Technology Tools to Support Writing:

Preliminary WWWOW Grant Results

Presented by Jane Cook & Chris La Casse

CWP Summer Institute, July 2007

Reflection Questions: How can technology tools help?How many students are engaged and on task 100% of the time?How many students do multiple revisions?How many teachers have time to give feedback to every student on multiple drafts of the same piece?How long does it take for a teacher to compile the data from the writing of their class to plan mini-lessons? How often are teachers able to do that?

Data CollectionCMT baseline data Survey of teacher attitudes and perceptions on technology & writingSurvey of student attitudes and perceptions on technology & writingAnecdotal teacher and student data from observations and conversationsStudent work samples Student grades

SurveysFocused on teacher and student perceptions

How teachers feel about technology & writingHow students feel about technology & writingHow teachers think students feel about technology & writing

Results of Teacher & Student Surveys

90% of students report having a computer at homeMost teachers predicted around 50% of their students had computers at home

Students have more access to technology than teachers are aware of

Survey Results (cont’d)

Students enjoy using technology more than teachers think

How m otivated are your students tow ard

technology?

33%

67%

0%

0%

0%

Love to use it

Like to use it

Use it w hennecessary

Don't like to use it

Hate to use it

How do you feel about using com puters?

69%

24%

5%

2%

0%

Love it

Like it

Don't care

Don't really like it

Hate it

Teachers Students

Survey Results (cont’d)

How would you describe the average ability of your

students for using technology?

0%

50%

25%

17%

8%

Can't use technologyat all

Need to ask questionsoften

Mostly independent

Good and sometimeshelp others

Very independent andoften help others

Students feel more comfortable using technology than teachers expectTeachers Students

How good are you with using computers?

1%15%

19%

42%

23%

Can't use at all

Need to ask questionsoften

Don’t usually need help

Pretty good andsometimes help others

Usually help others

Survey Results (cont’d)

Students have more positive perceptions of their own writing ability

Teachers Students

How good are you at writing?

11%

46%

31%

10% 2%Excellent

Good

Could be better

Not very good

Poor

How would you describe your students' average ability with writing?

0%

8%

8%

67%

17%

Very good

Good

Mostly independent

Need some guidance

Can barely write without support

Survey Results (cont’d)

Students enjoy writing more than teachers expect

Teachers Students

How do you feel about writing?

19%

40%

19%

8%

14%Love to w rite

Like to w rite sometimes

Don't care

Don't like to w rite

Hate to w rite

What is your students' motivation toward writing?

0%25%

42%

25%

8%Love to write

Like to write

Write when required

Do not like to write

Hate to write

Survey Results (cont’d)

25% of students get written feedback from teacher 2-3 times

each week57% get that feedback within 2-3

daysOnly 33% find feedback helpful

Students get feedback from teachers fairly often - usually within 2-3 days - but only find it somewhat helpful

Implications of Survey Data

Teacher perceptions may interfere with effective use of technology in the classroom

Teachers do not believe technology is a significant part of students’ lives Teachers do not know how much access their students have to technology

Teachers perception of students’ writing may interfere with the choices they make about assignments

Teachers believe that students do not like to writeStudents do not get daily feedbackOnly 1/3 find teacher feedback somewhat helpful

Preliminary Student Data from One Grade 6 Language

Arts Class Students were placed in the LA class

because they scored at the Basic or Below Basic level in Reading and Writing on the CMT. Since the introduction of the WWWOW grant technology tools:

9 out of 11 students’ grades improved

From the 1st quarter to the 3rd quarter, the average grade went from C to B

2 students raised their grades from D to B-

Preliminary Student Data from One Grade 6 Language Arts

Class (continued)

Since the introduction of the WWWOW grant:10 out of 11 students received a score of 4 or higher (Proficient) on their last MY Access! revisionThe average score on their last MY Access! assignment was 4.7 out of 6All students revised their pieces:

10 out of 11 students made at least 6 revisions to their last MY Access! piece1 student made only one revision3 students made between 11 and 16 revisionsThe average number of revisions was 9

Anecdotal Data from Teachers

4/5/07 “I don’t know what it is about this computer but the kids just want to get in and write, write, write. Even my reluctant students.”

