 56%. This number is for the 3rd grade cohort that was in 4th grade for the school year

2018-2019. The total population of the school district is roughly over five thousand as of 2018

with the total 4th grade cohort of 2019 being one hundred and twenty.

Current Conditions.

STAR (accelerated reading and math program) was used as a data source for students’

skills. The data was collected every six weeks through the school year starting in October. The

current data was obtained in April between the dates of the 16th-19th. The student group assessed

was 16 home room students in a 4th grade classroom. The demographics are nine boys and seven

girls, three Native American students, four Mexican Americans (two are ELL) and nine

Caucasian. The additional set of data was taking as a pretest from commoncoreworksheets.com.

The data groups the students on skills and the two groups of focus contain nine students total

with a deficiency of pre requisite skills to successfully demonstrate competency in this area. Two

are on IEP’s and lack the skills to begin fractions. While the remaining five students showed

competency.

Desired Condition.

Given instruction on converting decimals to fractions within tenths and hundredths

students will successfully convert decimals to fractions within tenths and hundredths in eight out

of ten problems.
NEEDS ANALYSIS 4TH GRADE DIVISION TO FRACTION CONVERSION 4

Data Collection Process

Discussion of Data Collection Instruments Used

There were two sets of data collection utilized for this needs analysis. The first is from

Renaissance STAR program utilized by the school district. The second was a brief pre

assessment given to students. The STAR Math testing is a program that aligns with common core

and some state testing formats to give teachers an adequate base line for students. This was

administered to all of the 4th grade students at six week intervals beginning in the month of

October and through to the end of the year in June. This allows a total of six testing sessions

throughout the school year to show annual progress based on individual performances. The data

utilized was from April 23rd 2019 testing.

The second source of data came from a brief pre-test. The worksheet and questions were

pulled off of commoncoresheets.com. Each worksheet comes with an explanation of the skill to

be performed and how to do so, these instructions were omitted for the assessment. There were

twenty questions on the worksheet and the students were instructed to only complete the first ten.

This was performed during regular math instruction at around 9am. The students were given

fifteen minutes to complete the task. The assessment was for the standard of converting decimals

to fractions within tenths and hundredths.

Discussion of Sources of Data

Renaissance testing is a program used across the states to evaluate students on their

performance in both reading and math. Renaissance Learning pioneered computer-adaptive

testing in the classroom in 1996 with the introduction of STAR Reading, and has been improving

upon it ever since. As a result they offer a line of testing products that all function the same, are

all built with the same high level of measurement accuracy, and all share the same design
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principles.(STAR) Renaissance has been used in school districts nationwide in order to obtain

relevant data in students growth and academic needs. It has been consistent in helping teacher

and students stay on track of their learning. The ten question pre-assessment is a simple

production of the specific questions necessary to validate the need for instruction in a specific

content area and any ten questions consistent with the object would suffice.

Data Gathered Through Other Sources

Other sources of data were the OSPI website that directly addresses the discrepancy in

students math performances in the school district based on standardized testing. The grade level

evaluated was at a 10.6% efficiency as of their third grade year of 2018. This discrepancy

directly implicates the necessity for instructional analysis in the graduating class of 2027’s math

skills as based on state common core standards.

Process of Data Analysis

Data Analysis Techniques Used

Both data techniques were in the form of assessments. The STAR test is a computer

based assessment that constantly adjusts questions based on students currently answered

questions. The data can be compiled in many formats through the company’s web portal. The

data chosen for this needs analysis was the class instructional planning report. This data provides

list of recommended skills for class or group instruction based on most recent assessment.

(STAR website) The data report broke down the students into four groups needing varying

degrees of instruction across multiple skills in math from second to sixth grade. The constant

variable and suggested instruction for all groups was that of fractions. The only exception were

the students at or above grade level standards.

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Given the data from the STAR assessment I chose to focus specifically on the area of

decimal to fraction conversions. This assessment had ten questions specifically directed at the

assumed discrepancy for students in the classroom at this point. This would allow a specific

criteria to focus the needs analysis on other than that of the STAR data which only showed a

need for math instruction.

Results of Analysis

The first table demonstrates a discrepancy in the prerequisites to properly convert

decimals to fractions based on STAR Math data. The Instructional planning reports of each

student were analyzed and put into the table. The categories are broken into below grade level

students, at grade level, and above. The total number of students is sixteen. The number of

students recommended for fraction instruction to meet the standard of decimal to fraction

conversion is the second bar. This is relevant since being at or above grade level is not an

implication that students have mastered the concept of converting the decimals to fractions. This

data is from STAR assessments and is not reflective of currently stated performances for

classroom students at grade level or below since that data is driven from classroom grades and

state standardized tests.

Table #2 illustrates those students below grade level, at grade level, and above grade level

and the need for instruction on converting decimals to fractions. The only correlation with it and

table #1 are the grade level standards are still based on the test data from STAR assessments and

not that of classroom grades or state mandated standardized tests.

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Table 1

STAR math data

Students grade level equivelency and recommended

instruction from STAR data on fractions
8

0
Below grade level At grade level Above grade level

# of students # of students needing instruction

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Table 2
Classroom assessment data

In class assessment, decimal to fraction conversion

8

0
Below grade level At grade level Above grade level

#of students # above 80% # below 80%

Needs Analysis Evaluation and Need for Instruction

Given the data demonstrated in the tables above there is a need for instruction to solve the

desired expectation of converting decimals to fractions. When comparing the STAR base data it

appears that there is a mild discrepancy due to the number of students who are at or below the

grade level standard. However the STAR data doesn’t implicate a direct need for all students to

have instruction on fractions specifically that of decimals to fraction conversion. There are

numerous explanations for such a phenomenon the most parsimonious could be that of those at

or below grade level lack pre-requisite knowledge and require additional remediation beyond
NEEDS ANALYSIS 4TH GRADE DIVISION TO FRACTION CONVERSION 9

selected criteria for the needs analysis. This is the purpose for the additional assessment of ten

questions involving the conversion of decimals to fractions.

Based on the data presented from the classroom assessment there is a need for instruction

in decimal to fraction conversion. The number of students between the two sets of data

recommends that three more students than originally assumed can use instruction in the area of

question. Also noted is the need for instruction only changes for the at grade level and below. It

should also be noted that the numbers although not reflective of individuals directly all of those

recommended for instruction on fractions didn’t reach the goal of 80% on the classroom

assessment.

Instructional Goal Statement

Given instruction on converting decimals to fractions within tenths and hundredths

students will successfully convert decimals to fractions within tenths and hundredths on a

worksheet in eight out of ten problems or 80 percent accuracy.

NEEDS ANALYSIS 4TH GRADE DIVISION TO FRACTION CONVERSION 10

References

Stein, M.; Kinder, D.; Silbert, J.; Carnine, D.W. (2006) Designing Effective Mathematics

Instruction. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education.

Star 360 - K-12 Assessment Suite - Educational Software. (n.d.). Retrieved June 18,

2019, from https://www.renaissance.com/products/assessment/star-360/

Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. Retrieved June 18, 2019, from

http://reportcard.ospi.k12.wa.us/summary.aspx?year=201718&schoolId=170&reportLevel=Distr

ict&yrs=2017-18

Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction - Mathematics. (2018, October 04).

Mathematics K–12 Learning Standards. Retrieved June 18, 2019, from

http://k12.wa.us/Mathematics/Standards.aspx