Your readings focus on assessment and grading this week. Here are a few guiding questions to start the conversation.
- Do state assessments reflect the achievements of your student?
- What assessment and/or grading procedures do you use?
- How can we differentiate between grades and assessments? What do you see as the value/shortcomings of each?
- What type reports, information on acievement or report cards do you share with parents and students?
- Do you use the Six Traits to teach or evaluate writing? If so, what do you find effective? What issues to you have with Six Traits?
23 comments:
I do use the Six Traits; it helps that I have been recently calibrated at our district’s assessment of fifth, seventh, and ninth graders. I do get very frustrated if it’s clear a student hasn’t spent enough time revising. I return it until it has been. I also respond electronically to essays, both in email and on the essay itself, highlighting problematic or exemplary writing with footnoted points for revision. Although I’m still a little faster with what I’m familiar, pen to paper, this format is more efficient and friendly with this generation. If only I could make revisions into some sort of video game… There are no final writing grades in my class. Kids can choose to revise until they are satisfied with their grades (and hopefully somewhere in there also their writing).
My responses to our readings:
I really enjoyed the concept of “shades of true” in Gallagher’s excerpt. Maybe that’s why writing has been so appealing to me right now. I’ve never been so fully aware of consequences for my daily actions before becoming a parent and teacher, and those things take up most of my waking hours. So when Gallagher says that as writers, we serve truth, that “the essential nature of life—that one damn thing after another—is lost” is such a refreshing idea. I think that’s why reflective writing is so healthy. It allows us tease our best intentions out of daily bumblings, find meaning and unity in our fragmented twenty-first century identities.
In “The Writing Rubric” the statement “the quantity and quality of feedback that a writer receives throughout the writing process can contribute to a well crafted piece of writing” really resonates with me. I usually provide time in class for peer revisions/writer's circle (although this sometimes burdens the kids who complete assignments early or on time with extra revising as their classmates know who to ask for help). I remind the class that their ONE JOB as peer reviewers is to help their classmates become better writers.
I have started using 6-traits this year and have found it very beneficial, I use some of their rubrics as well as some I have created and made time this year to give individual feedback one on one verbally with my students. (It takes a lot of extra time on my part, but I can see them putting what we’ve discussed into practice and it has made a difference.)
I get frustrated with the state assessments as I see that it only shows a snapshot of the students. For instance, I have one student who came to fourth grade last fall and would only write his name. He is now writing sentences and responding and has made major improvements this year but the assessment will show that he is far below proficient and won’t take into account the gains he has made.
I see grades as something that tells parents and the students how they are doing week by week, and their work tells me where I need to go back and reteach or spend more time working on that particular skill. My assessments are to keep track of their growth and keep me focused on the needs of each child. On the other hand, the state assessments are for more political purposes (in my opinion). If you don’t learn something valuable from the assessment, then you shouldn’t be giving them.
Ok now, I’ll get off my soapbox.
More later.
Before I was a special ed teacher I was very against achievement testing for my students. I still feel that many tests are politically based and have nothing to do with what is good for the child. That being said, when I am gathering information for IEPs (Individual Education Plans) I find these yearly tests very informative. On each IEP I keep track of the past scores in each area Reading, Writing and Math. One student raised his score in all areas but math by 50+ points two years in a row. When tested for a three year reevaluation he tested out of sped in those areas. Robert used the test scores to demonstrate to the district that his students were reading on a higher level that what their placement in the phase level showed. The district sent three people down to test and evaluate the students resulting in the movement of up to three phase levels for some.
The assessments we use in our district are produced by committee and aligned with the district and state standards. Each phase level has a certain number of indicators that must be completed at a proficient level to pass the phase level. Teachers are allowed little leeway in adjusting these tests or projects, and if there are concerns or mistakes discovered they are reported to the district office personnel so that corrections can be made.
Although there are some parents that do not like our districts grading structure for R/W/M, I do like stating that a student is either “above expectations or ADV”, “Proficient or PRO”, or “below expectations or BAS”. If a student is still working on phase indicators then they are in progress or “IP and the letter of how they are doing A/P/B. These grades come directly from the assessments and are a reflection of how they are doing. The value of this is that all students can do well or all can bomb there is no bell curve to worry about nor is it a system where you can give only one “A”. The shortcoming of the system is it is difficult and sometimes beyond to explain this process to parents. It often takes new teachers a year or more to understand how everything works, which brings us back to that group of Robert’s students. They had two years of new teachers who didn’t understand the phase system so for two years they were not moved forward. This lead to some pretty depressed students and 16 year old students sitting in JRH.
Our writing program is based on the 6 +1 traits and the indicators have a writing rubric that can be used to evaluate the student writing. I usually do not evaluate each piece on all the traits, but have the student choose one or two traits that they want to focus on. The number of traits depends on the level they are working on. The only issue with the rubrics is that I worry about my students next year with a new teacher, what I see as a good or advanced paper based on how I interpret the rubric, may not score as high with someone else. It has taken me two years to build up my students where they see themselves as “good writers” I would hate to have someone else come in and decimate their confidence in themselves.
