The School Board of Broward County, Florida
R e s e a r c h B r i e f
Number 8
Report from the Office of the Superintendent May, 1995
FLORIDA WRITING ASSESSMENT PROGRAM in BROWARD COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS, 1993-1995
In 1990, the Florida Legislature mandated the assessment of student writing in grades 4, 8, and 10. The Florida Writing Assessment Program (Florida Writes) was established as a result of this legislation. Testing of grade 4 and grade 8 students began in the spring of 1993; testing was expanded to grade 10 students in the spring of 1994. This brief addresses results for the district by ethnic category for the years 1993 through 1995.
HOW STUDENTS ARE TESTED
The Florida Writing Assessment is a departure from the more typical multiple choice manner of large scale testing. Each Spring and during a designated 45 minute period, grades 4, 8 and 10 students are provided the opportunity to prepare a written response to one of two state-generated topics. In each grade 4 classroom, half of the students write for the purpose of telling a story, and half write for the purpose of explaining. At grades 8 and 10, half of the students in each classroom write for the purpose of explaining, and half write for the purpose of convincing. All Florida Writing Assessment samples are forwarded by the district to the Florida Department of Education for scoring.
Each passage is read by two outside, trained evaluators. Readers score the sample independently for its overall quality. Consideration is given to four elements: focus, organization, support, and conventions. Each element is defined as follows:
Focus - how clearly the writer presents and maintains a clear main idea, theme, or unifying point. Papers representing the higher end of the point scale demonstrate a consistent awareness of the topic and do not contain extraneous information.
Organization - structure or plan of development (beginning, middle, and end) and whether the points are logically related to one another. Organization also refers to the use of transitional devices to signal the relationship of the supporting ideas to the main idea, theme, or unifying point, and the evidence of the connection from one sentence to another. Papers representing the higher end of the point scale use transitions to signal the plan or text structure and end with summary or concluding statements.
Support - quality of details used to explain, clarify, or define. The quality of support depends on word choice, specificity, depth, and thoroughness. Papers representing the higher end of the scale provide examples and illustrations in which the relationship between the supporting ideas and the topic is clear.
Conventions - mechanics of punctuation, capitalization, and spelling, and variation in sentence structure is used in the paper. The conventions are basic writing skills included in Floridas Minimum Student Performance Standards. Papers representing the higher end of the point scale follow the conventions of punctuation, capitalization, and spelling, and use a variety of sentence structures to present ideas.
Scores range from 1 to 6 according to the following criteria:
6 tightly focuses on the topic, has a well-planned organizational pattern, has ample development of supporting ideas, and, with few exceptions, uses spelling and punctuation conventions correctly.
5 focuses on the topic, may have lapses in the organization pattern, has adequate development of supporting ideas, and generally uses spelling and punctuation conventions correctly.
4 focuses on the topic but may contain extraneous or loosely related information, displays some lapses in the organizational pattern, has some supporting ideas that are not developed, and may have occasional lapses in spelling and punctuation conventions.
3 generally focuses on the topic but may contain extraneous or loosely related information, exhibits some evidence of an organizational pattern, has little development of supporting ideas, and may contain some errors in spelling and punctuation conventions.
2 may be only slightly related to the topic because it includes extraneous or loosely related information, exhibits little evidence of an organizational pattern, has minimal development of supporting ideas, and may contain many errors in spelling and punctuation conventions.
1 minimally addresses the topic because it includes unrelated or undeveloped information, exhibits no evidence of an organizational pattern, has no development of supporting ideas, and may contain many errors in spelling and punctuation conventions.
U does not respond to the topic, cannot be read, or does not contain a response.
Note: U is equivalent to a 0 when calculating school averages.
A single rating is assigned for all of the elements of writing in the paper. The final score assigned to a passage is the average of the two readers scores. When the two evaluators differ by one point, students are scored in half point intervals.
