Strategies and Techniques to Help Foster and Showcase

Writing Scores in High School English Courses

Shelley K. Tudisco
February 15, 2015
University of New England

Introduction

This school year, Raymond High School has begun piloting a new Teacher Evaluation
Process. Part of this new process is looking at and using student growth as a way to measure
a teacher's effectiveness in the classroom. As this is a test run, there are still some issues to
resolve. Essentially, teachers have been asked to choose a class and focus on something they
would like to improve or work in that class. Teachers gathered baseline data at the beginning
of the year, and have just finished measuring a set of mid-year data. Teachers have been
asked to have at least three data points for the year. The focus question is centered around
improving the World Literature LAB students' writing skills and grades. This class has ten
students; nine young men and one young woman. There are six students on Indivualized
Education Plans and two on 504 plans as well.
At the beginning of the 2014-2015, the majority of the students earned a 2 - or Nearly
Meets Standard - on the writing rubric used to assess an essay. Students wrote a narrative
essay that reflected on their progress from last year, strategies that helped them in English
and other classes, and made a goal for the year. Several students wrote that they used some
of the reading strategies we focused on last year and that this year they wanted to work on
writing. Some of the goals were simply to pass for the year and continue with school. The goal
of the SLO is to help students in the LAB course improve writing scores to the next level on
the rubric, which is a 3 - or Meets the Standard.
Mid-year data that was collected showed slight progress already. Four of the nine
students in the class have already moved into the next bracket on the writing rubric to 3
Meeting the Standards. The other five students had improved slightly, but were still on the
same bracket of 2 Nearly Meets Standards. Students have been exposed already to a
writing strategy that focuses on CEA or claim evidence analysis. Students are capable of
creating a claim in their writing and locating and using evidence from a text as support
(although correct citations is some a work in progress) but the analysis piece is still a struggle
. The LAB course teacher and students will focus on analysis and other writing skills during
the remainder of the SLO year. The goal of the SLO is to help students move successfully to
the next level on the writing rubric (from Nearly Meets Standard to Meets the Standard) when
the end of the year data is collected and assessed. In order for that goal to be met, there
needs to be a change or an addition to the writing curriculum to produce this, so the teacher
will be researching different writing strategies and techniques to utilize with students in the
double period LAB course.
The World Literature class and corresponding LAB course run consecutively during the
day during periods four and five. There is a 4 minute break in between the 47 minute classes
every day. There is also the second wave of lunches that happens from eleven thirty until
twelve and this breaks up the fifth period class. This can sometimes be a natural break in
activities, but it is more often a challenge because students and staff are anxious to go to
lunch and then reluctant to get back to work after lunch. Eight of these students were in class
together the previous school as freshmen, and all of the students have had the teacher both
years. The paraprofessional that is available for support in the classroom both periods has just
been changed at the half year mark or the end of semester one. She is a support personnel
that all of the students in the LAB course are familiar with already, so it has been a positive
transition.
Problem Statement
These students are in the tenth grade and they will all be taking Smarter Balanced
Tests in the future and writing is a big component of this standardized assessment. Progress

