Biology 121
Departmental Assessment
Where we are in the CSLO 3 cycle, what the data says, and what Run 3 asks of each of us.
Orientation
We are one run away from closing the CSLO 3 cycle.
Run 1 — Fall 2024 ✓
Baseline. 125 students, 76.8% met expectations.
Run 2 — Spring 2026 ✓
After interventions. 80 students, 83.8% met expectations.
Run 3 — this semester
Completes the cycle. Then Bio 121 begins a new CSLO.
Same 8-item instrument all three runs. If you weren't teaching for Runs 1 and 2, nothing is owed — Run 3 works the same for every section.
The Data
The gap we targeted closed. A new one took its place.
Gray = Run 1 · Color = Run 2
Controls & variables: 44% → 70%
The weakness we set out to fix responded — across sections.
The new floor: predictions & positive controls, 60%
The two sub-skills we emphasized least. That's Run 3's target.
Item-level detail covers 20 of the 80 responses. Full data, section by section, is filed in Form 2.
What Worked
One section wrote a plan, taught it, and the numbers moved.
Planned — March
Scientific method, Lab 5, and the prep notes reviewed twice in Weeks 5–6. No extra resources needed.
Taught
Documented before the assessment window opened — not reconstructed afterward.
Result
Those sections met at 86.7%, against 83.8% overall.
That is the whole loop: notice, plan, teach, measure. Run 3 asks each of us for one turn of it.
The Obstacle
We can see whether students met the bar. We often can't see why.
Percent mastery alone
Tells us whether. Three sections' item detail is still locked in a data pipeline that broke in March — we can't tell which skills to fix.
Item-level, captured directly
Tells us what to fix. The chart you just saw exists because some sections captured responses item by item, in real time.
Same instrument either way. The difference is only in how the data comes back.
Run 3 — Fall 2026
What each section is asked to do.
Support with setup is available for any section that wants it.
Access
Biology Assessment Hub
biologyassessment.ninotech.us
Students enter a first name and last initial — no ID numbers, no email. Faculty see only their own sections. Department-level reporting is aggregate.
Closing
This fall we finish CSLO 3. Then we start the next one with better data from day one.
Run 3 completes a cycle that began in 2024 — measured, adjusted, and measured again. When Bio 121 turns to its next outcome, the very first run gives us item-level results instead of waiting two years for them.
Questions — and I'll walk anyone through their section whenever it's useful.
Backup
How this cycle answers the evaluation rubric.
Backup
Run 2, section by section.
80 students completed across six of seven sections; 67 met expectations (83.8%). One section's exact count is a provable minimum pending a district export. Participation was 78.7% in the four sections with confirmed rosters. Full detail, including the per-section table and the instrument, is filed in Form 2.
Item-level data covers 20 of 80 responses — the sections that captured responses directly, plus one district export.