Certificates are provided by the Department of Education to all fourth graders who achieve scores of 5.0, 5.5, and 6.0 and for all grade 8 and 10 students who achieve scores of 5.5 and 6.0. Of the 37,398 Broward County students who participated in Florida Writes this year, 413 received certificates for meeting the highest standards on the assessment. Students meeting the criteria of achieving 3.0 or above were 129 in grade 4, 109 in grade 8, and 175 in grade 10.
RESULTS OF TESTING IN 1993, 1994 AND 1995
Results are provided for individual students, schools, district, and the state. Average scores for Broward County Public School students and for all Florida students are reported in Table 1.
|
Table 1: District and State Averages | |||||||||
|
1992-93 |
1993-94 |
1994-95 |
1992-93 |
1993-94 |
1994-95 |
1992-93 |
1993-94 |
1994-95 | |
|
Grade 4 |
Expository |
Narrative |
Total | ||||||
|
BCPS |
1.6 |
2.0 |
2.1 |
2.4 |
2.3 |
2.6 |
2.0 |
2.1 |
2.4 |
|
Florida |
1.7 |
2.1 |
2.1 |
2.3 |
2.3 |
2.7 |
2.0 |
2.2 |
2.4 |
|
Grade 8 |
Expository |
Persuasive |
Total | ||||||
|
BCPS |
3.4 |
2.8 |
3.0 |
3.4 |
2.9 |
3.1 |
3.1 |
2.8 |
3.0 |
|
Florida |
3.2 |
2.7 |
3.1 |
3.2 |
2.8 |
3.0 |
3.0 |
2.7 |
3.1 |
|
Grade 10 |
Expository |
Persuasive |
Total | ||||||
|
BCPS |
N/A |
2.9 |
3.3 |
N/A |
2.9 |
3.2 |
N/A |
2.9 |
3.2 |
|
Florida |
N/A |
2.9 |
3.3 |
N/A |
2.9 |
3.2 |
N/A |
2.9 |
3.3 |
As noted, BCPS students have performed at or within .1 of the state average each year and at each grade level tested. Locally an expectation has been set that an average score of 3.0 represents a fixed standard of performance which is desired for BCPS students. Table 1 indicates that overall Browards fourth graders have not reached that level of proficiency, but have demonstrated steady improvement over the three years of testing. The grade 4 scores closely mirror student performance statewide. BCPS grade 8 and 10 students have met the standard in 1994-95 with average total scores of 3.0 and 3.2 respectively. This level of performance represents an increase over 1993-94 results for the state as well as locally.
To further understand student performance on the Florida Writing Assessment, districtwide test results are disaggregated by ethnicity and reported by number and percent of students at half point intervals. Tables 2 through 4 present data for both year to year and ethnic comparisons. The number of Asian students and the number of American Indian/Alaskan Native populations constitute a small percentage of the districts population. Because of that fact, this document will focus on differences among the Black, Hispanic, and White populations, but does not intent to overlook the importance of those smaller but important populations.
In Table 2 the increase in percent of grade 4 students achieving a score of 3.0 or more has increased each year, from 20% to 26%, and this year to 34%. Table 2 also indicates that the upward trend is demonstrated for every ethnic group. However, the disparity among ethnic groups is apparent. Currently 43% of all grade 4 White students attained a score of 3.0 or more, while only 20% of the Black students and 29% of the Hispanic students attained a score of 3.0 or more.
