WV Writes Updates Stacey Murrell and Sandy Foster Office of Assessment and Accountability Bridgeport, WV April 26, 2012

State-level Usage As of April 20, 2012, 525,829 essays in WV Writes in the school year!! Last year- 491,916 essays in WV Writes in school year.

CTE Pilot Usage Seven Technology Centers that Work schools used WV Writes 197 CTE content-specific prompts – Agriculture, Arts and Humanities, Business and Marketing, Engineering and Technical, Health Science, Human Services, and Cross Concentration 199 teacher accounts created at these seven sites 11,728 student accounts at these seven sites, grades essays written (April 20, 2012)

Preliminary Findings Overall proficiency Concentration to concentration comparisons Gender comparisons Progression or improvements Plagiarism Hand scoring Writing process to improve writing

Technology Centers that Work WV Writes Proficiency Summary ( 555 Essays Submitted)

Holistic Score Averages Based on CTE Prompt Concentration

Proficiency Levels by Grade

Proficiency Levels by Gender

Student opening paragraph- Most folks have gladly put their mowers away for another season and the last thing they want to think about now is servicing their mower. Perhaps you are one of the few that took the time to service the mower after the last mowing of the year my hat's off to you! However, I am guessing that most listeners fall into a class of people that put their mower away the last time they used it and they HOPE it will start again next spring. Remember the old adage an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure? It applies to your lawn mower as much as to your health and in just a few hours you can ensure your lawn is getting off on the right foot next season. Read

Hmmm…

Addressing Plagiarism- Group Question Why did CTE students do this? How can we address plagiarism next year? How can we monitor plagiarism attempts?

Hand Scoring Content teacher hand scores for accuracy English teacher verifies agreement with engine scores

Monitor/Adjust Essay Scores

Remember and Share When WV Writes glitches, teachers think it will happen with WESTEST 2 Online Writing. – These are two separate scoring processes. – Reassure your teachers that problems/glitches in WV Writes are just in WV Writes.

Scoring Problems Repeated phrases Organize into paragraphs Spelling mistakes

Scoring Inaccuracy Patch Essay score jumps down to 1 or 2 in organization or development in a 4, 5, or 6 level essay. Patch will be released this summer.

Giving WV Writes a Grade Please be informed that the Office of Assessment and Accountability does NOT recommend that the holistic score students receive in WV Writes be calculated into a percentage or letter grade.

Writing Process Improves Writing EDITING/REVISING/SCORING Student Peer Content teacher English teacher

Planning for Concerns and Considerations Populating the CTE Schools – 47 CTE schools with 226 teachers and 48,000 students – WV Writes “opens” around August 9 – CTE schools are organized under the CTE District, no longer in the county because we want to pull accurate data on all CTE students collectively

Rostering – Teacher users (only one pull for teachers) and student users rostered in mid-July – New teachers added by school admin, Tracy, and me – No one (except me) can create/add students in WV Writes – Bi-monthly student roster updates occur in WV Writes- as long as your students are correct in WVEIS, then we will get the transfers/additions made in WV Writes Planning for Concerns and Considerations

Should CTE adjust proficiency levels in WV Writes? Planning for Concerns and Considerations

Professional development Addressing spoofing Not just a “one-stop shop” learning experience- writing gain report Aligning to Common Core career readiness standards Planning for Concerns and Considerations

Contact Stacey Murrell Sandy Foster