- About Me
- About My Classroom
- Teaching Philosophy
- Teacher Growth
- Student Growth
Qualitative Growth: Writing
Table of Contents
Introduction
Writing Rubric
Qualitative Growth in Writing
Summary of Writing Data and Data Analysis
Examples of Individual Student Growth
Conclusion
Introduction
What is Qualitative Growth?
To show Qualitative Dramatic Academic growth for my English Language Arts (ELA) students, we used a form of data collection that included us gathering writing samples from students across the school year. We used a rubric to grade and demonstrate student growth other the course of the school year as students grew in their writing abilities. The goal was to administer a specific writing task each month and maintain track of the task and student rubric scores using a master spreadsheet. This spreadsheet, which I had used during Teach for America's data tracking process, tracked student in writing overall throughout the course of the year.
Assessing qualitative data using a rubric and sharing the information with students is one way that we can continue to involve students in the process of data monitoring and understanding their growth. When students looked at the rubric and their scores, they were able to identify the different strands they needed to practice in order to score higher on the next writing task.
There are four data points and three examples of student growth exhibited below. Since I arrived to my school on December 9th, 2019, my students were only tracked in their writing skills for December 2019, January 2020, and February 2020. A baseline rubric grading was assessed on an already gathered assignment from September of 2019, before I was the teacher. Due to COVID-19, my students' last day at school in Bridges Public Charter School was March 12th, 2020. Students will therefore not be assessed for writing in March, April, May, or June of 2020.
Writing Rubric
Why is it important to use a writing rubric when collecting data over time?
It is important to use a rubric when grading student writing in order to have a uniform metric for success. This ensures that no piece of writing is graded in a different way or subjectively, which helps students truly understand their growth over time. A consistent rubric is also important to share with students so that students have a clear expectation set of what their writing should look like and understand how it will be graded.
The writing rubric below was used to grade student work for the first, second, third, and fourth writing samples. Since I started teaching fourth grade in December, students were already writing with a different teacher. One sample was pulled from September for a beginning of year (BOY) writing sample for writing growth and student portfolio purposes. This writing sample was graded using this rubric and the data was shared with students after I arrived at Bridges PCS.
Students were given other writing tasks in December of 2019, January 2020, and February 2020, which counted as their second, third, and fourth writing samples. Before they were given the writing tasks, the rubric was shared with students to ensure that they understood the expectations of the rubric and task and how the writing sample would be graded. After the second samples were graded, students were able to see the difference in their writing scores and what they needed to do to score higher on the following writing tasks.
Qualitative Growth in Writing
Why is it important to track writing growth over time?
By tracking writing growth throughout the school year, teachers are able to share with students their progress and specifically what students need to do to continue to grow in their writing. Following closely with Common Core Standards, students would have writing samples for each of the three different types of writing that are covered by Common Core for fourth grade: informative, narrative, and opinion writing. While I was not able to share with students how the first writing sample task needed to be approached, students were able to see the rubric, identify the skills they needed to show in their writing, and complete the writing task associated with the following writing samples. These included:
First Writing Sample: September 23, 2019 (Classmate Biography Writing)
For the first writing sample collected and graded using the writing rubric, students were asked to write an informative essay about their classmates. This assignment was given and completed before I began teaching the class. Students were asked to conduct interviews with a classmate and use that information to write a biography about that classmate. Students enjoyed this activity since they were able to work with their classmates and refer to it often. The writing sample accompanied a picture of the student whom the biography was about, and students enjoyed seeing their biographies on the class writing board. A baseline writing sample was taken from these works using my rubric when I began teaching the class.
Students were asked to complete this assignment because it was the beginning of the year and students were still getting to know one another. One of the rationales for administering this assignment was that it was a great way for students to begin learning about each other and providing teachers with an idea of the students' backgrounds and personalities.
Second Writing Sample: December 18, 2019 (Student Dream Writing)
For the second writing sample we collected and graded using the writing rubric, students completed a writing assignment detailing their dreams. The topic was broad for students, as this was the first writing sample that I would personally gather, and I wanted to see how students interpreted the assignment to gauge a sense of where students were at the time in their writing abilities.