|
Number and Percentage of Students Receiving Each Score by Ethnic Category, 1993, 1994, 1995 |
Asian |
Black |
Hispanic |
Indian/Alaskan |
White |
Total | |||||||||||||||||
|
93 |
94 |
95 |
93 |
94 |
95 |
93 |
94 |
95 |
93 |
94 |
95 |
93 |
94 |
95 |
93 |
94 |
95 | ||||||
|
6 |
2 <1% |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 <1% |
0 |
1 <1% |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
26 <1% |
11 <1% |
12 <1% |
29 <1% |
12 <1% |
12 <1% | |||||
|
5.5 |
3 1% |
2 <1% |
1 <1% |
4 <1% |
3 <1% |
1 <1% |
4 <1% |
0 |
1 <1% |
0 0 |
0 |
0 |
32 <1% |
17 <1% |
21 <1% |
43 <1% |
22 <1% |
24 <1% | |||||
|
5 |
3 1% |
1 <1% |
5 1% |
5 <1% |
10 <1% |
11 <1% |
1 <1% |
4 <1% |
9 <1% |
0 |
0 |
0 |
53 <1% |
51 <1% |
68 <1% |
62 <1% |
66 <1% |
93 <1% | |||||
|
4.5 |
4 1% |
9 3% |
7 2% |
9 <1% |
12 <1% |
26 <1% |
8 <1% |
5 <1% |
16 <1% |
0 |
0 |
1 2% |
111 2% |
89 1% |
187 2% |
132 1% |
115 <1% |
237 2% | |||||
|
4 |
6 2% |
14 5% |
21 6% |
32 <1% |
52 1% |
91 2% |
23 2% |
28 2% |
54 3% |
1 3% |
0 |
3 7% |
201 3% |
353 5% |
479 6% |
263 2% |
447 3% |
648 4% | |||||
|
3.5 |
15 5% |
21 7% |
40 11% |
88 2% |
89 2% |
233 5% |
41 3% |
62 4% |
113 6% |
0 |
0 |
2 5% |
480 7% |
446 6% |
922 11% |
624 5% |
618 4% |
1310 8% | |||||
|
3 |
52 18% |
52 18% |
87 24% |
287 7% |
445 10% |
629 12% |
120 9% |
241 17% |
320 18% |
1 3% |
5 18% |
12 27% |
1002 14% |
1625 22% |
1818 22% |
1462 11% |
2368 17% |
2866 19% | |||||
|
2.5 |
57 20% |
44 15% |
59 16% |
488 11% |
499 11% |
686 14% |
206 16% |
208 14% |
289 16% |
2 6% |
4 14% |
4 9% |
1225 17% |
1230 16% |
1538 19% |
1978 15% |
1985 14% |
2576 17% | |||||
|
2 |
50 17% |
98 34% |
88 24% |
1050 25% |
1565 34% |
137 27% |
285 23% |
505 35% |
495 28% |
11 34% |
13 46% |
8 18% |
1639 23% |
2358 31% |
1913 23% |
3035 23% |
4539 33% |
3876 25% | |||||
|
1.5 |
28 10% |
14 5% |
29 8% |
734 17% |
356 8% |
786 16% |
187 15% |
93 6% |
207 12% |
9 28% |
2 7% |
5 11% |
911 13% |
396 5% |
670 8% |
1869 14% |
861 6% |
1697 11% | |||||
|
1 |
54 19% |
31 11% |
24 7% |
1196 28% |
1169 26% |
985 19% |
306 24% |
247 17% |
218 12% |
7 22% |
2 7% |
7 16% |
1259 18% |
767 10% |
502 6% |
2822 22% |
2216 16% |
1736 11% | |||||
|
U |
15 5% |
4 1% |
7 2% |
384 9% |
382 8% |
247 5% |
84 7% |
54 4% |
49 3% |
1 3% |
2 7% |
2 5% |
254 4% |
152 2% |
99 1% |
738 6% |
594 4% |
404 3% | |||||
|
Total |
289 2% |
290 2% |
368 2% |
4277 33% |
4583 33% |
5067 33% |
1266 10% |
1447 10% |
1771 11% |
32 <1% |
28 <1% |
44 <1% |
7193 55% |
7495 54% |
8229 53% |
13057 100% |
13843 100% |
15479 100% | |||||
|
3 OR MORE |
85 29% |
99 34% |
162 44% |
425 10% |
612 13% |
991 20% |
198 16% |
340 23% |
513 29% |
2 6% |
5 18% |
18 41% |
1905 26% |
2592 35% |
3507 43% |
2615 20% |
3648 26% |
5190 34% | |||||
Also of interest are the number of students who obtained a U (Unscorable). Although the percentages are small overall, the Florida Writing Assessment Program treats an unscorable paper as a zero in calculation of average scores. While many papers are unscorable because they are illegible, there are also a number of papers which demonstrate a good command of writing skills, but are so far off the assigned topic that they cannot be scored comparably with the overall statewide group.
