ASSESSMENT IN THE WRITING WORKSHOP Module #3 Highline Public Schools Literacy Team

OUTCOMES Participants will:  Understand the Writing Pathways Assessment System  Norm understanding of narrative writing progression

CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF THE SYSTEM  “ The system is first and foremost a performance assessment designed to accelerate students’ progress”  Enables differentiated instruction  Rubric that details growth and next steps  “Sequence of on-demand writing (formative and summative)”  Children self-assess  “Aligned to Common Core State Standards but not slavishly so”  Supports transfer

CHAPTER 2: ON-DEMANDS  Emphasizes goal of producing great writers, not just great writing  In Highline, this year, on-demand at the beginning and end of each unit  One 45-minute writing workshop period  Standardized prompt based on genre; consistent administration across grade level to allow for common analysis  Independent work; no coaching

CHAPTER 3: NORMING  “Create an assessment-based, inquiry-oriented community of professionals working with shared resolve to lift the level of students work”  “Common language and an aligned view of how to look at student work”  Try on today

CHAPTER 4: USING DATA TO INFORM INSTRUCTION  “During your first few years using the assessments, your students won’t all leave your grade producing work that is at standard.”  Early in the year, look to grade below for standard  Support a wide range of writers  Adjust units based on data  Minilessons move the unit forward, small groups/conferring move students forward  Differentiate during minilesson (A/B partners, coaching in, etc.)

CHAPTER 5: SELF-ASSESSMENT CHECKLISTS  Remind students to do what they have learned  Aligned and interpretive of Common Core  “The checklists are a way to help children formulate manageable, next-step goals for themselves”  Student uses conferences, writing partners, and mentor text to work toward goal  Embedded in learning progression

CHAPTER 6: ADAPTING THE ASSESSMENTS  Learning progressions allow us to see what students ARE doing and what their next steps are  Adapt checklists to make expectations clear and reasonable  Assessment system allows alignment between classroom teachers and LRC

CHAPTER 7 & 8: GOAL SETTING  “One of our themes this year is that we are all in charge of making ourselves get stronger. That means you have to be the one who says, ‘I want to get stronger.’”  “Channel youngsters to see this as a tool for self-improvement and for them to own this process, not to respond as victims of it.”  Use self-assessment to create goals and celebrate them  Teach children to use goals to make plans for daily writing

CHAPTER 9: RECORD KEEPING SYSTEM  No perfect system – needs to work for you  Job 1: Collect whole class data to notice trends and form small groups  Job 2: Record student growth and your teaching; cue card  Highline recording tool  Students need a system, too:  “Goals, Plans, Reflections” section of notebook  Reflection writing  Progress toward goal – system for monitoring  Reminders of conferences/small groups

CHAPTERS 10-12: USING THE SYSTEM  Leveled writing samples  Help understand the writing progression  Help write your own demo text  One possible interpretation of benchmark texts  Learning progressions  Guide responsive teaching  Transfer to the Content Areas  Use the same tools

THE NORMING PROTOCOL Writing Pathways: Chapter 3, page 27 The Norming Meeting  Step 1: Assess one child’s writing using the rubric, working as a group.  Step 2: Score other pieces of writing individually, then come to a consensus.  Step 3: Assess your own students’ writing individually.  Step 4: Devise a plan for analyzing on-demand writing across each grade.

THE NORMING MEETING: STEP 1  “Assess one child’s writing using the rubric, working as a group.” The process:  Select a piece that is “at standard” as a whole.  Read each descriptor on the rubric and then work as a group to examine the piece of student work for evidence. Tips:  Don’t let the on-demand situation alter scoring.  Use evidence to reach consensus.

THE NORMING MEETING: STEP 2  “Score other pieces of writing individually, then come to a consensus as a group.” The process:  Select a second piece of study work to study that is approximately “on standard.”  Work individually to annotate and score the piece of writing first. Then share with a partner to compare.  Finally, work as a group to reach consensus. Tips:  If you haven’t reached consensus after 10 minutes move on.  Consider your group normed after five papers with consensus.

THE NORMING MEETING: STEP 3 “Assess your own students’ writing individually.” Process:  Use knowledge from step 1 & 2 to assess your own students’ writing. Tips:  Quickly sort on-demands ranging from levels 1 to 4 on the rubric. Then pick a pile and begin scoring.

THE NORMING MEETING: STEP 4 “Devise a plan for analyzing on-demand writing across each grade.” Process:  Decide how, when and how much you will score together for each on-demand. Tips:  Beware of bias.