preparing for staar - texas education agency

STATE OF TEXAS ASSESSMENTS OF ACADEMIC READINESS

(STAARTM)

Grades 4 and 7 Writing

Victoria Young Director of Reading, Writing, and Social Studies Assessments Texas Education Agency

Behind the STAAR Writing Design

Provides a broader picture of students as writers Can 4th and 7th graders write a personal narrative and expository piece equally well? If not, why not? Provides a more accurate assessment of the degree to which students are internalizing skills inherent in the writing process

As students become more experienced writers, are they better able to apply writing skills in the context of actual writing tasks?

2

STAAR Writing Performance Labels Based on the Rubric

Score Point 1—VERY LIMITED Score Point 2—BASIC Score Point 3—SATISFACTORY Score Point 4—ACCOMPLISHED

The goal: moving all students from the lower half of the score-scale range to the upper half of the range

3

Scoring Model for STAAR

Rubrics Summed Scores Weighting Rubrics (used in conjunction with student responses representing each score point) are the basis for assigning scores. Two readers score each student response. If there is perfect or adjacent agreement, the two readers’ scores are summed. Summed scores range from 2−8

(0 = nonscorable)

4


5

SCORE 1 SCORE 2 SUMMED SCORE CSR RATING

0 0 0 Nonscorable Performance 1 1 2 Very Limited Performance 1 2 3 Between Very Limited and Basic Performance 2 2 4 Basic Performance 2 3 5 Between Basic and Satisfactory Performance 3 3 6 Satisfactory Performance 3 4 7 Between Satisfactory and Accomplished Performance 4 4 8 Accomplished Performance


Weighting

Grade 4: compositions not weighted Grade 7: compositions weighted by 2 English I: compositions weighted by 2 English II: compositions weighted by 2 English III: compositions weighted by 2

6


7

Grade/ Course

MC Points

Comp Points

(2 comps)

Points Overall

Test

MC Percent

Comp Percent

4 28 16 (8 + 8)

44 64% 36%

7 40 32 (8 + 8) x 2

72 56% 44%

Eng I 30 32 (8 + 8) x 2

62 48% 52%

Eng II 30 32 (8 + 8) x 2

62 48% 52%

Eng III 30 32 (8 + 8) x 2

62 48% 52%

Performance Labels 8

What the Performance Levels Tell Us About Students

The degree to which students are prepared for the next grade (well prepared vs. sufficiently prepared vs. unprepared) The degree to which students can think critically The degree to which students can apply the assessed knowledge and skills The likelihood of success in the next grade (high vs. reasonable vs. unlikely to succeed) The type of academic intervention students need (little or no vs. short-term, targeted vs. significant, ongoing)

9

What Happened in English I Writing

Spring 2012 Results

Level I: 45% Level II: 52% Level III: 3%

Summer 2012 Results Level I: 76% Level II: 24% Level III: 0%

10

How Students Did Statewide Grade 4 Personal Narrative

Rating # %

0 0

2 13

3 13

4 34

5 19

6 14

7 5

8 2

Total 332400 100

11

PE

RC

EN

T

RATING

11

How Students Did Statewide Grade 7 Personal Narrative

Rating # %

0 0

2 6

3 9

4 30

5 22

6 21

7 8

8 4

Total 347281 100

12

PE

RC

EN

T

RATING

12

How Students Did Statewide

English I Literary Rating # %

0 1

2 5

3 6

4 23

5 22

6 28

7 10

8 6

Total 334927 100

13

PE

RC

EN

T

RATING

13


Grade 4 Expository Rating # %

0 0

2 15

3 16

4 38

5 17

6 10

7 2

8 1

Total 332400 100

14

PE

RC

EN

T

RATING

14


Grade 7 Expository Rating # %

0 1

2 14

3 18

4 39

5 17

6 9

7 2

8 1

Total 347281 100

15

PE

RC

EN

T

RATING

15


English I Expository Rating # %

0 2

2 11

3 13

4 28

5 20

6 17

7 6

8 3

Total 334927 100

16

PE

RC

EN

T

RATING

16

Preparing Students for STAAR: What Teachers Can Do

Understand the rubric for each type of writing assessed so that you know the real differences between the levels of writing performance. Focus on how the different parts of the rubric fit together to help you make a holistic judgment about a student’s piece of writing. Teach students the rubric using language they can understand—it’s important that they learn to make accurate judgments about their own writing (throughout the writing process) based on the expectations of STAAR.

