RTI Institute: Writing Module for Elementary Schools Carroll County Schools

RTI Institute: Writing Module for Elementary Schools Carroll County Schools

Sharon Rinks, Psy.D.

Lisa Sirian, Ph.D.

Michelle Avila Bolling, Ed.S., NCSP

Carroll County Schools

Agenda

RTI implementation status reports Process the application activity Activating prior knowledge Evidence-based RTI practices in writing

Universal screening Intervention Progress monitoring

Practice progress monitoring scoring Case studies Discuss application activity

RTI Implementation- Status Report

Share with the group how RTI implementation is going at your schoolFor example you might… Talk about tools are you using Talk about what you have planned Talk about something creative you are doing Discuss any roadblocks you’ve encountered Highlight something that you are proud of Talk about how you have used something from this

training Take notes on good ideas that you can steal… or

help others problem solve.

Processing the Application Activity

Has your team begun your reading application activity?

Did you find the materials useful? If so, how? If not, how might they be improved?

Did you find the team able to complete the intervention form successfully?

Any questions about that? What was the biggest challenge so far? What kinds of changes did completing this activity

spur you to make at your school?

Cut-Throat RTI Bingo!

Activating Prior Knowledge


It’s every man, woman, and child for him- or herself! Hope you know your RTI vocabulary.There are two ways to win! Make a cross Make an X


Brief, easily administered, predictive assessments that are sensitive to small increments of change and have alternate forms available. Used at Tier 1.

When you subtract the baseline rate from the desired goal and divide by the # of weeks until the benchmark assessment, you get this. You need this to calculate the aim line.


The minimum number of times universal screening should be conducted yearly.

In graphing RTI data, this line represents the actual projected performance of the student based on the data points already gathered. If this line does not display an adequate rate of improvement, you might consider adjusting your intervention.


The ability to read a text accurately, quickly and expressively. This provides a bridge between word recognition and comprehension.

The research group who, sponsored by the federal government, reviewed over 100,000 studies on reading instruction. This group ultimately established the essential “big five” skills for reading.


In graphing RTI data, this term refers to the line connecting the student’s baseline performance to the projected goal.

The percentage of students who should be successful with an appropriate 4-tier service delivery model in place.


Assesses a child’s skill in reading connected text of grade-level material using one-minute probes. It is the most researched, efficient and standardized measure of reading proficiency. This can serve as a substitute for measuring overall reading proficiency, especially in the lower grades.

The ability to notice, think about, and work with the individual sounds in spoken words. This is auditory and does not involve words in print.


One of the big five in reading, this involves our knowledge of words we need to communicate effectively—these can be in speech or in print.

The practice of (1) providing high-quality instruction and interventions matched to student needs and, (2) using learning rate over time and level of performance to (3) make important educational decisions.


A type of Curriculum Based Measurement probe designed to assess comprehension and fluency of reading. This involves reading a passage from which every 7th word has been deleted and the student must select a word from three choices provided.

The Tier 1 standards-based classroom instruction that ALL students get.


The Tier at which highly specialized services are provided to meet individual students’ needs. This is not a place, location, or specific classroom; may be provided in a regular education class or in a separate setting and may include Special Education and related services.

The percentage of students who should make benchmark with appropriate Tier 1 instruction.


The relationship between the letters (graphemes) and the sounds (phonemes) in order to read and write words. Denotes the systematic and predictable relationship between written letters and spoken sounds.

Interventions that are empirically tested using sound research methodology, accepted by experts within the field, published in scholarly research journals.


The reason for reading. The ultimate goal of reading instruction. Purposeful and active reading that occurs during passages. Involves making connections between prior knowledge and the current text.

Frequent teacher assessment of student performance using brief measures. It catches potential false positives from universal screening and is not meant to be diagnostic. It helps you figure out if your intervention is working.


The number of words at which Oral Reading Fluency typically plateaus in the middle grades.

The process of building capacity in personnel, building up resources, adding personnel, creating effective teams, and increasing skills of staff to analyze data for RTI.


