1. Extended Written Response Assessment
By: Doug, Amanda, Kristen, Anders, and Lynn

2. Extended Written Assessment
“Discuss Spain”
“Analyze King Lear”
“Explain the cause of the Civil War”
Requirements
Written answer, several sentences, and respond to a question or task

3. When to Use Type of learning needs to be assessed
Knowledge and Reasoning are ideal
Works well with assessing pieces of knowledge that interrelate
Ex: In social studies, you may want to explain the differences between two different countries
Assessing reasoning
Ex: in math, we might ask students to either explain how they arrived at an answer or show their work

4. Other Conditions
May not work well for primary students, English language learners, and students with special needs
Need to be proficient in writing English
Time consuming to score
Requires consistency in scoring
Good assessment in “for” learning situations
Learning is still under way

5. Developing Extended Written Response
Plan the assessment
Develop the assessment
Critique the assessment
Administer the assessment
Revise the assessment

6. Step 1: Plan the Assessment
Why Assess?
To meet specific user information needs
First decide – Assessment for or of learning
For Learning: Planning information for teacher, student, or others
Of Learning: Report card grade
What do we assess?
Outline the content to be mastered
Including relationships among elements that we can expect students to know and understand
List of content knowledge, understanding, and reasoning

7. Step 1 Continued How do we assess? How Important?
Extended written response exercises and scoring devices
How Important?
Relative importance of learning targets

8. Step 2: Develop the Assessment
Easier and quicker to develop for a class, but does not require less
Questions must be posed specifically and clearly
Does not always have to be related to master of content
Can provide them with a passage, chart, or map and have them write on that material
Demonstrates their understanding of the relationship between the question and the material

9. Step 2 Continued Good written response exercise does 3 things
Sets up a clear and specific context
Specifies the kind of reasoning to be brought to bear
Points the way to an appropriate response without giving away the answer

10. Step 2 Continued
Extended responses can be evaluated on 3 different qualities
Accurate knowledge and understanding (focused on content)
Sound reasoning (focused on content)
Effective written communication (response=product itself)
Must be clear to your students on how you are evaluating
Rubrics and pre-determined point systems are useful

11. Step 3: Critique the Assessment
Outline a high quality response yourself to check the quality of your exercise
Sources of bias can arise
Ex: if students are not quite where they should be as a writer

12. Step 3 Continued Rubric for Generalization
Strong: true with proof of evidence and is applied logically to a wide range of instances
Almost There: true with proof of evidence, but application does not have enough evidence to support the wide range of instances
Beginning: true with proof of evidence, there is no work attempted beyond that evidence or statement is not true for the evidence given

13. Step 3 Continued Questions to Assist in Constructing Effective and High-Quality Exercises
Quality of Exercises
Is extended written response the best assessment method for this topic?
Do exercises call for brief, focused response?
Is the target knowledge clear?
Are the directions clear enough in order for every student to know what to do?
Is there anything in the question that may put any students at a disadvantage regardless of their knowledge or reasoning level?
Are there enough exercises to allow an accurate estimate of students learning?

14. Step 3 Continued Questions to Assist in Constructing Effective and High-Quality Exercises
Quality of Scoring Guide(s)
Would experts agree with the definition of quality response?
Do the criteria match the exercise?
Is there a generic rubric that captures the real meaning of high quality thinking?
Scoring Considerations
Is there enough time to read and evaluate each response?
Will the number of students affect the quality in which the responses are assessed?

15. Step 4 and 5: Administering and Revising the Assessment
Analyze the EWRA for quality
You will see flaws in your assessment clearly if there are any
If your instruction has fallen short on any standards, you will be able to fix this with both your current students and for future instruction
Remember to help the students answer the three questions that you’ll hear more about later
Analyze: Make sure everyone understands the guidelines individually