Table 3 on the following page presents the grade 8 data in the same form as Table 2. Grade 8 students do not show a pattern of consistent growth as did grade 4 students, but does indicate an overall higher level of achievement. From this table may be observed that currently 64% of all grade 8 students achieve a score of 3.0 or more. The disparity among ethnic groups is also apparent at this grade level. Currently 75% of grade 8 White students attained a score of 3.0 or more, while 48% of the Black students and 59% of the Hispanic students attained a score of 3.0 or more. Table 3 also indicates a significant increase in the number of unscorable papers, which is up from 111 last year to 254 this year. Moreover, the increase is not attributable to any particular ethnic group, but appears in all ethnic groups.
|
Table 3: Florida Writing Assessment, Grade 8 Number and Percentage of Students Receiving Each Score by Ethnic Category, 1993, 1994, 1995 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Asian |
Black |
Hispanic |
Indian/Alaskan |
White |
Total | ||||||||||||||||||
|
93 |
94 |
95 |
93 |
94 |
95 |
93 |
94 |
95 |
93 |
94 |
95 |
93 |
94 |
95 |
93 |
94 |
95 | ||||||
|
6 |
3 1% |
5 2% |
1 <1% |
4 <1% |
2 <1% |
4 <1% |
1 <1% |
2 <1% |
1 <1% |
0 |
0 |
0 |
20 <1% |
21 <1% |
32 <1% |
28 <1% |
30 <1% |
37 <1% | |||||
|
5.5 |
7 2% |
3 <1% |
2 <1% |
19 <1% |
0 |
3 <1% |
12 1% |
1 <1% |
4 <1% |
0 0 |
0 |
0 |
69 1% |
33 <1% |
62 <1% |
107 1% |
37 <1% |
72 <1% | |||||
|
5 |
9 3% |
10 3% |
10 3% |
44 1% |
20 <1% |
33 <1% |
23 2% |
9 <1% |
23 2% |
1 4% |
1 3% |
0 |
222 4% |
145 2% |
189 3% |
299 3% |
185 2% |
255 2% | |||||
|
4.5 |
27 10% |
17 5% |
29 8% |
133 4% |
38 1% |
68 2% |
60 5% |
36 3% |
59 4% |
1 4% |
0 |
3 13% |
486 8% |
256 4% |
427 7% |
707 7% |
347 3% |
586 5% | |||||
|
4 |
42 15% |
41 13% |
68 19% |
321 10% |
148 5% |
312 8% |
163 14% |
103 8% |
197 13% |
2 9% |
3 9% |
1 4% |
915 16% |
732 12% |
1246 19% |
1443 14% |
1027 9% |
1824 15% | |||||
|
3.5 |
59 21% |
48 15% |
73 21% |
457 14% |
222 7% |
508 13% |
215 18% |
153 12% |
224 15% |
6 26% |
5 15% |
3 13% |
1172 20% |
959 16% |
1213 19% |
1909 18% |
1387 13% |
2021 16% | |||||
|
3 |
68 24% |
93 29% |
857 24% |
791 25% |
731 22% |
946 24% |
337 28% |
344 27% |
374 25% |
4 17% |
8 24% |
6 25% |
1468 25% |
1745 29% |
1720 26% |
2668 25% |
2921 27% |
3131 25% | |||||
|
2.5 |
35 12% |
41 13% |
32 9% |
496 16% |
549 17% |
655 17% |
165 14% |
214 17% |
245 16% |
3 13% |
8 24% |
2 8% |
747 13% |
812 14% |
719 11% |
1446 14% |
1624 15% |
1653 13% | |||||
|
2 |
18 6% |
48 15% |
36 10% |
511 16% |
1000 31% |
747 19% |
135 11% |
307 24% |
208 14% |
3 13% |
6 18% |
2 8% |
524 9% |
1000 17% |
601 9% |
1191 11% |
2361 22% |
1594 13% | |||||
|
1.5 |
8 3% |
8 2% |
9 3% |
160 5% |
277 8% |
317 8% |
47 4% |
59 5% |
48 3% |
2 9% |
1 3% |
3 13% |
115 2% |
149 3% |
143 2% |