Agreement from the top down and the bottom up which is essential to the RTI process.

The extent to which the intervention was implemented in the manner it was supposed to be implemented, on the number of occasions and, for the duration it was supposed to be implemented.


One of the cornerstones of an RTI model is that scientific, evidence-based Tier 1 instruction effectively eliminates inappropriate instruction as a reason for inadequate progress.


Remember that RTI is about prevention Schools do not wait for students to fail before coming

to their assistance Screening is conducted for all students to identify

those who, despite a strong core curriculum (Tier 1), are on a path to failure

To have any chance of deviating from the path to failure, students must get help early (Tiers 2 & 3)

When RTI is implemented fully, reading, math, writing, and behavior screening is conducted with all students

Those at risk for difficulties in one or more of these areas receive targeted evidence-based interventions

(Jenkins & Johnson, 2008)


Important factors in sustainability of RTI: extensive, ongoing professional development, administrative support at the system and

building level, teacher buy-in and willingness to adjust their

traditional instructional roles, involvement of all school personnel, and adequate meeting time for coordination.

(Hughes & Dexter, 2008)

Exploring Evidence-Based RTI Practices for Writing

IRA and NCTE 12 ELA StandardsInclude the Writing Process

Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes

Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes

IRA and NCTE 12 ELA StandardsInclude the Writing Process

Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and nonprint texts

Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information)

Statewide Assessment and Accountability Writing Assessments and Benchmarks have

increased demands such as: Writing in different genres Writing for different audiences Writing for different purposes Demonstrating writing conventions

Grammar Sentence construction Spelling

Writing fluently within time constraints

Research

Written Expression in the early grades is a good predictor of overall school success (Isaacson, 1985)

However, 14% of 4th grade students 15% of 8th grade students 26% of 12th grade studentsWere not able to write at even the most basic

level (2002 NAEP Writing Assessment)

Writing Problems

Begin early and tend to continue with students throughout their education (Isaacson, 1995)

Often the 1st indicator to teachers that there is a learning problem (Isaacson, 1985)

With reading problems, writing problems lead to greatest number of referrals to and placements in Special Education (Hallahan & Kaufman, 1986; Howell, Fox, & Morehead, 1993)

Components of Writing

Writing involves: Transcription skills (low-level processes) Self-regulation skills (high-level processes)

Most children with writing problems have difficulty with one or the other

Only 1 in 3 have difficulty with both types of processes

(Juel, 1988)

Components of Writing: Writing Mechanics (Low-Level)

Graphemic realization of writingSpellingVocabularyGrammar/syntax/semanticsPunctuation/capitalization

Components of Writing: Writing Process (High-Level)

Acquire knowledgeRetrieve knowledge Plan textConstruct textEdit textRegulate entire process

Paradigm Shift

Shift of focus from emphasis on writing mechanics to address ways to improve writing process and content Influenced by development of cognitive

models of writing that emphasize the mental operations that skilled writers use (e.g., planning, evaluating, revising)

Research suggests that a combination of approaches is most effective for children with writing problems

Effective Writing Instruction

Includes clear and specific objectives Has activities for student to interact on writing tasks Activates and builds on prior knowledge about a

topic Involves activities to organize the information Places emphasis on text structure: narrative,

expository, etc. Teaches each step of the writing process explicitly:

1. Establish a purpose2. Generate and organize ideas3. Put ideas in print4. Revise and edit

(Hillocks, 1984; Isaacson, 1985)

Universal Screening in Writing

Tier 1 – all students screened for writing progress

Conducted 3 times per year Early fall, midwinter & spring

Provides mechanism for identifying students at-risk for failure Slightly over-identifies (false positives)

Allows schools to intervene early, before intensive intervention is necessary

Characteristics of Quality Screening Instruments Brief and easily administered Research-based Highly correlated to writing proficiency High reliability and validity Sensitive to small increments of change Alternate forms available Data analysis and reporting available