I've been using six traits writing instruction with all my classes since 1999 when I received training as part of staff development training in another school district. It has been helpful in teaching writing across the curriculum. The only issue I have with Six Traits is that their rubrics are not as precise as I would like and leaves a lot of room for interpretation on part of the scorer.
Teachers can incorporate different types of writing workshops within the Six Traits writing models. My district uses a four stage writing workshop: Pre-writing, First Draft, Revision and Editing, and Publishing.
I believe that Alaska's Standards Based Assessments confirms what I'm seeing in the way of achievement in my Language Arts classes. Our district uses the data from the SBAs to drive the instruction because the SBAs are aligned to the state's educational standards and our district has aligned its curriculum to the grade level expectations.
In my district our report cards are generated by a database program that lists the grades. Since the district uses a Quality School Model for its curriculum, our grading scale for Reading, Writing, and Math has three levels of achievement based on phase level assessments. The grading use with this system is Advanced, Proficient, and Basic which corresponds to the traditional grades A, B and C. The district also uses intermediate grades for "in progress", meaning that students who are working on completing a "Phase Level" is in progress in that phase level until they complete all the phase level assessments (usually at 80%).
Students who are working on a phase level would receive either an "IPA", "IPP", or "IPB". Students who don't show any progress receive a "No Progress" (NP).
Junior high and high school students who are taking traditional courses like science and social studies receive traditional grades.
Reading has 17 levels or phases, Writing has 19 levels or phases, and math has 26 phases or levels. These phase levels start in Kindergarten at Phase 1 and end in High School with phase 17 for Reading, phase 19 for writing, and phase 26 for math.
Now try to explain that to parents who are more familiar with the traditional grading systems. It is quite a chore sometimes to do that, especially to parents who are new to our school district.
What I like about the phase level system is that the assessments are built into the grading system. We use rubrics for most of our grading and assessment scoring. When used properly by the teacher, it tells us where the student is academically and what the student needs in the way of instruction.
Assessments are used to determine where instruction is needed to help the student. Grades under the traditional grading systems usually compared one student against another student and does not give any indication of how proficient the student is in his or her academics.
I feel measuring achieve in education is still evolving. Some educators have developed some really neat methodologies that accurately measure student achievement. Other educators don't have a clue on how to evaluate their students' progress. Assessment is not taught in teacher preparation courses at the undergraduate level, but are found only on the Masters level, where assessment is taught as part of the Masters of Education programs. I feel this has to change so that assessment is part of the teacher's undergraduate preparation.
I am responding to the discussion about standards postponed from last week. It is interesting that we should have a discussion about standards during the week we are required to do standardized testing state-wide. I am our school testing coordinator, so I find myself trying to mold multiple individuals into a standardized testing schedule and process. Interesting is the way each teacher approaches the testing task. They all stay within in the parameters of the testing, but each manages to show their own unique personality. One teacher stacks everything neatly and in order daily. Another knows he will have to put the tests in order for me on Thursday, so isn’t concerned about the order he keeps them in the first two days. But really the way we test this week is not governed by a standard, but by rules. Within the rules there is very little freedom for creativity or individuality. It is the same test given to all in one grade on a certain day, by a certain teacher, in a certain scripted way, to be returned in a certain way and graded in a certain way.
So then what of standards? I got to thinking about standards actually in a new light after I read Kelly Lock’s “Working with a Mandated Curriculum.” It made me think about the notion of finding creative freedom within the confines of a prescribed format or scaffolding, if you will. My first thought was that I do not like restrictions. Then it occurred to me that the kind of poetry I like best to write is one of the most restrictive of all – the Haiku.
Within seventeen
Syllables writers can find
Creative freedoms
Tonight, on the first spring night that one could walk without hat and yet not fall thru the snowy surface, I took the dog for a walk and saw evidence that winter is coming to an end. Off in the distance and even close by on our walk were brown patches – telling me that snow is finally beginning to melt. I thought about snow. Is there a standard for snow flakes. Well, yes. Snow is created when the temperature drops enough for crystals to form. Snow has to be in a crystalline form – yet within that form no two snowflakes are created the same.
Our state standards and the writing curriculum LKSD created after we adopted the Phase System – Continuous Progress Model are rather like the restrictive forms of the haiku and snow flakes. I think I saw Standards as the enemy at one time – restrictive and a killer of creativity. However, I was excited about a curriculum that would allow students to move across our district and not lose an entire semester’s work because one school did things differently than another.
