The Writing COE: Student Performances & Scoring WERA/OSPI Assessment Conference

1. The Writing COE:Student Performances & ScoringWERA/OSPI Assessment Conference Steve Pearse, Ed.D. COE Writing Specialist CAA Options / OSPI The Writing COE

2. What is the Writing COE? • A Legislature-approved alternative to WASL for meeting graduation requirements and the Certficate of Academic Achievement (CAA) • As per WASL, it represents what students should know and be able to do—writing concepts & skills—as per Grade 9/10 GLEs. • More information is available on the COE Web site: http://coe.k12.wa.us The Writing COE

3. Who is Eligible? • February: Seniors, plus all students eligible to submit augmented Collections • June: All students who have taken WASL one or more times and who likely possess the knowledge and skills assessed by the WASL, but have not demonstrated proficiency under large-scale testing conditions The Writing COE

4. What are the Writing COE Requirements? • Work Sample Documentation Form (WSDF) (See COE Guidelines, revised Red Book…October, ‘08) • 6-8 Work Samples demonstrating two assessed traits: Content, Organization, & Style (COS) Conventions (CONV) • On-demand and extended-time Work Samples • Evidence of the specific writing process for each Work Sample The Writing COE

5. What Does the Work Look Like? • Prompts/Tasks: OSPI-published, district/school, teacher/student • 3-5 Work Samples in response to expository (to explain) and 3-5 Work Samples in response to persuasive purpose prompts/tasks • Final Drafts (as indicated) to be scored • Evidence of process* for each Work Sample (not scored) * documents (pre-writing, drafts, revisions, edits) AND/OR explanations of process The Writing COE

6. What Constitutes an Augmented Writing Collection? • Eligibility: 15 or 16 points earned on the submitted Collection (meeting standard = 17 of 24 possible points) • Requirements: 4 Work Samples (2 Expository, 2 Persuasive) No on-demand Work Samples required* * Regular Collection scores are “banked” The Writing COE

7. The Writing COE… Prompts/Tasks The Writing COE

8. What Constitutes a COE Writing Prompt/Task? • Topic, Audience, Purpose (TAP) + Form • Sample Prompt/Task: Special Song The Writing COE

9. What are some additional examples of Writing COE prompts/tasks? The Writing COE

10. Creating or Selecting Prompts/Tasks for the Writing COE • An invitation to write!…Topic • Addressing the reader…Audience • Explaining or Persuading…Purpose • Choosing an appropriate Form… Letter or Essay The Writing COE

11. Writing Work Sample Task Form…Adult (Teacher +) Assistance • Purpose: Authenticity and Clarity • Definition: When allowed, Adult Assistance must be limited to general, non-directive advice and/or reminders. • Requirement: On-demand responses may NOT benefit from adult assistance of any kind. The Writing COE

12. Writing Prompts/Tasks Guidelines Prompts/Tasks must support writing content & skills: EALR 2: The student writes in a variety of forms for different audiences and purposes. EALR 3: The student writes clearly and effectively. 3.1—Develops ideas and organizes writing. 3.2—Uses appropriate style. 3.3—Knows and applies writing conventions. The Writing COE

13. Writing Prompts/Tasks Recommendations Effective Prompts/Tasks feature: • significance & authenticity • structure or ‘frame’ • guidance, opportunity, interest • on-demandorextended-time? The Writing COE

14. Supporting Student-Writers: DOs & DON’Ts* Key Considerations— • Prompt/task selection, modification • Purposeful practice • Effective writing: Process + Product • Appropriate student support: —time, opportunity, guidance * Please note The DOs & DON’Ts of the Writing COE document. The Writing COE

15. Supporting Teachers: OSPI-Developed Resourcescoe.k12.wa.us The Writing COE

16. The Writing COE… Student Performance and Scoring The Writing COE

17. How the Writing COE is Assessed • Final Drafts (as indicated) only • Work Samples scored holistically, as sets: —Expository set…3-5 Work Samples —Persuasive set…3-5 Work Samples • On-demand Work Samples = touchstones for both sets constituting the Collection • COS + CONV rubrics informed by Baseline Anchors (WASL) and scored Collections The Writing COE

