1. Tools for Teachers:
Using Evaluation to Support Mastery in Academic Writing
Implementing Key Shifts in the CCSS—Part Five

2. As a result of this session, participants will…
Session Objectives
As a result of this session, participants will…
Understand what the CCSS say about mastery and its implications for teaching and learning.
Explore the nature of rich tasks and how they can facilitate meaningful demonstrations of students’ knowledge and academic writing skills.
Evaluate a student writing sample using a CCSS- aligned rubric to determine progress toward mastery of grade-level writing standards.
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3. Key Shifts in the Standards
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4. The Purpose of CCSS-aligned Instruction
“As students advance through the grades and master the standards in reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language, they are able to exhibit with increasing fullness and regularity these capacities of the literate individual” (CCSS p. 7).
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5. Mastery and the CCSS
The CCSS Key Design Considerations make the imperative of teaching and learning clear: in order to achieve academic readiness for college and careers, students must be supported in mastering progressions of grade-level knowledge and skills.
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6. Mastery and the CCSS
The CCSS Anchor Standards establish the importance of mastery across the curriculum – that is, in English Language Arts as well as literacy in history/social studies, science, and technical subjects.
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7. Time to Reflect The CCSS highlight these critical aspects of mastery:
Mastery of the CCSS is a developmental process.
Mastery is supported along grade-level standard progressions.
Mastery is demonstrated across the curriculum.
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8. The CCSS and Rich Tasks
Students who meet the Standards readily undertake the close, attentive reading that is at the heart of understanding and enjoying complex works of literature. They habitually perform the critical reading necessary to pick carefully through the staggering amount of information available today in print and digitally. They actively seek the wide, deep, and thoughtful engagement with high-quality literary and informational texts that builds knowledge, enlarges experience, and broadens worldviews. They reflexively demonstrate the cogent reasoning and use of evidence that is essential to both private deliberation and responsible citizenship in a democratic republic. In short, students who meet the Standards develop the skills in reading, writing, speaking, and listening that are the foundation for any creative and purposeful expression in language (CCSS, p. 3).
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9. How is mastery of the CCSS assessed?
The CCSS do not say much about instruction and assessment of grade-level standards, but the introduction to the CCSS offers an important clue:
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10. What are rich tasks?
Rich tasks address multiple standards—sometimes across content areas—and provide students meaningful and engaging opportunities for feedback and deeper learning.
Instruction and assessment through rich tasks drives focus and coherence for teachers and students by:
Integrating standards across language domains;
Building on students’ current skills toward mastery;
Including complex texts and multimedia across the curriculum so that students build strong content knowledge; and
Prioritizing research and research projects.
Student work resulting from rich tasks is one means of evaluating and promoting progress toward mastery of the CCSS.
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11. Evaluation with the End in Mind
Rich tasks are a bridge between the CCSS, instruction aligned to the standards, and meaningful and engaging opportunities for students to demonstrate progress toward academic readiness for college and careers.
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12. Sample Task
Literacy Design Collaborative Sample Argumentative Writing Task, grades :
Were the achievements and growth of the Industrial Revolution Era worth the cost to society? After reading primary and secondary sources pertaining to the British Industrial Revolution, write an argumentative essay that addresses the question. Support your position with evidence from the texts. Be sure to acknowledge competing views.
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13. What makes this a rich task?
Literacy Design Collaborative Sample Argumentative Writing Task, grades :
Were the achievements and growth of the Industrial Revolution Era worth the cost to society? After reading primary and secondary sources pertaining to the British Industrial Revolution, write an argumentative essay that addresses the question. Support your position with evidence from the texts. Be sure to acknowledge competing views.
RH 1, 4, 6, 9, 10
WHST 1, 4, 7-9, 10
Addresses multiple standards in reading and writing
Involves research using multiple sources
Possible cross-curricular connections between ELA, social studies, and/or science
This is a task worth a teacher and student’s time and effort
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14. Sample Task
“Tools for Teachers—Part Four” Sample Informative/Explanatory Task, grades 6-8:
Consider the claims made about the purpose of the Constitution and the source of its legitimacy in the Preamble and Monk’s The Words We Live By. Write an essay that synthesizes the pertinent information from both texts to explain the evolving understanding of who the Constitution applies to. Your essay should demonstrate your understanding of both the Preamble and Monk’s interpretation of its opening phrase and use relevant evidence drawn from the texts provided to support your explanation.