Yet, after having had the freedom to create assignments on my own that met a prescribed course description, I felt stifled. All the writing assignments had district created prompts that left no room for a teacher to create prompts that were either more of the moment or cross-curricular. Enough teachers felt as I did, so now there’s a prompt called “teacher created.” I love it now. I am able to once again work cross-curricularly with the science and social studies teachers to create assignments that meet both course requirements. This makes writing more relevant and meets the standards that say students shall write for different purposes and audiences. So I have found freedom to be creative within the confines of both the state standards and my district mandated curriculum.
Okay, I really signed on tonight to write Sondra a comment or two about the "Computers Grade Students' Writing" article she suggest worthy of reading but got to the comments you all put up on the questions she posted about assessment and decided to read them all and put my two cents worth in on them, too.
First of all, I liked Shelly's idea/comment about "no final writing grade in my class. Kids can choose to revise until..." Wow! I think that sounds great. Do you get any that stop and take the grade without doing any revisions? Does that bother you if it does happen? I guess you have to celebrate those who make learning their responsibility. I loe it! I'm going to try this on my ninth grade mini-research papers that we started before testing. See what happens.
As Debbie pointed out State assessment (and for me, all this No Child Left Behind) only takes a snapshot of the student. You can't and don't see outside that caught picture (that one test) and you don't see the growth/learning and progress they've made to get there. Yuk!
Jan, you lost me w/all those letters--A/P/B, R/W/M, etc. You lost me after IEP's but I understand that SPED is a special education all its own. I couldn't do what you guys do, honestly. I did, however, understand your comment about building your students confidence up to see themselves as "good writers only to have...." Problem is, others don't see where they were, right? Or how what they say can ruin eveything you've accomplished.
As Sandy mentioned I found both our assessment discussion and the computer grading student writing article odd assignments for the week of State required testing and one week after I used Turnitin.com with my tenth graders. Pretty cool, actually. Kind of like art imitiating life. Ha! Ha! I watched the kids (25 ninth graders)assigned to my room taking the reading test, and especially the writing test today, more closely because of this week's assigned question prompts. I had one young lady put her head down 10 minutes into it. She left all the places blank that required her to write anything. I wish I knew why.
Anyway, I'm not a big fan of State Assessment but we need something, I guess. Just like I use the standard grade scale the district requires and the grading program it requires us to use to record grade. I try to be creative with how and when I require reading and writing assignments and what credit I give and how long I give them to get the work in but...
I also try to make encouraging comments when I can and constructive ones when I need them to reach farther. As far as the information I share with students and parents, it all depends on what relationship has been established. If we have conferenced I'm pretty open and I let them ask what they need from me--and that can range all over the place from more time, help with exact examples of what they need to do, to who else can help them if they're not happy with what I can do for them. Believe me, teaching is different for each and every one of us. Teaching our students, parents, and ourselves what is needed is constantly evolving and changing.
Finally, I used to use the 6-Traits years ago and still use some of the elements when I response to kid's writing (with voice, content, mechanics, etc. comments) but I've tried more to work on instructing them on writing a complete, well-organized essay answer (paragraph) and the elements of responding to a prompt (essay question) in a short, concrete paragraph and not too much on the traits anymore. I probably spend too much time on the three to five paragraph essay and the long essay answer and the mechanics of that.
Well, I guess I'll write about the "Computers Guide Students' Writng" tomorrow. I need to get to bed. JJ
Quickly Robert, I didn't mean to leave you out last night on my rambling through your comments/ramblings about assessment. I kinda have the same thing to say to you as I did to Jan but I thought the grading with all those levels and categories was because of her SPED classroom and not the district's grade scale. I could still be wrong but I think I understand a little better now. Anyway, I do understand just how impossible it seems to explain grading rubrics (especially those created by 'the powers at large')to parents. Sometimes it doesn't even make sense to me. That's why I said last night that I try to get the grades and the record keeping program we are required to use to do what I think my kids and I need it to do and leave the other battles for another day. I've stopped trying to be god-like and just be me. JJ
I also use the 6 traits to grade. Our district provides a rubric that is very detailed for each trait. It is required that every student receives a proficient on each trait in order to pass a paper, and several papers (in different genres) are required to pass a phase. It's a great way to keep students accountable to writing proficiently in different genres.
At the beginning of the year, if a student didn't get at least proficient on all 6 traits, he/she had to fix their paper until it was proficient. They would turn their papers in, I'd read through them and hand it back. If it wasn't passing they'd fix it. The problem was that they'd do the very least they thought necessary and turn it back it. I didn't have time to keep grading papers; some weekends I spent three or four hours grading papers (some of which had already been graded three or four times).
So after Christmas break, I instituted a new rule: I would grade a paper no more than two times. They need to be sure it is acceptable; if it isn't, they have to redo the paper from scratch with new ideas. Since the curriculum requires that they pass every paper, they have no choice but to start over. They can have their peers read it, they can get help on it during class or after school, but they can only officially turn it in two times. The rule really helped. Students are far more careful with their revisions now than they had been in the past.
