Writing Calibration
English I
Tuesday, September 2nd, 2014
Goals and Outcomes
 Collaborate with colleagues to calibrate
written compositions for consistency in
scoring across campuses, across the
district, and in line with the state
 Take away some exemplar pieces of
student writing to be used in our
classrooms to help guide instruction
toward our goal of exemplar student
writing.
Today’s Agenda
 8:30- 9:00- Welcome/Goals and Outcomes/
New info. from TEA
 9:00- 9:15- Review of Writing Rubric/ Scoring
Guides
 9:15- 10:15- Using state scored NISD Eng. II
exemplars from 2013 (since you all used the
same promt) to create current models of
exemplar writing utilizing the different
components of the rubric for this Diagnostic
 10:15- 11:30- Begin Scoring Student Writing
 11:30- 12:30- Lunch
 12:30- 3:30- Scoring Student Writing, Picking
out Exemplars, and Writing Commentary on
these Exemplars to be used with students
during Writer’s Workshop this week
Secondary ELA Focus for Learning/
Problem of Practice
 NISD Secondary ELA teachers will provide students
numerous opportunities to articulate critical thinking
through high levels of expository, persuasive, and analytical
writing.
 Theory of Action
 If numerous opportunities for writing calibration are provided
and
 If teachers are modeling critical thinking and writing through
writing goals, writing notebooks, conferences, and specific and
timely feedback and
 If students are reading high levels of expository text to be
utilized as good models for writing
 Then higher levels of critical thinking will be demonstrated
through higher levels of writing
STAAR TEST DESIGN ENGLISH I & II 2014
Reading & Writing combined into one test
with one score
-Tests administered in single day – 5 hours
time limit
-Reading & Writing Contribute equally to
total score
-30% - reading multiple choice
-20% short answer questions
-24%-writing multiple choice
-26% essay
Multiple Choice- 54%
Performance-46% of total test score
STAAR TEST Design English I and
II Changes for 2014-2015
 TEA will maintain initial academic performance
standards (Phase-In 1) for STAAR for the 20142015 school year.
 The new Phase-In 2 performance standards will be
implemented beginning the 2015-2016 school year.
 Beginning in Spring 2015, the field test prompts
will be removed from the operational grade 7,
English I, and English II tests and will be field
tested in a separate prompt study that will be
administered every three years beginning in 2017.
(Doesn’t mention field test items on SARs.)
 Elimination of STAAR Modified
Posted by TEA on 8/21/14
A Review of the Expository
Rubric…
What do you notice about the 4
column? Highlight some key words/
phrases.
Look at the verbiage/ description of
the 2’s and 3’s. With a different
colored highlighter, highlight some
key phrases/ words.
 What changes do you notice?
Discuss at your tables.
Expository Scoring Guides
 Spend a few minutes familiarizing yourself with
both the Eng. I and Eng. II Expository Scoring
Guides. For today’s purposes, the Eng. II
Expository Scoring Guide will be the most useful
since your students wrote their Diagnostic Essay
over last year’s Eng. II Expository prompt, and the
Eng. II Scoring Guide provides samples of each
Score Point with Commentary as to why the essay
received that particular score point. (The Eng. II
ones are like comparing “apples to apples” since
we used their prompt.)
 At your tables, discuss what you notice from
reading the papers from the Scoring Guides. These
Scoring Guides will help provide assistance when
you begin scoring your own essays.
State Scored NISD Exemplars
 Each person will receive their own individual packet of some
state scored NISD student exemplar Eng. II 8’s from 2013.
(We haven’t yet received our NISD written compositions back
from the state from the 2014 assessment.)
 Take 15-20 minutes, and silently read to yourself each of the
exemplars, making brief notes about what you notice.
 Your group will have 2 charges…
 1. You will be assigned one “look for/ focus”, your group
must come to a common agreement of which 2 exemplars
out of the packet best fit your focus, and be prepared to
write commentary on each of those two components to be
shared out with the group.
 2. Out of all the essays, your group must come to a
consensus of 1 overall “BEST” Exemplar out of the packet
of essays, and be able to write commentary as to why this
one is the BEST out of the entire packet.
Look For’s/ Group Focus
1’s= Introductions/ Response to the
Prompt: You are specifically looking
for:
 Strong controlling idea/ thesis
statement
Strong Leads
How did they lead into the
paper? Anecdote? Powerful
quote?
Look For’s/ Group Focus
2’s= Transitions/ Transitional
Phrases
 How are they effectively
moving the story along?
Look For’s/ Group Focus
 3’s= Supporting Details: You are
specifically looking for:
 How do the details within each
paragraph support the thesis
statement/ controlling idea? Are
there any details that are nonsignificant and need to be deleted
from the composition?
Is each detail closely linked with the
ones before and after it?
Look For’s/ Group Focus
4’s= Conclusions: You are
specifically looking for:
 How does the conclusion respond
back to the prompt?
How does the conclusion enhance
the effectiveness of the story?
 Does the conclusion answer the
question of: “So What?”
With your Overall Exemplar…
Write a brief commentary as to why that is
your group’s top pick out of all the essays.
Please include the following components in
your commentary…
Introduction: Lead/ Thesis Statement
Transitions/ Transitional Phrases
 Supporting Details
 Conclusion
Gallery Walk
 Every group will travel around with their state packet, highlighters,
and marking components of exemplar pieces in your own packet to
take back and use with kids to help guide instruction
 On an index card, complete the following sentence stem, “I learned
that essays that score 8’s
__________________________________
____________________________________________
____________________________________________.
 Please give your index card to Brittnie.
 You will now have the remainder of the day to score your own
essays with the exemplars that you just created to help you.
Your goal by the end of the day is for
each campus/ to be able to produce at
least 2 exemplars with commentary
as to how the piece of writing is an
exemplar. These exemplars with the
commentary will be placed onto the
district’s Netschool page for all to use
in your classrooms for instructional
purposes!!!!