CURRICULA GUIDE FOR
ENGLISH COMPOSITION
11th Grade through College Level
English Composition Competencies
with Embedded Real World Applications in
Assignments & Assessments
Version 1.0
Preface
1
ACCESS
Curricula Guide for
Aligning Curricula and Career Education
for Student Success (ACCESS)
11th Grade through College Level
English Composition Competencies
Embedded Real World Applications in
Assignments & Assessments
Version 1.0
English • ACCESS Curricula Guide
2
This project was made possible
through the generous support of
The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
The James Irvine Foundation
The Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund
The Girard Foundation
ACCESS Curricula Guide • English Composition
Ta b l e o f C o n t e n t s
3
ACCESS Curricula Guide for
Introduction.......................................................................................................................................................... Page 4
Career Clusters...................................................................................................................................................Page 10
How to Use This Guide.................................................................................................................................... Page 13
Descriptions of ACCESS Competencies.................................................................................................. Page 15
Formative Assessments (with Aligned Standards)............................................................................. Page 19
Competency 1: Writing an Argument with Audience and Purpose in Mind...................... Page 22
Competency 2: Reading and Processing Sources....................................................................... Page 27
Competency 3: Utilizing the Writing Process...............................................................................Page 34
Competency 4: Incorporating Ideas from Other Texts in Writing.........................................Page 39
Competency 5: Organizing Using Accepted Text Structures and Patterns of
Organization..............................................................................................................Page 45
Competency 6: Developing Clarity...................................................................................................Page 50
Competency 7: Using Correct Conventions for Incorporating and Documenting
Sources in Writing................................................................................................... Page 58
Competency 8: Using Correct Grammar Conventions..............................................................Page 65
Summative Assessments............................................................................................................................... Page 71
Summative Assessments Grading Rubrics.............................................................................................Page 84
Acknowledgements/Contributors............................................................................................................. Page 93
Appendix 1: Mapping ACCESS Competencies to California Content Standards
and Common Core Standards................................................................................. Page 103
Appendix 2: Testimonials: The Importance of Writing in the Workplace................................. Page 106
For more information, contact Shelly Valdez, EdD, at [email protected].
English Composition • ACCESS Curricula Guide
4
Introduction
INTRODUCTION
The ACCESS Curricula Guide for English Composition is the result of many passionate discussions
about English Language Arts among more than 100 K–12 and postsecondary English faculty and
Career Technical Education (CTE) instructors throughout California. The goal of these discussions
was to define the exit and entrance competencies that students should possess at the levels
of 11th grade, 12th grade, college basic skills, and freshman English composition to make student
transitions more successful. CTE instructors worked
with English faculty to develop assessments that
This guide is unique in three
teachers can use to measure whether students are
distinct ways:
meeting expectations, and make these assessments
1) It takes an important
apply to real world experiences.
This effort, called ACCESS (Aligning Curricula
step beyond listing gaps
between high school and
and Career Education for Student Success),
college writing by providing
launched in September 2008 with the backing
sample assessments that
of foundation leaders who believe in the type of
measure mastery of the core
intersegmental work that distinguishes Cal-PASS
from other educational initiatives. The foundations
are: The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation,
The James Irvine Foundation, The Evelyn and
Walter Haas Jr. Fund, and The Girard Foundation.
Thirteen regions around the state played
a role in defining core competencies in English
Language Arts and developing assessments
competencies.
2)It is the result of educational
segments working in unison.
3) It answers the often-asked
question from students:
“Where will I ever have to
use this?”
to measure achievement in each grade level.
Based on the experience of the English faculty and their knowledge of the California State
Standards and Community College Student Learning Outcomes, topics and skills were
identified that the faculty felt were important for students to know upon completing the
courses. Once these important topics and skills were identified and worded as measurable
competencies, they were mapped relative to the California Content Standards and Common
Core Standards for alignment. (See Appendix 1 for Mapping Standards.)
ACCESS Curricula Guide • English Composition
Introduction
5
The Problem
California high school graduates leave high school believing they are ready for college, but
the data demonstrate that even successful high school students are often ill-prepared for
college. Research over the past 10 years points to specific areas that are needed — both in
class and in the home — to prepare students for the rigors and habits needed to succeed in
college and beyond.
The messages most California high school students
Remediation rates in
receive about standards for attending a broad-access
college are staggering:
university or open-access community college are confusing.
53 percent of students
Because it is generally perceived that it is easy to enter the
matriculating in the
community college and California State University (CSU)
CSU system and as high
systems, there are few intrinsic incentives to work hard
as 90 percent at some
in high school.1 Once students enroll in these colleges,
community colleges.2
however, they face challenging placement exams, faculty
and university expectations, and graduation requirements
of which they are likely unaware.
Unlike messages students receive from competitive four-year universities, messages
received by students aiming for what are perceived as less-selective universities provide little
information about the educational level at which they should achieve. This lack of information
is represented by the number of college freshmen who must remediate in English and/or
math and those who drop out. Remediation rates in college are staggering: 53 percent of
students matriculating into the CSU system and as high as 90 percent at some community
colleges.2 While a majority of high school graduates enter college, fewer than half leave with
a degree. Many factors influence this attrition, but a report by the American Diploma Project
states that the preparation students receive in high school has been found to be the greatest
predictor of bachelor’s degree attainment.3
Michael Kirst and Andrea Venezia, From High School to College: Improving Opportunities for Success in PostSecondary Education, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2004.
2
Robert Johnstone, “Community College Pre-collegiate Research Across California: Findings, Implications, and
the Future,” iJournal, no. 9, 2004.
3
American Diploma Project, Ready or Not: Creating a High School Diploma that Counts, 2004,
www.achieve.org/files/ADPreport_7.pdf.
1
English Composition • ACCESS Curricula Guide
6
Introduction
Although remediation rates at postsecondary institutions have remained steady for
30 years, the population going to college is rising, and the number of students needing
remediation is putting a strain on budgets and making the college experience longer
and more arduous. Students who are unprepared are often unaware of this fact until they
matriculate as freshmen. Already accepted or registered,
they are given placement tests to determine if they are ready
The main source of this
for college-level work. The CSU accepts students who, by
disconnect is the lack
all indicators, are ready (have taken necessary college-prep
of communication and
courses), but once at the university, these students must
collaboration between
contend with their lack of preparedness for college-level work.
high school and higher
Community colleges accept all students, regardless of courses
education.4
taken in high school.
The main source of this disconnect is the lack of communication and collaboration
between high school and higher education.4 High school teachers and college professors
rarely talk to each other about curriculum, learning issues, and expectations. This leads
to confusion by high school students and administrators regarding what it means to be
prepared for college.
H e a d i n g To w a r d A S o l u t i o n
In one large, comprehensive study in California, more than 400 instructors and professors
from California community colleges, CSU campuses, and UC campuses were polled about
what they expect from incoming college freshman.5 Members from some of the Cal-PASS
English Professional Learning Councils (regional councils made up of teams of disciplinebased faculty from elementary, middle school, high school, community college, and
university segments) utilized the work of this document to develop core competencies
and assessments that measure mastery of these competencies.
Many of Cal-PASS’s Professional Learning Councils turned also to a document published
by the Association of American Universities and the Pew Charitable Trusts in 2003 entitled
David T. Conley, College Knowledge: What It Really Takes for Students to Succeed and What We Can Do to Get
Them Ready, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2005.
5
Intersegmental Committee of the Academic Senates, Academic Literacy: A Statement of Competencies
Expected of Students Entering California’s Public Colleges and Universities, Sacramento, CA, 2002.
4
ACCESS Curricula Guide • English Composition
Introduction
7
“Understanding University Success.” 6 The report was designed to describe the skills and
knowledge students needed to be successful in entry-level university courses. Included in
that document were English standards that described the reading, writing, research, and
critical thinking skills necessary for college success. Each of the English standards is broken
into meaningful subskills. Each subskill is then described in detail.
Most insightful to many of the Cal-PASS Professional Learning Council participants
was California State University’s Expository Reading and Writing course (ERWC). Several
teachers on Cal-PASS Professional Learning Councils around the state are trained in this
curriculum and attest to its effectiveness in teaching rhetorical writing strategies to students,
strategies students must master to be successful in college courses. The details of this
coursework inspired Cal-PASS Professional Learning Council participants to delve deeper
into discovering the disconnects between ELA classes in high school and college.
Having examined standards documents from a variety of resources, the teachers working
on ACCESS identified eight common strands where curriculum alignment work could begin.
The teachers needed to find a common term for these strands that was not already part of
Having examined
the terminology of a specific educational segment
and, therefore, could become the intersegmental term.
standards documents from
The term “learning outcomes” is used by community
a variety of resources, the
colleges and universities and the term “standards” is
teachers...identified eight
used in the K–12 realm, so it was decided that these
common strands where
shared skill strands would be called “competencies.” In
curriculum alignment
other words, by the end of a course, a student would
work could begin.
have achieved competency in a particular skill. These
eight competencies are not meant to be comprehensive.
In the first year of the grant, teachers examined English Language Arts and Career and
Technical Education standards and looked for where those standards aligned. The teachers
were not surprised to discover that there was a great deal of overlap between ELA and
CTE standards for writing and reading nonfiction texts. Once these overlaps were identified,
teachers began to examine college and university student learning outcomes and the high
David T. Conley, ed., Understanding University Success: A Project of the Association of American Universities
and The Pew Charitable Trusts, Center for Educational Policy Research, University of Oregon, 2003.
6
English Composition • ACCESS Curricula Guide
8
Introduction
school ELA standards, again looking for places where the standards aligned. Through
this process, the group made a major discovery (subsequently verified in several recent
reports7): There is a misalignment between college entrance expectations and high school
exit standards.
While one aim of the Common Core Standards is to rectify this misalignment, when work
began on this project, those standards had not been released. When work on this project was
wrapping up, those standards had just been made public. The professional development offered
by these discussions regarding the misalignment will definitely allow for a greater understanding
and implementation of the Common Core Standards because teachers were afforded these
opportunities. At the closing of the project, several teachers noted how the process of breaking
down standards into prerequisite skills and knowledge was essential to seeing the need and the
logic behind the Common Core Standards. Therefore, this document serves as a valuable bridge
between the California Content Standards and the Common Core Standards.