332 3% |
494 5% |
520 4% | |||||
|
1 |
0 |
6 2% |
5 1% |
139 4% |
208 6% |
222 6% |
20 2% |
34 3% |
61 4% |
0 |
2 6% |
3 13% |
78 1% |
81 1% |
117 2% |
237 2% |
331 3% |
408 3% | |||||
|
U |
6 2% |
1 <1% |
2 <1% |
96 3% |
77 2% |
119 3% |
20 2% |
16 1% |
45 3% |
1 4% |
0 |
1 4% |
83 1% |
17 <1% |
87 1% |
206 2% |
111 1% |
254 2% | |||||
|
Total |
282 3% |
321 3% |
352 3% |
3171 30% |
3272 30% |
3934 32% |
1198 11% |
1278 12% |
1489 12% |
23 <1% |
34 <1% |
24 <1% |
5899 56% |
5950 55% |
6556 53% |
10573 100% |
10855 100% |
12355 100% | |||||
|
3 OR MORE |
215 76% |
217 68% |
268 76% |
1769 56% |
1161 35% |
1874 48% |
811 68% |
648 51% |
882 59% |
142 61% |
17 50% |
13 54% |
4352 74% |
3891 65% |
4889 75% |
7161 68% |
5934 55% |
7926 64% | |||||
Writing Assessment was begun one year later than grades 4 and 8, so that Table 4 on the following page indicates grade 10 data for the past two years. With only two years of data no trend can be observed. Currently 73% of the grade 10 students achieve scores of 3.0 or more. More than half of the Black students (56%) score 3 or more, but 83% of White students and 69% of Hispanic students receive scores of 3 or more. While grade 10 scores have improved considerably over last year, the disparity observed at grades 4 and 8 continues to exist at grade 10.
|
Table 4: Florida Writing Assessment, Grade 10 Number and Percentage of Students Receiving Each Score by Ethnic Category, 1994 and 1995 | ||||||||||||
|
Asian |
Black |
Hispanic |
Indian/Alaskan |
White |
Total | |||||||
|
94 |
95 |
94 |
95 |
94 |
95 |
94 |
95 |
94 |
95 |
94 |
95 | |
|
6 |
1 <1% |
5 2% |
1 <1% |
2 <1% |
1 <1% |
7 <1% |
1 6% |
0 |
15 <1% |
48 <1% |
19 <1% |
62 <1% |
|
5.5 |
2 <1% |
11 4% |
4 <1% |
5 <1% |
3 <1% |
8 <1% |
0 |
0 |
29 <1% |
89 2% |
38 <1% |
113 1% |
|
5 |
8 3% |
11 4% |
12 <1% |
36 1% |
10 1% |
23 2% |
0 |
0 |
115 3% |
234 5% |
145 2% |
304 3% |
|
4.5 |
18 7% |
26 9% |
36 2% |
88 3% |
27 3% |
61 5% |
0 |
2 10% |
243 5% |
413 8% |
324 4% |
590 6% |
|
4 |
42 16% |
71 24% |
142 6% |
331 11% |
110 11% |
204 17% |
3 19% |
5 24% |
811 18% |
1284 25% |
1108 14% |
1895 20% |
|
3.5 |
40 15% |
51 17% |
208 9% |
360 12% |
123 12% |
196 16% |
3 19% |
1 5% |
760 17% |
905 18% |
1134 14% |
1513 16% |
|
3 |
77 29% |
74 25% |
586 26% |
824 28% |
294 30% |
354 29% |
5 31% |
10 48% |
1300 29% |
1244 24% |
2262 28% |
2506 26% |
|
2.5 |
26 10% |
20 7% |
373 17% |
429 15% |
132 13% |
122 10% |
1 6% |
1 5% |
432 10% |
314 6% |
964 12% |
886 9% |
|
2 |
39 14% |
22 7% |
554 25% |
522 18% |
195 20% |
161 13% |
1 6% |
2 10% |
587 13% |
372 7% |
1376 17% |
1079 11% |
|
1.5 |
6 2% |
3 <1% |
149 7% |
117 4% |
42 4% |
31 3% |
1 6% |
0 |
88 2% |
57 1% |
286 4% |
208 2% |
|
1 |
9 3% |
5 2% |
135 6% |
112 4% |
45 5% |
32 3% |
0 |
0 |
98 2% |
43 <1% |
287 4% |
192 2% |
|
U |
2 <1% |
3 <1% |
45 2% |
94 3% |
12 1% |
29 2% |
1 6% |
0 |
