Grade 8 TCAP Writing Assessment Results
Data from February 2013 Writing Assessment:
Table 1: Scores by trait (1-4 scale)
Focus/Organization
Support/Elaboration
8th
grade
Language/Style
Conventions
Average
% scoring
a 3 or 4
Average
% scoring
a 3 or 4
Average
% scoring
a 3 or 4
Average
% scoring
a 3 or 4
2.46
45.5%
2.09
23.3%
2.57
50.3%
2.69
57.4%
Other 8th grade testing information:
 Number of test takers: 74,200
 Number/percentage of students scoring at least a 3 on all traits: 16,155 (21.8% of all 8th grade
students)
 Number of students receiving condition code D: “Too limited to evaluate” (scored as a zero in all
four traits): 4,596
Prompt and standards alignment:
Students were asked to read two complex informational texts—one about the early European settlers of
America and one about the possibilities of humans colonizing space—and write an
informational/explanatory essay “comparing and contrasting how reasons for colonization have
changed from settling America to attempting to settle space.” The assessment addressed the following
Common Core State Standards:
Reading:
 CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.8.1 Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of
what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
 CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.8.9 Analyze a case in which two or more texts provide conflicting
information on the same topic and identify where the texts disagree on matters of fact or
interpretation.
 CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.8.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend literary nonfiction at the
high end of the grades 6–8 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
Writing:
 CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.8.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey
ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant
content.
 CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.8.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development,
organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
 CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.8.9 Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis,
reflection, and research.
Language:



CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.8.1 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar
and usage when writing or speaking.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.8.2 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English
capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.8.3 Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking,
reading, or listening.
Necessary skills:
In order to succeed with this prompt, students needed to be able to:
 Read and comprehend complex informational texts
 Compare and contrast information from multiple texts
 Synthesize ideas from multiple texts into a coherent explanation and analysis
 Write an organized, focused, clear, and coherent essay
 Incorporate textual evidence (e.g. key ideas, supporting details, quotes, facts) from multiple
texts into their prose
 Explain and elaborate upon textual evidence and draw connections between evidence and their
main idea
 Demonstrate command of style, language, and tone to accomplish their task
 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard written English
For a more complete overview of what skills were assessed during scoring, see the 2012-13
informational/explanatory rubric (please note that Tennessee has revised the rubrics for the 2013-14
school year).
Results analysis:
Focus/Organization: Overall, this was the second lowest scoring trait for 8th grade students.
45.5% of students scored a 3 or 4 in focus/organization. Students struggling in
focus/organization tend to have trouble crafting paragraphs or separating their thoughts into
coherent sections. They may also lack focus in their writing, either insufficiently establishing
their topic or meandering off topic as they write. Success on this trait is also inextricably linked
with “demonstrating sufficient understanding of the stimulus material.” Students who are able
to understand and follow the key ideas, arguments, and purposes of both texts are in a better
position to write an essay with relevant content.
Support/Elaboration: Overall, this was the lowest scoring trait for 8th grade students, by quite a
wide margin. Only 23.3 % of students scored a 3 or 4 in support/elaboration. Because
support/elaboration measures a student’s ability to provide textual evidence to support his
analysis, students who struggle in this trait either do not provide sufficient textual evidence in
their essays or do not elaborate upon the evidence, linking it to their ideas. Again, students who
struggle with reading comprehension may also struggle with this trait, since the quality of
evidence is linked directly to the writer’s grasp of the text’s presentation of ideas. The ability to
develop one’s writing with textual evidence is perhaps the single most important skill required
for success on PARCC writing prompts.
Language/Style: This was the second highest scoring trait for 8th graders. 50.3% of students
scored a 3 or 4 in language/style. Students scoring well in this trait are able to demonstrate an
advanced sense of style, writing with a variety of precise, effective words and sentences and an
appropriate tone for formal essays. As a measure of form (how a student writes) as opposed to
content (what a student writes), it is entirely possible (and this trend was observed in many
student papers) for a student to score highly on this trait, as well as on conventions, while not
doing well on support/elaboration and focus/organization.
Conventions: Conventions was the highest scoring trait for 8th graders, although only 57.4% of
students scored a three or four. As with the other traits, conventions is measured
independently. Whether a student can use evidence, organize his thoughts, or write with
advanced syntax or diction will have no bearing on his conventions score (another aspect of
form), which measures his ability to command grammar, usage, spelling, capitalization, and
punctuation.
Instructional implications:
1) Since 8th grade students generally experienced more success with form, more emphasis could be
placed on improving content (as measured by the Support/Elaboration and Focus/Organization
traits). A writing emphasis can be driven by mini-lessons, focused writing prompts, and targeted
feedback from teachers and peers. However, students still need practice in all traits.
2) 8th grade students appear to need more practice in the skill of writing to sources, including:
 Selecting relevant and significant details and ideas from a text
 Supporting explanations with specific evidence from texts
 Synthesizing textual evidence from multiple sources into a coherent explanation
Students can benefit from mini-lessons targeting the above skills, including direct instruction
and teacher modeling of writing strategies through think-alouds, discussion and reflection, and
exemplar essays (from both students and teachers).
3) There may be many different issues at play for students with unscorable responses. Teachers
may consider diagnosing and providing intervention and support in the following skill areas:
 Reading foundational skills and comprehension
 Structuring a paragraph that provides textual evidence
 Practice with the format of online testing
A plan for the 8th grade PLC:
Step one:
Step two:
Step
three:
Step four:
Step five:
Print the 8th grade and work through it yourself as a learner. Consider the skills and
capacities necessary for your students to succeed with the prompt.
Secure your teacher/grade level data from the MI portal (may require access information
from your school’s or district’s testing coordinator).
Review and analyze data from your school or students from last year. Look for strengths
and weaknesses across traits. What trends do you notice?
In light of the prompt and the data, identify specific points where your students most
likely experienced difficulty. Things to consider might be:
 What are the texts about, and what are the reading demands?
 What are students being asked to write, and what must they do with each text?
 In what ways were the students required to use textual evidence?
 What would a successful response to the task look like?
Build a series of close reading lessons with complex informational texts and culminating
assessments with writing-to-sources prompts (or use some of the resources listed below).
Collect student work from at least three students who are in different places in their
learning, score it using the revised 2013-14 rubrics, and share with colleagues. Consider
the following questions:
 What evidence can you draw from these student samples about your students’
capabilities?
 What are areas of deficits for your students when it comes to reading complex
texts and responding to them in writing?
 What are some strategies you can use to help bridge those deficits and improve
student writing?
Tennessee resources to support students with PARCC-style writing tasks:
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Practice assessment tasks at
http://tncore.org//english_language_arts/assessment/sample_assessments/grades6-8.aspx:
o 6-8 Phase I sample writing task
o 6-8 Writing Research Simulation tasks (to be posted in March 2014)
Common Core units at http://tncore.org/english_language_arts/curricular_resources/68/text_unit_6-8.aspx:
o 8th grade informational text unit (to be posted in December 2013)
Close reading tasks with writing-to-sources prompts as culminating assessments at
http://tncore.org/english_language_arts/curricular_resources/6-8/tasks68.aspx:
o 6-8 Amelia Earhart task
o 6-8 Dust Bowl task
Resources to support teachers in understanding the Common Core State Standards for English
Language Arts and instructional shifts and in creating their own materials:
o Text-dependent questions
o Text complexity
o 6-8 summer training materials