Earned Honors Credit in Geography Courses Using Different Assessments
Date
2022-05
Authors
Leane, Mara
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Abstract
Many school districts around the United States are working to find ways to make learning equitable for all students. In an attempt to make education more equitable for all, some school districts have started to detrack students by implementing earned honors classes. However, little to no research exists regarding how honors credit should be assigned in these classes. The purpose of this study is evaluating what type of assessment methods are effective at differentiating higher level cognitive processes which can be used to assign honors credit in an earned honors geography classroom. To gather data, 9th grade students in an Advanced Placement Human Geography (APHG) course completed multiple choice, short answer and extended writing assessments on the same geographic concepts. All three types of assessments contained both lower and higher level cognitive processing questions. The study results lead to the findings that short answer questions are the most effective assessment method at differentiating student cognitive skill levels when assigning honors credit in an earned honors geography classroom. These findings will be useful for administrators and APHG teachers as they begin to create systems that implement earned honors.
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Keywords
earned honors, detracking, cognitive processing, assessment, Applied Geography
Citation
Leane, M. (2022). Earned honors credit in geography courses using different assessments. Master of Applied Geography Degree, Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas.