Better Than I Thought...Not!

We just ended our second marking period, Midyear Exams and I had the opportunity to reflect on the progress we were making toward becoming proficient on our Standards or Learning Outcomes. I'm dismayed to realize that we're not doing as well in two of our classes as I had hoped. Our second marking period was focused on five Standards. I consider Proficient to be 3.0 or better. The following table represents the percentage of our students that demonstrated proficiency on each of our Standards during the second marking period.

Description	CCSS	B4	W2
Complex Number Operations	N.CN.2	30%	25%
Polynomial Operations	A.APR.1	55%	45%
Factoring / Roots	A.APR.3	40%	50%
Remainder Theorem and Syn. Division	A.APR.2	55%	40%
Solving Radical and Rational Equations	A.REI.2	50%	30%

I can now see that Operations on Complex Numbers presented a challenge to both classes as those percentages are the lowest. Therefore, I'm planning to incorporate more Operations on Complex Numbers in the spiral review portion of our daily learning. In addition, the Blue 4 (B4) class needs Extra Practice on Factoring and Roots, where our White 2 (W2) class needs Extra Practice on Solving Radical and Rational Equations.

After reflecting on this analysis, I am more aware that I need to work more effectively with our students to raise their Proficiency Levels for all our Standards. I'm planning to offer more differentiation during our class time to provide the opportunity to work with our students. During this time, students will have the opportunity to ask questions and complete Extra Practice on the skills on which they have not yet demonstrated Proficiency. They will also have the opportunity to work through Extra Practice (HW) outside of our class time.

In addition to the above analysis, I'm examining how each student's Proficiency Levels during the second marking period compares to what they demonstrated on our Midyear Exam.

I certainly welcome any comments or feedback that might improve my effectiveness, deepen our understanding and increase our Proficiency Levels.