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15. What makes this a rich task?
“Tools for Teachers—Part Four” Sample Task, grades 6-8:
Consider the claims made about the purpose of the Constitution and the source of its legitimacy in the Preamble and Monk’s The Words We Live By. Write an essay that synthesizes the pertinent information from both texts to explain the evolving understanding of who the Constitution applies to. Your essay should demonstrate your understanding of both the Preamble and Monk’s interpretation of its opening phrase and use relevant evidence drawn from the texts provided to support your explanation.
RI 1, 4-6, 10
W2, 4, 7, 9, 10
Addresses multiple standards in reading and writing
Is cross-curricular and can be taught across both social studies and ELA classes
Involves research using multiple sources
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16. Sample Task 4-5 Grade Band Narrative Writing Task:
In Bud, Not Buddy and The Birchbark House, each author uses details to describe the communities that Bud and Omakayas belong to. Think about the different ways Bud is helped along his journey, and how Omakayas contributes to her community when help is needed.
Write an original story in which you imagine how Omakayas might help Bud if he was to meet her during his journey to find Calloway. In your story, be sure to use what you have learned about the characters from your close reading. Use details to connect your original story to those you have read.
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17. What makes this a rich task?
4-5 Grade Band Narrative Writing Task:
In Bud, Not Buddy and The Birchbark House, each author uses details to describe the communities that Bud and Omakayas belong to. Think about the different ways Bud is helped along his journey, and how Omakayas contributes to her community when help is needed.
Write an original story in which you imagine how Omakayas might help Bud if he was to meet her during his journey to find Calloway. In your story, be sure to use what you have learned about the characters from your close reading. Use details to connect your original story to those you have read.
RL 1-3, 4, 9, 10
W 3, 4, 9, 10
Addresses multiple standards in reading and writing
Involves analysis using multiple sources
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18. Sample Task 11-12 Grade Band Informative/Explanatory Writing Task:
In the passage, the author describes in detail the emerging food truck scene and gives a list of best practices for those looking to start their own food truck. Write an essay that uses the information contained in the article to explain what it takes to be a popular and successful food truck entrepreneur. Your essay should use detailed evidence from the text and make inferences based on the passage as support for your explanation.
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19. How can we make this a rich task?
11-12 Grade Band Informative/Explanatory Writing Task:
In the passage, the author describes in detail the emerging food truck scene and gives a list of best practices for those looking to start their own food truck. Write an essay that uses the information contained in the article to explain what it takes to be a popular and successful food truck entrepreneur. Your essay should use detailed evidence from the text and make inferences based on the passage as support for your explanation.
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20. Time to Reflect
How can instruction through rich tasks provide all students with meaningful and engaging opportunities to demonstrate their knowledge and skills?
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21. Using Evaluation to Support Mastery
“Feedback to any pupil should be about the particular qualities of his or her work, with advice on what he or she can do to improve, and should avoid comparisons with other pupils.”
Black & Wiliam, 1998
Evaluate….
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22. Tools for Teachers: Writing Rubrics
CCSS-aligned instruction can be supported by employing rubrics keyed to the expectations of the CCSS, which should be used to provide specific information for improvement.
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23. Evaluating a Student Writing Sample
Rubrics aligned to the three CCSS writing types by grade band can provide the kind of specific information that students need in order to improve. CCSS-aligned rubrics can also be used to focus instruction on specific standards and/or grade- level progressions.
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24. The Power of Formative Practice
Formative practice is the process of providing students meaningful and specific information for the purpose of improvement. The CCSS are designed to reward effective formative practice that supports student mastery toward academic readiness for college and careers.
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25. Calibrating Against Writing Rubrics
Teachers, schools, and districts can use anchor papers from students to clarify scoring criteria and develop common understandings for each performance category (i.e. What is a sufficient amount of evidence or number of transitions for “Meets Expectations”?).
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26. Time to Reflect
How can effective formative practice in evaluation support all students’ mastery of CCSS academic writing demands?
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27. Using Evaluation to Support Mastery: Summing Up
The CCSS’ discussion of mastery has implications for teaching and learning.
Rich tasks are a bridge between CCSS-aligned instruction and meaningful and engaging demonstrations of student learning.
Evaluation for improvement using CCSS-aligned rubrics can
support student mastery.
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