District Writing Assessment
Narrative Writing Assessment using an Image/Illustration
General Information
The District Writing Assessment (DWA) was introduced as a pilot in the Spring of 2014. It was conceived because NEA did not have an assessment tool that could accurately assess student writing abilities at all levels. Until that point, only the Provincial Achievement Test (PAT) and its data was used for writing in grades 3, 6, and 9.
Because of the way it was introduced, and the way in which the teachers were involved in the development and implementation of the the DWA, it has become an accurate assessment tool that is reflective of the data that the PATs provide us in terms of how well our students are doing in the area of writing. The most positive aspects of it, however, are that the DWA is designed to be a more teacher and student friendly assessment with regards to its administration window, a professional development tool as teachers engage in the collective assessment of the student samples, and a more culturally appropriate assessment because we can choose images or illustrations that our students can relate to (which has been one of the limitations for the PATs).
With the province transitioning away from the PATs and focussing more on the Student Learning Assessments (SLAs) as a more diagnostic tool versus an assessment tool, the DWA takes on a more important role. As the SLAs take hold in the province, we will no longer be able to rely on the province to give us assessment data that is linked to a central standard to help us understand where our students are in relation to the rest of the province. As such, the DWA will become an essential tool because it will be the only tool we have to accurately assess our students relative to an appropriate standard that is representative of the curricular outcomes in the programs of study.
This webpage was created to provide teachers and other staff at NEA with a home for all things related to the DWA. Here you will find the General Information Bulletin for each year, which is basically an instruction manual for test administration; you will find images and/or illustrations used for the assessment; you will find graphic organizers that teachers have chosen to be included in the DWA to facilitate teacher led planning sessions with their students as part of the testing process; you will find student exemplars that can be used to help with the teaching and assessing of student work that is similar to the DWA so that teachers can teach narrative story writing using an illustration and ensure that students are preparing for the DWA and developing mastery of the associated learning outcomes; and you will find scoring guides that can be used in class to assess student work in the same way that the DWA is scored.
This is intended to be an informational page with all the tools that one would need to understand and/or teach narrative writing like the DWA in the classroom. So if you find that something is missing from this page, or you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me so that I can make the necessary changes. I can be reached through the Contact link on this website or at [email protected].
Because of the way it was introduced, and the way in which the teachers were involved in the development and implementation of the the DWA, it has become an accurate assessment tool that is reflective of the data that the PATs provide us in terms of how well our students are doing in the area of writing. The most positive aspects of it, however, are that the DWA is designed to be a more teacher and student friendly assessment with regards to its administration window, a professional development tool as teachers engage in the collective assessment of the student samples, and a more culturally appropriate assessment because we can choose images or illustrations that our students can relate to (which has been one of the limitations for the PATs).
With the province transitioning away from the PATs and focussing more on the Student Learning Assessments (SLAs) as a more diagnostic tool versus an assessment tool, the DWA takes on a more important role. As the SLAs take hold in the province, we will no longer be able to rely on the province to give us assessment data that is linked to a central standard to help us understand where our students are in relation to the rest of the province. As such, the DWA will become an essential tool because it will be the only tool we have to accurately assess our students relative to an appropriate standard that is representative of the curricular outcomes in the programs of study.
This webpage was created to provide teachers and other staff at NEA with a home for all things related to the DWA. Here you will find the General Information Bulletin for each year, which is basically an instruction manual for test administration; you will find images and/or illustrations used for the assessment; you will find graphic organizers that teachers have chosen to be included in the DWA to facilitate teacher led planning sessions with their students as part of the testing process; you will find student exemplars that can be used to help with the teaching and assessing of student work that is similar to the DWA so that teachers can teach narrative story writing using an illustration and ensure that students are preparing for the DWA and developing mastery of the associated learning outcomes; and you will find scoring guides that can be used in class to assess student work in the same way that the DWA is scored.
This is intended to be an informational page with all the tools that one would need to understand and/or teach narrative writing like the DWA in the classroom. So if you find that something is missing from this page, or you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me so that I can make the necessary changes. I can be reached through the Contact link on this website or at [email protected].
General Information Bulletin (GIB)
Here are the GIB(s) for the DWA. Please refer to the actual document(s) for the procedures of how to properly administer the DWA in your school or classroom.
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dwa sampling plan
The District Writing Assessment's Sampling Plan is currently under review and will be posted here once it is made available.
Use of Images or Illustrations
Image for the 2014-2015 Administration of the DWA
As part of the first year of official implementation of the DWA, focus groups were formed to discuss and choose the image for the assessment. Many images were considered and vetted; and in the end, this was the image that all teachers agreed upon.
When the decision was made to use this image, teachers across the district felt that this image would provide students with an opportunity to personally connect with the image and be able to come up with a creative story as a result. Given that it was a picture from the local area, included a child within the age of students writing the assessment, and the fact that it included a vehicle were all things that contributed to the potential of the image. It was anticipated that students would use the vehicle in the story, as well as the primary character (the boy) and the secondary character (the adult driving the vehicle) to craft a narrative that would allow for students to explore and craft a variety of different and creative narrative stories. Based on the marking sessions held with teachers, it was apparent that the image worked well and that teachers saw a variety of well crafted and creative narratives. One thing that became very clear through this year's process of selecting an image in this way was the importance of choosing a good image for the assessment. |
Image for the 2013-2014 Administration of the DWA
A lot of thought, deliberation, and drafts went into the development of the DWA. For those that were involved in the process, it was determined that the DWA would be culturally relevant and culturally sensitive by selecting images or illustrations that our students could relate to when writing their narrative stories.
