Vidalia City Schools’ Writing Plan

1. Vidalia City Schools’Writing Plan

2. Why a writing plan? • Consistency among k-12 writing instruction • Need to address state expectations for writing • Data indicated very few students were exceeding expectation on state writing tests • Concern for the lack of opportunities for writing practice

3. Getting Started • Contacted RESA for assistance with developing a writing plan • Formed a writing committee with teacher representatives from each school and grade • Writing committee consisted of ELA and Special Education teachers • RESA provided professional learning to help us develop the writing plan

4. Plan Development • Mock assessments were used to identify strengths and weaknesses. • Teachers developed a timeline for administering the mock assessments. • Mock assessments will be scored using state provided writing rubrics- grades 6-8 used 8th grade rubrics and grades 9-11 used the GHSWT rubrics

5. Plan Development • Collaborative analysis of mock assessments in PLCs to get various perspectives, increase objectivity, and inter-rater reliability • ELA teachers score mock assessments • PLC time used to study rubrics and reach consensus on scoring and developing prompts • Teachers will swap student samples for scoring

6. Plan Development • Committee members analyzed data to zero in on specific domains and pace out instructional plan. • Developed writing checklists for all contents area teachers • Gathered feedback from all ELA teachers about instructional plan and writing checklists • Committee members collaborated to create consensus across grade levels and schools

7. Professional Learning • During PLC time • Review samples of writing and compile a notebook of samples for each genre that illustrate specific strategies for each domain. • Practice scoring papers using the writing rubrics • Generate teaching strategies for each domain • Redelivery of writing plan and process with all content areas