24 <1% |
90 2% |
84 1% |
216 2% |
|
Total |
270 3% |
302 3% |
2245 28% |
2920 31% |
994 12% |
1228 13% |
16 <1% |
21 <1% |
4502 56% |
5093 53% |
8027 100% |
9564 100% |
|
3 or MORE |
188 70% |
249 82% |
989 44% |
1646 56% |
568 57% |
853 69% |
12 75% |
18 86% |
3273 73% |
4217 83% |
5030 63% |
6983 73% |
Table 5 on the following page recaps the percentage of students with scores of 3.0 or more for each year and each grade level. The total of all students at each grade level indicates steady improvement. However, the disparity in performance among ethnic groups is once again apparent. Previous studies involving measures such as the Stanford Achievement Test likewise evidenced lower performance patterns of black students when compared to outcomes of white students.
|
Table 5: Florida Writing Assessment Percentage of Students with Scores of 3.0 or more, by Ethnic Category, 1993, 1994 and 1995 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Asian |
Black |
Hispanic |
Indian/Alaskan |
White |
Total | ||||||||||||||||||
|
Grade |
93 |
94 |
95 |
93 |
94 |
95 |
93 |
94 |
95 |
93 |
94 |
95 |
93 |
94 |
95 |
93 |
94 |
95 | |||||
|
4 |
29 |
34 |
44 |
10 |
13 |
20 |
16 |
23 |
29 |
6 |
18 |
41 |
26 |
35 |
43 |
20 |
26 |
34 | |||||
|
8 |
76 |
68 |
76 |
56 |
35 |
48 |
68 |
51 |
59 |
61 0 |
50 |
54 |
74 |
65 |
75 |
68 |
55 |
64 | |||||
|
10 |
70 |
82 |
44 |
56 |
57 |
69 |
75 |
86 |
73 |
83 |
63 |
73 | |||||||||||
A preliminary review of these data have resulted in several actions that Dr. Frank Petruzielo, Superintendent of Schools, has directed to be taken immediately including:
Regular reporting of Florida Writes school-by-school average results by ethnicity to assess progress of students, as well as to target needs of specific groups of students, beginning with a three year report to schools in May, 1995.
Regular reporting of assessment results by student for planning of appropriate instructional strategies to grade 5 teachers as well as English I (grade 9) and English II (grade 11) teachers in the Fall of each year.
Review of Florida Writes results by faculty and staff, School Improvement Teams, Innovation Zone representatives, area and central office staff, and other interested individuals for use in the development of School Improvement Plans and Annual Reports of School Progress.
Integration of Florida Writes results with data from other sources (such as the Stanford Achievement Test, Grade Ten Achievement Test and First Annual Survey, selected items).
Review of current and anticipated resource allocations, based upon the findings, to insure a match between available resources and identified needs.
Prepared by: Dr. Katherine Blasik, Director, Research and Evaluation
Dr. Cary Sutton, Coordinator, Research and Evaluation
Dr. Frank R. Petruzielo Dr. Gene Barlow, Director, Evaluation and Testing Superintendent of Schools