This document is not meant to represent a set of competencies that, if taught in this
way throughout the educational segments, will create college readiness. In other words,
they are not “power standards” or “focus standards.”
To further explain, one now debunked strategy that
...teachers noted how the
was en-vogue when the California English Language
process of breaking down
Arts Standards were initially published and, more
standards into prerequisite
importantly, tested was to choose “power standards,”
skills and knowledge was
those standards that were most frequently tested
essential to seeing the need
on various state tests. The effect of choosing these
and the logic behind the
“power standards” was that some standards simply
Common Core Standards.
were ignored because they were not tested. The
ACCESS participants were aware of this effect and wanted to ensure that the intersegmental
competencies represented here are illustrative of only those places where there are overlaps
among high school standards, college entrance expectations, and CTE standards. The
writers of this document acknowledge that due to time constraints and the nature of the
ELA standards themselves, there are important standards in the Common Core Standards
Michael Kirst and Andrea Venezia, From High School to College: Improving Opportunities for Success in PostSecondary Education, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2004.
7
ACCESS Curricula Guide • English Composition
Introduction
9
that may not be fully addressed here, especially where critical reading skills are concerned.
In essence, the teachers elected to focus on writing competencies, and even then only
the portion that pertained to the intersection between ELA and CTE. This document is not
The vision of this project
was already realized when
200 English and math
intended to identify everything that needs to be taught
so that students are college ready, but more a tool for
clarifying the type of curricula alignment work needed
to ensure that more students are prepared for college.
teachers gathered for three
These studies and curricula were the springboards
days to debate, challenge,
that ignited passionate discourse among English faculty
argue and — finally —
from high schools, community colleges, and universities
come to consensus.
in California. Gathering English faculty from across
educational segments is something Cal-PASS does often,
and is a feat unto itself. The vision of this project was already realized when 200 English and math
teachers gathered for three days to debate, challenge, argue, and — finally — come to consensus.
Under the ACCESS grant, Cal-PASS Professional Learning Councils worked throughout
the second year of the grant to refine and align the competencies and begin the work of
designing assessments for each competency. They designed these assessments specifically
to be of high interest to students and to apply to real world work situations with the intention
of linking writing to careers (contextualized learning). Grading/assessment rubrics were
developed hand-in-hand with example assessment activities.
During the summer of 2010, a convening was held for both subject area experts and
CTE instructors to refine existing CTE assessments and embed them into the competencies.
Also, this group used the career clusters provided by the California Community Colleges
Chancellor’s Office to guide them in embedding assessments that represent key cluster
examples that may have been missing in the initial effort. Thus, this guide represents the
knowledge of CTE and English instructors from each segment and aims to illustrate the
competencies at work in some of the fields of Career Technical Education taught in California
high schools and colleges. The collaborations between teachers resulted in a guide that
allows English and CTE courses to teach the application of the competencies.
English Composition • ACCESS Curricula Guide
10
CALIFORNIA INDUSTRY
SECTOR PATHWAYS
Manufacturing & Product
Development:
• Graphic Arts Technology
• Integrated Graphics
Technology
• Machine & Forming
Technology
• Welding Technology
Agriculture & Natural
Resources:
• Agricultural Business
• Agricultural Mechanics
• Agriscience
• Animal Science
• Forestry & Natural Resources
• Ornamental Horticulture
• Plant & Soil Science
Energy & Utilities:
• Electromechanical
Installation & Maintenance
• Energy & Environmental
Technology
• Public Utilities
• Residential & Commercial
Energy and Utilities
Health Science & Medical
Technology:
• Biotechnology Research &
Development
• Diagnostic Services
• Health Informatics
• Support Services
• Therapeutic Services
All Aspects of Industry:
Business Planning
Management
Health, Safety & Environment
Community Issues
Principles of Technology
Personal Work Habits
Technology Production Skills
Labor
Finance
Finance & Business:
• Accounting Services
• Banking & Related Services
• Business Financial
Management
Education, Child
Development, & Family
Services:
• Child Development
• Consumer Services
• Education
• Family & Human
Services
Transportation:
• Aviation & Aerospace
Transportation Services
• Collision Repair &
Refinishing
• Vehicle Maintenance,
Service, & Repair
Information
Technology:
• Information Support &
Services
• Media Support & Services
• Network Communications
• Programming & Systems
Development
Fashion
& Interior Design:
• Fashion Design,
Manufacturing, &
Merchandising
• Interior Design,
Furnishings,
& Maintenance
Building Trades &
Construction:
• Cabinetmaking & Wood
Products
• Engineering & Heavy
Construction
• Mechanical Construction
• Residential & Commercial
Construction
Marketing, Sales,
& Service:
• E-commerce
• Entrepreneurship
• International Trade
• Professional Sales
& Marketing
Arts, Media, &
Entertainment:
• Media & Design Arts
• Performing Arts
• Production &
Managerial Arts
Engineering & Design:
• Architectural & Structural
Engineering
• Computer Hardware, Electrical,
& Networking Engineering
• Engineering Design
• Engineering Technology
• Environmental & Natural
Science Engineering
Public Services:Ê
• Human Services
• Legal & Government
Services
• Protective Services
Hospitality, Tourism, &
Recreation:
• Food Science, Dietetics, &
Nutrition
• Food Service & Hospitality
• Hospitality, Tourism,
& Recreation
Career Clusters
ACCESS Curricula Guide • English Composition
This graphic served as a primary source of discussion during the two summer ACCESS convenings of math and English
faculty. It guided groups in determining how best to assess students using real world applications.
Introduction
11
Many educational segments are in the process of creating curriculum maps and vertical
alignment guides. This guide does not attempt to — nor could it — replace those efforts, however,
it could certainly be used to inform and help guide them. It cannot be emphasized enough how
much power the collegial conversations had on improving the thinking about curriculum and
instruction. This type of discussion is encouraged for all educational segments.
The Final Product
The ACCESS Curricula Guide for English Composition is the summation of English faculty
ACCESS work and represents newly aligned, contextually relevant, and collaboratively
developed curricula. This document is intended to supplement — not supplant — statewide
or institution-based curricula and expectations for multiple audiences, including high school
and post-secondary faculty, curriculum and instruction professionals, and campus-level or
statewide educational leaders.
Specifically, this guide
1. identifies several writing competencies as defined in standards documents across
three subsequent levels of English (spanning from high school to college);
2. provides formative assessment models with suggested evaluation criteria that could
be used to create rubrics to evaluate student competency levels;
3. maps the relationship between ACCESS curricula and California-based and nationally
based standards; and
4. describes the process by which faculty came together to discuss and identify these
competencies.
One of the challenges that instructors faced while working with the various standards
documents was related to the California Language Arts Standards and the Common
Core Standards, both of which identify grade level standards for grades 9/10 and 11/12.
The rationale for this combining is related to the high levels of complex problem solving
required to meet the critical reading and academic writing standards described therein. This
combining of standards clearly addresses this complexity by noting that it would take more
than one course to master the standard.
Teachers working on the ACCESS grant wrestled with how to address this issue since the
English Composition • ACCESS Curricula Guide
12
Introduction
focus of the grant was to create grade level competencies. Savvy readers will note prerequisite
skills for the 12th grade often refer to 9/10 grade level standards, which are then identified as
11th grade competencies. In this document, we have allowed this idiosyncrasy to stand in our
attempt to show the vertical alignment and to describe cleanly and clearly how prerequisite
skills must be taught and mastered at previous grade levels before moving on to the next.
In addition, early in the project, it made sense to establish 11th, 12th, and college entrance
and exit requirements. It shortly became clear that an 11th grade exit competency would be
the same as a 12th grade entrance requirement. Similarly, a 12th grade exit competency would
be the same as a college entrance requirement. In addition, English language development
courses, which are aligned with the English Language Arts Standards, were identified as
having the same entrance and exit expectations. Thus, these five coursework areas were
consolidated into three levels of English instruction as noted below:
• 11th Grade English: includes 11th grade exit, advanced ELD exit, and 12th grade entrance
competencies
• 12th Grade/College Basic Skills English: includes 12th grade exit, one level below transferlevel exit, and transfer-level English composition entrance competencies
• College Freshman Composition: includes transfer-level English exit competencies
It is hoped that high school English teachers who teach 11th and 12th grade students,
including those in EL classes, will benefit greatly from using the ACCESS Curricula Guide
for English Composition. Additionally, English instructors at community colleges and fouryear colleges who teach college basic skills English and freshman composition will find
good use of the curriculum and user-friendly assessments. Ideally, curriculum specialists
at high schools and colleges would use elements of this guide as tools to measure student
achievement and improve course alignment.
Further, those in English teacher preparation programs could use this guide as a textbook
supplement to provide concrete examples of what should be practiced in the classroom
regularly to help students prepare for college and careers.
ACCESS Curricula Guide • English Composition
How to Use This Guide
13
HOW TO USE THIS GUIDE
The ACCESS Curricula Guide for English Composition identifies eight competencies. Each
competency is then broken down into three academic levels. Due to the inconsistency of
course numbering and titles among colleges and community colleges, and despite the issues
related to high schools having one set of 11/12 ELA standards, for simplicity, the course levels
in this document are labeled as followed:
1.11th Grade English
2. 12th Grade/College Basic Skills English
3. College Freshman Composition
What follows in this section are descriptions of each of the eight identified competencies.
These descriptions are based on the standards documents, the college expectation documents,
and college course student learning outcomes. The eight competencies are:
• Writing an Argument with Audience and Purpose in Mind
• Reading and Processing Sources
• Utilizing the Writing Process
• Incorporating Ideas from Other Texts in Writing
• Organizing Using Accepted Text Structures and Patterns of Organization
• Developing Clarity
• Using Correct Conventions for Incorporating and Documenting Sources in Writing
• Using Correct Grammar Conventions
In addition, this handbook uses instructional terminology such as identify, analyze, and
respond, which represent the continuum of reading and writing skills, as well as English
content-specific terminology such as voice, tone, argument, claim, and evidence. These labels
have nuanced meanings to English teachers that are based in what researchers have called
“pedagogical content knowledge.”8 This nuanced language sometimes creates confusion for
students and even for teachers within the discipline when doing curriculum alignment work.
8
Lee Shulman, “Knowledge and Teaching: Foundations of the New Reform,” Harvard Educational Review 57,
no. 1, 1987.
