e-asTTle Writing
Fraser School
30th April 2012
LI/SC
Know about
the
components of
the new easTTle writing
Choose a
prompt
(task)
Have a
go at
using
a rubric
Learn
About
New e
asTTle
The scope of NEW easTTle
• Years 1 to 10 (up to L6)
suitable for students who can
independently communicate at least one or
two simple ideas in writing
• Valid and reliable
• Compatible with the existing e-asTTle
technology
What does the tool assess?
A part of the whole
• General writing competence
- skills not specific to particular learning areas—does not assess content
knowledge
- aspects of writing-to-communicate across the curriculum
- skills core to writing in general
• Independent writing of continuous text across five
communicative purposes and seven elements
- prompts specify a purpose but the rubric accommodates multiple
purposes
- describe, explain, recount, narrate, persuade
- writing scored element by element but appears as an overall score on the
measurement scale
- ideas, structure and language, organisation, vocabulary, sentence
structure, punctuation, spelling (formerly known as curriculum
functions/features/dimensions)
What does the tool assess?
A part of the whole
• Why only a part of the whole?
- The e-asTTle model for assessment and reporting
involves standardised tasks that lead to reliable results
that can be reported on measurement scales
- One assessment can’t assess everything
- Not sufficient for making an OTJ (see 4.2 in manual)
The components of e-asTTle writing
•
•
•
•
•
20 prompts (formerly known as tasks)
Marking rubric (includes structure and language notes)
Annotated exemplars
Glossary and definitions
Scoring and reporting tools
Using an e-asTTle writing assessment
An e-asTTle writing assessment involves:
• Selecting a prompt
• Introducing the prompt to the students- 5 mins
and no written record of discussion.
• Students writing to the prompt for up to 40
minutes
• Scoring the responses against a rubric with the
help of annotated exemplars
• Entering results into the online application and
generating reports.
Create a new “test”
Create a customised test
Choose a purpose
Select a prompt
A writing prompt
Choosing a prompt
• Teachers need to use professional judgement
to ensure a prompt is appropriate.
For example, consider:
- the level of abstraction
- the complexity of the text structure
- the context
Some prompts use slightly simplified language:
- the three recounting prompts
- three of the describing prompts
The marking rubric elements
Marking rubric: Ideas
Marking process
•
Markers need:
-
•
student script
prompt
marking rubric (ideas, structure and language, organisation, vocabulary, sentence
structure, punctuation, and spelling)
structure and language notes
annotated exemplars
glossary and definitions
A step by step approach:
-
read through whole script
work through rubric element by element
check writing against category descriptors and notes to identify best fit category (R1, R2 , R3
etc)
use exemplars to clarify and confirm decisions
moderate decisions
record each score on front page of student writing booklet
Characteristics of a fair marker
• During marking:
- self disciplined—need to recognise the authority of the
rubric and put aside their knowledge of the student as
a whole
- a team player—need to accumulate a shared
understanding of the rubric
• After marking (planning next steps):
- creative
Annotated exemplar
Characteristics of the annotated
exemplars
• The 76 annotated exemplars:
- developed from student responses to the 20 prompts
- marked using the rubric
- cover all prompts (each prompt has at least 3, covering a range of scores—low,
medium, and high)
•
The student scripts exemplify:
- typical, not ideal, writing
- tricky features to score (e.g., possibly off-topic; multiple purposes)
•
The annotations:
- justify scores
•
The generic exemplars:
- from the same group of 76
- used to check interpretation of individual categories
National reference information for
e-asTTle writing
National reference information is available for:
• Year level
• Year level by gender
• Year level by ethnicity
• Year level by region
• Year level by “English at home”
• Year level by “schools like us”