State assessments are frustrating. I can understand the need for them, and they do seem to test relevant skills. The problem, however, is the darn vocabulary. It drives me up a wall to see a question that I'm sure my students can answer, if only they could understand it. Being that my students are all Yup'ik first speakers and live in a limited English environment, they don't have huge vocabularies. So are the tests giving accurate scores of how my students are writing? Probably not. Can my students think critically and write articulately? Yes, but not if they don't understand the question.
Frustrating.
Just a note here to comment on the good discussion. Also note JJ has made some pertinent comments to check out on the Status of the Class post. My questions are just designed to get the conversations started. I am pleased to see you bring up what is important to you. Please continue to do that. I also like that you write about the readings that you relate to personally.
whoosh -- so many thoughtful comments and ideas! i love the idea that writing in Shelly's class can be revised until the very last minute. it resonates with me because at Bread Loaf one of my amazing/famous instructors allowed us to put in pencil corrections up until the minute we passed it off to her. as a writer in a stimulating environment this was liberating and frightening. as a teacher it made me think about what i really wanted my students to accomplish. belle hooks said something like, 'i want to know what YOU are thinking and how you use the form is only part of that.' that seems the most crucial point to keep in mind when we talk about grading writing.
on grading -- i use 6-traits and my own rubrics. another thing that often helps me is giving 2 grades -- one for ideas and one for form. i also try to have reflective pieces incorporated into conferences for families to see and listen to as their students talk about grades. this brings the discussion right back to the writer and anytime you can talk about your work it will get better, especially as a novice writer.
on SBA's -- from what i could see from this weeks' reading and writing benchmarks they are not very connected to what i teach and their relevance is limited. in part because of the lack of context -- small passages are at best a challenge to relate to -- and in part because they are designed to separate people not connect or expand their skills.
has anyone read "The Wind Singer" by William Nicholson? it ain't great prose but the beginning of the story paints a clear and nauseating view of how crushing a meritocracy is, how little it allows people to live freely and with compassion. i HATE achievement testing, it rarely has diagnostic qualities -- for me as a reflective teacher and for my students as burgeoning writers in a complicated, exciting world. only okay, i'll stop now
Personal Reflections
As my students are finishing up with the Exit Exams, I can take time to wonder how much the exams have helped or hindered the educational process. I am probably blessed with the two schools that impacted me the most in how I teach. For thirteen years I taught in a very small, Inupiat school and the last two have been in a racially mixed rural school. I have taught with outstanding teachers who were/are truly interested in the students’ best educational interests. The teaching styles have been varied, but only in a very small number have the intrinsic values been purely personal for my peers. Apparently in other parts of the United State this is not necessarily the norm. It is hard to see television shows or news casts explicating how bad the education is in our great land. I personally can’t see how Japan can be so far ahead of us. Unalaska has students going all over the United State for college. They seem to be doing just fine.
Has the Exit Exam increased the educational output in these two schools? I don’t think it has. I do think that the focus in schools has changed. There is more pressure on English and math teachers, as well as the administration in schools. I’ve noticed that the students themselves have put pressure on themselves to take the tests very seriously and do their best work. The problem I have with the test comes when the few students who are not naturally gifted in math and English fail the test and have to retake it year after year. These students have a huge blow to their egos when they don’t pass along with their peers. This is just another way the school tells them how stupid they are. It is no wonder that these students don’t like or do well in school.
Fortunately, Unalaska has a great record of every student passing the Exit Exam before they graduate. Unfortunately, Point Hope did not. In the years that the Exam was implemented, I saw students dropping out of school just before the test, students flying out of town, and/or just staying home so they wouldn’t have to take the test. The focus of the school went from practical classes that would help the students with their lives after high school to every class teaching reading and writing within their classes. The academically challenged went from being proud of learning how to fix their snowmachines or carving, or cooking, or sewing, etc., to not liking being in school.
There is so much to learn in the teenage years that it seems like English and math testing misses the boat on what teachers are trying to do in raising their students. I still think that a student who leaves your room feeling good about his/herself and is excited about coming back to your class is a better educated student than anyone who passes a test and can’t wait to get out of school.
I do understand that I am in a unique position teaching in the alternative classroom. I do try to find areas that each student will find success and still learn from the experience. Because of the way the school is set-up, I have a computer program that we are supposed to have at least two grades per week. My grading causes me to spend many more hours a week on the computer, but it does give the student a chance to succeed. For instance, at the end of class, each student has a data sheet that they reflect on what they did in class that day. They get five points per day for writing. I check everything and make notes so they know I am reading what they wrote, but they get the points whether they write correctly or not. I also give them 5 points per day for getting to class on time and just doing their work. The two assignments together can count as high as 50% of their grade. So, if a student is not the best in a particular area, they still have a chance to succeed if they come to class and fill in their data sheets. For many of my students who are on the verge of dropping out, this gives them a second chance to pass a class and possibly stay in school.
