Writing Assessments Robin SEYBOLD, SAU, SED 523, Assessing L.D. Students

1. Writing AssessmentsRobin SEYBOLD, SAU, SED 523, Assessing L.D. Students The general education writing standards Purposes & types of assessments Holistic evaluations of writing Conclusion & questions Artifact check & feedback prompt MDE Resources References

2. The General Education Writing Standards “The Grade Level Content Expectations document is intended to be a state assessment tool with the expectations written to convey expected performances by students. The Office of Assessment and Accountability was involved in the development of version 12.05 and has incorporated the changes in the construction of test and item specifications for the K-8 MEAP and MI-Access. The forward of the Across the Grades v.12.05 companion document clarifies the types of changes made. Educators can access the Across the Grades companion document by visiting the Michigan Department of Education Grade Level Content Expectations web page at www.michigan.gov/glce (MDE).

3. Grade Level 8: Writing Genres, Process, Personal Style, Grammar & Usage, Spelling, Handwriting, and Writing Attitude ( ) & ¶ ´ “ ”

4. Writing Genres W.GN.08.01 write a cohesive narrative piece such as poetry, historical fiction, science fiction, or realistic fiction that includes appropriate conventions to genre employing literary and plot devices (e.g., narrator credibility, rising and falling actions and/or conflict, imagery and transitional language). W.GN.08.02 write an historical expository piece such as a journal, biography, or simulated memoir that includes appropriate organization, illustrations, marginal notes and/or annotations. W.GN.08.03 formulate research questions that demonstrate critical evaluation of multiple resources, perspectives, and arguments/counter-arguments that culminate in a presented final project using the writing process.

5. Writing Process W.PR.08.01 set a purpose, consider audience, and replicate authors’ styles and patterns when writing a narrative or informational piece. W.PR.08.02 apply a variety of pre-writing strategies for both narrative (e.g., graphic organizers designed to depict rising and falling actions, roles of minor characters, credibility of narrator) and informational writing (e.g., compare/contrast, cause/effect, or sequential text patterns). W.PR.08.03 draft focused ideas experimenting with various ways of sequencing information including ordering arguments, or sequencing ideas chronologically by importance when writing compositions. W.PR.08.04 revise drafts for coherence and consistency in word choice, structure, and style; and read their own work from another reader’s perspective. W.PR.08.05 proofread and edit writing using grade-level checklists and other appropriate resources both individually and in groups.

6. Personal Style W.PS.08.01 exhibit personal style and voice to enhance the written message in both narrative (e.g., personification, humor, element of surprise) and informational writing (e.g., emotional appeal, strong opinion, credible support).

7. Grammar & Usage W.GR.08.01in the context of writing, correctly use style conventions (e.g., Modern Language Association Handbook) and a variety of grammatical structures in compositions including infinitives, gerunds, participial phrases, and dashes or ellipses. ger·und  (jrnd) n. 1. In Latin, a noun derived from a verb and having all case forms except the nominative. 2. In other languages, a verbal noun analogous to the Latin gerund, such as the English form ending in -ing when used as a noun, as in singing in We admired the choir's singing. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/gerund

8. Spelling W.SP.08.01 in the context of writing use correct spelling conventions.

9. Handwriting W.HW.08.01 write neat and legible compositions

10. Writing Attitude W.AT.08.01 be enthusiastic about writing and learning to write.

11. Grade Level 12 Writing Process, Personal Growth, Purpose and Audience, Inquiry and Research, and Finished Products Writing, Speaking and Expressing: I. Writing and speaking involve a complex process of inquiry and the discovery of meaning. Through writing, speaking, and visually expressing, students understand themselves, communicate with others, advance personal and professional goals, and participate in a democratic society. Effective communication requires an understanding of purpose and audience, and reflects well-developed ideas using appropriate conventions of genre, content, form, style, voice, and mechanics.

12. Grade 12 has 33 benchmarks 1.1 Understand and practice writing as a recursive process. (8 benchmarks) 1.2 Use writing, speaking, and visual expression for personal understanding and growth. (4 benchmarks) 1.3 Communicate in speech, writing, and multimedia using content, form, voice, and style appropriate to the audience and purpose (e.g., to reflect, persuade, inform, analyze, entertain, inspire). (9 benchmarks) 1.4 Develop and use the tools and practices of inquiry and research—generating, exploring, and refining important questions; creating a hypothesis or thesis; gathering and studying evidence; drawing conclusions; and composing a report. (7 benchmarks) 1.5 Produce a variety of written, spoken, multi-genre, and multimedia works, making conscious choices about language, form, style, and/or visual representation for each work (e.g., poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction stories, academic and literary essays, proposals, memos, manifestos, business letters, advertisements, prepared speeches, group and dramatic performances, poetry slams, and digital stories). (5 benchmarks)

13. Purposes & Types of Assessments Special Ed. certification & eligibility Students who receive special education (1) have diagnosed disabilities and (2) need special education services to achieve educational outcomes” (Salvia, pg 9). Writing Assessments re-evaluating Written Expression and I.E.P. “Written language is the most complex domain for teachers to assess. Assessment differs widely for beginners and advanced students. Once the preliminary skills of letter formation and rudimentary spelling have been mastered, written-language curricula usually stress both content and style (grammar, mechanics and diction)(Salvia, pg 139-141)”.