English Composition • ACCESS Curricula Guide
14
How to Use This Guide
For example, one teacher may ask students to describe a situation, and that teacher is asking
for a piece of writing that includes details that appeal to the five senses. Another teacher may
ask students to describe their thinking about a topic, and what that teacher wants is a detailed
account of their thought process. Certainly, each of these writing tasks requires students
to have a deep content and skill knowledge, including the different academic definitions of
the word “describe,” as well as organization skills, word choice skills, clarity, and coherence.
As much as possible throughout this handbook, terms have been clarified based on what
contributing teachers intended. The conversations teachers had while working out what these
terms meant were extremely fruitful and rewarding for the teachers involved in the process.
The main section of this document includes representative formative and summative
assessments that were created by teachers. These assessments illustrate how common
classroom activities can be used to assess each competency. Regardless of the course level,
teachers can use and adapt any of the assessments to meet their needs. Many of these
activities and assessments presented in the third section are used across grade levels and
were designed with real world applications in mind. Each sample assessment, tied to each of
these levels, was created to be a formative assessment, to be adapted and completed in 1 to 4
hours. These assessments and rubrics can also be used in EL English classes. Four summative
assessments, each assessing most if not all of the competencies, are found in this section.
Holistic rubrics, which norm the summative assessments to the appropriate grade level, are
located here as well. The formative and summative assessments along with the holistic rubrics
combine to provide a framework for aligning the segments in the skills of writing.
The final section of this report lays out how these English/ACCESS competencies align
with the California State Standards for ELA, National Common Core Standards for ELA, and
typical student learning outcomes for English at community colleges and universities.
ACCESS Curricula Guide • English Composition
Descriptions of ACCESS Competencies
15
DESCRIPTIONS OF ACCESS COMPETENCIES
As previously described, the ACCESS Curricula Guide for English Composition focuses on
the competencies that pertain to writing since those standards were the areas in which
Career Technical Education standards and English standards had the most alignment. The
section that follows describes and defines the overarching meaning of each competency.
1. Wr it ing an A rgum ent wi th A ud i en ce an d P ur pose i n M i n d
Successful students have main arguments, claims, and evidence in the texts they produce.
Outside of school, texts are generally written for specific audiences and purposes; therefore,
students need to think rhetorically when they write. They must consider the audience
and purpose when presenting the overall argument, choosing an organizational method,
selecting evidence, and employing persuasive strategies. By thinking through their ideas
within the confines of an argument structure and attending to the audience and purpose
of a text, students develop a consciousness and a distinct voice. This competency moves
students toward achieving real world goals through writing.
2. Re a di ng and Processi ng S ou rces
Almost all academic writing is done in response to the ideas of others. Therefore, writers
with an academic purpose approach the task of reading a text from two perspectives:
first, to understand the ideas of the text; then, to decide which pieces of information are
important and relevant to the current assignment, noting the specific points that support the
argument they plan to present. This competency addresses skills related to active readers,
such as asking questions and noticing patterns, taking notes, summarizing, and critiquing
the material to understand what the text says.
3. Ut il izi ng th e Wri ti ng Process
Writing involves complex thinking and problem-solving processes.9 High school students
need to learn a variety of thinking, rehearsing, brainstorming, producing, revising, and editing
Linda Flower and John R. Hayes, “A Cognitive Process Theory of Writing,” College Composition and
Communication 32, no. 4, 1981.
John R. Hayes, “A New Framework for Understanding Cognition and Affect in Writing,” in The Science of
Writing, eds. C.M. Levy and S. Ransdell. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1996.
9
English Composition • ACCESS Curricula Guide
16
Descriptions of ACCESS Competencies
strategies in order to develop a text. By college, however, students should have internalized
these “steps” and be able to independently produce texts that meet the purpose of the project.
Once students have used a process to crystallize their thinking, they can then more easily
identify the main message they wish to convey and avoid becoming overwhelmed by details.
The competencies that precede and follow this competency are all integral to a writer’s
process and are often nonlinear and represent critical thinking steps that are commonly
labeled rehearsing, brainstorming, producing, revising, and editing.
4. In c o r p orati ng Ideas f rom O ther Tex t s i n Wr i t i n g
Academic writing requires that students have the ability to connect information from
sources to support, explore, complicate, or refute an argument. Effective student writers
take a position on an issue, summarize and contend with diverse viewpoints on the topic,
and provide effective supporting evidence drawn from outside resources. Students must
understand what plagiarism is and understand the ethics of writing. In this competency,
students must be able to effectively summarize the arguments of others so that when
incorporating ideas, they are not taking ideas out of context.
5. Organizing Using Accepted Text Structures and Patterns of Organization
Good writing uses appropriate and varied patterns of organization given the text’s purpose, genre,
and audience. Students should use patterns to organize ideas so that readers can easily follow the
analysis and conclusions offered by the text. Attention to both the contextualized structure of the
texts and the ways in which concepts and information are organized represents complex problem
solving and thinking. Categorization of information is a primary pattern of organizing required
of successful writers. In addition to categorical thinking, this competency emphasizes using
comparative thinking, making causal and temporal connections, as well as making connections
across texts and points of view. This competency displays a student’s ability to attend to the
demands of audience, purpose, and genre through organizational and structural choices.
6. D e ve lop i ng Clari ty
Students should develop cohesive, well-developed, focused arguments that use focused
language, syntax, and tone given various audiences, genres, and purposes. Clarity should
be present in all aspects of writing: word and punctuation choices, sentence and paragraph
ACCESS Curricula Guide • English Composition
Descriptions of ACCESS Competencies
17
construction and placement, and the creation of the entire text as a whole. Ideas also need
to show clarity through clear main arguments, claims, evidence, and sound logic. Clarity
must also be maintained in the connection between ideas as represented by transitions
(both internal and external), topic sentences, concluding sentences, introductions, and
conclusions. It is through the competency of clarity that misunderstandings are avoided
and exact thinking about complex issues comes forward.
7. Us in g Cor rect Conventi on s for I n cor porat i n g an d D ocum en t i n g
S o urces i n Wri ti ng
Each discipline has different conventions for how to report and document sources in writing.
Accuracy of research and interpretation as well as the ability for a peer to recreate the research
is highly valued in most endeavors, professional or otherwise. This competency addresses
the different conversations related to direct quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing as
determined by the content area. When directly quoting source material, students must
precisely and appropriately use quote tags that identify speakers and context. When
paraphrasing source material, students must pay close attention to and understand both
the literal meanings and connotations of words. This competency also includes instruction
in using correct citation and attribution styles. Students who have attained this competency
understand the reasons for the conversions and that the rules vary from profession to
profession or, while in school, discipline to discipline.
8 . Us in g Cor rect G ram m ar C onven t i on s
Correct grammar is the basis for good writing. Errors in these conventions inhibit a reader’s
understanding of a text. Good writing demands that writers consistently use proper, effective,
and purposeful sentence structure. Issues of proper agreement, idiom, and punctuation as well
as other minutiae of language construction are captured in this competency. This competency
also represents the importance of understanding how to identify and correct grammatical
errors in order to make writing clearer and to help communicate more effectively. Although this
competency is applicable throughout the writing process, these skills come to the forefront in the
editing phase. The knowledge of grammatical conventions is essential for clear communication
between reader and writer, but is not static and alters as our language alters.
English Composition • ACCESS Curricula Guide
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ACCESS Curricula Guide • English Composition
Formative Assessments
19
Formative
Assessments
English Composition • ACCESS Curricula Guide
20
Formative Assessments
INTRODUCTION
The diagnostic use of assessment to provide feedback to teachers and students over the
course of instruction is called formative assessment. It stands in contrast to summative
assessment, which generally takes place after a period of instruction and requires making a
judgment about the learning that has occurred (e.g., by grading or scoring a test or paper).
Broadly defined, formative assessments include all activities that teachers and students
undertake to get information that can be used diagnostically to alter teaching and learning.
Under this definition, assessment encompasses teacher observation, classroom discussion,
and analysis of student work, including homework and tests. Any assignment or class activity
becomes a formative assessment when the information is used to adapt teaching and learning
to meet student needs as knowledge and skills are in the process of forming, thus formative
assessment.
Writing tasks are often assumed to be summative assessments. However, they are
considered formative assessments when students have scaffolding or support. For example,
when students are working with a partner or in small groups or when students receive teacher
guidance in the form of an advance organizer or continual teacher feedback, writing tasks
become formative and not summative assessments.
When teachers know how students are progressing and where they are having trouble,
they can use this information to make necessary instructional adjustments, such as
reteaching, trying alternative instructional approaches, de-emphasizing the teaching of skills
that students are mastering in order to allot more time to those skills with which students are
struggling, or offering more opportunities for practice. These activities can lead to improved
student success.
How to Use This Section
The following pages contain sample activities for each of the competencies described in the
previous section, broken down by grade level. This guide offers examples of how student
progress toward a competency could be measured at the three instructional stages:
11th grade/advanced ESL course, 12th grade/college basic skills course, and a college level
transfer course. The holistic rubrics in the summative section best represent this relationship.
ACCESS Curricula Guide • English Composition
Formative Assessments
21
These formative assessments represent the work of intersegmental teams of teachers
using the competencies to create activities that focus intensely on the underlying skills
necessary to master the competency. The competencies are complex and are not easily
measured in a single assessment; they contain many nuances and subsets. However, these
formative assessments attempt to make concrete a method by which the underlying skills
of each competency can be taught in the classroom. The skill being assessed in each gradelevel competency is identified in bold type in the overview of the assessment and is reviewed
in the evaluation.
It is also important to note that many of the activities in the following section can be used
at multiple grade levels. In many cases, it is not the activity itself that is grade-level specific, but
the evaluation criteria of the activity that makes it appropriate for that grade level.
When engaging in these activities, teachers should focus on the purpose and outcome
in order to achieve the goals assessed in the evaluation. The teacher should frame the lesson
within the expectations of the larger competency. Students should be made keenly aware
of the specific skill focus of each activity and with the competency itself as outlined in the
overview. A close look at the evaluation criteria should follow. With these habits of instruction
in place, the teacher and student both engage in an act of meta-cognition in which each
knows the purpose of the activity, understands how it transfers to other disciplines and
texts, and comprehends how progress will be measured. Feedback to the student, once
the formative assessment has been completed, should be provided through the lens of
the evaluation criteria and with explicit connections made back to the larger competency,
making the larger academic, social, and professional importance known.