of the students' writing skills has been measured at least twice this year, but students are not
demonstrating the growth that was expected. Several students have moved into the Meets
the Standard 3 level from the Nearly Meets the Standard 2 level, but all students would
benefit from more frequent practice. The teacher would like to explore different writing
strategies, styles, and/or techniques with these students to improve their scores. The goal
would be to show improvement in their writing skills, while keeping the teacher out of the
equation. The purpose of the SLO is to show student growth to promote the teacher during
the evaluation process, focusing on writing strategies to help improve their writing scores.
Research Questions
With the new pilot program of the Teacher Evaluation Process and the focus of Student
Learning Outcomes/Objectives, there are several questions that have surfaced. The first
question being how does the teacher stay unbiased when the goal is to retrieve and report
out data that will show their own effectiveness? Is three data points really an effective way to
show growth? Is the growth accurate when the teacher is collecting the data to show their
strength in the classroom? What are some of the programs, strategies, techniques, etc.
available that I may use to improve the World Literature/LAB students' writing skills and show
measured growth? What is measurable growth?
Hypothesis
Following exposure to new writing strategies and techniques, students in the LAB
course setting will benefit from more practice and show measurable growth on a writing rubric
scale. Students will be exposed to mini lessons that will focus on small writing skills, such as
grammar, sentence structure, and figurative language, as well as others. Students will also
write several times a week in their writing journals designed to help them practice the skills
they will see in the mini lessons. Students will exhibit more confidence of their skills and this
will be evident in their improved writing that will be showcased on their online blog or website
that will be used to assess their progress.
Literature Review
The World Literature and designated LAB course function as a double period of English
for the ten students enrolled. Eight of these ten students were enrolled in the double period
grade 9 course, Foundations of English/LAB last year. All of the ten students had the same
teacher as grade 9 students and now as grade 10 students. This familiarity between teacher
and students has allowed a very relaxed and respected atmosphere to develop in the
classroom. Discussions are engaging and all students participate, and has allowed students to
delve more deeply into literature analysis. Now the focus will be on translating these
discussion conversations and other ideas into published pieces of writing.
Some of this focus stems from a pilot program running at the school this year. Teachers
are working on creating SLOs or Student Learning Outcomes that will show student
growth/improvement throughout the year as a direct result of teacher instruction. This data
will be used as a part of the teacher evaluation system. The essential question looked at for
this World Literature/LAB course was centered around the improvement of students' writing
scores. At the beginning of the 2014-2015 school year, students were assigned a narrative
composition that reflected on their first year of high school, specifically in English class and
also the first year as a whole. They were asked to highlight skills that they used on a regular

basis, what they had success with and then also struggled with last year, as well as to create
a goal for the new school year.
Several students wanted to work on writing skills after focusing on reading strategies
last year. Most students wanted to be successful this year as their goal. The writing goals
aligned with goal of the class, and a writing rubric was created that could be accommodated
for use with other writing assignments. Baseline data was established with this assignment,
with eight of the ten students scoring a 2 Nearly Meets the Standard on the rubric. Two of
the ten students scored a 1 Does Not Meet the Standard on the assignment. The goal of the
SLO is to improve students' writing scores at least one score on the writing rubric. This means
that the majority of the students will move the to 3 Meets the Standard score on the writing
rubric by the end of the school year. This improvement will be accomplished with mini lessons
focusing on writing techniques and strategies, like grammar, sentence structure, and
figurative language. Their progress will be showcased and assessed on their online writing
portfolios, and ideally will show their improvement.
The purpose of the research was to identify new strategies and techniques to include in
everyday instruction in the World Literature/LAB course. Students have writing journals that
they periodically respond to different writing prompts. These prompts generally relate to the
text in class or other concepts, or can also be open-ended responses designed to improve
frequency and length. Students are already familiar with the claim-evidence-analysis format
and often use this as responses to writing prompts, discussions, or reading assignments.
However, when students were assessed on a general writing rubric, the average score did not
meet the standard. This was what prompted the interest in the writing instruction SLO and the
research into new writing strategies, techniques, and programs.
Writing instruction was the first of the first search and resulted in various studies
involving writing programs and various methods used in classrooms for various reasons.
Several studies illustrated that students overall were writing more, but this was very limited
and was not very challenging writing either. Applebee and Langer (2011) found that overall
students are writing more in all subjects, but that writing is short, not providing students with
opportunities to use composing as a way to think through the issues, to show the depth or
breadth of their knowledge, or to go beyond what they know in making connections and
raising new issues. This seems apparent in many classrooms and could be applied to this one
as well. Recognizing the need for this to change led to several interesting research
opportunities.
It was interesting to note that much of the information available on teaching writing
was focused on elementary school classrooms. While important, this was not going to help
the tenth grade English Lab course in question. Including high school in the search bar
resulted in a more narrow field of information, but it changed the tenor of that information as
well. More of the research was focused on struggling students with specific disabilities, rather
than whole classroom strategies. Removing the high school designation allowed for more
strategies and techniques to be used in the classroom to be brought forward.
One of the themes prevalent in the resulting research based on writing instruction
and/or teaching writing, was the changing atmosphere of classrooms, with quite a bit of
research centered around the technology available to teachers and students in their lives and
in the classroom. Technology like email, blogs, smart phones and tablets, and even websites