18. Writing COE Scoring Protocol • Using the WASL 4-point rubric and purpose-based COS Baseline Anchor papers, scorers holistically assess either the expositoryor the persuasive purpose Work Samples for Content, Organization, & Style. • Using the WASL 3-point (0, 1, 2) rubric and related CONV Anchor Papers, scorers holistically assess either the expositoryor the persuasive Work Samples for Conventions. • Each set of Work Samples is scored twice (different scorers). • When the two scores are non-adjacent, the work sample set is scored a third time (Director or Assistant Director). The Writing COE

19. Determining a Score for the Writing COE • The two expository purpose scorers’ points for COS and CONV are added for a total possible of 12 points. • The two persuasive purpose scorers’ points for COS and CONV are added for a total possible of 12 points. • 24 points are possible for the Collection. • Students need 17 points to meet standard, 15 points to be eligible to submit an Augmented Collection. The Writing COE

20. The At-Standard Writing COE:Ways of Earning 17 Points • EXPOSITORY | PERSUASIVE The Writing COE

21. Meeting Standard:A Composite Collection • Range: 20 - 24 points • Expository + Persuasive Work Samples • ‘Big Picture’ Observations? • _ • _ • _ • _ • _ The Writing COE

22. Composite COE Writing Collection:Example Annotations Expository Work Sample Set: Content, Organization, & Style …strong ability to explain …reasonably engaging introductions: context, audience, voice …clearly, purposefully organized; effective transitional devices …ample supporting details; adequately layered elaboration …conclusions wrapping up main points: clarity, emphasis …appropriate word choice, often effective for topic, audience, purpose …often-fluent sentences; varied in structure, length …identifiable voice: person behind the words Expository Work Sample Set: Conventions …consistently follows rules of Standard English for usage, spelling of commonly-used words, capitalization, punctuation, sentence formation, and paragraphing The Writing COE

23. The Writing COE… 2008 Scoring Results The Writing COE

24. The February, ‘08 Scoring Event:Writing COE Results • 36.6% of students met the writing standard. • 13 10th grade students, 127 11th grade students, and 496 12th grade students participated. • 36% of 12th grade students met standard. • Writing experienced a low insufficiency rate, once “appropriate teacher assistance” was defined. The Writing COE

25. June, 2008 Scoring ResultsSubmissions + Sufficiency • 288 students—151 seniors, 133 juniors, and 4 sophomores—submitted Collections. • Of the 288 COEs, 27 (9.4%) represented Special Education, 101 (35%) represented Bilingual/ELL, and 180 represented (62.5%) Low Income students. • 281 Writing Collections (97.6% of submissions) were sufficient and were scored. • 19 students—13 seniors, 6 juniors—submitted Augmented Collections; 100% were sufficient. The Writing COE

26. June, ‘08 Scoring Results • 122 students met standard (42.4% of submissions). • 35% (8) of African-American students, 48% (71) of Caucasian/White students, 20% (5) of Asian students and 39% (31) of Hispanic/Latino students met standard. • 18.5% of Special Education students met standard; 31% of Bilingual/ELL students met standard. • 13 Augmented Collections met standard (68.4% of submitted), including 10 seniors (66.7%). • 56 Collections were eligible for Augmentation (19.4% of submitted COEs). The Writing COE

27. COE Mean Scores by Purpose & Trait The Writing COE

28. The Writing COE: What We’ve Learned • Prompt/Task selection • Student-writer support • Adult Assistance clarity & appropriateness • Teaching tools, resources • Process-to-Product correlations: —apparent strengths, apparent gaps • Opportunities for improvement: -student readiness & support -content-area participation -scorer training & support The Writing COE

29. The Writing Collection of Evidence • Important points, facts? • Additional questions? • Professional Reflections & Possibilities? Please note additional Writing COE support materials posted on the COE Web site: coe.k12.wa.us. Thank you! The Writing COE

30. Contact us… Call us, write us, visit us. Our job is to serve you. • Steve Pearse, Ed.D. COE Writing Specialist. caaoptions@k12.wa.us. (360) 725-6037 • Lesley Klenk, Ph.D. COE Administrator. lesley.klenk@k12.wa.us. • Amanda Mount, COE Operations Specialist. amanda.mount@k12.wa.us. (360) 725-6507 The Writing COE