Punctuation Performance: WV vs. Local

 Circa 2003

Punctuation Performance: WV vs. Local

The sources show a mixed bag of results when comparing WV and local student performance in punctuation. While in some areas and grade levels, local students outperform their national counterparts, there are other cases where local performance significantly lags behind.

Here's a breakdown by school and grade level:

Green Bank Elementary-Mid Grade

• Grade 1:

  • Local students show stronger performance in almost all punctuation-related skills compared to the national average.
  • The most significant differences are seen in "Use of period with declarative sentence" (-17), "Use of exclamation point with exclamatory sentence" (-11), and "Use of question mark with interrogative sentence" (-8).
  • The only area where local performance is slightly worse is "Alphabetize: beginning with same letter" (+2).

• Grade 2:

  • This grade shows a reversal of the trend, with local students performing better than the national average in most areas.
  • Punctuation skills like "Use of period with declarative sentence" (+8), "Use of exclamation point with exclamatory sentence" (+3), and "Use of question mark with interrogative sentence" (+1) demonstrate this positive difference.
  • However, some areas still show local students lagging, including "Eliminating fragments" (-6) and "Use of comma with city and state" (-4).

• Grade 3:

  • Local students exhibit significantly better performance in "Apostrophe with Contraction" (+32) and "Question Mark with Interrogative Sentence" (+24).
  • The difference is smaller but still positive for "Period with Declarative Sentence" (+15) and "Comma in a Series" (+16).
  • However, "Quotation Marks with Dialogue" (+16) shows local students slightly behind the national average.

Hillsboro Elementary

• Grade 1:

  • This grade shows a pattern similar to Green Bank Grade 1, where local performance is generally weaker in punctuation, especially in "Use of question mark with interrogative sentence" (-18) and "Use of exclamation point with exclamatory sentence" (-15).

• Grade 2:

  • A trend similar to Green Bank Grade 2 emerges here, with local students demonstrating better performance than the national average in most punctuation areas.

• Grade 3:

  • Local students struggle with punctuation, notably in "Quotation Marks with Dialogue" (-10) and "Period with Abbreviation" (-8).

Marlington Elementary

• Grade 1:

  • Local performance is largely aligned with the national average, with some minor discrepancies in both directions.

• Grade 2:

  • Local students are doing better in most punctuation areas.

• Grade 3:

  • Similar to Hillsboro Grade 3, local students demonstrate difficulty with punctuation. Notably, "Comma with Items in a Series" (-13) and "Period with Abbreviation" (-12) show significant differences.

Secondary Grades: A Closer Look

Analyzing the data for middle and high school grades reveals a pattern. In many instances, the specific punctuation skill showing the most significant discrepancies remains consistent across grade levels. For example, the use of apostrophes with contractions appears to be a recurring challenge for local students. This consistency suggests a potential systemic issue in teaching this particular punctuation rule that persists throughout the students' education.

Observations and Potential Explanations

While the sources provide data on performance, they do not offer explanations for these discrepancies. Further investigation is needed to understand the factors contributing to these differences.

Here are some potential areas for further exploration:

• Curriculum and Instruction: Differences in curriculum, teaching methods, and emphasis on punctuation across grade levels and schools might contribute to the observed discrepancies.
• Socioeconomic Factors: Socioeconomic factors, including access to resources and parental involvement, can influence student learning and performance in various academic areas.
• Assessment Methods: The type and format of assessments used to measure punctuation skills may impact the results. Different assessments may emphasize different aspects of punctuation or have varying levels of difficulty.

It's important to note that this analysis is solely based on the provided data and additional research would be necessary to confirm these potential explanations.

"national=West Virgina test scores" --2003