The University of Buffalo (my alma mater) is taking a bold new step in writing assessment. They are attempting to computer score the eight grade English Language Arts assessments which students hand write. So far they are within one point of human evaluators and their program assesses the student’s writing in seconds. If this program can quickly score students’ writing, then the teacher can work with students to improve their writing. Students could take mini-ELA assessments during the year to assess their progress and work toward scoring a 5 or 6/6on the state assessment. At present, teachers can only assess so many writing assessments during a year due to the time it takes to assess each writing. Now they can focus on improving students’ writing instead of focusing on correcting their papers.
Archive for the 'Written' Category
Handwritten Essay assessment by Computer!
Published February 4, 2008 Academic , Accountability , Education , ELA , English , Formative , Formative assessment , write , Writing , Written 1 CommentTags: Assessment, Computer, Education, ELA, English, program, School, state assessment, write, Writing
Written Feedback For Improved Student Learning: Build a Digital Specific Suggestions List
Published March 7, 2007 Assessment , Feedback , Formative , learning , Student , Written Leave a Comment
Do you identify your student’s strengthens in the work based on a standards-based rubric or checklist?
Do you identify a few areas that can be improved based on a standards-based rubric or checklist?
Do you suggest specific ways for the student to improve? Avoid suggestions such as “try harder”, “be more careful”, “Do better,” and “think harder” which are so general that they will not help the student.
Do you give in-class time for the students to make the suggested changes or to learn and apply the new technique?
One way to facilitate this feedback is to develop a word processed list of possible student errors or misconceptions that students might make in this unit. You include several specific suggestions or remediations for those common errors and misconceptions. You can develop this list by yourself or, even better, with your subject area team based on the work that past students have done. You can all keep this in a collaborative online environment such as a blog or online system. When students digitally hand in their work, you can insert your comments in ALL CAPS. When students redo the work, you can look at your ALL CAP comments and see if the students have improved based on your comments. If the student implemented you strategy or technique and still showed no improvement, what other strategy will you suggest so the student can be successful?
If you notice new errors, misconceptions, or conceptual errors, you can add them to the digital list. Likewise, you can have a positive list of good thinking demonstrations that you can use to praise.
© Harry Grover Tuttle, 2007
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Education with Technology Harry G. Tuttle 
