Analyzing Student Data in a Spreadsheet

I have had previous experience working with spreadsheets.  One of the sociology courses I took as an undergrad taught us how to use Excel and a program called SPSS.  Also, I worked as a state test coordinator, and often used spreadsheets to sort through student data to create reports for teachers and administrators.  I am therefore very comfortable working with spreadsheets. 

This was my first time using Google Spreadsheets, and I was very impressed on how user friendly it is! Neither program I used in the past (Excell and SPSS) was as user friendly as Google Spreadsheets, which is a FREE program.  Creating charts was one of the most complex parts of using excel and SPSS because there were not previews to help you visualize how all the information you were entering would change your chart.  Google Spreadsheets has a preview that changes as you input/change information.  


I was also pleased with how easy it was to share, link and embed my spreadsheet.  If I made changes to my data and chart, my links and embed changed.  How convenient!

The information I calculated using Google Spreadsheets helped me find which students were below the overall class average, and I put that data into a chart, which provided me with a visual of those students' growth. 

Click the following link to view my final data sheet: http://tinyurl.com/3sgjt7h

Or simply view it below:

My data showed that 12 out of 26 students were not meeting the overall average. On average, students' scores increased each test. 5 of the 12 students were above the overall average by test nine, and half of the 12 students were meeting the overall average by test 10.

My charts indicate that Walter and Queen had the lowest scores. Queen was the only student whose test 10 score decreased. Katherine's score showed the greatest growth during test 7. Dan's score steadily grew, and by test 10 he had the highest score of the 12 students.

If these were my students:

• I would be very concerned with the 6 students who were still not meeting the overall average by test 10.
• I would be most concerned with Walter and Queen's scores since their scores show inconsistent growth that is drastically below the class average. Are they doing homework? Where are they getting stuck? Walter and Queen may require academic intervention.  
• I would need to speak to Katherine to try to find out what her scores varied so much from test to test. What worked for her test 7, did she study more? How come her score went down again? Is there something going on in her life that is affecting her scores?  
• I would be least concerned with Dan, Anais and Thurgood, because they showed steady, consistent growth. This indicates that they are learning, just at a slower rate than most of the class. Charlie also shows steady, consistent growth which may indicate that he also is learning at a slower rate. However, he was not where he needed to be by test 10. This would suggest that he needs extra academic support. Are his learning needs being met? (Is he a kinesthetic learner that needs more hands-on activities?