Joan Conroy

The Vermont Writing Collaborative Summer Institute 2009

Central Idea: I’d like to provide additional diagnostic information to the teachers of students who are being evaluated for special education services (K-4). I intend to do this by applying the 1.9 Narrative Revised Rubric to individual student writing samples from the Test of Written Language-3 Third Edition (Authors: Donald D. Hammill and Stephen C. Larsen) Pro-Ed Publications: 1996.

In addition, I hope to provide teachers feedback regarding which Habits of Mind skills the student used independentlyduring the evaluation process.

Focusing Questions:
1. How can I provide teacher’s useful information regarding a student’s ability to transfer their understanding of the writer’s craft and narrative structure to an on-demand writing prompt used as part of a special education evaluation?
2. How can I provide teacher’s information regarding a student’s independent application of habits of mind skills during a special education evaluation?

Focus:
The Test of Written Language-3 is a standardized writing assessment that includes a narrative writing sample. My goal is to use the 1.9 narratives rubric as part of my assessment of an individual student’s ability to transfer their understanding of the writer’s craft and narrative structure within their written response to a visual prompt. I will do this by integrating the elements of effective writing into the scoring procedure for the subtest: Story Construction which is included within the Spontaneous Writing portion of the TOWL-3.

In addition, I will include information in my written evaluation report regarding the habits of mind skills demonstrated by the student throughout the evaluation process by including information in my written evaluation report.

Habits of Mind (this is a chart)

Characteristics

Examples of Application

Problem Solving


Reasoning



Communicating with clarity and precision in a variety of ways



Making Connections



Persistence



Gathering data through senses, observation, etc.



Listening Skills



Empathy



Flexible Thinking



Metacognition: thinking about thinking



Humor



Striving for accuracy



Thinking Interdependently



Transfer-Applying past knowledge to new situations



Remaining open to continuous learning



Questioning, posing problems



Taking responsible risks



Creating, imagining, innovating



Collaboration



Responding with wonder and awe

Copyright 2000-2001 Arthur L. Costa and Bena Kallick


TOWL-3 Subtest 8: Story Construction (this is a 3 column chart)
Score Items and Scoring Criteria Elements of Effective Writing demonstrated:
Story beginning
0= none, abrupt
1= weak, ordinary, serviceable
2= interesting, grabbing Organization
Story somehow relates to picture
0= no
1= yes Details/Purpose
Definitely refers to a specific event occurring before or after the picture
0= no
1= yes Purpose
Story Sequence
0= none, a series of random statements
1= rambles, but has some sequence
2= moves smoothly from start to finish Organization
Plot
0= none, incoherent, statements in random order
1= weak, meager, spotty
2= logical, complete Purpose
Characters show feelings/emotions
0= no
1= some emotion/low affect story line
2= strong emotion clearly evident in at least one character Details
Expresses some moral or philosophic theme
0= no
1= yes, but weakly stated, inferred
2= overtly, clearly stated Purpose
Story action or energy level
0= no action
1= boring, tedious
2= run-of-the-mill, predictable
3= exciting, interesting
Details
Story ending
0= none, abrupt
1= weak
2= logical, definite ending Organization
Prose is
0= immature
1= ordinary, serviceable, matter-of-fact
2= artful, stylish Voice/Tone
Story is
0= dull, merely describes picture
1= ordinary, serviceable, matter-of-fact
2= artful, stylish Purpose
Raw Score