I have many non-readers in my classes. It is always a struggle getting students who do not read on level to enjoy reading. I think the key is to find books that are interesting to the individual student. Sometimes I just stumble on a series that is hot, but usually the student will let me know what they enjoy reading. This year I had a freshman girl ask me if she could read a book that she stole while she was in treatment. I said fine. As it turned out, it was Gossip Girls. It is a TV show about young girls. She finished the book and was so proud of herself that she read a “real book all by herself.” She asked me if I would order her more books from Amazon. I did, and she has now finished her second book and started on her third. This is a huge success that can’t be graded in our computer program.
Getting students excited about learning is sometimes as hard as it is to get parents excited that their child eager about reading. With my parents, I try very hard to keep in touch and subtlety let them know about ways to encourage reading, especially at home; however, so many of my parents are working double shifts and many are single parents. They just don’t have the time or energy left over when they see their child. I don’t blame them for being too tired to continue the education at home. It is not hard to see why they just want the teacher to do all the educating at school! I think parents have also been conditioned to having the school call when there is a problem and not just to keep in touch.
For my student’s essays, I do use the six-trait writing assessment. It shows exactly where the student needs to improve and where they are doing well. It also keeps me from focusing too much on the grammar errors. I have looked up on line different rubrics and have used odds and ends from them to come up with my own assessment from time to time, but the six-trait assessment is always my reliable fall back. I like where Petersen’s portfolio has students work on the rubric. I have never thought to try having my students work up their own grading rubrics for writing. I did use a numbered rubric for history projects. Each student would grade presentations from a rubric that I developed from the internet. I do think that allowing the students a chance to be involved with what they are being graded on might make a big difference. I could see where that might make them even more involved with their projects.
I have all of my students working on portfolios of all their work during the semester. I think I will have the students come up with a rubric and grade each other’s work this year. It probably should be done at the beginning of the semester so they know what they should work towards, but if it works well, everyone will understand the process better next fall when we start school. If it flops, well, I can blame it on the timing.
I don't think that state assessments always reflect the achievements my students have made. While a good writer will be credited with good writing, my sp ed students can be effected by so many things that result in a poor representation of their skills. We write best about things that we know about and using prompts can limit some students. However, without prompts some students would be at a loss for ideas. I also think that state assessments can't measure the progress students make prior to being able to write an entire piece of writing. Some of my students are not yet comfortable with using the entire writing process and see the pre-write or graphic organizer as an extra step. On assessments they will often skip those steps thinking they are saving time or effort and what may have been a well organized essay is not. Not necessarily because they can't do it, but because they won't do it.
I generally do not grade my students writing until they have mastered enough to avoid making lots of marks on their paper. I give credit for completing the assignment and following the directions. We share writing and listen for the objectives we are working on. For example, if we are working on topic sentences then we listen for a topic sentence in each paragraph. If we are working on conclusions we listen for an opinion that is related to the topic in the introduction. We generate ideas if the components are missing. Editing is an area that I more often will give a quantitative grade for as I assist in the second edit following their initial one and expect them to correct spelling and grammar.
I see assessment as ongoing, formative and reflective of strengths and weaknesses. I see grades as a final summative assessment of the skills that were introduced and mastered. More of a comprehensive evaluation of learning vs an evaluation of individual skills. A luxury of sp ed is being able to teach for mastery before moving on.
With writing I try to share portfolios of writing that emphasize growth and improvement. I give grades based on effort,completing assignments and individual progress.
I like using Six Traits to evaluate because students can get credit for the areas they are strong in, which builds confidence. Perhaps they are weak in mechanics, but they have great ideas. I think one overall grade can't provide the information that they need to improve their writing. Six traits allows you to target specific areas.
This is sort of a ramble so hang in there.
I, like most of you, have just finished a wonderful week of S.B.A.'s and readings for this class. The "testing week" for me, was a demonstrated example of where writing matters to all parts of the curriculum.
Perhaps because S.B.A.'s ask us all to stop and think about where our students are. Perhaps we all stop and think because there is a lot of time to just sit and reflect on or teaching. The teachers I worked with this week, who finished testing had a need to talk to someone about students and teaching as a whole. Some were looking for a magic key, and some can't see how things can improve with so little time and so much to impart. In those conversations I shared content (article and discussions) and joyfully found myself in discussions with folks who are passionately trying to do better for kids, and want to help them do better for themselves.
One teacher expert who supports the learning of one subject in a number of schools stopped and talked with me about how we should try to retrain teachers in the specific discipline she was an expert in. This way she thought, the subject would be taught better.
The point was made that at the elementary level, we are generalists with a lot to teach. Her comment that stayed with me.
The expert I spoke with shared “it is difficult to get a teacher who generalizes to focus on a subject in depth”. The expert teacher was certain that more focus on teacher training would provide more focusand delivery of the subject.
I wondered at the time, how many other expert teachers, coaches, etc. might be thinking the same thing.
