NAEP Student Analysis Reflection

This assignment made me realize how difficult evaluating math problems can be, especially when we are taking into account more than just a simple right or wrong answer. It is important to analyze the student work so that we can understand how they reached the solution whether it is correct or incorrect. For example, some students have grasped some skills necessary to solve a problem but need more assistance in another aspect of the problem. Also, we want students to get away from putting an answer and not explaining their reasoning because the further they may dive into math curriculum, the more important it becomes to understand why answers are true and how certain theories or algorithms work. 

My group was in charge of assessing the 8th grade level problem entitled "Marcy's Dots". Our group worked well together to decide which student work constituted each level of the rubric which was an important step so that we were all on the same page when deciding a score. When sharing our scores with the class, it seemed that there was agreement with our decisions and that our implications for the teacher made sense as well. I enjoyed hearing other ideas from the class and discussing each level of student work. 

When looking at other groups' NAEP problems, it seemed that some were much more difficult to grade than our group because of a complicated or not specific rubric. This definitely sparked discussion among the class as to which grades we thought that each piece of work deserved. It was difficult to reach a conclusion at times because people can interpret what the students have shown and what that implies that they know differently. Overall, I learned a lot about assessment during this project as well as the importance to instruct students at a young age to completely explain and justify their work with math problems.