WRITING ASSESSMENT AND INTERVENTION Lisa Bates & Dean Richards 1/9/09

 Running with the Squirrels Running with the Squirrels

Objectives for Written Language  To build awareness of screening and progress monitoring assessments used to identify students’ needing intervention and to monitor their progress  To build awareness of core instruction, supplemental and intensive intervention for students  To identify what you may have in place and what you may what to think about developing and refining

Necessary Components  Assessment  Universal Screening  Progress Monitoring  Instruction  Core Program  Second Tier Intervention  Third Tier Interventions

Assessment is… Heartland AEA: CBM 2001  Continuous  Authentic  Multidimensional  Grounded in knowledge  Collaborative

Purpose of Assessment Heartland AEA: CBM 2001  Measurement strategies are chosen to...  Answer specific questions  Make specific decisions

Qualities of Typical Assessment Measures Heartland AEA: CBM 2001

Universal Screening  Why use universal screening?  To determine effectiveness of the core program  To inform instruction  To determine which students need additional support

Universal Screening: Tools and Procedures  Screening tool must dove-tail with progress monitoring tool  Robust indicator of academic health  Brief and easy to administer  Must have multiple, equivalent forms (If the metric isn’t the same, the data are meaningless)  Must be sensitive to growth

Make a Plan  Who will conduct Universal Screening?  Who will train the screeners?  Who will prepare materials?  Who will organize at the school?  Where will the data go?  Who will organize the data and present it to teaching teams?  Who will keep track of which students are in interventions?

Universal Screening In an ideal world……Reality…….

TTSD Standard Written Expression Protocol

What does TTSD use for screening for Written Language? K-1 Students receiving Emergent/Pre-Writing level on the Progress Report are “red flagged” 2-5 Student’s receiving 1’s and 2’s only in Organization, Conventions, and Sentence Fluency (Writing) on the Progress Report and/or students scoring below the 30 th percentile on OAKS are “red flagged” by the EBIS grade level team. Each “red flagged” student is assessed using Curriculum Based Measurements (Total Words Written and Correct Writing Sequences in 1-5). Students scoring below the 30 th percentile on CBMs are placed in Second Tier Interventions.

Grades 2-5- Organization

Grades 2-5 Sentence Fluency

Grades 2-5 Conventions

Logistics of Writing Assessment  Who administers: classroom teachers  When: prior to progress reports being completed (3 times per year)  How are assessments scored: ideally as a grade level team for consistency  Who collects the data: grade level representative, literacy specialist, principal

Time for Reflection  In your team determine the following on your team worksheet:  Components of a universal screener that are in place  Components of a universal screener that you may need to consider

Progress Monitoring in TTSD GradeAssessment KCopy the Letter 1-5Total Words Written Correct Writing Sequences

Quantity produces quality. If you only write a few things, you’re doomed. Ray Bradbury

ADVANTAGES TO USING THIS OBJECTIVE SCORING METHOD  Objective  High Reliability  High correlation with performance of norm referenced achievement tests and teacher judgments of quality at the elementary levels  Sensitive to student growth in written expression across 10 and 16 week periods (Tindal & Marson 1990)

CBM Written Expression Admin. Heartland AEA: CBM 2001  Group or individual administration  Story starter Story starter  One minute to plan & three minutes to write story  Scoring  Total words written: fluency  Correct writing sequences: fluency and mechanics

Story Starters  Cross-Age Suitable for All Benchmark Grades 1. I couldn’t fall asleep in my tent. I heard this noise outside and … 2. My father sold his store last year and my whole family … 3. All during the day I was nervous. I ran home at 3:00. When I got home …

Scoring Total Words Written (TWW)  When scoring TWW underline each word written  A word is any letter or group of letters separated by a space, even if the word is misspelled or a nonsense word.  Examples: The sky was blue TWW = 4 The sky was blue TWW = 4 The sky was blew TWW =4 The sky was blew TWW =4 I tuk a baf TWW = 4 I tuk a baf TWW = 4 I tuka baf TWW = 3 I tuka baf TWW = 3

Total Words Written

Writing Fluency Norms Words Written Per 3 Minutes. Grade%ile RanksFallWinterSpring

Writing Fluency Norms Words Written Per 3 Minutes. Grade%ile RanksFallWinterSpring Shapiro, 2001

Correct Writing Sequences Heartland AEA: CBM 2001  A correct writing sequence refers to two adjacent writing units (word/word or word/punctuation) that are acceptable within the context of what is written.  The term “acceptable” means that the writing sequence is syntactically and semantically correct.

Correct Writing Sequences Heartland AEA: CBM 2001  Correct...  Capital letters  Ending punctuation  Spelling  Syntax  Semantics

CWS Procedures Scott Grade 2 ^and ^ he ^was ^ jumping ^ on descs and ^ when ^ we tride to ^ get ^ him ^ he ^ would ^ climb ^ up ^ on ^ top ^ of ^ the cupberds and ^ we ^ could ^ not ^ reach ^ him ^. ^ When ^ we ^ went ^ up their on ^ a Ladder he ^ would ^ jump ^ on ^ a ^ light ^. TWW: 42 CWS: 34

Writing CBM Administration and Scoring Resources  AIMSWeb (  Intervention Central ( )

How do we know how students are performing?  We need to look at the norms…..

