Formative Assessment Project 1

Argumentative Writing Learning Progression

Mary Beth Lynn EPS 541 Formative Assessment Project

Formative Assessment Project 2 I. Introduction When I first began taking EPS 541, I was teaching seventh and eighth grade reading and writing at National Teachers Academy, and my focus (in regards to EPS 541) was primarily on how to teach the Extended Response Essay. My reasoning for the concentration was twofold. One, my students were going to be tested on extended response on the Illinois Standard Achievement Test (ISAT) in the Spring, so I wanted to make sure they were prepared; and two, because the emphasis on writing in the middle school classroom was lacking, I wanted to educate my students on how to express themselves in writing, because I felt that it was a very important skill to master. Then, in April of 2013, I was transferred to Eric Solorio Academy High School, in which I started teaching tenth grade English. In the high school classroom, they did not focus on the extended response essay because it was not tested; however, they did focus on persuasive writing, but it was still a deficient content area (because it was not tested). When the Formative Assessment assignment was presented, I knew I wanted to connect the two areas if possible, so I forced myself to push my thinking in terms of a big idea and how the idea could translate from the middle school to the high school classroom and student. Overall, I chose to concentrate on the idea of argumentative thinking and writing, because as students and citizens, it is crucial to not only know how to form an opinion but be able to support the idea in writing. II. Literature Review Kuhn and Crowell stated in their study titled, Argumentation as a Path to the Thinking Development of Young Adolescents (2011), Argument has been referred to as the umbrella under which all reasoning lies (abstract).

Formative Assessment Project 3 Based on their statement and my own previous teaching experience, it is clear that students need to be able to form an argument and support it with evidence, but they also need to be able to comprehend and justify the counterargument, which tends to be an area of struggle for most students. So what is argumentative writing? In their study, Teaching and Learning Argumentative Reading and Writing: A Review of Research, Newell, Beach, Smith, and VenDerHeide defined it as, a thesis (also called a claim), supportive evidence (empirical or experiential), and assessment of warrants connecting the thesis, evidence, and situation constituting an argument (2011, p. 273). In further researching persuasion and argumentation, I discovered a valuable study by Mark K. Felton and Suzanne Herko entitled (2004), From dialogue to two-sided argument: Scaffolding adolescents persuasive writing, which offered a structured method of teaching students how to become proficient argumentative writers (p. 672). The authors explained that while most students were energized and excited by argumentation, they lost much of their eloquence when it was to be transferred to writing. In fact, the National Assessment of Educational Progresss 1998 Writing Report Card indicated that 55% of 12th grade students in the United States scored below sufficient on a persuasive writing task (Felton & Herko, 2004, p. 672). They revealed that the persuasive essay (used interchangeable for argumentative essay) lacked the basic components of argumentative writing-components that students readily offered up in conversation. Thus the challenge for writing teachers was to bridge the transition from rich verbal debates to the written essay, because most teens were capable of engaging in a sophisticated face-to-face verbal argument.

Formative Assessment Project 4 In their study, Felton and Herko (2004) said that we (as teachers) can scaffold our students ability to transform conversation into writing by first helping our students identify the elements of elaborated two-sided argument. This step provides our students with the vocabulary and metacognitive awareness of their own verbal argumentative strategies as it prepares them for writing. Next, we must help students comprehend the role these explanations play in written argument. Finally, we must assist students in learning to structure their thinking before writing and then to transfer their spoken arguments into writing. Through this method, face-to-face argumentation provides a natural gateway to developing a students persuasive writing by enhancing their ability to examine the arguments in a competitive context. Based on the study as well as my own teaching experience, this method provides an accurate representation of the typical struggles students face when writing argumentative and/or persuasive essays, in addition to a model of how students can gain the necessary knowledge to form a claim, support it with evidence, and provide an opposing viewpoint, hence write an argumentative essay.
Learning Progression in My Topic Area is about Argumentative/Persuasive Writing Student will be able to write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence Beginner: Understand how to form a position/stance on a topic Essential DETAILS Write a declarative statement in regards to position on topic Explain why the topic is important Intermediate: Understand how to support position/stance with evidence Essential DETAILS Utilize text evidence to support claim Make connections in support of claim Advanced: Understand how to develop and critique a counterargument Essential DETAILS Summarize counterargument

Respond to polarizing statement

So what? Why is it important to understand this learning progression? Argumentative/persuasive writing is a relevant middle and high school concept, because it is essential for students to not only know how to form an opinion but support it in writing.

