The New Georgia Eighth Grade Writing Assessment Christie McCarley Education Program Specialist Middle Grades ELA Georgia Department of Education Georgia Department of Education GeorgiaStandards.Org

Grade 8 Writing Assessment The purpose of the writing assessment is to improve writing and writing instruction. Reasons strong writing instruction and assessment are important: We live in an information-centered economy. There is an increased need for proficient communication skills. Work place requirements depend more and more on strong literacy skills . Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superindentent

Kathy Cox, State Superindentent Who does this affect? Everyone! The previous assessment, known as the Middle Grades Writing Assessment (MGWA), has been changed to align with the ELA Georgia Performance Standards. Each content area includes a Reading Across the Curriculum standard. This standard requires students to read, relate, discuss, and communicate information and ideas . With this in mind, each content area contributes to strengthening literacy skills. Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superindentent

Kathy Cox, State Superindentent Reading, writing, and listening/speaking/viewing all work hand in hand to help students internalize or synthesize important information. Consider it this way, most teachers will agree that they learned more about their subject area after they started teaching it. To teach content we must first process it ourselves. Taking information that we read and converting it to a written or spoken product requires us to summarize, categorize, and synthesize new information. We have to connect it to prior knowledge and decide how to best assimilate that new information with what we already know. The same process is true for students. If we ask them to process and share new information through reading, writing, and listening/speaking/viewing activities they must begin to connect and assimilate that information. As you will see evidenced in the next slides, each discipline has standards that require students to read about and write about information pertaining to the subject matter. They are also expected to share and experience this information through the modes of listening, speaking, and viewing. Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superindentent

Integration Leads to Internalization: Science Standards 6-8 Reading S6-8 CS10 Read, discuss, relate, recognize text features, explore, establish context Unit S6-8 CS7 Question claims and arguments S6-8 CS6 Write instructions, understand and describe differences in writing for science and literary purposes Listening, Speaking, and Viewing Writing Moving towards peer review in 9-12 Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superintendent

Integration Leads to Internalization Math and Social Studies Social Studies: Describe, Discuss, Explain, Read Across the Curriculum Reading M6-8 RC1 Read, discuss, relate, recognize text features, explore, establish context Unit M6-8 P3 Communicate, analyze, evaluate, create and use representations M6-8 P6 Communicate, analyze, evaluate, create and use representations Listening, Speaking, and Viewing Writing Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superintendent

Changes: A Closer Look at the 8th grade writing test. THEN NOW Choice: Narrative, persuasive, or expository writing Scoring: Content Organization Style Sentence Formation Usage Mechanics No choice: Either persuasive or expository Scoring: Ideas Organization Style Conventions Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superintendent

Kathy Cox, State Superindentent Why not narrative? Decision not to test narrative made by a core development team of teachers and advisory committees Narrative assessed at 3rd and 5th grade High school and college requirements call more for expository/persuasive writing Narrative strategies are still encouraged within these two genres All prompts are structured so that students should have knowledge/experience with the topic All prompts go through extensive bias and sensitivity review Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superindentent

Kathy Cox, State Superintendent Other things to know The new Grade 8 Writing Assessment will assess expository and persuasive writing as defined by the Georgia Performance Standards. Testing time will be 100 minutes. No extra time allowed except as specified in a student’s IEP, 504, or TPP (test participation plan.) ELL students will be allowed to use a translation dictionary (paper only) if it is specified in the student’s TPP. Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superintendent

Kathy Cox, State Superintendent Other things to know Examples of the following are currently available on-line Sample topics Descriptions of what expository and persuasive writing are and are not Description of the scoring system Scoring rubric Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superintendent

Other things to know “Coming July 2006” Assessment and instructional guide Scored anchor papers (for each point in each domain) Go to the DOE website:Top right-hand: Curriculum and Instruction - select Testing. Right-hand corner: Testing Resources - select Georgia Writing Assessment. Right hand corner: WA Resources. Right-hand corner: select More. Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superintendent

Kathy Cox, State Superintendent Want to teach a child to read? Give him a pencil. Want to teach a child to write? Give him a book. Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superintendent

It makes sense to teach the two together. You will note that many of the terms and concepts found in the reading standards are also included in the writing standards. Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superintendent