Universal Screening in Writing

AIMSweb Uses CBM in: ORF, Maze, Early Literacy,

Spelling, Early Numeracy, Written Expression, and Math

www.AIMSweb.com Grades K-8 for universal screening $3/student for just reading $5/student complete (reading, language arts

and math computation) Curriculum Based Measurement - FREE

AIMSweb

There are a bunch of probes and administration directions at http://www.AIMSweb.com/measures/written/sample.php

Scores Total Words Written (universal screening measure for

grades 1-6) Correct Writing Sequences (universal screening

measure for grades 6-8) Words Spelled Correctly (can be used for progress

monitoring)

Benchmarks for Writing- TWW

Grade Fall Winter Spring Mean ROI

1 7 14 20 .4

2 18 23 30 .4

3 27 34 39 .3

4 37 42 47 .3

5 42 46 50 .2

6 45 49 55 .3

7 47 52 57 .3

8 50 56 61 .3

IMPORTANT NOTE: THESE NORMS ARE ALL FOR 3 MINUTES OF WRITING -- From AIMSweb, 2007

Benchmarks for Writing- CWS

Grade Fall Winter Spring Mean ROI

1 3 6 11 .2

2 9 16 21 .4

3 19 26 30 .3

4 28 34 40 .4

5 35 40 46 .3

6 41 46 50 .3

7 45 50 53 .2

8 50 52 56 .2

IMPORTANT NOTE: THESE NORMS ARE ALL FOR 3 MINUTES OF WRITING -- From AIMSweb, 2007

Curriculum Based Measurement (CBM) Alternate forms of equal difficulty Sample of the year-long curriculum Highly standardized Given at regular intervals Brief and easy to administer Assess the same skill at the same

difficulty level

Curriculum Based Measurement (CBM) Written Expression can be used as a

universal screener in grades 1-12 As soon as the child can write a sentence

Spelling CBM can be used in grades 1-6 More useful as a progress monitoring tool than

a universal screener Loses reliability toward the upper grades

Directions and probes are included on the CD

Research on CBM

When teachers use CBM to guide instructional decision making: students learn more, teacher decision-making improves, and students are more aware of their own

performance.

(e.g., Fuchs, Deno, & Mirkin, 1984)

Research on CBM

Reliability: a test consistently measures in the same way Inter-rater reliability Test-retest, etc.

Validity: a test measures what it is intended to measure

Using the SAT-9 as the criterion, CBM Writing was found to be reliable and valid

(Gansle, VanDerheyden, Noell, Resetar, & Williams, 2006)

Research on CBM

For secondary students: Total Words Written (TWW) and Total Words

Spelled Correctly (TWS) are LESS reliable and valid than other indices in higher grades

Correct minus Incorrect Word Sequences (CIWS) seems to have the most reliability More sensitive to change (important for

progress monitoring) Independent of the prompt

(McMaster & Espin, 2007)

Interventions

Six Areas Beginning Writing Handwriting Spelling Editing Planning Fluency

Comprehensive Strategies

Beginning Writers

Young writers with and without learning disabilities spend little time planning before they write; they plan as they write without thinking ahead of time about content or organization schemes(Burtis, Bereiter, Scardamalia, and Tetroe,1983; Graham, Harris, MacArthur, and Schwartz, 1991)

Important note: Many beginning writers struggle with phonics. It is appropriate for these students to use the Phonics intervention strategies from the reading CD.

