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Natalie Portillo000223877JNT2 - Task 1 (Needs Analysis)Marty DeWindt05/15/14Summary of Instructional ProblemI teach 5th grade math and I have found that many of my students do not understand fractions and decimals, and how they are related. Students need to understand that fractions and decimals are two different representations of the same concept. I believe that students need to re-learn what a fraction and a decimal is, and to be given manipulatives and hands-on lessons and activities to understand what fractions and decimals are and how to use and write them. Current Conditions and Desired ConditionsCurrent Conditions Students are currently scoring below the 5th grade California Standards in math, concerning fractions and decimals. Students are having difficulties completing math problems that involve fractions and/or decimals. Students are not understanding how to add, subtract, multiply or divide numbers involving fractions and decimals, but are very much capable of doing so with whole numbers. Currently students are not equipped with the proper math skills to move on to the 6th grade. Desired ConditionsStudents will be able to add, subtract, multiply and divide fractions and decimals and will understand that fractions and decimals are related. Students will meet the 5th grade California Standards in math and will be able to successfully move onto to 6th grade math and be fully prepared. Data Collection ProcessesDiscussion of Data Collection Instruments UsedMy needs analysis was done to learn more about the 5th grade math students and whether or not their struggles in math had to do with a lack of understanding for fractions and decimals. The three instruments that were created to gather data to help answer this question was a teacher survey, student focus groups, and a student work sample in the form of an end of year math review test. The sources that I used to help find my answer were the 5th grade math teachers, the thirty 5th grade students in my math classroom, and an end of year math exam completed by my thirty 5th grade math students. With the teacher survey I was trying to find out what the teachers thought the problem might have been and what they thought about it. I also thought I would be able to gain some insight from the teachers because they have been working with 5th grade students for a while and they would hopefully be familiar with the problems that I am having in my own math class. With the student focus groups I thought that it was important to hear from the student themselves. I felt that it was important to hear what they had to say and to get their opinions and ideas on what they thought the problem was. Since the problem is an issue concerning them, talking to them and hearing what they had to say, seemed like the logical choice to make. The last data instrument that I chose to use was an end of year math review exam. This exam tested the students knowledge about everything they have learned thus far into the school year. The exam followed along the 4th and 5th grade California math standards, so in theory the students should have been able to complete the entire test without any problems. I felt that this was an important and relevant instrument to use because the exam went through each standard from number sense, to algebra and functions, to measurement and geometry, and then to statistics and covered everything that the students had already been taught and should have known. This was a great exam because it would help to pin point what the students did and did not understand and know how to do. It would also be able to show what the students were excelling at and knew well. The exam also would help to show where the students were having difficulties and what steps and processes needed to be addressed and re-taught. Discussion of Sources of Data I started with the Teacher Survey. The reason for doing a teacher survey was to hear other teachers points-of-view on what they thought the problem was and to gain a different perspective. This survey was made for the 5th grade math teachers, which was four female teachers and one male teacher, for a total of 5 teachers all together . To create the survey, I came up with ten questions to ask the math teachers about what they thought of their students in regards to math and what they thought the students capabilities were. I started by asking if the teachers felt that their students the school year with the required math abilities needed to successfully complete 5th grade math. I also felt it was important to know if the teachers thought the students were prepared to move on to the next grade level in math and what areas they thought their students were still struggling with and also excelling in. I also included questions about the teachers teaching styles and methods that they used. I asked the teachers what they thought worked best when teaching their students math lessons and what they felt did not work for their students. I also asked a follow up question of why the teachers thought a particular teaching style did and did not work. The last few questions that I asked the teachers was whether or not they thought their students knew what fractions and decimals were and if they thought their students had a correct understanding of what fractions and decimals where and how they are related. Conducting a teacher survey was an appropriate tool for this needs analysis because these teachers have been working with the students all year long and are very familiar with each students abilities and deficits. The teachers have worked with the students long enough to know the students work habits, as well as learning styles and student preferences. The teachers have also been keeping records, work samples, and grades all year long and have a lot of insight as what the students know and what they do not. The math teachers also have years of experienced teaching and are familiar with 5th graders and how to teacher them and what not to do. These teachers would be knowledgeable about teaching and learning styles