-6th Grade Teacher

4/5/07 “You could hear a pin drop. Not one kid was off task. Everyone was typing. They really enjoyed every minute of it!”

- Grade 5-8 Art Teacher while walking by a 6th classroom that was using the wireless lab

4/24/07 “I loved what we did in the bilingual class. If you want to make a difference in priority schools, put a laptop in front of every kid. They are spectacular. The kids were so engaged. These are kids who don’t have English as their first language and they were writing and thinking. It was terrific! What drives me crazy is that we have only 20 laptops and there are 1,000 kids in our school.”

-Reading Specialist

Anecdotal Data from Teachers

Comment overheard in May of 2007 when a 7th Grade teacher walked by a classroom where students were using the wireless laptops :

“What are you doing in your classroom? Why are the students so engaged? How can I get a piece of this?”

Anecdotal Data from Students

4/07 “Last year all my teacher ever said is ‘Details, details, details’. Once I used the picture tool [pre-writing wizard/graphic organizer in MY Access!], now I get it.”

-6th Grade Student

4/07 “I just can’t stop writing. I just need to keep adding more details to my story.”

-6th Grade Student (observed working on his 5th draft after receiving a score of 5 out of 6 on his 4th draft)

Anecdotal Data from Students

Observation in May, 2007 - Grade 6 students working on wireless laptops, independently of teacher:

Student 1: “How do we spell check?”Student 2: (from all the way across the classroom) “F7”

(Student 1 taps F7 key and continues working without any teacher)

Student 3: “How do you change the print?”Student 4: “You go to Font. (points on laptop screen)

I’m going to need your help in a minute.”Student 3: “OK.” (continues work on writing)Student 4: “Did you get it? It’s called Algerian.”Student 3: “Yes. Do you like it better like that or like this?”

Implications of Preliminary Data

The teaching paradigm has shifted – everyone in the classroom is a both a teacher and a learnerThe level of enthusiasm for using the technology is very high Students are self-motivated, self-directed and self-correctingStudents are engaged in their learningStudents are motivated to write moreStudents are motivated to revise their workStudent performance has improvedTeachers are using data to inform instruction

Sample Frequency Distribution Report

Score HolisticF- Focus and

MeaningD - Content and

DevelopmentO -

OrganizationL - Language Use and

StyleM - Mechanics

and Conventions

Non-scorable

0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%

1 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%

2 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%

3 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%

4 25% 25% 75% 75% 25% 50%

5 75% 75% 25% 25% 75% 50%

6 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%

 

  Holistic F D O L M

 Average Score:

4.75 4.75 4.25 4.25 4.75 4.50

 Average Male Score:

5.00 5.00 4.50 4.00 5.00 5.00

 Average Female Score:

4.50 4.50 4.00 4.50 4.50 4.00

The Strongest Domain: [F - Focus and Meaning, L - Language Use and Style]

The Weakest Domain: [D - Content and Development, O - Organization

Error Category Error Detail Error Count

GRAMMAR A vs. an 1

GRAMMAR Summary 1

MECHANICS Subject-verb agreement errors 7

MECHANICS Word order after who (etc.) 1

MECHANICS Spelling errors 36

MECHANICS Punctuation errors 18

MECHANICS Capitalization errors 2

MECHANICS Doubled words 1

MECHANICS Summary 65

USAGE Missing articles 4

USAGE Double negatives 1

USAGE Errors with it and there 1

USAGE Clause errors 7

USAGE Similar words 6

USAGE Unnecessary prepositions (ESL)

1

USAGE Pronoun errors (ESL) 8

USAGE Misused words 9

USAGE Summary 37

Sample Error Analysis Report

Next StepsDesign additional training for teachersContinue on-site coaching and supportWork collaboratively with Information Technology Department to ensure that technology is supported dailyWork with WWWOW Project Team teachers to design a schedule for equitable access to the labContinue collecting and analyzing data to determine “course corrections”Post additional student work on school Web site

Burning Questions???Burning Questions???