These assessments are offered by the teachers participating in the ACCESS grant as
discourse starters about what a competency looks like in the classroom, how assessment of
a student’s progress is constructed, how to appropriately set the rigor of the competency at
each grade level, and what the subskills of a competency might be.
English Composition • ACCESS Curricula Guide
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Formative Assessments
COMPETENCY 1: WRITING AN ARGUMENT WITH
AUDIENCE AND PURPOSE IN MIND
11/12 CA Content Standards: Writing Strategies 1.1, 1.2, 1.5, and 1.9
11/12 National Common Core Standards: 1, 2, and 4
CERT Standards: Invention
Successful students have main arguments, claims, and evidence in the texts they produce.
Outside of school, texts are generally written for specific audiences and purposes; therefore,
students need to think rhetorically when they write. They must consider the audience and
purpose when presenting the overall argument, choosing an organizational method, selecting
evidence, and employing persuasive strategies. By thinking through their ideas within the
confines of an argument structure and attending to the audience and purpose of a text,
students develop a consciousness and a distinct voice. This competency moves students
toward achieving real world goals through writing.
Writing an Argument with Audience and Purpose in Mind:
ACCESS Competency 1 by Grade Level
11th Grade
12th Grade
College
• Identify the needs of an
audience in order to use
particular syntactical
structures.
• Analyze characteristics of an
audience and genre in order
to determine appropriate
syntactical structures.
• Identify which persuasive
strategy would be useful
given a particular audience
and purpose.
• Analyze characteristics of an
audience and genre in order
to determine appropriate
persuasive strategies.
• Evaluate and apply
characteristics of an
audience and genre in order
to determine appropriate
syntactical structures.
• Identify and use consistent
and appropriate evidence
for the audience and
purpose.
• Analyze characteristics of
an audience and genre in
order to determine and
utilize appropriate evidence.
ACCESS Curricula Guide • English Composition
• Evaluate and apply
characteristics of an
audience and genre in order
to determine appropriate
persuasive strategies.
• Evaluate and apply
purposeful persuasive
strategies for an audience
and purpose.
Formative Assessments
23
Mo d e l Fo r m a t ive A s s e s sment
11th Grade English: Color-Coded Sentence Variety
Overview:
“Color-Coded Sentence Variety” is a classroom activity that formatively assesses the essential
skills of identifying various sentence types, analyzing purpose of various types, and evaluating
effectiveness given the purpose and audience of a text.
Time Frame:
1 hour with homework
Building Trades, Construction
Assessment Description:
Working with a single page of an essay
or an assignment students have written
during the class, they will use highlighters
to identify their simple (one color),
compound (another color), and complex
(a third color) sentences in their work.
Adaptations could include parentheses,
asterisks, bracketing, underlining, or
numbering at the instructor’s discretion.
I use writing skills in my job when I present
myself and my company to prospective
customers, when I work with customers
and project teams to ensure successful
project delivery, and when I follow up with
customers and project teams to verify
satisfaction. In other words, skilled writing
is the central method of communicating all
that is important to my firm and my industry.
Joe Bittaker
President, Landmark Construction
Following this, students will write a
two-paragraph write-up of the level of
sentence variety in their work. The first paragraph should describe existing sentence variety
(how many simple/compound/complex sentences?), noting places where sentence structure
is grammatically incorrect. The second paragraph should evaluate sentence variety, including
suggestions for improvement.
Evaluation:
Suggested criteria:
•
•
•
•
Demonstrates ability to differentiate between sentence types.
Demonstrates ability to recognize errors in sentence structure.
Demonstrates critical thinking about purpose and audience.
Evaluates sentence construction with audience and purpose in mind.
English Composition • ACCESS Curricula Guide
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Formative Assessments
M o d el Fo r m a t ive A s s e s sment:
12th Grade/College Basic Skills English: Satire Imitation
Overview:
Students read and analyze several satirical texts, including Jonathan Swift’s "A Modest
Proposal," Linda Pastan’s "Marks," A.R. Ammons’ "Needs," Marge Piercy’s "Barbie Doll," and
Judy Brady’s "I Want a Wife." Using the texts as models, students imitate rhetorical elements
to compose a satirical essay.
Various steps in “Satire Imitation” formatively assess the essential skills of recognizing
elements of a genre and naming a speaker, intended audience, and purpose.
Time Frame:
1 week of class time to read, analyze, and compose drafts; some homework time required for
revision and final draft
Assessment Description:
Students will read, annotate, analyze, discuss, and write satire. They will consider rhetorical
strategies, tone, and style in order to avoid writing offensive or overly sarcastic texts.
Students’ satirical essays must provide readers with various appeals (ethos, pathos, and
logos) in order to persuade audiences about an important social issue.
Students must write about a familiar issue in an effort to avoid writing about subjects
that are beyond their realm of understanding. Issues may include: school policies, the
environment, teachers, ethnicity, poverty, family, lifestyles, cars, clothing, fashion, tattoos,
pets, social networks, teenagers, cooking, etc.
Attention to organization, diction, syntax, and irony is required. Upon examining each of
the satirical texts, the following will be discussed in class:
•
•
•
Who is the speaker (persona)?
Who is the intended audience?
What is the main idea and purpose?
•
•
•
•
•
Which imagery and/or language helps to strongly assert the main idea?
Find examples of ethos, pathos, and logos.
What do these texts have in common? Provide examples to support commonalities.
Which text is most compelling? Why?
Which text would you most likely imitate? Why?
ACCESS Curricula Guide • English Composition
Formative Assessments
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Evaluation:
Suggested criteria:
•
Meets the demands of the genre using humor, wit, irony, and clever language (that is not
confused with offensive or sarcastic content) to support main argument and appeal to
the audience.
•
•
•
Establishes a strong persona.
Targets intended audience through narrative and examples, evidence and appeals.
Maintains a central purpose in the text that is distinguished from the main argument.
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Formative Assessments
M o d el Fo r m a t ive A s s e s sment:
College Freshman Composition: Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!
Overview:
Students are asked to draft and deliver written thank-you notes/letters to three different real
audiences.
“Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!” formatively assesses essential skills of using
evaluating and applying characteristics of an audience and genre in order to determine
appropriate syntactical structures.
Time Frame:
2 hours to draft, revise, edit, and prepare documents for delivery
Assessment Description:
Students are asked to write three different thank-you notes or letters. The first should be
written to a friend, family member, or acquaintance with whom the student is comfortable.
The second should be written to someone in a position of authority over the student. The
final thank-you letter will be something read by a larger audience, perhaps to a company,
organization, or the readership of a local newspaper.
Each of these thank-you notes/letters should be concise — between one and three
paragraphs — and a copy of each should be presented to the instructor. The original notes/
letters should be mailed and sent by, or in the presence of, the teacher to underscore the
authenticity of a real audience. This can be a requirement of the assignment.
Evaluation:
Suggested criteria:
•
•
•
•
Uses appropriate vocabulary for audience.
Contains specific — not vague — content given the intended audience, purpose, and genre.
Uses appropriate format, form, materials for chosen audience and genre.
Pays attention to conventions that are appropriate for audience and genre.
ACCESS Curricula Guide • English Composition
Formative Assessments
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COMPETENCY 2: READING AND PROCESSING
SOURCES
11/12 CA Content Standards: Reading Comprehension 2.2 and 2.4
11/12 National Common Core Standards: 7, 8, and 9
CERT Standards: Invention
Almost all academic writing is done in response to the ideas of others. Therefore, writers
with an academic purpose approach the task of reading a text from two perspectives:
first, to understand the ideas of the text; then, to decide which pieces of information are
important and relevant to the current assignment, noting the specific points that support the
argument they plan to present. This competency addresses skills related to active readers,
such as asking questions and noticing patterns, taking notes, summarizing, and critiquing
the material to understand what the text says.
Reading and Processing Sources:
ACCESS Competency 2 by Grade Level
11th Grade
12th Grade
College
• Identify argument, claims,
and evidence.
• Analyze argument, claims,
evidence.
• Evaluate complex arguments,
claims, and evidence.
• Summarize and paraphrase
ideas.
• Summarize and paraphrase
information effectively.
• Summarize and paraphrase
information purposefully.
• Identify appropriate and
relevant information from
supplied or a limited number
of texts.
• Analyze arguments, claims,
and evidence from more
than one text in order to
identify appropriate and
relevant information related
to the writing task or
assignment.
• Evaluate arguments, claims,
and evidence from multiple
texts in order to identify
appropriate and relevant
information related to the
writing task or assignment.
English Composition • ACCESS Curricula Guide
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Formative Assessments
M o d el Fo r m a t ive A s s e s sment
11th Grade English: Recall Diagram
Overview:
Students create an abbreviated map of main ideas and details in a reading as a quick way to
summarize what they’ve read.
“Recall Diagram” formatively assesses the skills of summarizing and identifying the main
argument, claims, and evidence.
Time Frame:
5–10 minutes
Marketing, Sales
I use writing skills in my job as a marketing
consultant to write proposals; craft a few
Assessment Description:
Students will create a recall diagram
after reading a source. Through this
activity, students organize main ideas,
subtopics, and details drawn from
their reading of the text.
words for advertisements; tell a client
success story for a newsletter; provide in-depth
marketing plans; and report on results of
meetings, training sessions, and marketing
campaigns.
Karen Fraser-Middleton
Marketing Consultant, Marketing Action
The organization of the recall
diagram is adaptable, but usually
starts with a horizontal line on which the subject is written, and utilizes secondary
diagonal lines stemming from the original that lists subtopics or main ideas, and tertiary
lines offering details that stem from those. There is no requisite structure or number of
stems; the recall diagram is adaptable for use in many situations and aids the student
in recall and the teacher in assessing whether students have captured main ideas and
details after an experience or reading.
ACCESS Curricula Guide • English Composition
Formative Assessments
29
For instance, after reading Martin Luther King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” a student
might create the following recall diagram:
Jesus
Great use of sources
Biblical sources
Paul
Martin Buber,
Jewish Theologian
Socrates
Alliterative — lots!
“Letter from Birmingham Jail”
Anaphora (lots of
repetition)
Alliterative — lots!