and programs like Moodle or Google Docs make writing more accessible to classrooms, but
not always better.
One article in particular was quite intriguing because it discussed a partnership
between students in a high school English class and students enrolled in a college course for
education majors. The original course was designed around a college student in teacher
preparation courses that was traveling between her course and a high school course. The
high school students would write their compositions and then would receive feedback and
suggestions from teachers in training. The course adapted to better suit the needs of both
high school writers and teachers in training and this happened with the use of technology.
While the program itself appears quite beneficial, it is not feasible for World Literature/Lab
course. Out of several years of this writing program, there are a few writing recommendations
that could be adopted into classrooms. Townsend, Nail, Cheveallier, Browning, and Fink-Storm
suggest we remember these four steps:
1. Most helpful for developing writers is a clear sense of purpose and audience.
2. Learning to choose and shape writing topics of personal interest is crucial for
learning to write.
3. Substantive feedback to early drafts of writing includes questions, praise, and
tentative suggestions for
improvement.
4. Most critical are multiple opportunities for deep revision in response to clear
feedback by interested and attentive readers. (Mar, 2013)
when we are teaching writing. These four recommendations seem fairly easy to follow and
intuitive, but it is easy when bells are ringing, stacks of papers to be graded are piling up, and
chapters are waiting to be read daily. Point number two is of particular interest to students
because this allows choice in their work. It is logical to think that when given the opportunity
to choose the topic of their paper that they would be more vested in the result.
Another interesting point this article made was the desired outcome of the assignment
is important to both the student and the teacher. Although it is easy to think that what is put
forth to a class as an assignment, even with sample work as models, it is easy for students to
lose their way or become frustrated or confused with an assignment. Sometimes this is
because the desired assignment is above skill level, and sometimes the hesitation or refusal
stems from a barrier of communication.
Townsend et al, realized that:
students said they had difficulty connecting the comments made at the end of
the text and on
rubrics to the numerical grade they were given. For example, when
viewing one student's paper, the in-text
comments, and the rubric, Angie noted 14 intext comments identifying grammatical errors. However, on the rubric, the student was given
a score of 8/10 for grammar and sentence structure. How did those 14
comments connect
to the score of 8/10? Overall, it was difficult to see how students could get useful
information rom the in-text and summative evaluation that would help them improve
their writing.
(Faulkner, Mar 2011, p.45)
Not only is the timeliness of the feedback given back to students during the writing process
important, but it is also the type of feedback. Rubrics are helpful for teachers to assign
grades, but it is critical for those grades to match up with the written comments and
suggestions as well. If the grade is unclear, it is not useful for a student and even if the

student chose the topic and enjoyed the writing process, the process becomes tarnished and
enthusiasm can falter.
One way to foster and maintain enthusiasm for writing, which has been a large focus of
this research for the tenth grade English class, is to allow room for student voice and choice.
This allows students to have a vested interest in what they are writing about. Often they are
given topics and asked to write about this topic. If they are not particularly interested, it can
be challenging to move beyond the surface analysis and general answers. Shannon Faulkner
was a high school English teacher facing the common challenge of getting her students
interested in reading and then writing about literature. While teacher may not be able to offer
choice in the text the class is analyzing, they can insert supplemental materials of choice,
insert opportunities to explore popular culture and what matters to the students, and then use
that practice in class. Faulkner decided to give this strategy a try with positive results.
Faulkner found that:
cultural studies can be used in tandem with with literature as a tool to help
students find a
footing in the complexities of the texts that I ask them to
read. It can work as a kind of lens
through which students can read a
literary text to identify meaningful passages, characters, plot
events, symbols,
and themes. But, best of all, this approach has enabled me to give my students
the
opportunity to find their voices and write about the things that they care about with depth,
complexity, and sophistication. (Nov 2011)
This seems an obvious idea, but she continues this concept further by asking students to
analyze signs and popular culture symbols that matter to them. As the students worked with
this idea, they began to use these ideas and skills when analyzing and writing about assigned
literature, especially when they were given some choices. Much to my surprise and delight, I
found that when I turned over topic selection to my students, many of them actuality
attempted to the kind of close reading that I'd been teaching with little success through
'passage analysis' assignments on literature (Faulkner, Nov. 2011, p.47). Not only were they
offered choice, they also were more comfortable with the task at hand. When they are
invested in this idea and have practiced their skills, they are more capable and interested to
continue to write about literature because they are more comfortable with the process.
Comfort levels play a large role in writing for many students. When they are not
comfortable expressing their thoughts and then sharing those ideas with an unclear audience,
anticipating that they will not receive positive, clear, or relevant feedback, along with a poor
grade, they will naturally resist or refuse to write. The research done to improve writing in this
tenth grade World Literature class has revisited ideas such as timely and relevant feedback,
student choice, and even peer editing. However, before those pieces may fit the puzzle that is
the writing process, students must first revisit some of the basic writing skills before they can
feel comfortable sharing their written ideas. The basic skills will reviewed by students in the
Lab class through mini lessons. Ideas will be revisited and practiced as a whole group and
smaller groups, and then they will be practiced in frequent writing activities, including
responding to writing prompts, with the added piece of sharing their ideas. These mini lessons
will include grammar practice from several bell ringer activity books, including lessons from
Writing Better by K.T. Manos that has over one hundred lessons to choose from including
imagery, sentence structure, and peer editing. Many of these lessons are designed to work in
tandem with whatever text is being used in class, which allow students to use familiar texts