Strategies for Beginning Writers

Draw a Story Making Words Graham’s Alphabet Exercises Share the Pen Writer’s Workshop Word Sorts for Beginning and Struggling

Readers

Draw A Story (Renee Goularte, readwritethink.org)

Introduces students in grades K through 2 to the writing process in a way that supports the transition from oral to written storytelling

Useful in helping students work with sequential content that includes character, action, problem, and solution

Draw A Story (Renee Goularte, readwritethink.org)

Students draw a series of pictures that tells a simple, sequential story

They ‘read’ their story to others, transcribe their oral story into writing, and create an accordion book with drawings on the front side and writing on the back

Writer’s Workshop

Mini-lessons/Class Status The Writing Process/Conferencing

Rehearsal, drafting, editing, & revising Sharing/Author’s Chair/Publication Jasmine & Weiner, 2007

Increased enthusiasm Increased confidence Increased proficiency

Taking the Orthographic Process Out of the Equation Students with LD who dictated their

stories had more written output (De La Paz &

Graham, 1995)

In some studies the amount tripled for LD students who dictated (MacArthur & Graham, 1987)

Handwriting Strategies

Handwriting Without Tears Making and Writing Words Graham’s Alphabet Exercises Word Ladders

“Graham’s Alphabet Exercises”(Graham, Harris, & Fink, 2000)

To teach the lowercase manuscript alphabet Designed to be implemented individually by a tutor Three new letters are introduced in each instructional unit (e.g., l,

i, t) Each unit has three lessons Easier and more frequently used letters taught first Each lesson includes four activities:

Alphabet Warm-Up Alphabet Practice – to teach how to write specific letters Alphabet Rockets – to increase handwriting speed Alphabet Fun – to ensure lessons end enjoyably

Word Ladders

Children are given a key phrase Letters in the key phrase are used to compose new

words based on teacher prompts and hints Fun supplemental intervention that can be added to

your curriculum to get students involved in manipulating sounds in words to increase spelling and orthographic skills

For handwriting, emphasis should be placed on the skill of copying of the word

Word Ladders

Key Phrase: Team to Work

Target Word Letter Changes Required Clue

Team

Meat Rearrange letters Food that comes from animals.

Tame Rearrange letters Not wild.

Take Chg 1 To get possession of something. To grab.

Tale Chg 1 A story.

Tall Chg 1 Not short.

Toll Chg 1 A fee paid for a service or privilege. We had to pay a one dollar toll to cross the bridge.

Ton -2, + 1 A weight, 2,000 pounds.

Torn + 1 To have divided or separated something by pulling.

Worn Chg 1 To have caused something to deteriorate or go bad by using it or wearing it out.

Work Chg 1 What teams must do together.

Research on the Writing Process

Spelling accounts for 41% of variability in writing (Graham, Berninger, & Abbot, 1997)

Handwriting fluency accounts for 66% of variability in writing (Graham, Berninger, & Abbot, 1997)

Extra handwriting instruction and practice increase writing output of poor writers (Berninger, et al.,

1997)

Spelling Strategies

Cover, Copy, Compare Making Words Making and Writing Words Word Ladders

Making Words (Cunningham and Cunningham, 1992) Making & Writing Words (Rasinski, 1999)

Early writers can begin the writing process by learning to spell simple words with letter cards, tiles, or plastic letters (Making Words)

Using representations of the letters removes the cognitive demand of the orthographic process and isolates the phonetic process involved in spelling

More advanced writers do the same activities with pencil and paper (Making & Writing Words)

Making Words (Cunningham and Cunningham, 1992) Making & Writing Words (Rasinski, 1999)

The Challenge Word: SPORT Words list in order: to, so, or, pot, rot, top, sop, port, sort, stop, pots, SPORT The teacher would say:

1. With two letters, make the word “to”. I like to spell words. 2. Change one letter and turn “to” into “so”. So I will be a good speller when

I grow up.3. Let’s make a three letter word now. With three letters, make “pot”. I cook

soup in a pot. 4. Etc… 5. There is a word we can make using ALL of these letters. Has anyone

figured it out? A hint may be provided: “basketball, baseball, soccer, and volleyball are all examples of this word.” If they don’t get it… you can provide the word.

