PERFORMANCE TARGET 2: WRITING

 

Excellent writing skills are essential for all students, whether or not they decide to continue their education in college. Our writing assessment program includes a variety of state and local tests, as well as the collection and evaluation of portfolios of student writing at several grade levels.

 

 

NEW STANDARDS REFERENCE EXAM IN ENGLISH/LANGUAGE ARTS

This test measures studentsí ability to write effectively in a variety of formats for a variety of purposes, audiences and contexts. It also measures how well students use current standards of grammar, punctuation and the conventions of the English language. ACSU has targeted a 2001 goal of 70% - 90% of all students meeting each standard and fewer than 10% falling below any standard.

 

 

NSRE Results - Writing Effectiveness

 

Met the Standard Grade 4 Below the Standard
 

 


 

Approximately 60% of our grade 4 students met the writing standard in 2000 and 2001, compared to only 31% in 1998. We are concerned that 17% fell well below the standard in those same years.

 

 

 

Met the Standard Grade 8 Below the Standard
 

 


 

In 2001, 62% of ACSU eighth graders met the standard in writing effectiveness, with only 6% falling below the mark.


 

 

Met the Standard Grade 10 Below the Standard
 

 


 

 

Only 37% of ACSU tenth graders met the writing effectiveness standard in 2001. 11% fell below the standard of performance. Our target for grade 10 is that 70% will meet the standard.

 

 

NSRE Results - Writing Conventions: Grammar, Usage, Mechanics

 

Met the Standard Grade 4 Below the Standard
 

 


 

 

62% of grade 4 students met the standard for conventions, a significant gain from 1999 and 2000. ACSU schools have targeted writing conventions in their improvement plans for the next three years.

 

 

Met the Standard Grade 8 Below the Standard
 

 


 

 

We can see a slight improvement in the percent of students meeting the standard since 1999.


 

Met the Standard Grade 10 Below the Standard
 
 


 

 

73% of ACSU grade 10 students have met the standard for writing conventions in 2001, compared to 59% in 2000.

 

Terra Nova - Language

Results by Gender 2000 and 2001, Compared to 1994 CTBS

Average NCEs

 

Grade
1994 (CTBS)
2000
2001
 
Male
Female
Male
Female
Male
Female
3
43
53
56
60
56
59
5
46
57
53
60
50
68
7
46
52
55
63
55
63
9
45
56
56
64
60
64

 

Females have tended to outperform males significantly in language skills on both the CTBS and the Terra Nova. Over time, however, the NCE gap has been dramatically reduced from approximately 10 NCE points to 5. At the same time, student performance has improved an average 10 NCE points for both the male and female groups compared to 1994 scores.

 

WRITING PORTFOLIOS

Students in grades 5 and 8 collect a variety of writing samples in folders. Teachers score each piece according to a writing rubric developed by the state of Vermont. Each piece is then double-scored to ensure accuracy and consistency among teachers.

 

In grade 10 students collect writing samples from several subject area classes: essays from English class, social studies reports, science lab reports, and written solutions to mathematics problems. At the end of grade 10 students write a reflective essay, in which they assess their own writing skills and weaknesses. An adult reader then writes a lengthy letter to each student, commenting on the various writing samples and the studentís own assessment of the writing. Through this process, students learn to see the importance of good writing in any subject.

 

 

PERFORMANCE TARGET 3: LISTENING

 

We know that students are bombarded with a variety of very powerful media messages every day, from magazine ads to television programs to music lyrics. To function well in a multi-media world, students need to understand how to interpret and analyze these messages and to recognize the ways that media can manipulate our opinions and consumer choices. The ACSU is in the process of defining specific learning standards for this target area.