5.      Identify “Hot Spots” – Use techniques to find out which concepts students are not getting, then address them.  One way to identify skill deficits is by using item analysis.  Item analysis involves using tally marks for each wrong answer a student gets on specific test questions, then addressing the deficits students are experiencing in that particular skill.  An easy way to do item analysis is by having students take tests using “Scan-tron” bubble sheets that you feed through a machine, which tells you how many students are getting a particular question wrong.  If you don’t have Scan-tron technology, you will just have to use the slower “tally-mark” method with paper and pencil.  As you make your tally marks, you see that 77% of students are getting question #14 wrong.  You see that question #14 deals with “Order of Operations” in your math class.  A light bulb goes on over your head… “Ah-ha!  I need to go back and re-teach Order of Operations!”  It sounds easy, doesn’t it?  Yet, many veteran teachers do not want to do it!  They say, “I already taught that…if they didn’t get it, it’s THEIR problem.”  Um, actually, it’s YOUR problem when the scores come out next summer.

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