Writing scores remain stable

The percentage of students scoring proficient or advanced on the 2007 CSAP writing test remained stable. The percentage of students scoring advanced dropped from 20 percent in 2006 to 13 percent in 2007. The percentage of students scoring unsatisfactory also remained stable at about 2 percent.

In its accreditation contract with the Colorado Department of Education, the district must meet a performance target of 80 percent proficient and advanced. The district also has set reasonable progress goals.See links at right.

Elementary teachers develop common goals, assessments to improve writing

What does good writing look like? Two years ago, each elementary teacher would have had a different answer. But last year, elementary teachers developed common definitions and assessments to ensure that all students worked toward the same writing goals in all classrooms in every school.

Genres: First, they identified and defined the 17 genres of writing addressed in state standards. Genres define writing for different purposed, such as creative or expository writing.

Essential Learnings: Next, they clearly defined what students should be able to know and do at each grade level. For example, kindergartners should understand that writing in the English language occurs from left to right and top to bottom. Fifth-graders should be able to gather information from a range of sources and use an organizer to plan their writing.

Benchmarking Assessments: Teachers developed three writing tests for the year, and all grades use the same prompt. A prompt is a question or statement that becomes the student's writing topic. In August, for example, all second-graders answered the following question: "What pet would you choose if you could have any pet in the world? Explain about the pet you would like to have and why you would choose it."

Teachers use the benchmarking assessments to determine if students are making progress toward attaining the "essential learnings" as a result of their teaching strategies. If students aren't making progress, teachers then analyze whether they need to change what they're teaching or how they're teaching individual students.

Grading Rubrics: Rubrics are charts that define the characteristics of advanced, proficient, partially proficient, and unsatisfactory writing performance. Grade-level teachers work together to assess student writing samples, so that their grading is consistent from classroom to classroom and school to school. Consistent grading ensures that all students meet the same standards of performance.

The rubrics are "kid-friendly," so that students use them to assess their own writing. Categories include Advanced, "Right on Target" for proficient, "Getting There" for partially proficient, and "Needs Work" for unsatisfactory.

Each school is approaching writing instruction differently to meet student needs, but the common learning goals and assessments ensure that all students meet the same high standards. Teachers expect the changes to improve writing scores on the 2008 CSAP writing tests.

See the new Elementary Writing Curriculum here

Board Monitoring Report for Writing

The following is a copy of the Monitoring Report that the district submits to the Board of Education for its review. A seven-year summary of test scores my be found in the Databook.