Analyzing Student Data in a Spreadsheet

I took a somewhat convoluted route to analyzing student data in a spreadsheet.  I copied the raw test data (tests 1-10) for all students and pasted these into an Excel spreadsheet, since I am already an experienced Excel user.  I deleted the test scores for tests 1-5, since we are only interested in looking at scores from the second half of the testing period.  I entered formulas to calcute each student's average score (tests 6-10) at the end of each row containing the student scores.  I entered formulas to calculate the average of all student test scores for each test at the bottom of the column for each test.  I also calculated the overall average score on all of the tests by all of the students.

Since we are interested in looking at only those students whose average on all tests was below the overall average, I sorted the students and their test scores based on their averages on all tests.  I then deleted student records for those students whose average on all tests was above the overall average.  Finally, I sorted the remaining student files alphabetically by last name.

Now that I had the  particular students records with scores on tests 6-10 in the order that I wanted to look at, I copied and pasted this data into a Google Docs spreadsheet.  I opened a second sheet and created a line chart, indentifying the individual students by line color and plotting their test scores on the y-axis and the test numbers on the x-axis.  For each student, his/her line represents the increase or decrease in test performance over the second half of the testing period.

Finally, I posted the student data and line chart in this blog, embedding the html code  in the blog.  For those who cannot view the spreadsheet or line chart, it is available at:
https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0Alj58Q_Hg8ItdHVmYk9BWXF4cXlHbm9VNXdXejZ0cGc&hl=en#gid=0

In retrospect, I could have performed the student data and test scores averaging, sorting, and cullling within a Google Docs spreadsheet, instead of doing this in an Excel spreadsheet and then copying it into Googe Docs.  I could have opened a new page at each step in Google Docs, copying info from the previous page and manipulating data via the functions available there.

The final result of my efforts:

If I were a the teacher in the above class, what might these scores and line graphs tell me about these selected students' performance?  As a group, their performance improved consistently during the second half of the period, fairly dramatically for some, not very dramatically for others (Isabella and Scott).  Hepburn stands out as being all over the map, although finishing fairly strong.  Special counseling or tutoring might be in order for weaker or inconsistent performers.