1. NeSA-W Grades 4/8/11 Writing Assessment
Nebraska Department of Education Statewide Assessment
Pat Roschewski –
Edward Foy –
Julie Barger – ESU #16, Ogallala, NE
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2. The NeSA-W/DRC Partnership
Working together to improve teaching and learning for Nebraska students.
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3. The Nebraska Department of Education and Nebraska educators continue to direct the process of statewide assessment.
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4. Nebraska Educators continue to be involved in these aspects of NeSA-W:
Prompt Creation
Field Testing
Prompt Selection
Rangefinding
Appeals
Continued training and communication
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5. The Rangefinding Process
Included Nebraska educators from a variety of educational backgrounds
Two DRC reps facilitated the work
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6. The Rangefinding Process
Analytically scored, discussed, and came to consensus on papers from the field testing of the test prompt.
DRC will use the papers selected and scored by this group to establish the anchors and train the raters prior to the scoring of the assessment.
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7. Grade 8 & 11 Online Assessment
Grade 8 will remain a descriptive essay.
Grade 11 will remain a persuasive essay.
The 8th & 11th grades NeSA-W assessment will only be available online.
3. Students with IEP’s or 504 Plans may take the test in pencil and paper if documented in an IEP.
4. Students responding in Spanish will take a pencil and paper assessment.
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8. 5. Paper/pencil responses at 8 and 11 must be written in #2 pencil
5. Paper/pencil responses at 8 and 11 must be written in #2 pencil. Papers written in ink will not be scored and will result in zero scores. 6. In paper/pencil testing student may use only the paper provided. If additional sheets of paper are added to the booklets, they will not be scored.
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9. 7. When making copies of the paper/pencil booklets for local scoring or possible appeals, do not take the booklets apart. 8. Do not copy the entire booklet, but only make a copy of the actual student’s response.
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10. 9. NeSA software is scheduled for release November 14th
9. NeSA software is scheduled for release November 14th. (All subjects, including writing and practice tests.) 10. Districts will need to schedule a download or update of software prior to administering the assessment. 11. Students will be allowed to use up to 6,000 characters in their writing responses = approximately three pages. A pop-up warning will occur at approximately 4,000 characters.
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11. 13. The results will be analytically scored.
12. The TAB button is not compatible with the software. Student should be advised to space over 3-5 spaces. This does not affect scoring.
13. The results will be analytically scored.
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12. Grade 8 & 11 Online Assessment
Printing options are available.
Both the practice and operational test may be printed in 2012.
The printed copy may be used for local scoring, placed in a student portfolio, or shared with the student/parents.
Districts will need the printed copy for appeal purposes – This copy is used to decide if an appeal is warranted and, if so, a copy must be attached to the appeal form.
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13. Rubric Changes
Changes have been made to the 8th and 11th grade rubrics.
The rubrics were changed to analytic rubrics in the fall of 2010 from the previous holistic rubrics.
The content of each new rubric has been tightened, and although most of the previous criteria remain, they have been redistributed into fewer domains.
Grade 8 and 11 analytic rubrics will be in use this year with the 2012 assessment.
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14. Rubric Changes The domains of the rubrics will be weighted as follows:
Content/Ideas – 35%
Organization – 25%
Word Choice/Voice/Tone – 20%
Sentence Fluency/Conventions - 20%
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17. Rubric Changes
Changes were made to the rubric for a number of reasons.
A revision of the Language Arts standards occurred in
An external study determined that the new standards and the writing assessment rubrics did not match, necessitating a review/revision of the rubric.
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18. Rubric Changes
Influence favoring analytical assessment was expressed in an effort to provide more specific data to data users.
The use of a computer based assessment reflects a “real world” application of writing.
Five vendors responded to the RFP (Request for Proposals.)
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19. Rubric Changes
The new rubrics are available on the Assessment page of the NDE website.
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20. NeSA-W Assessment
NeSA-W testing window is January 23, 2012-February 10, 2012
8th and 11th grade tests will be administered online.
Students with IEP’s or 504 plans may take the test using paper/pencil if documented in an IEP.
Students responding in Spanish or a language other than English will take a paper/pencil assessment.
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21. NeSA-W Grades 8 & 11 On-line
The recommended testing time is 90 minutes to occur on one day.
The test is not timed, but 90 minutes is recommended by NDE as the amount of time to schedule for the assessment.
If a student needs more than 90 minutes, that is allowable, the same as for NeSA-R.
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22. NeSA-W Grades 8 & 11 On-line
Pre-writing may be done on paper furnished by the district. Students may choose to prewrite and produce a rough draft on paper before entering it on the computer, or they may choose to work entirely on the computer.
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23. NeSA-W Grades 8 & 11 On-line
A new thesaurus, dictionary, and cut/paste are available. The spell check will not be available.
An online practice test for 8th and 11th grade writing will be made available. You can access this assessment through the CAL software on November 14th.
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24. Practice Test Instructions – 8 & 11
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25. Practice Test Prompt
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26. Practice Test Self Assessment Tool
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27. NeSA-W On-line Grade 11 Pilot Test Times Data
Time Span in Minutes % in Each Span
minutes %
minutes 58 %
minutes 31 %
minutes %
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28. Grade 8 & 11 Online Assessment
Additional Information
Graphic organizers, story starters, and story frames are not to be provided to students as part of the state testing program.
In the testing room, visual aids and clues should be removed or covered and remain covered throughout the administration of the writing assessment.
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29. Grades 8 & 11 Online Assessment
Additional Information
Teachers are NOT to provide editing assistance to students on the NeSA-W.
