ESL 110 - Introductory Academic ESL - Stage 5 - Keech

Assessment

Assessment Methods

Analysis of exam, quiz, or homework items linked to specific SLOs

Assessment DescriptionDepartment-wide common finals in Grammar and Reading
Learning OutcomesA. Reading

1. Decode the English phonetic system

2. Recognize how content ofdifferent texts can be focused towards specific audiences

3. Demonstrate global understanding of new information from multiparagraph academic texts containing mostly familiar language and content

C. Grammar

1. Demonstrate comprehension and production of simple noun phrases

2. Demonstrate comprehension and production of the English verb system as used in basic sentence structures
Number of Sections4
Number of Instructors4
Number of Students92

Data Analysis

Data Shared With
  • Instructors of the same course (at CCSF)
  • Faculty and staff within our department
Data Sharing Methods

Face-to-face meetings

Data SummaryTest Statistics: Overall

Statistic Value

Number of Tests Graded 87

Number of Graded Items 75

Total Points Possible 75.00

Maximum Score 62.00

Minimum Score 18.00

Median Score 43.00

Range of Scores 44.00

Percentile (25) 37.00

Percentile (75) 48.00

Inter Quartile Range 11.00

Mean Score 43.11

Variance 81.99

Standard Deviation 9.05

Confidence Interval (1%) 40.57

Confidence Interval (5%) 41.19

Confidence Interval (95%) 45.04

Confidence Interval (99%) 45.66

Kuder-Richardson Formula 20 0.84

Coefficient (Cronbach) Alpha 0.83

Mean Percent Score 57.49
Analysis SummaryCCSF Credit ESL Program

Spring 2013 Report on Final Examinations (Reflecting on Student Learning Outcomes)

Laura Walsh, Credit ESL SLO Coordinator

ESL 110 Reading

This test is functioning well overall, with acceptable reliability (Kuder-Richardson Formula 20 0.75) for a test of only 25 items. The scores range from 4 to 23 with a mean score of 14.46, so we have a wide range of reading ability in this level, with some students demonstrating exceptional skills.

The majority of students correctly responded to informational questions in which the line from the reading was repeated (almost) verbatim. They had a little more trouble when the correct answers used alternate phrasing. Items asking for dates and definitions from the text were also fairly easy.

High-quality items (point biserial correlations over .35) with low student scores can help us see where students need more work. ESL 110 students had trouble with

• Pronoun reference. Students tend to identify the closest noun as the antecedent even when the context would make this impossible. A number of students (18%) were unable to rule out a person as an antecedent for “it.”

• Audience. For example, a brief general reading on a health issue was identified as a reading for doctors or medical students.

• Vocabulary. Students were unable to use context to identify synonyms, e.g., “mural” and “large-scale painting that covered an entire wall.”

ESL 110 Grammar

This test was recently revised and is functioning well. The first ten items ask students to identify parts of speech and grammatical functions. While the students were able, for the most part, to identify verbs, nouns adjectives, subjects and objects, it is of interest that pronouns proved to be more difficult to identify correctly. Both the reading and grammar tests indicate that ESL 110 students might benefit from more instructional emphasis on pronoun forms and usage.

High-quality items indicate several weak areas for ESL 110 students (over 40% incorrect answers):

• “It” expletive sentences, e.g. “It is warm and sunny in San Francisco today.”

• Missing “to be” verbs.

• Comparative and superlative constructions.

• Subject-verb agreement.

• Past tense verbs.

• Question formation.

• Adjective forms of common words.
Next Steps PlannedNo answer
Learning OutcomesNo answer

Changes

DetailsCourse outline revised, approved by College Curriculum Committee March 2013
Learning OutcomesALL

Tentative Future Plans

TermFall 2013
Activities
  • Assessment (measurement) of outcomes
  • Analysis and discussion of assessment data and next steps
More DetailsNo answer

SLO Details Storage Location

HARD COPY - In a department filing system (department office)

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