Introduction to Data Analysis Handbook - AED Center for Early Care ...

2
Classroom Quality (continued)
Process Components Content Information
Interpretation
continued
By ranking classrooms on a simple distinction – which
classrooms are at/above the “good” score (i.e., 5.0) and
which are below? – we can quickly identify:
•
•
3 out of 10 classrooms (30%) are at or above a “good”
score in the Language-Reasoning sub-scale.
7 out of 10 classrooms (70%) are below a “good” score in
the Language-Reasoning sub-scale.
We can also calculate the mean score for all classrooms in
the Language-Reasoning sub-scale by adding all of the scores
for individual classrooms (the total = 39) and dividing by
the number of classrooms (10) for a mean score of 3.9.
We can also account for the variance in scores by simply
presenting the range of scores, from highest (e.g., classroom
# 5 is a perfect 7) to lowest (e.g., both classrooms # 4 and #8
have a score of 2). A summary statement of these findings
could be written as:
The mean for the 10 classrooms on the Language-Reasoning
sub-scale was 3.9, with a range of 2 – 7.
We could present an interpretation of these findings along
these lines:
The 10 classrooms different substantially in quality in the
Language-Reasoning sub-scale. Although a few classrooms
present good or excellent environments for children, the
majority of classrooms fall below a “good” rating.
© AED/TAC-12 Spring 2006.