CAA Options: Writing Collection of Evidence WERA Assessment Conference

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CAA Options WritingCollection of
EvidenceWERA Assessment Conference

• Steve Pearse, Ed.D.
• COE Writing Consultant
• Winter 2006-2007

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What is Writing?

• Writing is the learned process of shaping
  experiences into text, allowing the writer to
  discover, develop, clarify, and communicate
  thoughts and feelings.
• Writing requires students to express their
  knowledge with purpose and coherence.
• To become effective writers, all students must
  understand the role and interaction of topic,
  audience, purpose and form.

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What constitutes the Collection of Evidence for
Writing?

• The Writing Collection must include at least
• one expository on-demand essay (or letter)
• one persuasive on-demand essay (or letter)
• two expository non-timed essays (or letters)
• two persuasive non-timed essays (or letters)
• Of the 6-8 writing samples, 3including both
  on-demand samplesmay not include adult
  assistance beyond setting the prompt and the
  parameters for an effective paper.

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Writing Collection Guidelines, continued

• The entire collection must be comparable in rigor
  in skill and content to the 10th grade Writing
  WASL.
• The collection must include 6-8 samples that,
  taken together, demonstrate proficiency in idea
  development, organization, style, and the use of
  conventions.
• All samples must include evidence of the
  students use of the writing process by
  submitting process documents OR by providing
  explanations of process.

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Writing COE connections to the WASL

• The 10th grade Writing section of the WASL
  features two prompts, one eliciting an
  expository response (to explain), and one
  eliciting a persuasive response.
• Each writing prompt clearly states a designated
  topic, audience, purpose (mode), and form.
• Each WASL Writing response is scored for Content,
  Organization Style (COS) and for Conventions
  (CONV).

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Student-produced, connected-text expository or
persuasive work samples may take the form of a

• classroom assignment
• special extended or amended project
• joint assignment/project shared between two
  content-area classes
• response to a teacher- and/or student-selected
  task or prompt

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Expository Writing To ExplainKey Qualities of
Effective Expository Writing

• narrowed topic, focus (idea)
• well-chosen details
• logical organizational pattern
• transitions to connect ideas
• topic commitment (Voice)
• introduction and conclusion

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Sample Student WorkExpository Task and
ResponseThis essay appears exactly as it was
written by the student.
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The Thing I Carry
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The Thing I Carry, continued
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The Thing I Carry, continued
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Persuasive Writing

• topic or issue clearly stated
• a clear, consistent position
• more than one supporting argument
• detailed supporting evidence
• anticipating refuting opposing arguments
• a clear, logical organizational strategy
• transitions to connect position, arguments, and
  evidence
• persuasive language techniques
• conclusion with a call for action

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Sample Student WorkPersuasive Task and
ResponseThis essay is taken from the OSPI web
site and appears on the Social Studies page under
Classroom Based Assessment. This writing sample
was written by a Washington State high school
student and appears exactly as it was written.
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Constitutional Issues Civics
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Constitutional Issues Civics, continued
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Constitutional Issues Civics, continued
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Constitutional Issues Civics, continued
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What is NOT a work sample for the Writing COE?

• Group project writing assignments
• An independent piece of work that the teacher has
  never seen before
• Narratives, poetry, scripts
• Writing samples with non-connected text (e.g.,
  résumés, directions or recipes, bulleted
  brochures)
• Writing samples with displayed grades or teacher
  comments that provide specific direction aimed at
  text improvement
• Scoring guides/rubrics from district or classroom
  assessments
• Final drafts written in pencil

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Essential characteristics Writing work samples
must

• be limited to demonstrations of expository or
  persuasive prose
• include a copy of the writing task or prompt
• include evidence of the students use of the
  writing process
• indicate whether the student-writer has received
  adult assistance, as per Writing COE
  guidelines
• be completed under a teachers supervision

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What are additional important components of
Writing work samples?

• They should demonstrate integrity. The teacher
  selects prompts or helps students develop tasks
  that pose significant questions or address
  authentic topics, or raise important issues.
• They should be free of bias, providing parameters
  that allow all students to demonstrate their
  actual writing skills.
• They should be valid, aligned to the expository
  or persuasive writing Checklists and Essential
  Learnings.
• They should be reliable. If a student were to
  complete a writing work sample more than once, he
  or she should be able to demonstrate the same
  type and quality of performance each time.

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How do I adjust my classroom assignments to meet
the COE Writing guidelines?

• Create work samples using the COE Writing
  template. The template will guide you in
  selecting or devising appropriate writing prompts
  or tasks.
• Modify and clarify existing classroom assignments
  in the language of writing prompts or tasks, the
  expectations and parameters for student work, and
  the Writing Guidelines and expository or
  persuasive text Checklists.