Formative Assessment Project 5 III. Formative Assessment Design The formative assessment I chose to use for this assignment was a standard writing rubric based on the students progression in composing an argumentative essay. When I first designed the assessment, it consisted of ten different components, but I realized that assessing the students on so many criteria would not provide me with an accurate representation of their skill levels, so I condensed it to six components-thinking, thesis, development, evidence, opposition, and overall assignment. The preceding components were the most essential for me as an educator to assess, because they allowed me to gain insight as to whether the students were able to translate their thoughts (or verbal argumentation skills) into writing, and where they fell on the learning progression continuum. The assessment ranged from beginner, to intermediate, to advanced writer, with the strongest progression evaluated by the students ability to take a stance on a topic and think about their thoughts on the topic (metacognition), write a declarative statement, develop their ideas and support them with evidence and connections (text to self, text to world, text to text), provide and refute an opposing viewpoint, and lastly complete each phase of the essay fully and on time. In order to help my students achieve success, I would provide formal check-ins on a weekly basis, so they could demonstrate their level of understanding during the learning continuum. As Heritage said in her article, Learning Progressions: Supporting Instruction and Formative Assessment, in order to be a successful educator, teachers need to have in mind a continuum of how learning develops in any particular knowledge domain so that they are able to locate students current learning status and decide on pedagogical action to move students learning forward (2008, p. 2).

Formative Assessment Project 6 I believe the method and formative assessment would provide me with the information necessary to see what my students know and where they need to go in terms of thinking about argumentation and writing effective argumentative essays. Unfortunately I did not have the opportunity to utilize the method and/or assessment, but I will certainly use it with my students in the future.

Formative Assessment Project 7 Argumentative Essay Rubric

Criteria Thinking Advanced Students thinking is cognizant of a verbal argument and takes into consideration the various components of a successful conversation. Student displays metacognitive thought process. Students thesis is a clear, arguable, well developed, and definitive statement of position. It answers a why or how question. Students paper demonstrates a logical, mature, and thorough development of points that support the thesis. Student presents relevant and fully analyzed textual evidence to support the thesis. Student synthesizes evidence and provides connections. Student clearly and fully explains opposition and persuasively refutes it. Student completely fulfills assignment requirements. -Process Complete -Due Dates Met -Final Copy Submitted -Format Correct Intermediate Students thinking is somewhat cognizant of a verbal argument. He/she starts why the thinking is relevant but does not elaborate on the metacognitive process. Beginner Students thinking is basic. He/she thinks in terms of essay requirements and does not display metacognitive processes.

Thesis

Students thesis is a clear and arguable statement of position that answers a why or how question. Students paper demonstrates adequate development of points that support the thesis. Student presents relevant and adequately analyzed textual evidence to support the thesis. Student makes an attempt at synthesis and connection. Student explains opposition and gives refutation.

Students thesis is an outline of points; it is not an arguable statement of position.

Development

Evidence: Analysis Synthesis

Students paper presents a superficial development of points, many of which do not support the thesis. Students textual evidence is irrelevant and is not analyzed. Student makes very little attempt at synthesis or connection.

Opposition/ Refutation

Student does not include opposing viewpoint or refutation in paper. Student partially fulfills assignment requirements. -Process Complete -Due Dates Met -Final Copy Submitted -Format Correct

Assignment

Student fulfills most assignment requirements. -Process Complete -Due Dates Met -Final Copy Submitted -Format Correct

Formative Assessment Project 8 Works Cited Felton, Mark K. and Suzanne Herko (2004). From dialogue to two-sided argument: scaffolding adolescents persuasive writing. International Reading Association, 672-683. Heritage, Margaret (2008). Learning progressions: supporting instruction and formative assessment. The Council of Chief State School Officers, 2-31. Mosher, Frederic A. (2011). The role of learning progression in standards-based education reform. GRE Policy Briefs, 1-16. Newell, George, Richard Beach, Jamie Smith, & Jennifer VanDerHeide (2011). Teaching and learning argumentative reading and writing: a review of research. Reading Research Quarterly, 46, 273-304.