The pilot administration of the DWA in 2014 spurred district wide discussion among English Language Arts teachers. Some teachers found the image to be effective and easy for their students to identify with and to write about. On the flip side, however, there were a number of teachers that found the image to be a challenge for the students. The good thing from this is that teachers were excited about the prospect of being more involved in the selecting of next year's image/illustration for the DWA - on that would not only be culturally relevant in the way that we need it to be, but also one that will be engaging for students. As more images and shared by teachers, or used on the DWA, they will be displayed in this section of the webpage.
The pilot administration of the DWA in 2014 spurred district wide discussion among English Language Arts teachers. Some teachers found the image to be effective and easy for their students to identify with and to write about. On the flip side, however, there were a number of teachers that found the image to be a challenge for the students. The good thing from this is that teachers were excited about the prospect of being more involved in the selecting of next year's image/illustration for the DWA - on that would not only be culturally relevant in the way that we need it to be, but also one that will be engaging for students. As more images and shared by teachers, or used on the DWA, they will be displayed in this section of the webpage.
Planning - Using Graphic Organizers
When we designed the DWA for the pilot in 2014, we consulted with a number of different teachers at all levels to determine what we should include in the assessment when it comes to planning. It was determined that we would include a number of different graphic organizers appropriate for certain grade/age levels, as well as a blank planning page in each test booklet. That would allow teachers the flexibility they would want or need when it came to helping their students plan for the DWA. The following are the different graphic organizers that showed up in the 2014 DWA. You can view them as separate images, or download the lot of the them instead.
If there are other graphic organizers that would work as good or better than the ones that have been selected, please let me know or send them to me for review. This will help us improve the overall quality of the DWA and ensure that it meets both the teachers' and students' needs as they engage in the DWA writing/test administration process.
If there are other graphic organizers that would work as good or better than the ones that have been selected, please let me know or send them to me for review. This will help us improve the overall quality of the DWA and ensure that it meets both the teachers' and students' needs as they engage in the DWA writing/test administration process.
dwa_planning_graphic_organizers.pdf | |
File Size: | 121 kb |
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Use of Exemplars for Writing and Marking
Exemplars can be powerful tools when teaching and evaluating student writing. Last year, as part of the training process for teachers to collectively assess our students' writing samples, we selected student samples for each grade that could be used to help teachers understand what our acceptable standard was as it related to our scoring guides. This helped teachers internalize what an acceptable standard was and assess student work more accurately.
I have attached the training papers below. There is a student sample from last year's administration for grades 1-9. They were selected to represent what was indicative of a student would do to reach the acceptable standard - scoring somewhere between a 2 and 3 in each of the marking categories and coming out with an overall percentage of somewhere between 50% and 60%.
These exemplars can now be used to help teachers understand what an acceptable standard is and should be for their students when they do writing in class. It can also be something that teachers can use to help their students work towards and ensure that they are writing at the acceptable standard by the time they writing the DWA in May of 2015.
Keep in mind that these student examples are indicative of a student reaching the acceptable standard and not a higher standard. The objective is to get all students writing at this level; and with the proper teaching and support, have our students writing better than this for their respective grades. The acceptable standard, as it is outlined in these exemplars, demonstrates what it means for a student to reach or be writing at grade level. If you have any questions about what it means for students to be writing at grade level, or how to use these exemplars for the benefit of teacher instruction or student evaluation, please do not hesitate to contact me.
I have attached the training papers below. There is a student sample from last year's administration for grades 1-9. They were selected to represent what was indicative of a student would do to reach the acceptable standard - scoring somewhere between a 2 and 3 in each of the marking categories and coming out with an overall percentage of somewhere between 50% and 60%.
These exemplars can now be used to help teachers understand what an acceptable standard is and should be for their students when they do writing in class. It can also be something that teachers can use to help their students work towards and ensure that they are writing at the acceptable standard by the time they writing the DWA in May of 2015.
Keep in mind that these student examples are indicative of a student reaching the acceptable standard and not a higher standard. The objective is to get all students writing at this level; and with the proper teaching and support, have our students writing better than this for their respective grades. The acceptable standard, as it is outlined in these exemplars, demonstrates what it means for a student to reach or be writing at grade level. If you have any questions about what it means for students to be writing at grade level, or how to use these exemplars for the benefit of teacher instruction or student evaluation, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Exemplars from the 2014-2015 administration of the dwa
Currently under review and will be posted here as they are made available.
Exemplars from the 2013-2014 Administration of the DWA
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dwa_2013_gr_8-9_exemplars.pdf | |
File Size: | 1685 kb |
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Assessment - Scoring Guides
Here are the scoring guides that we have devised for the DWA. They are broken into three categories and applied accordingly: grades 1-3, grades 4-6, and grades 7-9. These scoring guides were created to mirror the PAT scoring guides for grades 3, 6, and 9; and as such, there are few discrepancies between them. The only changes that were made were to make sure that there was proper scope and sequence between the three of our scoring guides so that they would be more effective for our own purposes.
As it stands, there have need no quandaries with scoring guides as they are and how they were used to effectively assess student work on the DWA last year. That does not mean, however, that changes could not be made should changes be merited. If anyone sees a way that these guides can be changed or modified to improve the assessment of student writing samples, please let me know. Likewise, if anyone has questions about how to effectively apply these scoring guides to assess or evaluate student work in the classroom, please let me know.
As it stands, there have need no quandaries with scoring guides as they are and how they were used to effectively assess student work on the DWA last year. That does not mean, however, that changes could not be made should changes be merited. If anyone sees a way that these guides can be changed or modified to improve the assessment of student writing samples, please let me know. Likewise, if anyone has questions about how to effectively apply these scoring guides to assess or evaluate student work in the classroom, please let me know.
grades_1-9_scoring_guides_2014.docx | |
File Size: | 35 kb |
File Type: | docx |