8 THE RIGHT TO GO BEYOND FORMULA

I have to admit that I was involved in promoting the 5-paragraph essay as a way of helping teachers prepare their students for our state writing test.  In addition to suggesting the hamburger analogy, we (writing project consultants) also recommended the train as a way to help students understand the necessary components of an effective essay.  These were ways to demonstrate the introductory paragraph (top bun/engine) that included the topic sentence; the developmental paragraphs (meat/cars), the connecting ideas (condiments/couplings), and the concluding paragraph (bottom bun/caboose).  In addition, the student could strengthen the writing with an attention-getter, much as the train’s whistle that signaled the train’s approach.  We were able to be quite creative!  

The problem that occurred was students/teachers relied so heavily on this formula because it was so easy to follow (and to correct) that we failed to help students develop more genuine ways of writing. We should have been instructing students in ways to go beyond this basic formula. Rarely do we find five paragraph writing in the real world, except in essay tests. We needed to spend more time helping them develop effective writing that depends on audience and purpose.  As Spandel shares, “The most important reason to avoid formula – indeed, to run from it as fast as our feet will carry us – is that it stifles higher thinking skills.” (p. 125, The 9 Rights of Every Writer)   

As they craft their pieces, writers should consider purpose, audience, and format. One way to investigate possible options is to do an activity such as RAFTSin class. Here’s a sample:

Role	Audience	Format	Topic	Strong Verb
student	administrator	action plan	school issue	persuade
(Who)	(Reader)	(Product)	(Focus)	(Purpose)

Create (instructor/students) multiple options and then mix and match possible writings. Such an activity should generate interesting possibilities and help to develop more authentic writing.

Throughout all writing various types of assessment occur – whether for class, school, state, college, etc., and these assessments all include the same features: clarity, focus, organization, development, conventions.  Often a rubric(a set of scoring criteria) is provided to explain the possible score, from below passing (1) to exemplary (5) so that students will know what is expected and how they will be evaluated.  In addition to the rubrics created by institutions, I liked to have my classes create their own rubrics for various assignments.  In addition to providing an exciting class discussion, the task of creating the rubric gave students a better understanding of the assignment’s components, and of what was expected.  

Writing that follows the five-paragraph formula tends to discourage voice.  I’m not certain the first time I heard about voice in writing – I know that it was well into my career as a teacher.  I certainly understood voice in music, but no one had introduced me to this component in writing until I became involved with the National Writing Project.  I knew that I found certain writing more effective and enjoyable than other writing, but I didn’t identify it as the voice in the writing. The writing assignments using the five-paragraph formula become virtually cookie-cutter pieces with little evidence of the writer (personal voice).  How refreshing it is to read a student’s creation that “sings” with clarity, focus, organization, development, and control of conventions.

Response to: THE RIGHT TO BE ASSESSED WELL

Yes, I agree with Spandel about her concerns with a writing test; however, having a test as a requirement for graduation in Minnesota did have several positives.  I think it was the first time in my teaching career that professional development (when districts could offer it ) focused on ways to improve the teaching of writing.  In my district we worked together to create rubrics for various writing assignments, as well as shared ideas/strategies for instructing.  We investigated writing from our classes and determined characteristics of strong to weak writing.  One activity that we used for such a task was RAG (read around groups).  In case you aren’t familiar with this activity, here is a quick overview:

1.    Code papers.

2.     Group participants and distribute collection of papers.

3.     Each participant receives one paper and reads for one minute (not necessary to complete

reading the entire paper, but long enough to get a strong feel for the paper).

4.     At signal, pass paper clockwise to next reader; repeat reading.

5.     End of reading, group determines which paper is “best.” (two minutes)

6.     Repeat with each group until all have read all papers.

Groups share which papers were identified as “best.” Why?  Discuss implications. This procedure can be used for a variety of purposes from determining scoring criteria to implications for future instruction.  I also used it in my writing classes to involve students in evaluating/focusing on different features of writing.

Looking back through my files when I was the Minnesota Writing Project Director, I discovered a letter written to the Commissioner of Education about the elimination of our state writing assessment.  I cited benefits that have occurred because of the state writing assessment: 

·     increased awareness of the importance of writing

·     more attention paid to the teaching of writing

·     better articulation of writing criteria

·     focus on staff development

·     more breadth of writing introduced and covered

·     improved writing program evaluation by identifying the strengths and weaknesses of writing instruction

and my hope that the department would

·     encourage districts to institute or maintain in-house writing assessment

o   offer strong staff development opportunities

o   provide opportunities to examine student work, to focus instruction, and to identify students who need more individual support

·     identify resources/agencies that can provide quality staff development 

o   to design and deliver writing instruction

o   to design writing assessments and conduct scoring

·     provide opportunities for districts to share ideas

Finally, I would recommend taking a look at the Position Statement on Assessing Writing (https://ncte.org/statement/teaching-writing/)published by NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English).  It begins with “(a)ssessment of writing involves complex, informed, human judgment” and includes several factors that teachers need to understand.

7 THE RIGHT TO BE ASSESSED WELL

"One thing that happens in an assessment-heavy environment is that inordinate amounts of time are devoted to preparing for 'the test.'"

From the moment I stepped into my large, public school district in 1992, the importance of testing to the writing curriculum became readily apparent. We had a writing test that needed to be passed before graduation. As a result, the test was given each year from 10th - 12th grade. Once passed, it was no longer necessary to take the test. Not passing the test could result in one being denied graduation.

The test was basic: a. Write a business letter complete with correctly formatted headings, salutations, spacing and closings. Errors needed to be minor in the body of the letter. b. Write a formal essay related to a prompt. Again, errors needed to be minor to pass. Both essays needed passing scores for graduation requirements to be complete. Students might pass on the essay and continue to fail on the business letter mainly because of formatting errors.

A few years later, a state test was developed and for a short time, students were required to take both tests with district graduation requirements still based on the district test. Gradually, we moved to only requiring passage of the state test for graduation. Again, it could be taken a number of times. Because of the competition between districts for numbers of students passing, teachers felt coerced into spending inordinate amounts of time teaching the format versus the content of a passing essay.

Today, there is no state or district writing test. What have we learned? Vicki Spandel carefully lays out the problems of writing tests in this chapter from The 9 Rights of Every Writer.  First, there are times when test preparation for writing becomes a curriculum unto itself. Second, test prep often doesn't honor the writing process. In other words, because they want their students to pass the test, teachers often resort to formulaic teaching of writing like the use of the 5 paragraph essay, and they never go beyond what is expected on the test. And, because test prep is formulaic, students often are denied the experience of the complete writing process.

Having spent countless hours on writing teams, grading writing tests, creating writing prompts and working with a variety of rubrics and teaching writing in the classroom, I have no easy solutions. Yes, it's important for students to know how to write a coherent essay, but do they all need to be in the same format? Where does idea development and the writing process come into play?

What is your experience with evaluating writing and helping students to grow as writers? How and when should we judge proficiency?