that work best with the 5th grade student. The next type of data collection tool that I used were student focus groups. I divided my math class into six equal groups of five students each, since there are a total of thirty students in my class. For the six focus groups, I created a list of nine questions that were similar to the teacher survey questions, but focused on the students point of view. I started by asking the students what they thought they did the best at in math and also what they thought they had the most trouble with or found the hardest. I felt it was important to know what the students thought about how they were doing in math. I then asked the groups what they thought fractions, decimals and whole numbers were. Since the whole point was to find out if the problem that the students were having in math was related to a lack of understanding of fractions and decimals, I felt it was very important to ask them straight out if they knew what they were and how they were related. The next few questions that I asked was about adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing and how well the groups thought their abilities were in those areas. I thought it was important to know if they thought that was area that they struggled with or if they thought they had it down. I wanted to know how confident they were in their abilities. The last question that I asked the groups was what type of math lessons do they enjoy doing the best - what was their favorite. Again I felt this was very important to know since I was going to be creating a new math lesson for them and knowing what they liked the best would help me in preparing for that lesson. The students would also pay more attention and hopefully get more out of the lesson if it was something that they enjoyed doing and felt that they had some input as to the type of lesson that it was. The third data collection tool that I used was a Student Work Sample in the form of a Test. The test I used was from the Los Angeles County Office of Education: Mathematics resources. I used the end of year math review exam for 4th grade and also the 5th grade exam too. I felt it was important to not only address the current standards that the students are expected to do, but also to address the past standards that the students should have already known. Since the students were having difficulties in math, the first thing I needed to do was find a way to pin point what they specifically needed help with and how far back did I need to go to fix the problem. The test was designed to specifically address each standard in math for that grade level. By combining the 4th and 5th grade exam, I was able to get a better idea of what the students knew how to do and what they needed help with. Data Gathered Through Other SourcesI did not use any other data gathered through other sources. Results of Data AnalysisData Analysis Techniques UsedI analyzed the data I gathered from the teacher survey by reviewing each teachers' answer to a specific question and looking for patterns and similarities in the answers. I wrote down the question first and then listed each teachers answer to that question and I did this with each of the ten questions that I asked the teachers in the survey. What I found is that the teachers all felt that doing at least part of the lesson in a group like setting worked the best and that all of the teachers felt that just telling the students about the material did not work well. The teachers also all felt that the students were lacking some of the skills they needed to be successful in their 5th grade math class. The teachers all responded that the students did not understand fractions and decimals very well and could not correctly add, subtract, multiply or divide them, even though the students had a good grasp on number sense and could perform these tasks if the numbers where whole numbers. Based on all the data gathered from the teacher survey, I believe that the teachers all believe that their students do not understand fractions and decimals and that the students' problems in math are related to a lack of understanding with fractions and decimals. What the teacher revealed to me in terms of my problem statement is that the students are lacking an understand of how to work with fractions and decimals. I analyzed the data I gathered from the student focus groups by documenting the answers that each of the groups gave me and looked to see what similarities I could find in the answers. What I found was that the students felt that they did know how to add, subtract, multiply and divide, so long as the numbers they were working with did not involve fractions or decimals. The students all stated that they did not understand fractions and decimals very well, and that that is where they think the problem is. The students also informed me that they preferred to do math when they could work with a partner or in groups. What the student focus groups revealed to me in terms of my problem statement is that the students do not understand how to work with fractions and decimals. The students do not like fractions and decimals because they do not know how to do them. I analyzed the data I gathered from the student exam by graphing each of the students exams and documenting what they got for each of the questions on the exam. After I documented each of the students answers, I looked for patterns in the answers that the students got correct and the ones that they got wrong. What the student exams revealed to me in terms of my problem statement is that the majority of the students got the answers wrong to all the questions that involved fractions and decimals and that the students also had issues with questions involving percentages. Results of AnalysisTeacher SurveysID#Q1Q2Q3Q4Q5Q6Q7Q8Q9Q10Teacher Agroupdirect instructionalmostfractions/decimalsall math with whole numbersnononowhole numbers, yeswhole numbers, yesTeacher Bdiscussiondirect instructionalmostfractions/decimalsall math with whole numbersnono no whole numbers, yeswhole numbers, yesTeacher Cgroupdirect instructionnofractions/decimalsall