17


Help students understand that good writing starts with good thinking Emphasize that the quality of writing is more important than the quantity of writing Balance writing instruction to ensure that students are writing pieces of varying lengths and for different purposes Teach students how to grapple with problems or roadblocks during the writing process. (This will help them on STAAR, when they have to write completely independently.)

18


Emphasize that good writers are good readers. Help students see the connections between reading and writing. Teaching students how an author crafts a piece they’re reading can help them learn how to craft their own writing to make it more effective. Focus vocabulary and grammar instruction on application, not on memorization. Help students learn that revision and editing are not the same thing. Provide students with multiple opportunities to learn/practice how to revise and edit their own writing.

19


Remember that limited or formulaic strategies that short-cut the thinking/writing process do not prepare students for STAAR (or academic success). Create a writing classroom that allows students the time and space to think their way through a topic, to understand what it means to write for an outside audience, and to practice the skills they’re learning in a “safe” environment. See the big picture: teaching students how to craft an effective piece of writing helps to ensure high academic achievement in the classroom as well as high test performance.

20


Remember that a coherent and scaffolded writing program is the best preparation for STAAR. That means

developing a shared vision of what students need from writing classrooms each year to grow as writers, teaching writing every year (whether or not it’s assessed that year), and using the concepts and skills students have already acquired as the building blocks for introducing new concepts and skills.

21

Preparing for STAAR: Personal Narrative Reminders

Teach students to thread all the way through the Look, Think, Write. They have to know what the real topic is. Teach students that not all experiences are created equal. On STAAR, they have space to write about only one experience, so they have to choose carefully. Is the experience important, meaningful, or memorable enough to write about? Do they remember the experience well enough to write about it in detail? Can they communicate the experience in one page?

22


Teach students that their personal narrative should have some type of story line and move through time (even if it captures only a small piece of time). Emphasize that a personal narrative should not include details or events that do not further the reader’s understanding of the experience. Extraneous details and events always weaken the story line. (“Bed to bed” narratives are a good example of this problem.)

23


Ensure that students are writing in first person, since their piece must be based on an actual personal experience. Remember that students cannot write a fictional story or a fantasy. Teach 7th graders that their personal narrative must have some type of extension that communicates the importance of the experience or the reasons for or consequences of their actions. The best extension is one that is woven into or reflected in the story line, not one that is an “add on” to the story line.

24

Preparing for STAAR: Expository Reminders

Teach students to thread all the way through the Read, Think, Write. They have to know what the real topic/issue is. Teach students that an expository piece must have a central/controlling idea. Its function is to provide the reader with an explicit statement (in a sentence or two) about the goal of the paper (in effect, the lens through which the student is viewing the topic). Having a strong central/controlling idea (early in the paper) helps the student write a focused and coherent essay.

25


Teach students that they can write in 1st or 3rd person as long as they’re clearly explaining what they think about something. Teach students that there are different ways to organize their ideas in expository writing and then give them multiple opportunities to practice. STAAR prompts invite students to explain what they think about a topic, so developing their central/controlling idea with examples or experiences of their own or other people’s lives makes sense.

26


Teach students that the words they choose have to “fit” the expository purpose. Students’ language use can be relatively informal, especially at 4th and 7th grade, though students should not use slang. Help students understand that the most effective word choice always makes the writing clearer, more precise, and more interesting. Remember that most students have internalized story structure, but nonfiction (informational writing) has to be taught.

27

The Bottom Line…

Our primary purpose is to help students become confident, accomplished writers. The primary purpose of STAAR is to provide a snapshot of students’ progress as writers at different points in time throughout their K−12 education.

28

CONTACT INFORMATION

Victoria Young Director of Reading, Writing, and Social

Studies Assessments Texas Education Agency

512-463-9536 [email protected]

29

preparing for staar - texas education agency

Documents