This brings me to the next step in my thinking. If teachers are generalists who are teaching ten subjects or more during a year, and if their role and opportunity to teach is limited to about 170 days, then are children generalist learners? Maybe not, maybe I am over using the "We are what we eat" analogy.
One of the things that I shared with the expert, was perhaps her subject is being taught well, and learned well too but in isolation. Perhaps one of the things that was being ignored was the way students bring it all togetherin their writing during S.B.A’s for example. I expanded what I was saying, perhaps writing would be included into more of the core classes and blocks to improve understanding of the subject and help clarify connections the student is trying to make? Wouldn’t writing help a student or teacher be sure the connections that are forming are correct? And wouldn’t writing as a method of teaching the subject help during S.B.A.’s?
One teacher shared I always ask students to explain their answers in math. I wondered if the student ever explains his corrections to an incorrect answer? I wondered if the teacher ever wrote to the student, perhaps explaining how the answer could be improved?
Students need to be able to demonstrate what they are thinking in math, reading, technology, etc during S.B.A.’s and real life. Perhaps scores in S.B.A's reflect a relative absence of thinking and real knowledge? Perhaps S.B.A.'s reflect what happens when Education acts upon students.
I think a lot of positive can come from the results of S.B.A.s but perhaps if writing was brought into the “blocks”. Writing might open all subjects up to real understanding and how things are connected. Perhaps writing would reflect the focus that the teacher expert wants, and perhaps writing provides the avenue for depth and clarity the student needs.
This post is quick.
Shelly, JJ, ...I read their text and the following in our discussions and it got me thinking...
"Okay, I really signed on tonight to write Sondra a comment or two about the "Computers Grade Students' Writing" article she suggest worthy of reading but got to the comments you all put up on the questions she posted about assessment and decided to read them all and put my two cents worth in on them, too.
First of all, I liked Shelly's idea/comment about "no final writing grade in my class. Kids can choose to revise until..." Wow! I think that sounds great. "
We have started piloting the software MyAccess in the Anchorage School district and although students and teachers are working hard on revision and bettering their writing process including the 6 traits, teachers and students are working hard on the writing now instead of the staples and notebooks and torn papers. Here is a link: http://www.vantagelearning.com/school/products/myaccess/ The students and teachers are talking about the traits and the writing.
My thought is MyAccess is great and really mirrors what I quoted above! but I wonder if that is enough.
Writing, as I continue to read more, is more important than simply writing and being able to write well. The purpose of writing I believe is changing for me.
Perhaps writing may be the only skill we teach that helps a student organize an idea from inspiration to realization. Perhaps the purpose of writing is to help the student make school subjects real to them...
Hmm.
On State Assessments....
Another year, another round of HSGQE's come and gone. Will we make AYP? Doubtful. Worst of all, they short-changed us on snacks this year; last year, students and proctors got both a drink box and snack bar - this year it was and either or proposition, and not even enough of any food to go around.
So with all of the fuss made over standardized testing week, one must hope that the tests are worth it. Will summarizing the main ideas about an essay on fire-weed really prepare my students to navigate an increasingly byzantine sea of information they'll need to flourish as adults in 21st century? Do the state assessments correlate to true student achievement? I suppose they do, in a very limited sense of the word achievement. If by achievement one means demonstrating a functional command of the English language, then yes, the tests do in some sense reflect studen achievement. For example, students should demonstrate an ability to read and process information in a random essay. Students should have the ability to write a cohesive, well supported response to a reasonably universal prompt. Students should have a working understanding of mechanics, such that they can recognize and avoid/edit common grammar errors. This and other test measures reflect, to some degree, abilities that students should master.
However, I take all such uniform standards based assessments with grain of salt. No matter how 'high stakes' a test becomes, the contrived nature of the test influences students' attitudes towards it. While tests such as the HSGQE seek to measure language abilities, the measures don't account for the contextual reality in which students actually live, learn, and utilize knowledge in their lives. Test questions task students to attend to realities, stories, and scenarios beyond the scope of the studentss lived realities, and thus such measures are not likely to stimulate much interest in their minds. Thus, because the test measures do not inspire students to attend to them with zeal, I'd argue that they're not a realistic measure of a students achievements.
The converse of such measures then would be assessments that challenge students with relevant problems, piquing student interest, as opposed to the artificial tasks students are asked to perform on standardized tests. Most of my empirical observations seem to suggest this. For example, when students given the opportunity to pursue individual interests when creating writing, students generally produce more compelling and sophisticated writing than compared with that they produce from prescribed topics/prompts. No surprise really. What is surprising is that given this relatively intuitive knowledge, policy leaders and educational stake-holders would elevate tests like HSGQE above more meaningful assessments. I speculate, of course, that the issue is one of political slight of hand. Large scale tests, with their infinitely quantitative nature and ability to produce fancy graphs, appeal to the public's sense of accountability and need for simplistic answers. It is easy to hide behind such measures and use them as ammunition for policy changes and political posturing. One can simply point to test scores and say, "See here, Johnny scores low on interpreting multi-step directions," as evidence for needed changes in his classroom reading instructions. But reality, educational reality and the reality of Johnny's actual abilities, is more ambiguous. Thus, saying, "It would be difficult to genuinely assess Johnny's abilities without providing an assessment that is rooted in Johnny's experience of what is real, important, and challenging", while true, would never cater to the public thirst for certainty.