Students were asked to complete this writing task as a way to gather more information about who students were and allowed me to help understand their motivations. This task was chosen because I had just arrived at Bridges PCS and was still learning students and their behaviors. Some students were having trouble motivating when I arrived, and this writing task was a way for me to see some of the things they were "dreaming" about. Using these writing samples to show students where they were in their writing growth also allowed me to catch a glimpse of their current state of mind.
Third Writing Sample: January 21, 2020 (New Year's Goal Writing)
For the third writing sample collected and graded using the writing rubric, students were asked to engage in a narrative writing piece about their goals, hopes, and dreams for the 2020 year and upcoming decade. This writing assignment gave students another chance to write about things that they wanted. This writing topic went well, and was exciting as it coincided with the beginning of the new year and new decade.
I chose this writing task because it allowed for me to see what students wanted to improve on in the classroom. Sometimes there is a disconnect between what teachers know is important for students to succeed and what students believe to be important, and through reading these assignments, I was able to see exactly what students believed to be the most important goals for their growth.
Fourth Writing Sample: February 26, 2020 (Black History Month Writing)
For the fourth writing sample collected, students were asked to research and complete a writing project about a black historical figure who was assigned to them by our fourth grade classroom team. Students spent time researching their figure and were asked to write and rewrite their drafts. The samples below are from the students who were able to complete their Black History Month writing assignments and showcased them during the Black History Month assembly.
The writing task was chosen as a way to push students to conduct research on a specific topic, gather supporting details, and create a writing piece that ensured they went through every step of the prompt and rubric first. Having students diligently plan their writing and refer to the rubric saw a dramatic increase in student scores.
*Due to COVID-19, we will not be able to continue collecting writing samples for the rest of the 2019-2020 school year. I was also unable to collect the rubric sheets for each writing assignment. I have recreated the rubric sheets based the scores that were assigned in our online classroom data tracker. Each virtual rubric is included below.
Summary of Writing Data and Data Analysis
What does this data tell us?
Using the four data points that are available, we are able to track student growth over the course of the first six months of school. Unfortunately, student data was not tracked before I came to the school, and students did not complete an appropriate writing task for grading between the end of September and the beginning of December, 2019. Beginning of year writing samples were pulled from student portfolios to gather baseline data for the beginning of the year. Below is a screenshot taken from the writing tracker that I began using after coming to the classroom.
The writing tracker is set up to show student student proficiency by color. The bright orange signifies that students are not proficient, the yellow shows students are developing proficiency, and the green shows that students are demonstrating proficiency. This picture shows the writing samples listed with each date at the top of each. The columns show the different row strands that correspond with the writing rubric:
Row 1: Main Idea (graded on a scale of 1-4, 1 being the lowest and 4 being the highest)
Row 2: Development (graded on a scale of 1-4, 1 being the lowest and 4 being the highest)
Row 3: Structure (graded on a scale of 1-4, 1 being the lowest and 4 being the highest)
Row 4: Style and Mechanics (graded on a scale of 1-4, 1 being the lowest and 4 being the highest)
- Writing Sample 1: It is clear that students scored lowest on the first writing task given. At the beginning of the year, students scored lowest (with an average scores of 1.2) in style and mechanics. Students scored highest (with an average score of 1.7) in development. For the first writing sample collected, all but three students scored "not proficient." Three students received a score of "developing proficiency," (low-developing proficiency).
- Writing Sample 2: Student scores increased when the second writing sample was assessed. The lowest scoring strand was still style and mechanics, but the average score for the style and mechanics strand increased by .4 points. All other strands increased by average student score as well, with the biggest jump coming from structure. On average, students grew .6 points between the first writing sample and the second in structure. On average, students scores increased overall by .5 points from the first writing sample.
- Writing Sample 3: Student scores continued to increase when the third writing sample was assessed. The lowest score strand has continued to be style and mechanics, but the average score strand for style and mechanics increased again from the second writing assessment by .4 points. Student growth between the second and third writing samples was not as dramatic as with between the first and second writing assessments, and the strand of development stayed consistent between the second and third samples. On average, overall student growth increased .2 points between the second and third writing assessments.