For the sorting activity the teacher might say:1. Words that have the /or/ sound… or, port, sort, sport. 2. Words that are verbs/action words… rot, sop, sort, stop. 3. Etc…

Cover, Copy, Compare (Skinner, McLoughlin & Logan, 1997)

Flexible implementation – individual, small groups, or whole group

Can be facilitated by an adult or, once mastered by the student, it can be used as a self-management strategy

The student examines (and visualizes) the words Student COVERs the prompt, then writes the word from

memory (COPY) Then the student COMPAREs his or her product to the

stimulus The student does not erase their first response The student repeats the CCC strategy until they have the

correct response before moving to the next stimulus

Cover, Copy, Compare (Skinner, McLoughlin & Logan, 1997)

Enhancing Cover, Copy, Compare: Set a time limit Use conspicuous timing Incorporate goal setting Provide feedback Vary the response format (vocal, written, etc.)

If done whole group, group contingencies can be used to increase motivation and on-task behavior

Editing Strategies

COPS/ SH! COPS SCAN SCOPE

The SCAN Strategy (Graham & Harris, 1999)

Mnemonic strategy that cues students through an editing process to edit written work

Particularly useful for persuasive writing Focuses on:

clarity cohesiveness correctness

Initially developed for use with word processed writing, but it can be implemented with hard copies as well

The SCAN Strategy (Graham & Harris, 1999)

SCAN Steps Reread your essay Find the sentence that tells what you believe – is it

clear? Add two more reasons why you can believe it SCAN each sentence.

Does it make sense? Is it connected to my belief? Can I add more? Note errors

Make your changes

Graham & Harris, 1994, 1997

Children with LD in writing have difficulty: Planning Monitoring Evaluating Revising Generating ideas

Planning Strategies

Giraffe WWW. What=2, How=2 TREE DARE SPACE

Teacher-Directed Strategy Instruction

Specifically studying the DARE and SPACE strategies: Students with this direct instruction made

significant gains in overall story quality and wrote substantially longer stories

Students in the strategy instruction group used more planning and spent more time in prewriting for story writing

(Troia & Graham, 2002)

WWW. What=2, How=2(Graham, Harris, & Sawyer, 1987) Narrative text (story) writing strategy that

cues students through a planning process to compose stories that are organized and well-written

Cues the students with a series of questions to ensure that all story components are included

WWW. What=2, How=2(Graham, Harris & Sawyer, 1987)

1. Activate prior knowledge

2. Discuss the strategy

3. Model the strategy using a think aloud and self-reinforcement (positive self-talk)

4. The children then memorize the strategy

5. Support the strategy

6. Fade prompts; encourage generalization

From Strategy Instruction for Students with Learning Disabilities (Reid & Lienemann, 2006)

WWW. What=2, How=2(Graham, Harris & Sawyer, 1987) Think of a story to share. Let your mind be free. Write down the story part reminder:

Who is the main character? Who else is in the story? When does the story take place? Where does the story take place? What does the main character do? What happens when they try to do it? How does the story end? How does the main character feel?

Write down story part ideas for each part. Write your story. Use good parts and make sense.

Fluency Strategies

Self Monitoring Repeated Writing Writing Every Day Share the Pen

Share the Pen (Pinnell & McCarrier, 1994)

Interactive writing strategy Students choose an activity they’ve shared and

“share the pen” in recording the story As each new word or sentence is added, the story

is read again Teacher facilitates discussion about the

experience from beginning to end

Share the Pen (Pinnell & McCarrier, 1994)

Teacher starts by asking the group to come up with a topic

Teacher then selects/asks for volunteers to begin the story

Each student verbalizes a sentence, writes it down, and reads it aloud

The pen is handed to the next volunteer and the process continues

The final product is read aloud by various students

Typing/Word Processing

Typing is often felt to be a way to free up cognitive resources during the writing process for those with orthographic-motor integration issues

BUT, typing only helps if the child has automaticity with typing– otherwise no cognitive resources are freed up

When a child learns to type with ease, then you may see increased written output with this intervention

Also, use of word processing makes the revision process easier and less painful for students

Typing skill impacts quantity, but has little effect on quality of writing

(Christensen, 2004)