“Little clouds of inferiority
filling her sky”
Evaluation:
Suggested criteria:
•
•
•
Identifies main ideas.
Identifies supporting ideas and has arranged them as being subordinate to the main idea.
Identifies details and subtopics and has arranged them as being subordinate to the
supporting ideas.
English Composition • ACCESS Curricula Guide
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Formative Assessments
M o d el For m a t ive A s s e s sment
12th Grade/College Basic Skills English: Charting Multiple Texts and Précis Composition
Overview:
Students complete a chart that includes details regarding related texts. The completed chart
serves as an organizational tool for students to compose a précis for each text.
“Charting Multiple Texts and Précis Composition” formatively assesses the skills of writing
a précis, i.e., of analyzing arguments, claims, and evidence from more than one text in order
to identify appropriate and relevant information related to the writing task or assignment.
Time Frame:
1 hour for chart completion; 2 hours for précis instruction and composition
Assessment Description:
Students start by completing the chart (see next page), gathering and analyzing important
details from each of the texts. Once the chart is completed, students write a précis for each
text. The précis is a paragraph of 4–6 sentences that concisely states the entire argument
of the text.
ACCESS Curricula Guide • English Composition
Formative Assessments
31
Charting Multiple Texts
Text
Information
What is
the text’s
main
topic?
What are
the most
important
examples/
quotes from
the text?
What
claim
does
the text
make?
What do
you think
about
the text’s
claim?
What are
your
examples?
How does
this text
connect to
the ideas
of other
texts?
Title
Author
Genre
(add rows as needed)
Directions for students:
As you look down the side of the chart, you will see that it asks you for information about the
different texts you will be reading in this assignment:
•
•
•
Title
Author
Genre
Across the top of the chart are the ideas you will be tracking as you read the texts in this
module. They are presented in the form of questions:
•
What is the text’s main topic?
Identify the “main idea” of the text.
•
What claim does the text make?
Identify the writer’s perspective on the main idea.
•
What are examples or quotes from the text?
Include examples given by the writer to help the reader understand his or her claim. Be
sure to offer page or line numbers (or both) to identify where you found the quote or
idea.
•
What do you think about the text’s claim?
Explain your response to the text’s claim, including to what extent (if any) you agree with it.
•
What are your examples?
Give a few examples from your own experiences that help explain your response to the
text’s claim.
•
How does this text connect to other texts?
If you see a similarity to another text, make note of it here. Connections can be made even
among texts that have very different claims.
English Composition • ACCESS Curricula Guide
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Formative Assessments
Evaluation:
Criteria for assessing the précis could include:
• Limits précis to 4–6 sentences.
• Concisely states entire argument of text.
• Avoids including minor examples or superfluous details.
• Employs key words and phrases from the text.
Criteria for assessing the chart could include:
• Clearly identifies claim(s) and main ideas.
• Effectively analyzes text by exploring relationship between the parts of the text and the
connections between the texts.
ACCESS Curricula Guide • English Composition
Formative Assessments
33
Mo d e l Fo r m a t ive A s s e s sment
College Freshman Composition: Annotated Career Bibliography
Overview:
Students research a career and provide a formatted list of resources with short summative
annotations.
“Annotated Career Bibliography” formatively assesses the skills of documenting source
information (represented in Competency 7), as well as of evaluating arguments, claims, and
evidence from multiple texts in order to identify appropriate and relevant information
related to the writing task or assignment.
Time Frame:
2 hours; requires access to research
Assessment Description:
Students will research a career in the career connections office/counseling center or other
appropriate location and present information on three sources in an annotated bibliography.
This bibliography should follow specific MLA formatting requirements and should include
short 4–5 sentence annotations or summaries of the source. These summaries might
comment on the source’s usefulness, format, and the information it presents.
Requirements could include:
•
•
•
•
•
•
a heading with name, date, and class day/time
title “Annotated Bibliography” centered beneath the heading
three sources in correct MLA format
a 4–5 sentence summary about the source under each MLA source entry
a print source and an electronic source
word-processed with 12 pt., double-spaced, Times New Roman font
Evaluation:
Suggested criteria:
•
•
Uses annotation that summarizes content and explains how the content of text is related
to a topic.
Observes conventions of MLA format; formats details in correct order.
English Composition • ACCESS Curricula Guide
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Formative Assessments
COMPETENCY 3: UTILIZING THE WRITING PROCESS
CA Content Standards: Writing Strategies 1.9
National Common Core Standards: 5 and 10
CERT Standards: Arrangements
Writing involves a complex thinking and problem-solving process. High school students need
to learn a variety of thinking, rehearsing, brainstorming, producing, revising, and editing
strategies in order to develop a text. By college, however, students should have internalized
these “steps” and be able to independently produce texts that meet the purpose of the project.
Once students have used a process to crystallize their thinking, they can then more easily
identify the main message they wish to convey and avoid becoming overwhelmed by details.
The competencies that precede and follow this competency are all integral to a writer’s
process and are often nonlinear and represent critical thinking steps that are commonly
labeled rehearsing, brainstorming, producing, revising, and editing.
Utilizing Writing Processes:
ACCESS Competency 3 by Grade Level
11th Grade
• Deconstruct a writing task
in order to develop an
argument that has a main
claim, supporting claims,
and evidence.
• With guidance, plan to
write using a variety of
prewriting strategies.
• Draft argument/thesis and
claims with scaffolding and
guidance.
• Analyze and explain
evidence with scaffolding
and guidance.
• Reflect, revise, and edit
based on teacher and peer
feedback.
12th Grade
• Deconstruct a writing task in
order to develop a complex
argument using multiple
texts for a familiar audience.
• Plan to write using a variety
of prewriting strategies with
emerging independence.
• Draft argument/thesis and
claims with guidance.
• Analyze and explain
evidence with scaffolding
and guidance.
• Improve writing through
incorporation of feedback
(peers, tutoring resources,
writing center, instructor).
ACCESS Curricula Guide • English Composition
College
• Deconstruct a multistep or
ambiguous writing task in
order to develop a complex
argument for an unfamiliar
audience.
• Independently plan to write
using writing strategies that
are appropriate to the task
and writer.
• Independently draft an
argument/thesis and claims.
• Independently cite, analyze,
and explain evidence.
• Independently improve
writing through reflection,
revision, and editing.
Formative Assessments
35
Mo d e l Fo r m a t ive A s s e s sment:
11th Grade English: Prewriting the American Dream
Overview:
The prewriting process guides students toward an argument addressing the American
Dream.
“Prewriting the American Dream” formatively assesses students’ ability to plan to
write using a variety of prewriting strategies, such as defining key concepts that will be
presented, naming possible questions that might be explored about the topic and a variety
of points of view pertinent to the topic.
Time Frame:
2–5 hours; ideally would include prior
reading that presents elements of the
American Dream
Assessment Description:
Information Technology
I use writing skills in my job as an IT
professional when I prepare proposals
for new and existing clients and produce
planning
documents
(called
“change
controls”) to implement network changes.
Owen Kittredge
Students will engage in multiple prewriting
Owner, Valley IT Support
activities to address the following writing
prompt. First, students will work in groups
to create definitions for the American
Dream. Then they will create a working
thesis and four to five specific research questions. Next, they will use brainstorming to fill in
a graphic organizer on the topic. At the end of the assignment, students will reflect on which
steps in the process were most useful to them in creating the final product and what steps
they will use next time.
Prompt:
Some people believe that hard work, persistence, and the passage of time can lead
to prosperity in the United States. This notion has been termed the fulfillment of
the American Dream. Write an argumentative essay that addresses the idea of the
American Dream and the extent to which it has been achieved by a specific person,
character, or group.
English Composition • ACCESS Curricula Guide
36
Formative Assessments
Sample prewriting graphic organizer:
CounterArgument
Argument
American
Dream
Conclusion
Evaluation:
Suggested criteria:
•
•
•
•
Expresses understanding of how the steps assisted in producing the finished product.
As a part of prewriting, defines key concepts that will be presented and uses these terms
and definitions with the writing.
Names possible questions that might be explored about the topic in prewriting.
Addresses various points of view pertinent to the topic.
ACCESS Curricula Guide • English Composition
Formative Assessments
37
Mo d e l Fo r m a t ive A s s e s sment
12th Grade/College Basic Skills English: Preview Review
Overview:
Students practice on-demand prewriting and examine whether their process is effective.
“Preview Review” formatively assesses the skills of planning to write using a variety of
prewriting strategies with emerging independence, in this case, by outlining claims and
evidence and the relationship between these parts of a paper.
Time Frame:
1 hour; could be completed as homework
Assessment Description:
This assignment has three parts. First, students will be given 15 minutes to prewrite for a given
prompt. Their job during prewriting is to gather concrete details, determine subtopics, and
organize their thoughts into appropriate structures to begin writing paragraphs. Students
can use brainstorming, free-writing, Venn diagrams, outlines, or bubble clusters during this
prewriting, but they should not be writing actual paragraphs yet.
Next, students will be asked to share their prewriting in small groups so they can see how
other students have managed the same task. By sharing and comparing their prewriting,
students should begin to see where potential issues might arise and can discuss what worked
or did not work during the process of prewriting.
Finally, students will be asked to write a short self-evaluation of their prewriting, focusing on
both the process and the product. This self-evaluation could address the following questions:
•
•
•
•
•
How effectively did you use the 15 minutes?
After prewriting, how prepared are you to write the essay?
What methods were most effective in preparing to write paragraphs?
What areas of your essay, if any, are still unclear?
Which paragraphs will be the most difficult to develop, based on your existing prewrite?
Evaluation:
Suggested criteria:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Reflects on the role of prewriting in the creation of a timed essay.
Creates a main claim that is on-topic.
Outlines claims that are able to be supported and connected to the main claim.
Provides evidence sufficient and appropriate to the claims.
Shows recognition of aspects of the paper that need greater clarity.
Notes where more must be written or new ideas must emerge to fully develop the thesis.
English Composition • ACCESS Curricula Guide
38
Formative Assessments
M o d el Fo r m a t ive A s s e s sment
College Freshman Composition: Writer’s Reflection
Overview:
An on-demand writing task in which students reflect on a piece or pieces of writing by
discussing their learning, specifically exploring the process of revision.
“Writer’s Reflection” formatively assesses the skill of independently improving writing
through reflection, revision, and editing by reflecting on choices made during composition
and revision of a text.