On Grading's dance with Assessment at the Ball of Student Possibility...
A few weeks ago, my students and I struck up an interesting dialogue on the subject of grades in school. We'd wrapped up that day's lesson somewhat early, and I'd have felt like crappy teacher if I didn't fill the last 20 minutes of class up with something that might pass for educational. So I threw the question out to students, "What do you guys think of grading? Share some of your grading experiences with me."
Without narrating the entire twenty minutes, I'll give you an idea of the patterns in most of the students responses. Almost unanimously the students agreed that if teacher's didn't assign grades, and if there weren't at least some system of accountability for student work (an interesting choice of words in itself, but more on that later), then many students would do little to nothing. However, in the same resounding voice, most all students felt that the majority of the grades they earned did not really reflect any important knowledge or abilities gained. While they may have been asked to show proficiency at some skill or memorize some concept, few found that the grades had any importance beyond school.
Listening to their responses reinforces much of what I've always believed. There seems to be a disconnect between assessments, grading, and relevant pedagogy. Grading doesn't always equate with ability. Assessments don't always measure the ability they purport to measure. And at times, none of it seems to give students pause outside of their report card.
Grades are good insofar as they hold students to some measure of accountability. However if the grades are derived from invalid or unsound assessments, then their usefulness is diminished. Even if assessments are valid, if they fail to elicit performances that are commensurate with student abilities, then the assessment still remain dubious predictors of student achievement.
It is so interesting to read everyone's comments. High school is such a different world from elementary school! When we lived in Ketchikan, one of my best friends there was an English teacher. We spent many hours walking and “discussing” our jobs together. If I did not have that knowledge from her, I would not understand all of the things that you guys talk about. Most of my time is spent on very basic literacy skills, letter identification, simple sentence writing, and learning to read simple books.
I am lucky in many ways when it comes to assessments. There are just barely GLE's for Kindergarten, let alone any type of standardized top down assessment, but I have looked at the 3rd grade test to see where my students are going. We have our school and district tests, including DRA, RTI (which we use DIBELS) and lots of great assessments that the Kindergarten staff has created over the years. Most of our Kindergarten assessments are used to gather information for report cards, not to inform teaching. I find that the information I get from those assessments give me some information but the RTI tests (DIBELS) are done more often and give me more specific areas of deficits to refocus instruction.
I am intrigued by the idea of turning in work over the Internet and having a program check for basic parts. I appreciated the discussion of allowing these programs to just do the first round and have teachers still be an integral part of the grading process. There are so many new technologies that are not utilized, and I am not sure why not. Is it knowledge, time, effort, money? Time might be freed up and time is always something that I always seem to fight.
My reflections on the questions from last week. I apologize for the delay.
Do state assessments reflect the achievements of your student?
My students, being in 2nd grade, are not yet required to take state assessments. However, it is my belief that the current assessments in writing (and other subject areas) do not reflect student achievement. You are taking one product, created under pressure, without adequate time for planning, drafting, editing and revising, or peer interaction. There is no authentic purpose or audience. The subject matter may or may not be interesting to the student, they may not even know enough about it to write an adequate piece. After working with my students throughout the year and seeing the growth from August to April, I don’t think you can get an accurate read on a student’s abilities or their growth in an area via a state standardized assessment.
What assessment and/or grading procedures do you use?
A lot of what I do when assessing writing is talk to the student. I look at everything they turn in, from the first planning sheet to the polished final draft. Then I ask questions. How did you know to put a question mark here? What gave you the idea to write about a dragon who needs to find food for winter hibernation? Often we will discuss a focus for our piece before we write. For example, focus on your voice in this piece. Does it sound like a story you would tell your friends? Or, focus on organization or sequencing. Does the order of events or facts make sense? Honestly, rubrics and assessment of student work is a huge weak point of mine. I feel like I’m spending this year just getting to know what students are capable of at this age.
How can we differentiate between grades and assessments? What do you see as the value/shortcomings of each?
Grades are a letter or number that lets you know where you fall in the group. They are pieces of data that allow you to categorize and group in an objective manner. Assessments offer a way to arrive at a grade. They set the expectations and criteria for a learning experience and provide a way to judge whether or not a student has successfully completed that experience or learned the material. A strength of grades, they are objective. Once you have the number you are no longer looking at individual students, you are now looking at data. However, this same point can prove to be a weakness. A number doesn’t necessarily take into consideration student growth or the tool used to arrive at that number. A strength of assessment, you can develop an assessment for just about anything, create a rubric and an example of quality work and you’re there. However, the same is true with this strength as was with grades. Not all assessments are created equal. Some are more effective and efficient in assessing what it is you actually want the students to learn. Others may assess parts of what you had hoped students would learn, but miss the meat entirely.