Typing Programs for Kids

http://typing-for-kids-software-review.toptenreviews.com/

Comprehensive Strategies

POWER DEFENDS Writer’s Workshop Step Up to Writing 6 Trait Writing

POWER(Englert, Raphael, & Anderson, 1991)

POWER: Plan, Organize, Write, Edit, and Revise Comprehensive procedure to explicitly teach the

stages of the writing process Based on cognitive strategy instruction Four phases: text analysis, modeling the writing

process, guided student practice in composition, and independent writing

Uses “Think Sheets” and “Pattern Guides”

POWER(Englert, Raphael, & Anderson, 1991)

Step Up to Writing

Explicit instruction in organizing writing Small group planning Multisensory techniques

Color coding to visualize writing organization by equating the colors of a traffic signal with different parts of a written piece

Using colors and folding paper, students structure and place main ideas and supporting information to achieve cohesive, organized paragraphs

Guided exercises and practice Work collaboratively in small groups Sharing Feedback

Step Up to Writing

Team Work: Case Study Create an Intervention Plan

Look at the individual student data in the case study. Use your CD and team knowledge to complete a Tier 2 intervention plan for the

student.

Progress Monitoring

Writing

Gender Differences

Girls typically outperform boys on CBM writing fluency measures girls write more under time constraints

Gender differences iron out in the areas of quality or accuracy what girls write is not necessarily qualitatively better than what boys write

This is important when we start talking about the ways that we progress monitor children

(Jewell & Malecki, 2005)

Progress Monitoring

More frequent progress monitoring has been found to increase accuracy (Skinner, McLoughlin & Logan, 1997)

Most of the procedures described here are from the manual Using CBM for Progress Monitoring in Written Expression and Spelling by L. Fuchs & D. Fuchs, 2007

The entire manual has been included (with permission by the authors) on your CD in the Progress Monitoring folder

Additional information and resources can be downloaded at www.studentprogress.org

Spelling CBM

Group or individual administration Students write spelling words that are orally presented

by the teacher Teacher presents a word and uses it in a sentence Students are given 10 seconds to write the word Then the next word is presented There is a 2 minute time limit Teacher presentation time is not counted in the 2 minute

administration time Spelling CBM probes are scored after the

administration is complete

(Fuchs & Fuchs, 2007)

Spelling CBM

Random lists of words need to be generated Word lists can come from any source

Words should come from same source and sample grade-level words taught in students’ spelling program

Lists of words are generated from the master list for each Spelling CBM administration


How to Score Spelling CBM

Scoring a Spelling CBM: Correct letter sequences (LS) Each pair of letters that appear together

correctly is marked with a carat -- ^ If the 1st letter is correct, a carat is placed

before that letter If the last letter is correct, a carat is placed

after that letter So the max score for each word = # of letters

+1


How to Score Spelling CBM

Let’s look at the word “write”

Let’s Practice

Score the spelling probe.

What is the number of correct letter sequences?

Spe

lling

CB

M P

ract

ice

Spe

lling

CB

M P

ract

ice

LS = 80LS = 80out of 97

(82% correct)

How to Identify the Level of Material for Monitoring Progress For Spelling:

If a student earns less than half of the total possible letter sequences, a Spelling CBM probe from the next lower grade should be administered

Once the appropriate Spelling CBM grade level is determined, students should use the same grade-level word lists for the entire year


Writing CBM Norms

How to Administer Written Expression CBM

Narrative writing story starters: Familiar theme should be used Starters should always end in mid-sentence Starter is written at top of student CBM probe


An Example

I was on my way home from school and … ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Another Example

One day I went to school but nobody was there except me … ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A Pretty Example

This prompt is reproduced here with permission of the author.

More (about 30 or so) can be found in the Writers Workshop area at http://www.meddybemps.com/

You can order a CD there with 101 of them for $15.95.

Four examples can be found on the CD from this session.

