Data Measures

Pre-Assessment
The first data form that I am utilizing for my Action Research process is a pre-assessment.  My students chose a piece of writing and I scored it with the rubric (this is attached as another post, as I was unable to upload a document).  Pre-assessments are not out of the ordinary for my writing classroom, as I always use these to determine where my instruction needs to go.  However, the scoring rubric that students are using is different from the ones that we typically use, as those are often directly related to the three modes of writing (narrative, informative and argumentative/opinion) within the Common Core Standards.

Post-Lesson Interviews
Because the Six Traits includes specially designed lesson directly aligned with student needs, students were grouped into focus groups.  These groups were composed based up student pre-assessment scores, much like flexible grouping.  The interviews will be conducted after the lesson and the questions are listed below:

1. What does good writing look like to you?
2. What are your strengths and weaknesses when it comes to writing?
3. Do you feel this particular lesson has helped you in any way?  (Be honest and explain).
4. How could you apply this lesson/trait into your other modes of writing?  For instance, how could you use this for opinion/argumentative, narrative, or informative writing?  Explain.

Collecting Student Work Samples
Student work samples will be collected throughout the research process, specifically, after three Trait aligned lessons.  These will involve the students applying the Trait knowledge they gained (or did not gain) from the instructional lessons.  Furthermore, students will be required to assess themselves, using the rubric above (the same one I'll use for scoring) to determine their awareness as a writer.  Please know that these pieces won't be lengthy, as students will need to complete them in a class setting (about an hour), and I don't want to torture them!

Appraising Effectiveness with Post Assessment
This will be given at the culmination of the research collection process to determine growth (or losses).  Scores will be compared with pre-assessments.  Furthermore, these scores will also determine common themes amongst the student samples as well.  After completing the test, students will be required to write a short reflection on how they changed (if they did) as a writer throughout the process.

I am totally unsure that I'm doing this correctly.  So any feedback is welcome girls.

Happy blogging,

Emily