with their new/reviewed skills. Kelly Gallagher, author of Write Like This: Teaching Real-world
Texts through Modeling and Mentor Texts, (2011) has many strategies that may be used with
in class texts, as well as non-fictional texts, which also allows for student choice.
Another theme found in the research was moving toward online submission. There was
mixed reaction to this move, some research including Vetters, Myers, and Hester's work on
teacher philosophies on writing were more positive in the use and implementation of
technology for student work submission. (Negotiating Ideologies, 2014). Other research, such
as Nair, Tay, Koch (Students' Motivation, 2013) and Dewi (Weblogs, 2013) were more hesitant,
offering reservations based on research that expressed time and technology restraints, less
submission of student work due to distractions, and unfamiliarity with programs. An online
writing portfolio or blog has been considered with the Lab course, even if it just designed
around peer editing.
Summary
Based on the research here, the tenth grade World Literature class will be working
more collaboratively on writing. Mini lessons targeting grammar, editing, and style, as well as
other writing skills, will be the primary instruction of skills. Students will then use these to
practice with a variety of written responses including response to text, discussion, short
answer questions, and compositions. Timely relevant feedback will be distributed along with
the same writing rubric that students will all be guided through. Students will work together to
create a positive writing environment and peer edit, as well as possibly share their
assignments online in some way, to further encourage their writing. Student choice will be
included and the goal is to improve their scores on the rubric from Nearly Meets the Standard
2 to Meets the Standard 3 by the end of the 2015 school year.
REFERENCES
Applebee, A. N., & Langer, J. A. (2011). A Snapshot of Writing Instruction in Middle Schools and High
Schools. English Journal, 100(6), 14-27
Dewi, W. R. (2013). Weblogs: An Alternative Solution in Improving High School Students' Writing Skill.
Online Submission.
Falkner, S. (2011). "Signs of Life" in the High School Classroom: Analyzing Popular Culture to Provide
Student Choice in Analytical Writing. English Journal, 101(2), 44-49.
Gallagher, K. (2011). Write like this: Teaching real-world writing through modeling & mentor texts.
Portland, Me.: Stenhouse.
Harris, K. R., Graham, S., Friedlander, B., & Laud, L. (2013). Bring Powerful Writing Strategies Into
Your Classroom! Why and How. Reading Teacher, 66(7), 538-542.
Manos, K. T. (1999). Writing smarter!: Over 100 step-by-step lessons with reproducible activity sheets
to build writing proficiency in grades 7-12. West Nyack, NY: Center for Applied Research in
Education.
Nair, S. S., Tay, L. Y., & Koh, J. L. (2013). Students' Motivation and Teachers' Teaching Practices towards the
Use of Blogs for Writing of Online Journals. Educational Media International,
50(2), 108-119.
Townsend, J. S., Nail, A., Cheveallier, J., & Browning, A. (2013). An Online Writing Partnership:

Transforming Classroom Writing Instruction. English Journal, 102(4), 74-81

Vetter, A., Myers, J., & Hester, M. (2014). Negotiating Ideologies about Teaching Writing in a High School
English Classroom. Teacher Educator, 49(1), 10-27.