Here’s another

http://www.meddybemps.com/

How to Administer Written Expression CBM

Administered to entire class at one time Students presented with a story starter read aloud by the

teacher Students are given time to formulate their writing (30

seconds) Story starter is re-read Students write for a set amount of time (to remain

consistent throughout the year) Teacher scores Written Expression CBM probes after

administration is complete(Fuchs & Fuchs, 2007)

Suggested Time Limits for CBM Writing Probes

Grade Level Time

Mid-elementary 3 minutes

Late-elementary 5 minutes

Middle school 7 minutes

High school 7 minutes


How to Score Written Expression CBM

Several ways to score Written Expression CBM Total words written (TWW) Total words spelled correctly (TWS) Correct word sequences (CWS) Correct minus incorrect word sequences (CIWS)

Teachers can use a combination of scoring methods Should remain consistent throughout the entire

school year


Writing Fluency

The total number of words (TWW) a student writes in a timed response is a reliable and valid measure of writing proficiency (Marston, 1989;

Shinn, 1989)

TWW is a good universal screener at the lower levels

It loses reliability in the upper grades

Production Dependent vs. Production Independent Measures

Production Dependent – focuses on how much text is generated

Production Independent – focuses on the quality of text generated regardless of the amount generated Students in the upper grades should use measures

that are production independent Assessment of beginning writers should focus first

on quantity (production dependent TWW, WSC & CWS) then move toward more production independent measures

(Jewell & Malecki, 2005)


Total Words Written (TWW): Count the total number of words written Spelling, word usage, capitalization, and

punctuation are ignored


Example


Total Words Spelled correctly (TWS): Count the total number of words spelled

correctly Any correctly spelled English word is counted

as correct Word usage, capitalization, and punctuation

are ignored


Example

TWS = 23TWS = 23


Correct Word Sequences (CWS): Quantifies writing, but also accounts for

qualitative differences Takes into account punctuation, capitalization,

word usage, etc. Count the number of correct word sequences


How to Score Written Expression CBM Correct Word Sequences (CWS):

CWS is any two adjacent, correctly spelled words acceptable within the context of the sample to a native English speaker

The two words must be syntactically and semantically correct



Vertical line placed where a sentence should end

Judgment plays a role: make a decision rule and stick to it

Incorrect words are underlined Incorrect words are: words spelled

incorrectly, grammatically incorrect words, and words used incorrectly


Example


Carats are placed below two words that represent an incorrect word sequence:

Any two underlined words An underlined word and a non-underlined word Between an underlined or mis-capitalized word

and line at beginning of a sentence Between an underlined word and punctuation at

end of a sentence


Example


Carats are placed above two words that represent a CWS

Any two non-underlined words Between a non-underlined word and the

line at the beginning of a sentence Between a non-underlined word and the

correct punctuation at the end of a sentence


Example

Let’s Practice!

On your own. Score the writing prompt

“One day I went to school, but…”

Check Your ScoringTWW = 97 CWS = 84TWW = 97 CWS = 84

TWS = 91 CIWS = 62TWS = 91 CIWS = 62

VV

Using Rubrics to Describe Strengths and Weaknesses The Fuchs & Fuchs manual on the CD provides

information on how to use a rubric to qualitatively evaluate written expression probes

The procedure adapted is from:

Tindal, G., & Hasbrouck, J., 1991, Analyzing student writing to develop instructional strategies. Learning Disabilities Research and Practice, 6, 237–245.

Rubric for Handwriting

Rubric for Paragraph Writing

Team Work: Case StudyEvaluate an Intervention Plan

Look at the individual student data in the case study. Use data-based decision

making to evaluate the student’s response to Tier 3 intervention.

Sarah’s Response to Intervention

Application Activity

Select a student with a writing concern Collect baseline data using an appropriate progress

monitoring tool Establish a goal Enter the data into the Excel graphing tool Determine the intervention strategy and the schedule

of implementation Determine who will do it Establish a method and schedule for progress

monitoring Document on the appropriate Tier Intervention Form Begin the intervention

Documents

RTI Institute: Writing Module for Elementary Schools Carroll County Schools