math with whole numbersnononowhole numbers, yeswhole numbers, yesTeacher Dpartnerdirect instructionnofractions/decimalsall math with whole numbersnononowhole numbers, yeswhole numbers, yesTeacher Epartner/groupdirect instructionalmostfractions/decimalsall math with whole numbersnononowhole numbers, yeswhole numbers, yesThe data that has been revealed in the teacher survey, in terms of the problem statement, is that the other math teachers do not believe that the students have a correct understanding of how to work with fractions and decimals. The survey revealed that the teachers do not believe that the students came to their classrooms with all of the prerequisite knowledge that they needed in order to be successful in their classrooms for this year. The data also revealed that the teachers still do not believe that the students are ready to move on to the next grade level in math. The data also shows that the teachers believe that the students do have grade level skills, so long as the math equations do not contain fractions or decimals. Student Focus GroupsID#Q1Q2Q3Q4Q5Q6Q7Q8Q9Group Amultiplicationfractions, decimalsno. over no.part of no.a reg. no.parts of no.veryverygroupGroup Bmultiplicationfractions, percentspart of no.smaller no.a reg. no.pieces of no.veryverypartnerGroup CAdd/Subpercentspiece of no.smaller parts of a no.a reg. no.don't knowveryveryhands onGroup Ddivisionfractions, decimalsa smaller no.smaller parts of a no.don't knowparts of no.veryveryhands onGroup Emultiplicationfractionsa type of no.smaller parts of a no.a reg. no.don't knowveryveryhands onGroup Fdivisiondecimalspart of no.smaller parts of a no.a reg. no.they're notveryverygroupThe data that has been revealed in the student focus groups, in terms of the problem statement, is that the students feel confident in their math abilities when dealing with whole numbers, but do not feel confident when dealing with fractions and decimals. The data shows that the students all stated that they do not understand or like to work with fractions and/or decimals. The data does show that the students do recognize that fractions and decimals are part of a whole number, however the data also shows that, that is all that the students know or understand about fractions and decimals. The data also shows that the students do not have a clear understanding of how fractions and decimals are related, or that they even are related. Student Exam ResultsThe data that has been revealed in the student exam results, in terms of the problem statement, is that the students do not know how to do math equations that involve fractions or decimals. They do however know how to round decimals to the nearest tenth and hundredth. The data also shows that students also do not understand how to work with percentages. In the math exam, problems 8 through 19 asks the students to write equivalent fractions to decimals, decimals to fractions, and also decimals and fractions to percentages, as well as asking students to write percentages. The data shows that for these problems, the students were unable to answer the questions correctly. For questions 20 to 25 and 39 to 45, there was a number line attached to the problems and the students were asked to identify specific number spots on the number line. In these problems the students were able to identify some of the fraction and decimal numbers that they were unable to do earlier in the exam. This data shows that the students do have a very basic idea of what certain fractions and decimals are and are able to identify them if the number is accompanied by a visual aid, such as a number line. The rest of the data from the student exam shows that the students are capable of doing geometry, algebra, and statistic, so long as the numbers involved are not a fraction of a decimal. What I learned from the student exam and the data collected is that the students are having a difficult time with fractions, decimals and also percentages, but excel at all other areas of math. The students met all of the 4th and 5th grade standards that did not involve fractions, decimals and percentages. Findings of Needs AnalysisAll of the data collectively tells me that the 5th grade students in my math class do not understand fractions, decimals and percentages adequately enough to pass the end of year 5th grade math exam and are not able to move on to 6th grade math. The students do not have all the prerequisite skills to be successful. The type of instruction that needs to be designed is a unit on fractions, decimals and percentages that breaks it down the simplest components and shows how they are all related. Students need to learn how to compare fractions and decimals, and to represent them via drawings or the use of manipulatives, so that they are able to add, subtract, multiply and divide both fractions and decimals. Students will also need to learn how percentages, decimals, and fractions are all related and that they are all parts or pieces of a whole number. Goal of InstructionFifth grade students will be able to compare fractions represented by drawings or concrete materials to show equivalency and to add and subtract simple fractions in context. They will be able to solve problems involving addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of decimals and multiply and divide decimals by using whole-number multipliers and divisors. Students will be able to interpret percents as part of a hundred and be able to find decimal and percent equivalents for common fractions and explain why they represent the same value. Students will also know and understand that fractions and decimals are two different representations of the same concept and understand the relationship between decimals, fractions, and percents. ReferencesLACOE > Curriculum & Instruction > Mathematics. (n.d.). LACOE > Curriculum & Instruction > Mathematics. Retrieved June 1, 2014, from Content Standards for California Public Schools. (n.d.). California Department of Education. Retrieved June 1, 2014, from ................
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