CBM Written Expression-Norms

Goals for understanding norms 1. To understand how to read the norm table 2. To become aware of where we want students to be performing (low risk level)

Let’s take a closer look!!! Low risk vvv

Let’s take a closer look!!! Lower riskLow riskSome riskAt risk vvv

Let’s try this together! What is the “low risk” scores for the fall of 3 rd grade? What is the “low risk” score for the winter of 3 rd grade? What is the “low risk” score for the spring of 3 rd grade?

Let’s practice in pairs What is the “low risk” score in the winter of 4 th grade? What is the “low risk” score in the spring of 4 th grade?

Let’s practice with some scores StudentGradeTime of YearScoreLevel ? Josh3Winter10 Chandler5Fall36 Natalyia1Spring6 Julia2Winter22 Some risk Low risk At risk Lower risk

Class Scores on Writing Assessment StudentOrganizationConventionsSentence Fluency Sarah121 Ethan343 Miles211 Emma344 Jordan111 Taylor213 Nolan112 Malia344 Iris555

CBM Written Language Score StudentCBM CWS Score Sarah7 Taylor6 Miles4 Nolan2 Jordan1

Time to reflect…  What is important about progress monitoring for written language?  Please share with a tablemate.  In your team, what do you have in place already for progress monitoring and what might you want to consider?

Problems with Written Language Instruction  minimal attention to explicit writing instruction  minimal time allocated to writing tasks  writing instruction is introduced too late in the curriculum

Instruction in Written Language  Provide explicit instruction in both process and mechanics  Provide more demonstration of writing process procedures  Provide more demonstration of the revision process  Increase use of self monitoring

Components of Expressive Writing Products FluencyContentConventionsSyntaxVocabulary Number of words written Originality of ideas SpellingComplexity of sentences Originality and maturity of words Organization of ideas Margins Punctuation Capitalization Grammar Handwriting

Progression of Expressive Writing Skills Copying and editing text Composing simple sentences Composing paragraphs Composing multi-paragraph prose

TTSD: Core Program  MacMillan (grammar and spelling components) and Lucy Caulkins  Time: 30 minutes per day during 90 minute literacy block time  Who Delivers: Classroom teachers  Group size: determined by grade level

TTSD: Second Tier Interventions  K: ERI  1-5:  Increased teacher attention during core writing instruction  More guided practice  Who delivers:  K: Reading interventionist  1-5: Classroom teacher

TTSD: Third Tier Interventions  K: ERI and Language for Learning  1-5:  Core plus 20 minute weekly session focused on guided practice  Who delivers: K: Reading Interventionist 1-5: Grade Level Team

Other Resources  Step Up to Writing® features research-based, validated strategies and activities that help students proficiently write narrative, personal narrative, and expository pieces; actively engage in reading materials for improved comprehension; and demonstrate competent study skills.  Creates a common language and approach across grade levels and content areas  Provides models of student writing for teacher and student reference  Explicitly connects reading and writing  Teaches all stages of the writing process, with an emphasis on planning  Provides tips specifically for kindergarten students in Primary Level  Aligns with the Six Traits assessment model

Other Resources  Expressive Writing 1 & 2 (2005)  Helps poor writers improve their skills with an easy- to-use approach to teaching the basics of good writing.  Expressive Writing focuses on the writing and the editing of basic sentences, paragraphs, and stories. Instructional strands include Mechanics, Sentence Writing, Paragraph and Story Writing, and Editing.

Time to Reflect  In your team determine what components of instruction you have in place and what components you may want to consider or refine on your team worksheet

How do you know if the intervention is working in TTSD?  Progress Monitoring  CBMs are given every other week  Trendlines are reviewed every 12 weeks  Intensifying the intervention If progress is below the expected rate after 12 weeks of Second Tier Intervention, students should move to Third Tier intervention If progress is below the expected rate after 12 weeks of Third Tier intervention, EBIS team makes a referral for special education.

Steps to Draw a Trendline 1. Start with at least 7 data points 2. Approximately divide the data points into three equal sections using vertical lines. The outer two sections should have at least three data points 3. In the first and third sections, calculate the mid-date (draw a vertical line) and mid-rate (draw a horizontal line). 4. Mark the points on the graph where the two values intersect. 5. Connect the points to draw a trendline.

Steps to Redraw an Aimline When an intervention needs to be changed, the aimline needs to be redrawn 1. Using the last three data points, find the intersection of the mid-date & mid-rate. 2. Draw a new aimline from this point to the end of the year benchmark. 3. Draw a phase line to reflect that the intervention has changed (after that point).

Aimlines & Trendlines

Aimlines & Trendlines

Contact Information  Lisa Bates    Dean Richards  