1. Current Information on Writing Assessment in South Carolina
Jenny Howard
SCDE
Office of Assessment

2. English/language arts classroom
Common Core State Standards should be the working document today in each and every
English/language arts classroom

3. PASS Writing (Grades 3 - 8 ) March 18-19, 2014
March 18– Extended-Response
Writing answer document contains
15 pt. writing rubric
Time to Write directions
Two lined pages for final draft **

4. Remind students to write the composition in the booklet .
IMPORTANT!!
Remind students to write the composition in the booklet .

5. Day 2 - March 19 Multiple-Choice items based on
- editing passages and stand alones
- reading comprehension is NOT assessed on the writing test
25 items total

6. Writing Blueprint
The PASS writing tests measure the 2008 South Carolina Academic Standards for English Language Arts in writing for grades three through eight. Each grade level will have one extended-response item and 25 multiple-choice items which assess the writing domains of content and development, organization, voice, and conventions.
The table indicates the range of points and items for the four domains.
The extended-response item is scored using the 15 point rubric. The score will be weighted x 2.
Domain
ER (pts)
MC (pts)
Content / Development
1-4
5-8
Organization
Voice
1-3
Conventions

7. Common Observations PASS and HSAP - “planted” figures of speech
- over reliance (misuse) of thesaurus/dictionary
- restating entire prompt v (addressing prompt)
- organization issues
- over emphasis on length
- vague central idea
- listing v elaboration

8. Areas of Concern Content/development – support for main idea (details)
concluding the composition
Organization –
appropriate transitions (when and what)
Voice –
sentence formation (types)
word choice(specificity)

9. Areas of Concern Conventions – punctuation and capitalization
apostrophes - plural possessives
personal pronoun - I
Usage
agreement – subject/verb and pronoun/antecedent

10. Content and Development (possible sample questions)
Which sentence would make the best supporting detail?
Which topic sentence would be best to begin the second paragraph?
Which sentence shifts focus by adding an irrelevant detail?

11. Organization (possible sample questions)
Which transitional word would best introduce sentence 24?
What would be the best way to begin sentence 20?
Which sentence interrupts the logical progression of ideas?

12. Voice (possible sample questions)
What would be a more precise word to replace _______?
Which revision of the sentence is the most vivid?
What is the best way to combine sentences 7 and 8?

13. Conventions (possible sample questions)
Which sentence uses capital letters correctly?
Which sentence is punctuated correctly?
What is the correct way to combine sentences
15 and 16?
What correction should be made to sentence 21?

14. ATTENTION !
Perhaps because it is the most varied, the voice domain may require special focus.

15. Suggestion Do not assume that students understand what
VOICE means in their writing. Be sure to explain by addressing all the language (of Voice) in the rubric, using modeling whenever possible. Carefully consider each bullet so that students will then have a comprehensive picture of the domain.

16. Suggestions for bullet # 1
Uses precise and/or vivid vocabulary – avoid using words that lack voice because they don’t “say” anything (poison words).
nice
great
stuff
a lot
things
good

18. Suggestion for bullet # 2
Phrasing is effective, not predictable or obvious
( “Planted” figures of speech are obvious and predictable.)
Avoid repetitive phrasing – there is/are, so,
you know, like, such as
(not necessarily inadequate words or phrases, just overused in a single piece of writing)

19. Suggestion for bullet # 3
Varies sentence structure
- Using a variety of sentences in their writing is difficult for most students, especially if they are not good readers. This is an area that would lend itself to reading model papers aloud so that students have the opportunity to HEAR rhythmic vs. monotonous patterns.

20. Suggestion for bullet # 3 (cont’d)
Address Sentence Types
Simple
Compound
Complex
Compound-complex

21. Suggestion for bullet # 4
Shows strong awareness of audience and task (tone)
- Be “selective” when using slang (depends on audience)
-Do not “overuse” rhetorical questions
Suggestion for bullet # 4

22. Other Suggestions for VOICE (handout)
Use Mentor Texts
Trust the Writing Process: Prewriting and Revision
Use Letters (Audience)
Use Illustration
Teach Point of View and Perspective
Focus on Small Parts

24. What’s ahead? ?

25. English/language arts classroom
Common Core State Standards should be the working document today in each and every
English/language arts classroom

26. What we know today
CCSS are our current state standards in ELA and math (adopted by SBE and approved by EOC in 2010).
The state must assess those standards in
Smarter Balanced was adopted by SBE (2012) as the state assessment for CCSS in
South Carolina will participate in the Smarter Balanced field test in spring of 2014.

27. WIS- 6TH GRADE MATH: 3/18-4/5 WMS-7 & 8 ELA: 4/7-4/25
TO: District Superintendents
FROM: Elizabeth Jones, Director Office of Assessment
DATE: September 20, 2013
RE: Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium: Spring 2014 Field Test
The testing window for the spring 2014 field test for the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium is March 18–June 6, A representative sample of students from each state, including South Carolina, will be selected by Educational Testing Service (ETS) (for Smarter Balanced) to participate in the field test. ETS will provide the final list of selected schools directly to your District Test Coordinator (DTC).
If a school is selected for the representative sample, all students in the selected grade will participate in the field test for one subject only, ELA or mathematics.   
WIS- 6TH GRADE MATH: 3/18-4/5
WMS-7 & 8 ELA: 4/7-4/25
AHS-9TH AND 11TH ELA: 4/7-4/25

28. When all else fails…
BE HAPPY!! 