Time Frame:
1–2 hours of on-demand writing
Assessment Description:
After writing a complete essay, writers will reflect on and discuss a recent piece or collection
of writing. The “Writer’s Reflection” essay will be completed during 1 or 2 hours of in-class
writing. In this essay, writers should reflect on how their writing changed in terms of both the
process and product. Ideally, this reflection should include the use of details from previous
essays in order to show growth in writing overall.
Some questions to consider while writing this essay are:
•
•
•
•
•
•
What
What
What
What
What
What
was the hardest part of the writing process?
was your process for making revisions?
parts of the essay(s) were the most improved?
did you learn about yourself as a writer?
goals do you have for yourself as a writer?
specific tricks or skills did you use to improve your writing?
Evaluation:
Suggested criteria:
• Reflects on the most difficult aspects of the writing process for the writer with an
understanding of how they might be made easier in the future.
• Outlines a process for revising that is reasonable, effective, and efficient for self-review.
• Identifies areas of the writing that are most improved, and notes how they were improved
and why those improvements matter.
• Recognizes and reflects on selected writing skills that were improved by this assignment,
noting how and why.
• Sets writing goals and supports — with examples — why the goal is necessary.
ACCESS Curricula Guide • English Composition
Formative Assessments
39
C O M P E T E N C Y 4 : I N C O R P O R AT I N G I D E A S F R O M
OTHER TEXTS IN WRITING
CA Content Standards: Writing Strategies 1.3 and 1.8
National Common Core Standards: 7, 8, and 9
CERT Standards: Invention
Academic writing requires that students have the ability to connect information from sources
to support, explore, complicate, or refute an argument. Effective student writers take a
position on an issue, summarize and contend with diverse viewpoints on the topic, and provide
effective supporting evidence drawn from outside resources. Students must understand what
plagiarism is and understand the ethics of writing. In this competency, students must be able
to effectively summarize the arguments of others so that when incorporating ideas, they are
not taking ideas out of context.
Incorporating Ideas from Other Texts in Writing:
ACCESS Competency 4 by Grade Level
11th Grade
12th Grade
• Identify texts appropriate to
task in order to construct an
argument using sources.
• Analyze texts appropriate to
task in order to construct an
argument using a variety of
effective sources.
• Analyze scholarly texts in
order to construct original
arguments using effective
sources.
• Analyze texts in order to
determine value or validity
of evidence to support
writer’s claims.
• Evaluate text in order to
determine appropriateness
of evidence to support
claims.
• Use sources to address
opposing claims in original
argument.
• Use sources to effectively
counter opposing claims in
an original argument.
• Utilize paraphrasing and
direct quotes as evidence
in order to support writer’s
claims.
• Integrate paraphrased
information with direct
quotes in order to put the
ideas of the text in context.
• Identify evidence across
texts about the same issue
or topic in order to support
writer’s claims.
• Identify sources that
address opposing claims.
• Understand the difference
between paraphrasing and
directly quoting in order
to avoid unintentional
plagiarism.
College
English Composition • ACCESS Curricula Guide
40
Formative Assessments
M o d el Fo r m a t ive A s s e s sment
11th Grade English: Career Investigation
Overview:
Students will research a career, interview a professional working in the chosen career, and
compose a brief paper (three paragraphs) that includes important information from the
research and the interview as well as a final reflection on their investigation.
“Career Investigation” formatively
assesses student understanding of
the difference between paraphrasing
and directly quoting in order to avoid
unintentional plagiarism.
Time Frame:
1 week of class time to read, interview,
and compose paragraphs; homework
time for the interview and writing
(students will need access to the
Internet and career databases; students
may need help finding an interviewee)
Assessment Description:
Transportation
I use writing skills in my job as a naval
architect in the following ways: to describe
studies of new transportation routes; to
put together manuals for safe stowage of
cargo aboard ships; to prepare procedures
for safe operation of a ship’s equipment;
to develop marketing materials describing
new equipment and services; and to present
investigations into loss of cargo overboard
from ships, groundings, collisions, or other
casualties regarding ships.
John Paulling
Naval Architect, Herbert Engineering Corp.
Students will select a career to
investigate. Using the Internet and
resources from the career center,
students will take notes and compose
a detailed paragraph on the most
important aspects of the career. After composing a list of interview questions, students
will interview a career professional and then compose a narrative paragraph of the most
important information from the interview. Students will include a final reflective paragraph
about their investigation and discoveries. A list of works cited also will be required.
ACCESS Curricula Guide • English Composition
Formative Assessments
41
Interview questions to consider using:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
What is your job title and how long have you been working in this field?
How did you get started in this career?
Describe your responsibilities and duties. What does a typical day look like?
What type of training or education did you receive for this position?
What types of reading and writing are you required to do in this profession?
What do you like most about what you do?
What are some important things people need to know if they want to do your job?
What is the most frustrating or difficult part of your job and how do you deal with it?
If you could have a different career, what would it be and why?
Can you think of one on-the-job story that taught you something important?
What would you like to be doing in 5 years?
Is there any advice you could give to someone aspiring to be in your profession?
Is there anything else you think I need to know about your profession?
Thank you for your time.
Evaluation:
Suggested criteria:
•
•
•
Directly quotes information accurately from the interview and sources using appropriate
citation and/or attribution.
Accurately paraphrases information from the interview and sources using appropriate
citation and/or attribution.
Provides MLA documented list of works cited (including the interview).
English Composition • ACCESS Curricula Guide
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Formative Assessments
M o d el Fo r m a t ive A s s e s sment
12th Grade/College Basic Skills English: Source Survey and Evaluation of Arguments
Overview:
Students investigate a debatable issue and select sources with the strongest arguments
reflecting various points of view in order to compose an evaluation of each argument. They
then add a concluding reflective paragraph.
“Source Survey and Evaluation of Arguments” formatively assesses the skill of analyzing
texts in order to determine value or validity of evidence to support writers’ claims.
Time Frame:
1 week of classes for research and writing (students will need access to Internet search
engines and familiarity with MLA documentation)
Assessment Description:
Students will read various articles on one debatable issue and answer questions to best
determine content and point of view. Students will summarize and document selected
articles, as well as compose a concluding paragraph on the process of investigation,
credibility of source material, and personal position on the issue.
The source evaluation could address the following questions:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
When and where did you find the article?
What did you learn about the author and publication?
What is the strongest claim?
What is the author’s attitude toward the issue?
What counterarguments are addressed?
How has the article affected your opinions or viewpoints?
What audience does the author seem to be appealing to?
Might other audiences find it offensive? Explain.
How do this author’s viewpoints contrast or contradict other articles on this issue?
What emotional appeals (pathos) are incorporated into this piece?
What type of authority (ethos) does this author claim to have regarding this issue?
Does this article contain any faulty reasoning? Explain.
Why did you select this article? Provide a few specific reasons.
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Formative Assessments
43
Evaluation:
Suggested criteria:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Identifies sources that address conflicting claims.
Analyzes texts in order to determine value or validity of the source.
Analyzes texts in order to determine the value or validity of the provided evidence.
Identifies and discusses the various ways writers attempt to persuade audiences to
accept their argument.
Understands how each text explores the same topic, but with differing claims and
evidence.
Shows recognition of aspects of the paper that need greater clarity.
Notes where more must be written or new ideas must emerge to fully develop the thesis.
English Composition • ACCESS Curricula Guide
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Formative Assessments
M o d el Fo r m a t ive A s s e s sment
College Freshman Composition: Source Evaluation Paper
Overview:
Students write a 2–3 page paper evaluating sources for a research paper by answering assigned
questions and revising research questions to guide further research. This exercise assesses a
student’s ability to evaluate information in sources and revise the research question.
“Source Evaluation Paper” formatively assesses the skill of analyzing scholarly texts of
an appropriate complexity in order to construct an original argument using effective sources
and evidence.
Time Frame:
1 or 2 hours with homework
Assessment Description:
After gathering sources for a research paper, students will evaluate their selections by
answering the following questions in a paper of 2–3 pages. This paper will discuss both the
information they have found and the information they need to find. After evaluating their
sources, students will revise their research questions to guide further research and drafting.
Questions for students:
• How reliable are your sources? Do any contain questionable information?
• What points of view and flaws in logic do you see in your sources?
• What disagreements or differences did you find between your sources?
• What information do the sources provide in answer to your research question?
• What information do you still need to find to support your argument?
• Which of your sources are primary, secondary, tertiary?
• How do the types of sources affect the reliability of the evidence?
Evaluation:
Suggested criteria:
• Demonstrates sufficient, logical analysis of source reliability.
• Gathers sources from multiple perspectives on the topic that go beyond pro and con.
• Shows evidence of a clear opinion emerging as a result of a conversation with the cited texts.
• Reflects on how the quality of sources influences the focus of the research questions.
• Revises and refines research questions appropriately.
• Contextualizes the sources, with the paper noting how they respond to each other’s ideas.
• Provides focus on revised research questions.
• Contains few or no errors in mechanics.
ACCESS Curricula Guide • English Composition
Formative Assessments
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COMPETENCY 5: ORGANIZING USING ACCEPTED TEXT
S T R U C T U R E S A N D PAT T E R N S O F O R G A N I Z AT I O N
CA Content Standards: Writing Strategies 1.2, 1.3, and 1.4
National Common Core Standards: 1, 2, and 4
CERT Standards: Arrangement
Good writing uses appropriate and varied patterns of organization given the text’s purpose,
genre, and audience. Students should use patterns to organize ideas so that readers can easily
follow the analysis and conclusions offered by the text. Attention to both the contextualized
structure of the texts and the ways in which concepts and information are organized represents
complex problem solving and thinking. Categorization of information is a primary pattern of
organizing required of successful writers. In addition to categorical thinking, this competency
emphasizes using comparative thinking, making causal and temporal connections, as well as
making connections across texts and points of view. This competency displays a student’s
ability to attend to the demands of audience, purpose, and genre through organizational and
structural choices.
Organizing Using Accepted Text Structures and Patterns of Organization:
ACCESS Competency 5 by Grade Level
11th Grade
• Utilize varied basic patterns
of overall organization
of ideas (i.e., strongest to
weakest, narrow to broad,
chronological, etc.) in
constructing an argument.