No NeSA-W online tests will be provided in Spanish. All Spanish tests will be administered via paper/pencil test booklets.
Districts submitted requests for Spanish prompts via eDirect.
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30. Grade 8 & 11 Online Assessment
Additional Information
The composite score is calculated from the domain scores as:
1. Composite = 1.4D D D D4
D1, D2, D3, and D4 are the sums of the two reader scores for the four domains. The table below illustrates the calculation for a student who received a 2 or 3 from each reader on each domain. R1 R2
D=R1+R2 W
W*D
Ideas / Content 3 6
1.4
8.4
Organization 2 5
1.0
5.0
Voice / Word Choice
0.8
4.0
Sentence Fluency / Conventions 4
3.2
Composite Score
20.6
The corresponding Scale Score can then be retrieved from the table supplied by DRC.
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31. Grade 8 & 11 Online Assessment
Additional Information
Current information about the NeSA-W assessment and all NeSA assessments can be found on the NDE website.
Go to
On your left, click on Statewide Assessment.
Click on NeSA Writing.
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32. The Process of Analytical Scoring
The New Statewide Process
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33. Holistic vs. Analytical Scoring
Analytic scoring involves a score being given for each domain and its criteria. These individual weighted scores are combined to calculate the final score.
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36. The Analytical Scoring Process
The Process
First read: focus on Ideas/Content and Organization--assign a score to each domain of 1, 2, 3, or 4.
Then review paper: focus on Word Choice/Voice and Sentence Fluency/Conventions-- assign a score to each domain of 1, 2, 3, or 4.
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37. The Analytical Scoring Process
The Process
Each paper is scored by two readers.
Agreement: Exact matches or adjacent scores .
A Third Read by the table leader is required for each domain if scores are not in agreement.
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38. The Analytical Scoring Process
Rules for obtaining the final score for a student after the third read:
If the third score is an exact match to one of the original scores, the two matching scores are used.
If the third score is adjacent to one of the original scores but not the other, the third score and the score adjacent to it are used.
If the third score is adjacent to both scores, the third score is used twice.
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39. The Analytical Scoring Process
Possible impact of analytical scoring:
Information: Each student report will include four sub scores and one scale score. These reports are shared with students and parents.
Trends: Over time, data from this assessment can indicate domain strength or weakness at a classroom, school, and/or district level.
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40. Scoring Practice
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41. 8th Grade Prompt
Think about your dream house.  It could be any place you wish.         Write an essay describing your dream house by creating a vivid mental picture using sensory details for the readers so that they can see it, experience it, and be able to understand why you would want to live there. 
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42. My dream house is located . . .
#8 – see top right
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43. Analytical Scoring Ideas & Content: 2 Organization: 3
The picture of what is being described is somewhat limited; some digressions from the topic.
Organization: 3
Intro, body, conclusion are functional; pacing is controlled; transitions functional; paragraphing is generally organized.
Voice & Word Choice: 3
Wording is generally expressive; language generally precise; adequate vivid words and phrases.
Sentence Fluency & Conventions: 3
Sentences generally vary in length or structure; occasionally the phrasing sounds unnatural; fragments do not distract the reader; grammar, usage, punctuation do not distract.
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44. Have you ever wanted to see, . . .
#6 – see top right
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45. Analytical Scoring Ideas & Content: 2 Organization: 2
Limited sensory details; limited picture of what is being described.
Organization: 2
Structural development of an intro, body, & conclusion is limited; pacing is inconsistent; transitions are weak.
Voice & Word Choice: 1
Wording is inexpressive and lifeless; little sense of the writer; language is neither specific, precise, or varied; few vivid words or phrases.
Sentence Fluency & Conventions: 2
Sentences seldom vary, phrasing occasionally unnatural, conventions do not distract the reader
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46. Grade 11 Scoring Guide
The packet you have in your handout represents a shortened version of the actual scoring packet that raters use when scoring Nebraska papers. In the actual rater’s packet two sample papers are included for each score point in each domain, totaling 32 papers that are used by raters as anchors for the rubric. Also note the rationale that is provided for the score on each paper.
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47. Grade 11 Scoring Guide Ideas/Content: 4 example
The writer conveys a clear opinion regarding the benefits of taking a class in Medical Terminology. The content is well focused throughout the response and the reasoning is logical and compelling. The supporting examples are numerous and relevant.
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48. Grade 11 Scoring Guide Organization: 2 example
A limited structural development is evident in this essay about the need for a weights class. A weak introduction and a brief conclusion are present, but the main body is a list of somewhat random ideas regarding the benefits of a class, which are connected using a few weaker and repetitive (also) transitions. Paragraphing while present is not successful and pacing is somewhat inconsistent.
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49. Grade 11 Scoring Guide Voice/Word Choice: 3 example
The writer demonstrates a general commitment to the merits of a gym class. While the voice is appropriate for the purpose and audience, it is not particularly enthusiastic or passionate about the topic and projects only a generally persuasive tone. The language is generally specific and engaging and the writer generally anticipates the reader’s questions.
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50. Grade 11 Scoring Guide Sentence Fluency/Conventions: 1 example
Frequent grammar, usage, punctuation and spelling errors distract the reader through this response. Sentences seldom vary in length and structure, and the run-on sentences confuse the reader. Phrasing sounds awkward and unnatural.
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51. What scores would these papers receive in other domains?
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52. Questions? Nebraska Department of Education Statewide Assessment Pat Roschewski Edward Foy
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