14. Special Ed. certification & eligibility 602(30) “Specific Learning Disability – (A) in general, the term “Specific Learning Disability” means a disorder in 1 or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, which disorder may manifest itself in the imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or do mathematical calculations (IDEIA)”. Assessments will be specifically measurable to certify an eligibility area, such as written expression; All types of proven,measurable, normative,criterion-referenced, data-drive, scientific and quantitative assessment testing results: Woodcock Johnson III – Spelling, Writing Fluency, Writing Samples: Broad Written Language, MLPP, MEAP/MI-Access, SAT/ACT

15. Writing Assessments re-evaluations and I.E.P. Standardized testing procedures – Curriculum-based assessments and tests, both text- and teacher-generated must have content validity and be reliable. Developing assessment that contains tables of specifications for the content of instruction and test and developing precise scoring guides and sticking to the criteria before instruction has begun and the test s has been written can ensure the reciprocity of content. Assessments can be all types of: evaluative, observations, interviews, anecdotal records, curriculum-driven, qualitative, interpretive data andinclude all forms of normative data results. Writing From Knowledge and Experience, Curriculum based teacher- and text-generated tests, holistic rubrics and SAT/ACT, as well as Woodcock Johnson III – MLPP, MEAP/MI-Access. Information entered for these purposes is a casserole, and can include nearly anything except peer evaluations; hearsay, however allowed, should be highly discouraged.

16. Types of normative, criterion-referenced assessments Woodcock Johnson III, MLPP, MEAP/MI-Access No need to discuss further, audience is well-acquainted; next test…’comin’ up…

17. Holistic and rubric assessments Holistic Scales, Writing from Knowledge and Experience Rubric, ACT, Woodcock Johnson III: writing sample subtest 11 Holistic evaluation of writing, by: Cooper, C. In Evaluating writing: Describing, measuring, judging. By: Cooper, C., and Odell, L. Writing from Knowledge and Experience

18. Holistic evaluations of writing Curriculum-based, teacher-generated Sample: pdf in word – 1 Cooper holistic scales Hey, Robin, open doc 1 of 7 that you have proactively opened and minimized Below

19. Holistic evaluations of writing Curriculum-based, teacher-generated Sample Writing from Knowledge and Experience rubric, analyzing speech rubric, simple writing rubric Hey, Robin, open minimized docs 2, 3 and 4

20. ACT English Assessment Overview (MDE) Conventions of Punctuation 13% Strategy 16% Commas Effective transitions Semicolon Effective opening and closing sentences Colon Identify shifts in ideas denoting new paragraph Hyphen Words appropriate to audience and purpose Apostrophe Dash Question marks

21. ACT English Assessment Overview (MDE) Organization 15% Make decisions about order, coherence, and unity Exclamation point Logical connections between ideas, sentences, paragraphs Quotation marks Determine need for connectors Parentheses Rearrange, reorder, add, or delete sentences

22. ACT English Assessment Overview (MDE) Conventions of Usage 16% Style (and Word Choice) 16% Subject-verb agreement. Choose appropriate words and phrases to match style and tone Principal parts of verbs Avoid wordiness, redundancy, clichés, ambiguous references Verb forms and verbal Diction Pronouns Wordiness Omissions

23. ACT English Assessment Overview (MDE) Sentence Structure and Formation 24% Sentence fragments Run-on sentences Connectives Modifiers Consistency and tense Parallelism Transitional words and phrases

24. Holistic evaluations of writing ACT Rubric, ACT persuasive writing rubric & scoring Hey, Robin, open drive, file & docs 5, 6 & 7 (last ones)

25. Holistic evaluations of writing Woodcock Johnson III, subtest 11 Writing Sample Insert scoring directions found in administrator’s manual of W.J. III, subtest 11, or read aloud while there…

26. Conclusion & Questions Thank you very much, you’ve all demonstrated remarkable stamina If there are not any questions we’ll move on to the artifact activity…please awaken your neighbor

27. Artifact Check: Holistic evaluation of writing Directions: Write a new (general) writing scoring assessment specific to the Woodcock Johnson III, subtest 11 Writing Sample. Include feature descriptions and points for each. At the bottom please add any feedback information pertinent to presentation improvements

28. Michigan.gov, MDE Resources, ACT practice test links on site Power of Language Module: Part 1 2-07 V.1.07 3 General Web Resources Used Throughout the Grammar Unit: The Bluebook of Grammar and Punctuation http://www.grammarbook.com Guide to Grammar and Writing http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar Sentence Sense: A Writer’s Guide http://www.ccc.commnet.edu/sensen The Owl at Purdue http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/interact/index.html

29. Michigan.gov, MDE Resources, cont. Professional Texts The Grammar Plan Book: A Guide to Smart Teaching Weaver, Constance. The Grammar Plan Book: A Guide to Smart Teaching. Portsmouth: Heinemann, 2007. Mechanically Inclined: Building Grammar, Usage, and Style into Writer’s Workshop Anderson, Jeff. Mechanically Inclined: Building Grammar, Usage, and Style into Writer’s Workshop. Portland: Stenhouse, 2005. Image Grammar: Using Grammatical Structures to Teach Writing Noden, Harry. Image Grammar: Using Grammatical Structures to Teach Writing. Portsmouth: Heinemann-Boynton/Cook, 1999. Image Grammar Activity Book Noden, Harry. Image Grammar Activity Book. Logan: Perfection Learning, 2007. Write for College: A Student Handbook. Sebranek, Patrick, Verne Meyer, and Dave Kemper. Write for College: A Student Handbook. Wilmington: Great Source, 1997. Writing Reminders Burke, Jim. Writing Reminders. Portsmouth: Heinemann, 2003.

30. ReferencesIn order of appearance Michigan Department of Education, Office of School Improvement, www.michigan.gov/mde Grade Level Content Expectations v.12.05 & High School Content Expectations Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act 2004, Section 602(30). Salvia J., Ysseldyke J., Bolt S. 2007, Assessment in Special and Inclusive Education (pg. 9, 139-141) Wadsworth, CA, USA Cooper, C., Odell, L. (1977), Holistic evaluation of writing, Evaluating writing: Describing, measuring, judging. Buffalo, NY: National Council of Teachers of English