What type reports, information on acievement or report cards do you share with parents and students?
Agh! I hate our report cards. They are a list of standards and you can either mark “/” for emerging or “x” for proficient. The comments section ends up going on forever because you have to explain how the student has grown despite marks that appear to be identical. The most frustrating part is our curriculum, which we are required to teach, does not always align with the standards on the report card. The only space to even talk about social studies, health and science is a one-line box at the bottom of page two. In addition, I share graphs of student’s reading fluency achievement as well as samples of work over an extended period of time. Calls go home on a semi-regular basis just to let parents know how things are going. I especially love getting to call those parents who are expecting to hear something negative and I get to tell them what a great job their child is doing. Aside from all of the individual information that gets sent home, I also send a weekly newsletter with an overview of what we’ve covered and how our week has been. Still, I feel like this is another weakness of mine. At the start of the year I had parents complaining about me left and right. I’m sure it was fear due to the fact that I was 21 and straight out of college, surely I couldn’t be capable of educating their child. Things have definitely calmed down, but calling home is still a bit of a stressor for me.
Do you use the Six Traits to teach or evaluate writing? If so, what do you find effective? What issues to you have with Six Traits?
I do this informally for the most part. This year has been about learning to teach writing, and learning how to approach the task with such young, fresh minds. I think for me the biggest shortcoming in using six traits is that I don’t feel confident enough to present the material in a meaningful way to my students. I sort of know my way around, but I seem to allow my doubt and fear to hinder me. I am unsure of how to approach this task with my students. Six traits are great; I think the model is an excellent one to use with students, and for my own writing. I just need to spend some time ‘brushing up’ and developing rubrics and meaningful mini-lessons to help my students as writers.
DANG IT! I have lost my comments often enough that I should have learned by now not to do it but I guess I am a slow learner. I navigate away from my page to follow up on something I am typing and then realize I have lost my whole response. I makes me so frustrated I have to walk away for awhile so here is my second attempt answering this question and to show that I have finally learned my lesson I will type it in Word first ☺.
** Do state assessments reflect the achievements of your student?
My kids are in first grade so are not required to take any standardized test. I do hold them accountable for state GLE’s however. The first grade GLE’s are funny things. They run the gamut from super easy to very difficult. An example of the easy side would be 1.3.1- Student can write first and last names beginning with a capital. A more difficult one would be 1.4.2- Give or receive ideas and suggestions about writing and respond appropriately. We have only 5 weeks left and I am struggling with my kids on that one. One GLE that I thought would be a cinch is 1.2.1- Write for a variety of purposes, including lists. Lists go over like lead balloons in my room. I think because the majority of my students do not have a large enough vocabulary to produce a list of any length. We do a lot of group lists but individual ones have remained dismal.
**What assessment and/or grading procedures do you use?
I have created rubrics for the three major types of writing in my class. The first occurs in our journals and is considered a safe space for spelling and mechanics. I am looking for voice and word choice and I have found that the voice is often stifled when the student is concerned about how to spell or if their handwriting is neat. The second type of writing occurs with Mindbenders. I am sure that many of you have used these, they are fabulous. At the beginning of the year the requirement was 1 complete and perfect sentence. Now, it is a minimum of 4 with punctuation, grammar, HF words spelled correctly, and neat handwriting. The rubric for the Mindbender is posted above the place where they file them to turn them in so that they are forced to check once more that they have done all they should. The third type of writing is variety writing. Sometimes it is a thank you note, a friendly letter, or a poem. These are often graded as stipulated in Houghton Mifflin.
**Do you use the Six Traits to teach or evaluate writing? If so, what do you find effective? What issues to you have with Six Traits? I do not formally use the Six Traits in my room. I do pick and choose out of them as I instruct and grade writing though. For instance, voice and word choice is graded in journals and we do a plethora of graphic organizers which is another trait. A great resource that I pick and choose is the Online Writing Lab at http://www.edina.k12.mn.us/concord/teacherlinks/sixtraits/sixtraits.html. Another great resource for writing of all types is from the Northern Nevada Writing Project…an excellent place to browse for ideas and lessons for the Six Traits and beyond.
DC I totally agree with your statement, "These students have a huge blow to their egos when they don’t pass along with their peers. This is just another way the school tells them how stupid they are. It is no wonder that these students don’t like or do well in school."
When I taught at the middle school level I used the 6 traits. Because most of my students were learning disabled in the area of writing students spent a lot of time loediting a peers paper. Usually two or three students would edit one paper before I would look it over. Each peer would use a rubric, as would I. Then the author and I would discuss the points made by each "editor" and come up with ways to create a final product they were proud to keep in their portfolio.
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