Kathy Cox, State Superintendent Reading and Writing Standards walk hand in hand Expository Texts Reading Writing Applies knowledge of organizational structures/patterns Recognizes and traces development of author’s argument or perspective Identifies supporting evidence/details Develops a controlling idea or perspective Develops with supporting evidence/details Creates and organizing structure Follows an appropriate organization pattern Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superintendent

Persuasion Reading Writing Applies knowledge of organizational structures/patterns Recognizes and traces development of author’s argument or perspective Identifies supporting evidence States a clear position or perspective Supports with evidence Creates and organizing structure Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superintendent

Kathy Cox, State Superintendent In Class Preparation Students need to see and analyze models of good writing; this includes persuasive and expository writing. Read a piece of writing together. Have them underline things they like about the piece, things they think are important, things they think are necessary, and things that bring up questions for them. Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superintendent

Kathy Cox, State Superintendent In Class Preparation Discuss the things that they underline. Note what they like. Connect it to a specific writing strategy if possible. Then connect to the standard. Do the same thing for the important/necessary information. Help them pinpoint the main idea or argument. Get them to discuss why they think this is the main idea/argument. Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superintendent

Kathy Cox, State Superintendent In Class Preparation Continue the discussion noting things about the development of the main idea/argument through supporting details. Again, try to connect to specific strategies and the standard. Talk about the organization and the conclusion. Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superintendent

Kathy Cox, State Superintendent Engage and Inform Strategies to engage: anecdote, facts, statistics, quotes, vivid verbs/word choice, mood, tension, real-life connections, descriptions, narration Strategies to inform: facts, statistics, quotes (also lend credibility), descriptions, explanations Expository structures: description, explanation, compare/contrast, problem/solution Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superintendent

Kathy Cox, State Superintendent Practice They need the chance to practice these same techniques within their own writing. Giving students immediate practice and then feedback leads them to stronger progress within their own writing. Remember, they are thinking like writers when they read, and writing like readers when they write. Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superintendent

Practice Prompt: Expository Broad topic Writing Situation – School rules help keep students safe and able to concentrate on their school work. One rule that affects students is the dress code. Your principal is reviewing the school’s dress code and wants some information from the students about their clothing choices. Directions for writing – Write an essay for your principal comparing and contrasting the way you dress for school and the way you dress for other activities such as playing outside or going places with friends. Include specific details so that your principal will understand the differences in your clothing choices. Topic narrows: Dress code Specific topic: information about student clothing choices Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superintendent

Practice Prompt: Expository Writing Situation – School rules help keep students safe and able to concentrate on their school work. One rule that affects students is the dress code. Your principal is reviewing the school’s dress code and wants some information from the students about their clothing choices. Directions for writing – Write an essay for your principal comparing and contrasting the way you dress for school and the way you dress for other activities such as playing outside or going places with friends. Include specific details so that your principal will understand the differences in your clothing choices. Specific genre Specific structure In school/out of school Specific writing requirements: specific details about differences in clothes Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superintendent

Preparation and Planning Determine genre specifics: essay – comparison/contrast Determine specific topic: school dress and out of school dress Special instructions: include specific details so principal will understand differences in the two clothing categories Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superintendent

Preparation and Planning T-Chart School Clothes (what, when, why) Complete a Venn Diagram Complete a Web Out of School Clothes (what, when, why) Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superintendent

Kathy Cox, State Superintendent Analysis Share the scoring system/rubrics with students. Share the anchor papers with students. Analyze the papers together. Have them score the papers (using the state scoring system) prior to viewing the actual scores. Compare and discuss their scoring with the actual scoring. Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superintendent

Kathy Cox, State Superintendent Practice Students need to practice the conditions and requirements of the writing test. Have them score their practice tests using the state scoring system. Have them analyze the strengths and weaknesses of their paper through commentary. Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superintendent

Kathy Cox, State Superintendent Prompts Students often have trouble getting started. They need practice with prompt analysis and initial planning. Be sure they understand the terms persuasive and expository. Students need to be aware of the different structures that expository prompts might ask for: description, explanation, comparison/contrast, problem/solution. Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superintendent

Kathy Cox, State Superindentent Contact Information Christie McCarley 404-463-0507 cmccarle@doe.k12.ga.us Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superindentent