• Utilize transitions within
and between paragraphs.
• Synthesize topic/concluding
sentences.
12th Grade
• Utilize appropriate and
logical overall organization
of ideas, i.e., strongest to
weakest, narrow to broad,
chronological, alternating
subjects in compare/
contrast, refutation and
concessions following main
argument.
• Utilize varied transitions
within and between
paragraphs.
• Connect ideas through
varied topic/concluding
sentences.
College
• Utilize purposeful overall
organization of ideas, i.e.,
strongest to weakest, narrow
to broad, chronological,
alternating subjects in
compare/contrast, refutation
and concessions following
main argument, Toulmin,
Rogerian, classical argument,
etc.
• Utilize varied transitions
within and between
paragraphs or segments.
• Seamlessly connect ideas
through effective and varied
topic/concluding sentences.
English Composition • ACCESS Curricula Guide
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Formative Assessments
Mo d e l Fo r m a t ive A s s essment
11th Grade English: Summary and Analysis Paragraphs
Overview:
Students complete a summary paragraph using a template to demonstrate two ways to
process a text after reading.
“Summary and Analysis Paragraphs” formatively assesses student use of various
patterns of organization in constructing an argument and use of transitions within and
between paragraphs.
Time Frame:
1–2 hours
Assessment Description:
Students read a text and then identify
10 ideas in the text. Students then
organize the ideas in two different
ways:
1. order of importance
2. order of appearance
Then, given a list of transitions,
students choose the appropriate
transition to link the ideas together.
Health Science, Medical Technology
As a paramedic, I use writing skills during
every shift and after every patient contact.
Clear and concise communication is
essential when I fill out patient care reports
that provide nurses and doctors with the
information they need to continue proper
care for my patients. All of my reports are
legal documents, so writing skills are an
essential part of my work.
Kevin Coleman
Paramedic, First Responder EMS, MedCor, Inc.
Directions for students:
Write two summaries, one where you present the ideas in the order of importance
and one where you present the ideas in the order they appear in the text. Then,
write a clean copy revision of each paragraph, using appropriate and accurate
transitions between sentences to show the relationship of ideas. Be sure to indent
each paragraph and use correct spelling, punctuation, and capitalization.
Evaluation:
Suggested criteria:
•
•
•
•
•
Contains thorough and complete summary/analysis paragraphs.
Utilizes effective and appropriate transitions between ideas.
Identifies the main supporting ideas of the text.
Organizes ideas in order of appearance in the text.
Organizes ideas in order of importance in the text.
ACCESS Curricula Guide • English Composition
Formative Assessments
47
Mo d e l Fo r m a t ive A s s e s sment
12th Grade/College Basic Skills English: Pro/Con Organizers
Overview:
Students choose a graphic organizer that best serves the planned structure of their argument.
The completed graphic organizer serves as an organization tool for students to clarify their
position on an issue.
The “Pro/Con Organizers” assessment formatively assesses the skills of utilizing
appropriate and logical overall organization of ideas by selecting the best organization
pattern to convey an idea or concept and creating the relationship between those ideas
according to the chosen pattern.
Time Frame:
1 hour for graphic organizer completion
Assessment Description:
Students use their choice of graphic organizers (pro/con, Venn diagram, problem/solution
graph, cause/effect chart, timeline) to organize their thinking about a chosen subject.
Following this, students provide short, written reflections regarding which graphic
organizer they chose and why it was appropriate and effective.
T-Bar
Topic: __________
PROCON
_______________
1.1.
2.2.
3.3.
4.4.
5.5.
Against
For
Topic
English Composition • ACCESS Curricula Guide
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Formative Assessments
Evaluation:
Suggested criteria:
•
Uses organizer to reorder topic, main argument, claims, and evidence.
•
Uses organizer to represent the relationship between claims and/or evidence in the
pattern selected (pro/con, timeline, and so on).
•
Reflection discusses process and product, including why some patterns were rejected
and why the selected pattern and organizer were chosen.
•
Reflection explores how the graphic organizer represents the pattern of organization
and the relationship among ideas.
•
Reflection addresses strengths and weaknesses of graphic organizer/pattern of organizer
chosen.
ACCESS Curricula Guide • English Composition
Formative Assessments
49
Mo d e l Fo r m a t ive A s s e s sment
College Freshman Composition: Dueling Comparisons
Overview:
Students create two comparisons to demonstrate adaptability with organizing, using a
compare and contrast pattern of organization.
“Dueling Comparisons” formatively assesses the skill of utilizing purposeful overall
organization of ideas by organizing same claims and evidence by various patterns of
organization and selecting the best form for audience, purpose, and genre.
Time Frame:
1 or 2 hours
Assessment Description:
Students will develop two pieces of writing after prewriting (but prior to drafting) in response
to a compare/contrast essay prompt, one using an alternating structure and the other using
a block structure.
Prompt:
Write two texts in which you compare and contrast two places you have lived or
worked, drawing a conclusion that goes beyond the evaluative “X is better than Y”
claim. In your first comparison/contrast, use alternating structure. In the second, use
a block structure. Be sure to use specific details that highlight the points you want to
make about each in both texts. Write a reflection paragraph on which structure would
work best for a given genre, purpose, and audience and why.
Developing both subject-by-subject (block structure) and point-by-point (alternating point)
models, students will demonstrate facility in organizing ideas.
Evaluation:
Suggested criteria:
•
•
•
•
Uses appropriate structure for each text.
Uses transitions effectively given the purpose of each structure.
Uses two different patterns of organization.
Reflects on which pattern is most appropriate to a given audience, purpose, and genre.
English Composition • ACCESS Curricula Guide
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Formative Assessments
COMPETENCY 6: DEVELOPING CLARITY
CA Content Standards: Writing Strategies 1.2, 1.3, and 1.4
National Common Core Standards: 1, 2, and 4
CERT Standards: Arrangement
Students should develop cohesive, well-developed, focused arguments that use focused
language, syntax, and tone given various audiences, genres, and purposes. Clarity should
be present in all aspects of writing: word and punctuation choices, sentence and paragraph
construction and placement, and the creation of the entire text as a whole. Ideas also need to
show clarity through clear main arguments, claims, evidence, and sound logic. Clarity must
also be maintained in the connection between ideas as represented by transitions (both
internal and external), topic sentences, concluding sentences, introductions, and conclusions.
It is through the competency of clarity that misunderstandings are avoided and exact thinking
about complex issues comes forward.
Developing Clarity:
ACCESS Competency 6 by Grade Level
11th Grade
12th Grade
College
• With guidance, provide
appropriately limited focus
by narrowing topic.
• With limited guidance,
provide appropriately limited
focus by narrowing topic.
• Provide appropriately limited
focus by independently
narrowing topic.
• Advance argument through
logical connections
between claims, evidence,
and explanations of
evidence.
• Effectively advance
argument with claims and
evidence that demonstrate
critical thinking through
analysis and explanations of
evidence.
• Seamlessly advance
argument with claims and
evidence that demonstrate
critical thinking through
original and sophisticated
analysis and explanations of
evidence.
• Use language appropriate
to the task, genre, and
audience.
• Address counterarguments
and counterclaims.
• Compose sentences that are
clear and varied.
• Effectively use language
appropriate to the task,
genre, and audience.
• Address and analyze
counterarguments and
counterclaims.
• Compose sentences that are
clear and varied.
ACCESS Curricula Guide • English Composition
• Purposefully use language
appropriate to the task,
genre, and audience.
• Address, analyze, and
evaluate counterarguments
and counterclaims.
• Compose complex sentences
that are clear and varied.
Formative Assessments
51
Mo d e l Fo r m a t ive A s s e s sment
11th Grade English: Color-Coded Peer Review
Overview:
Students engage in a peer review stage of the writing process, highlighting cohesion, clarity,
and focus in their writing assignments.
“Color-Coded Peer Review” formatively assesses the skill of advancing an argument
through logical connections of claims, evidence, and explanations of evidence.
Time Frame:
1 hour
Public Service
I use writing skills in my job as chief of police
Assessment Description:
Students will read and review a peer’s
rough draft in order to identify and
suggest changes to help the product be
more unified, developed, and cohesive.
(See next page for sample assignment.)
to document criminal activity, write traffic
tickets, create performance evaluations,
create staff reports, write grants, and
communicate with other law enforcement
agencies.
John Ruffcorn
Chief of Police, Auburn Police Department
English Composition • ACCESS Curricula Guide
52
Formative Assessments
Instructions for the student:
1. Highlight (in YELLOW) the thesis statement/purpose. According to the thesis/purpose,
what is the writer’s position? Write the answer next to the thesis, in the margin. If the thesis
is lacking information, write a specific suggestion for improvement next to the thesis.
2. Highlight (in BLUE) the main idea of each paragraph. If the main idea does not reflect the
topic sentence, rewrite the topic sentence to reflect the main idea. If a sentence in the
paragraph strays from the main idea, then write a specific suggestion in the margin.
3. Highlight (in ORANGE) the supporting evidence in each body paragraph. If any evidence
is missing a proper citation, circle it. Determine the quality of evidence. If it does not
support the thesis or purpose, then suggest what kind of evidence might work and where
the writer might find it. Write this next to the evidence in question.
4. Highlight (in PINK) the explanation of the evidence. Determine if it is analysis or summary.
If it is summary, what questions or points should the author pursue to develop or further
analyze? Write this suggestion next to the highlighted analysis.
5. Address any sentences that are not highlighted. Label them. Are they transitions?
Concluding sentences? Off-topic commentary? Consider what work they are doing for
the essay and make notes if you think the author needs to revise or remove them.
(Adaptations could include parentheses, asterisks, bracketing, underlining, or numbering, at
the instructor’s discretion.)
Evaluation:
Suggested criteria:
•
•
•
Identifies claims, evidence, and explanations of evidence accurately.
Identifies transitions accurately.
Demonstrates critical thinking through quality of written commentary.
ACCESS Curricula Guide • English Composition
Formative Assessments
53
Mo d e l Fo r m a t ive A s s e s sment
12th Grade/College Basic Skills English: CSU’s English Placement Test (EPT) Style On-Demand
Pair Writing, Peer Review, Peer Revision, and Reflection Project
Overview:
In pairs, students will a) write an essay in response to an EPT-style prompt; b) peer review
another pair’s essay for clarity; c) revise yet another peer’s essay for clarity based on peer
review notes; and d) receive their own revised essay back to reflect on the changes toward
clarity and what they have learned about writing, reviewing, and reflecting for clarity of
language, connections, and ideas.