- Writing Sample 4: Student scores continued their rise when the fourth writing sample was assessed. Every strand experienced growth, with the most dramatic growth coming from a .7 point increase in main idea. Students also showed more growth in style and mechanics, with an average of .2 point increase from the third writing sample, and in development, with a .2 point increase from the third writing sample. Overall, the average student score grew .3 points. One student scored "demonstrating proficiency" on the last writing sample gathered with an overall score of 3.25 points. All other students score "developing proficiency" during the last writing sample assessment taken.
After observing the data collected, it is apparent that there has been significant and dramatic writing growth since the beginning of the school year, with an average beginning of year (BOY) writing score of 1.5 ("not proficient"), and an average middle of year (MOY) writing score of 2.5 ("developing proficiency"). When looking at whole class data, on average, students showed 1 full year of writing growth within the six months of teaching, which is above expectations. If this growth trend were to continue until the end of the 2019-2020 school year (without the COVID-19 interruption), students would have grown 1.7 average years of growth in one school year, which is slightly above the recommended growth goal of 1.6 years used by Teach for America.
It is important to note the many struggles that can be observed in analyzing this data. Students were not writing consistently before I arrived at the school, which explains the lack of writing data available between October and November of 2019. Had this data been tracked, it is quite possible that students would have been able to make greater progress by understanding wha they needed to work on before the next writing assignment was scored and tracked.
Even so, it is apparent that students demonstrated dramatic academic growth in writing overall, even though they were not given a chance to complete their school year in the classroom and show the true growth that can be obtained over the course of an uninterrupted year, students were still demonstrating clear, high growth and achievement.
Examples of Individual Student Growth
How does analyzing individual student growth help us understand their learning?
Below are examples of individual student work with information provided under each student sample. I chose these students to be analyzed based on their progress and clear academic growth in their writing ability. For each writing rubric strand, students and their scores are listed. Each students' writing sample is also provided, along with the rubric used to show where they scored. Please see below for student growth samples for Student 1, Student 2, and Student 3.
- Student 1 (student highlighted in green on teacher tracker): This student shows significant and steady growth between their first and fourth writing assessments in my classroom. At first, this student was scoring mostly 1s for each strand, but continued to steadily improve over the course of the school year. This student was able to increase their score from 1.25 ("not proficient") to 2.5 ("developing proficiency") between the first and fourth writing assessments. This student showed significant growth if they had been allowed to continue with in-person classroom instruction and monitoring, would have most likely scored "demonstrating proficiency" in the later writing assessments based on their current projection.
- Student 2 (student highlighted in purple on teacher tracker): This student also shows significant and steady growth between their first and fourth writing assessments. This student was more consistent in maintaining their writing scores and increasing between each writing assessment. This student began the year with a writing score of 1.25 ("not proficient") and scored a 2.75 on the fourth assessment ("developing proficiency"), showing incredible and dramatic growth between the four assessments. This student's 1.5 point increase shows how hard they worked to improve their scores for each strand. Overall, this student was utilizing their rubric and developing their writing to prove their growth.
- Student 3 (student highlighted in blue on teacher tracker): This student also shows significant and steady growth between their first and fourth writing tasks. This student was scoring between strands for each writing assessment, and scored slightly lower between the second and third writing assessment, but showed consistent growth overall. The students initial score was 1.5 points at the beginning of the year ("not proficient"), but scored 2.5 ("developing proficiency") points for the fourth writing assessment, with an overall point increase of 1 point. This student increased their score on par with the overall average of the class.
Student 1
Student 2
Student 3
Conclusion
How will this growth continue to be monitored?
During these uncertain times of COVID-19, students are continuing to work on their writing skills by answering practice questions at home, taking pictures of their work, and sending them back to their teachers. While not every student is able to do this, this is one of the ways that we are working to continue practicing writing skills through distance learning. Through studying the data that we were able to collect before COVID-19, we are able to determine that students showed dramatic academic growth in writing over the course of the first three-quarters of the school year.
If nothing else, this data will be incredibly important for when students return to school for the 2020-2021 school year. This data will provide teachers a starting point for evaluating students and their needs, especially when standardized testing and other forms of data are not available. Using these methods of qualitative data, including writing skills, will be some of the more important data for determining student growth in times when students are unable to take and teachers are unable to utilize standardized testing.
