The write way
<p>After teachers graded the 4,300 student papers, the results will provide feedback to students and help assure all teachers are consistent in their expectations.</p>
<p>Sara Schmoe, a second-grade teacher at Betty Kiefer Elementary, reads one of the 4,300 fall student papers that were graded Friday for the direct writing assessment. The program was eliminated by the state board of education, but Lakeland Joint School District felt writing is too important to discontinue assessing student performance and continued the program on their own.</p>
RATHDRUM - Lakeland isn't letting go of the Direct Writing Assessment - period.
Budget cuts wiped out the state's version of the writing exam this fall, but the Lakeland Joint School District believes the program is too important to eliminate.
So staff - ranging from principals to counselors to teachers of all subjects - spent their inservice day on Friday at Lakeland High grading essays of all 4,300 or so of the district's students.
Classrooms were filled with staff reviewing essays in pairs rather than students at the desks.
"This has been an ambitious undertaking by our students and staff, but we feel the results are well worth the effort," said Mary Ann Ranells, Lakeland's superintendent. "The research is pretty compelling in terms of increasing achievement."
Students write about a grade level appropriate topic on the same day. Elementary students write a "how to" paper; junior high students focus on expository writing; and high school students write a persuasive essay.
Students and staff will repeat the drill in the winter and spring.
Ranells said the writing program, which is in addition to the Idaho Standard Achievement Test, offers students feedback throughout the year. The results are available sooner than under the state format, which expedites learning. The state DWA was also for grades 5, 7 and 9 and the Lakeland version is for K-12.
During scoring, all teachers meet as grade-level teams and score each student's essay twice. As the papers are scored, the administrative assistants from each school enter the data such as content, organization, word choice, sentence fluency and grammar on a scale of 1-4.
"We felt a performance assessment versus a computerized multiple-choice assessment would give us more information on students' abilities," Ranells said.
Lisa Sexton, principal of Betty Kiefer Elementary, said the staff devotes a lot of energy and passion toward the program.
"We believe if we produce good writers, we'll produce students with good critical thinking skills," Sexton said. "This drives what we do in the classroom."
Rebecca Miller, a counselor at Betty Kiefer, said grading essays also helps her with her job.
"It's good to have that knowledge and perspective of the students," she said. "It also lets us use data to drive decisions and helps us make sure that what we're doing is working."
Miller said the collaboration time is also helpful to the staff.
"It's good to get together with the teachers from the other schools," Miller said.
Next year, Lakeland will start its own version of the Direct Math Assessment, also eliminated by the state this year. Details have not been finalized, Ranells said.