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Writing Collection of Evidence Template
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What are the steps for building an effective
Writing work sample?

• Select the writing modeexpository or persuasive
  you want to assess
• Make sure that the writing task or prompt
  specifies an appropriate topic, audience,
  purpose, and form
• Decide if you want to create a new work sample or
  modify, clarify, augment, extend, or revisit an
  existing classroom assignment

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What are the steps for building an effective
Writing work sample (continued)

• Make sure that the Writing content and skills
  match grade level skills, knowledge, and
  complexity
• Use the Writing Checklist language to word the
  task or prompt
• Clearly state the criteria expected in the
  student response (task parameters)

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What are the steps for building a Writing work
sample? (continued)

• Provide specific Guidelines- and Checklist-driven
  language (see Template) to frame tasks or
  prompts
• Topic
• Audience
• Purpose
• Form (essay or letter)

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What are the steps to building a Writing work
sample? (continued)

• Specify must have student directions to
  demonstrate effective writing skills
• Clearly state and elaborate on ideas
• Organize the writing, providing an appropriate
  introduction, supporting paragraphs, and
  conclusion
• Use language appropriate for audience and
  purpose
• Incorporate a variety of sentence lengths and
  structures
• Establish and maintain a voice suitable for
  audience and purpose
• Follow the rules of Standard English, the
  conventions of writing.

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Two kinds of Writing work samples

• On-Demand
• Students complete work completely on their own in
  a supervised classroom setting
• Supervising teacher provides the prompt or task
• Student is to have no prior awareness of the
  prompt or task
• No adult assistance is permitted
• A single allotted time period (time for student
  revision included in this time) 90 minutes
  recommended
• On-Demand responses serve as touchstones for
  the students additional Writing work samples

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Two kinds of Writing work samples

• Extended Time
• Supervising teacher and/or student may provide
  the prompt or task
• Work is produced across an extended period of
  time (i.e., more than one sitting)
• No adult assistance is permitted on at least
  three of the 6-8 work samples, including both
  On-demand pieces
• When adult assistance is provided, it should be
  limited to general comments (e.g., You need to
  check for spelling errors)

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How are Writing work samples scored?
Sufficiency each work sample must meet the
requirements of the Writing content
guidelines(See p. 17, CAA Options Collection of
Evidence booklet.)

• 6-8 separate work samples, addressing
  expository and persuasive writing purposes
  (modes) as per guidelines
• A completed Student Information Form for the
  writing collection
• A completed Work Sample Documentation Form
  for the collection
• A completed Work Sample Sign-off Form for
  each sample of work

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How are Writing work samples scored?
Proficiency Taken as a whole, work samples are
scored for proficiency (level of skill with
respect to WASL expectations), with scores
generated across writing expository and
persuasive modes.The Expository and Persuasive
Writing Checklists(See p. 20, CAA Options
Collection of Evidence booklet)specify assessed
knowledge and skills.
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Where can I obtain Writing work samples?

• Develop them for your specific classroom/content
  area
• Work on a district or state committee to write
  work samples
• Go to the CAA Options web page on the OSPI
  website (www.k12.us.wa) and download the writing
  template
• Use the writing instructional modules as initial
  work samples that may need to be modified,
  clarified, augmented, extended or revisited in
  order to meet the requirements.

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Conclusions about Writing work samples

• Make tasks or prompts authentic, relevant, and
  accurate
• Address issues of integrity, bias and fairness,
  validity, and reliability as you develop tasks
  and prompts
• Modify, clarify, augment, extend, and/or revisit
  classroom assignments to create new tasks or
  prompts
• Ensure grade-level appropriateness (topic,
  audience, purpose)
• Use the Writing Checklist language to frame tasks
  or prompts
• State specific criteria necessary for credit
• Address both required modesexpository and
  persuasive writingas described in the Content
  Guidelines.

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Contact Information for the Writing COEIf you
have questions concerning the Writing COE, please
contact the OSPI staff listed below. They are
happy to offer assistance.

• Steve Pearse, Ed.D. COE Writing Consultant
• caaoptions_at_ospi.wednet.edu [phone]
• Sharon Schilperoort, Language Arts TOSA
• sschilperoort_at_ospi.wednet.edu [phone]
• Lesley Klenk, Ph.D. CAA Options Administrator
• lklenk_at_ospi.wednet.edu [phone]
• Amanda Mount, CAA Options Analyst
• amount_at_ospi.wednet.edu [phone]
• Joe Willhoft, Ph.D. Assistant Superintendent
  for Assessment Research
• jwillhoft_at_ospi.wednet.com [phone]