“CSU’s English Placement Test (EPT) Style On-Demand Pair Writing, Peer Review, Peer
Revision, and Reflection Project” formatively assesses the skill of effectively advancing an
argument with claims and evidence that demonstrate critical thinking through analysis
and explanations of evidence by making better choices toward clarity based on a reader’s
response as well as by recognizing errors in clarity.
Time Frame:
4–5 hours
Assessment Description:
Stage 1: Pairs of students will be given an EPT-style prompt and expected to co-create an
on-demand essay in response. The essay should include an overview of the argument of the
quote and a thesis statement that asserts the degree to which they agree or disagree with
the quote, claims, and evidence from readings, observations, and their own lives, supporting
their claims and overall position in response to the quote.
Stage 2: Once the essay is complete, the pair will trade their essay with another pair of
students. Each pair will review and make revision notes toward clarity at the word, sentence,
paragraph, idea, and essay level.
Stage 3: The review and revision notes will be passed to a third pair of students who will revise
the essay for clarity according to the notes and their own understanding of the writing task.
Stage 4: The final activity has the original essay, review and revision notes, and revised essay
returning to its pair of origin. They will compose a reflection on what has been changed and
why. They also will reflect on what they learned about writing for greater clarity from each
step in the process.
English Composition • ACCESS Curricula Guide
54
Formative Assessments
EPT-Style Prompt
Suggested Writing Format
Introduction:
• Introduce the topic being discussed (start general).
• Explain the argument presented in the quote.
• Thesis: Identify the extent to which you agree with the argument (strongly, completely,
somewhat, in some aspects…).
Body Paragraphs (minimum of two):
• Topic/Transition Sentence: Present your first argument that supports your thesis.
• Provide evidence — a specific example that proves your point — and then elaborate by
explaining how this example proves your point.
• Connect your example/evidence to the argument presented in the quote.
Conclusion:
• Restate your thesis.
• Synthesize: How do your ideas come together to prove your thesis? (recap)
• Leave your reader with a “big” idea, a “So what?”
Prompt
Directions:
You will have 45 minutes to plan and write an essay on the topic assigned below. Before you
begin writing, read the passage carefully and plan what you will say. Your essay should be
well-organized and carefully written.
Colleges and universities should strengthen our society by emphasizing aspects of
life that are not for profit. Many institutions of higher education are failing in their
responsibilities toward our country’s political and cultural health and creating citizens
who think only of the self, personal wealth, and individual achievement. Unfortunately,
education is viewed mainly as a means of getting a job instead of as a means to
better the whole self and society. This widely held view of a university's purpose is
diminishing the potential of our nation. — Professor Alice Kinnick
Explain Kinnick’s argument and discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with her
analysis. Support your position, providing reasons and examples from your own experience,
observations, or reading.
ACCESS Curricula Guide • English Composition
Formative Assessments
55
Evaluation
Suggested criteria:
Stage 1:
• Explains the argument presented in the quote.
• Identifies the extent to which the student agrees with the argument (strongly, completely,
somewhat, in some aspects…).
• Uses topic and transition sentences.
• Provides evidence.
• Connects evidence to the argument presented in the quote.
• Synthesizes how ideas come together to prove the thesis.
Stage 2: Recognizes and suggests changes in areas of
• word-level confusion;
• sentence-level confusion;
• paragraph-level confusion;
• transition and connection of ideas; and
• topic, thesis, claims, and evidence.
Stage 3: Revises for clarity
• words;
• sentence;
• paragraph;
• transition and connection of ideas; and
• topic, thesis, claims, and evidence.
Stage 4:
• States how revisions increased clarity.
• Reflects on how to make text have greater clarity at each level of the compositional field:
word, sentence, paragraph, transitions, connections, whole text, and ideas.
English Composition • ACCESS Curricula Guide
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Formative Assessments
M o d el Fo r m a t ive A s s e s sment
College Freshman Composition: Syllogism Proposal
Overview:
A syllogism is developed into a mini-argument with evidence that addresses both premises.
“Syllogism Proposal” formatively assesses the skills of addressing, analyzing, and
evaluating counterarguments and counterclaims by creating logical connections between
claims and evidence.
Time Frame:
1–2 hours, with additional time for research; could be assigned as homework
Assessment Description:
Students will develop a brief logical argument by expanding the syllogism. A syllogism is
a simple, logical construction using two premises that lead to a conclusion. For example,
Aristotle’s famous syllogism states:
Premise 1: All men are mortal.
Premise 2: Socrates is a man.
Conclusion: Therefore, Socrates is mortal.
For this assignment, the student will craft a proposal using a logical syllogism focused on
his/her school. For instance:
Premise 1: Healthy students get better grades.
Premise 2: Most students aren’t allowed to independently access the gym.
Conclusion: Opening gym access will result in better grades overall.
The student asserting this syllogism then needs to create paragraphs for both premises
and the conclusion with a works cited page, using MLA format. The focus is on gathering and
effectively explaining quality evidence to produce a concise but effective argument.
For this process, students can use both primary and secondary sources to support each
premise and the conclusion.
ACCESS Curricula Guide • English Composition
Formative Assessments
57
Evaluation:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Creates a logical syllogism with two premises and a reasonable conclusion.
Develops a paragraph to explore each section of the syllogism.
Provides topic sentences that state the claims of Premise 1, Premise 2, and the Conclusion,
respectively.
Engages in research to find appropriate evidence for each premise from both secondary
and primary sources.
Creates connections between the evidence and the premise/claim.
Establishes the relationship between the premise/claim and the conclusion/main
argument in the final paragraph.
Uses MLA citation, including a works cited page.
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Formative Assessments
COMPETENCY 7: USING CORRECT CONVENTIONS
F O R I N C O R P O R AT I N G A N D D O C U M E N T I N G
SOURCES IN WRITING
CA Content Standards: Writing Strategies 1.7
National Common Core Standards: 8
CERT Standards: Style/Expression
Each discipline has different conventions for how to report and document sources in
writing. Accuracy of research and interpretation as well the ability for a peer to recreate the
research when necessary is highly valued in most endeavors, professional or otherwise. This
competency addresses the different conversations related to direct quoting, paraphrasing,
and summarizing as determined by the content area. When directly quoting source material,
students must precisely and appropriately use quote tags that identify speakers and context.
When paraphrasing source material, students must pay close attention to and understand
both the literal meanings and connotations of words. This competency also includes
instruction in using correct citation and attribution styles. Students who have attained
this competency understand the reasons for the conversions and that the rules vary from
profession to profession or, while in school, discipline to discipline.
ACCESS Curricula Guide • English Composition
Formative Assessments
59
Using Correct Conventions for Incorporating and Documenting Sources in Writing:
ACCESS Competency 7 by Grade Level
11th Grade
• With guidance, use
paraphrasing, summarizing,
and direct quotations.
• Apply an appropriate
citation style (e.g., MLA,
APA, Chicago) in text and
works cited page.
• Create an accurate and
cross referenced works
cited or reference page
with single author books or
periodicals.
• Understand the difference
between intentional and
unintentional plagiarism.
• Use basic sentence stems/
attributive tags to identify
sources in order to
integrate them into writing.
12th Grade
• With little guidance,
vary use of paraphrasing,
summarizing, and direct
quotations.
• Consistently apply
appropriate citation style
(e.g., MLA, APA, Chicago)
in works cited or reference
section and throughout text.
• Create an accurate and
cross-referenced works
cited or reference page with
multiple author books or
periodicals that reference
complex texts (e.g., texts
with no author, texts in an
anthology, reprinted texts).
• Understand the
consequences of both
intentional and unintentional
plagiarism and avoid both.
• Effectively use sentence
stems/attributive tags
to identify sources and
integrate them into writing.
College
• Purposefully differentiate
the use of paraphrasing,
summarizing, and directly
quoting as a rhetorical
strategy.
• Purposefully apply
appropriate citation style
(e.g., MLA, APA, Chicago)
through in-text citations,
attribution, and works cited/
reference section in order to
show writer credibility.
• Create an accurate and
cross-referenced works cited
or reference section with
multiple author books or
periodicals that reference
complex academic texts
gathered from academic
databases (e.g., EBSCO,
ProQuest, MedLine, etc.).
• Reflect on and understand
ethical issues related to
intellectual property involved
in both intentional and
unintentional plagiarism, and
as such, avoid both.
• Purposely use sentence
stems/attributive tags
of varying lengths and
structures to identify and
indicate the credibility of
sources and integrate them
into writing.
English Composition • ACCESS Curricula Guide
60
Formative Assessments
M o d el Fo r m a t ive A s s e s sment
11th Grade English: Career Research Interview-to-Narrative
Overview:
Students transform interview notes into a narrative paragraph that requires various ways
of incorporating details. Then, students create three citation pages using MLA, APA, and
Chicago style. Finally, students research which fields these association-governing styles
represent and reflect on why the rules might differ between the styles.
“Career Research Interview-to-Narrative” formatively assesses the skill of using basic
sentence stems/attributive tags to identify sources in order to integrate them into writing
by setting context of quotes with illustrative verbs.
Time Frame:
2–4 hours to conduct peer interview,
compose narrative paragraph, create
citation pages, research professional
associations, and reflect and share
paragraphs with class
Assessment Description:
Agriculture and Natural Resources
I use writing skills in my job as a farmer
every week in preparing a newsletter to
my customers. I tell the story of the farm in
weekly bites. People are curious about what
we do and how we do it.
Greg Reynolds
After students have begun career
Riverbend Farm
research, they will interview each
other in order to practice for research
interviews with appropriate career
authorities. Starting with a list of
prescribed questions, students will
conduct interviews with their partners. They will take notes on their partners’ responses, and
they will use those notes to compose a paragraph that includes interview details, embedded
quotations, and illustrative verbs. This will allow students to show aptitude in incorporating
details into a text. Sharing their finished paragraphs will provide a live audience to complete
the process.
Interview questions for students might include:
•
•
•
•
•
•
What is your full name and what grade are you in?
What career are you researching and why did you select it?
What do you already know about this career?
What do you assume about your career?
What do you anticipate will be the most challenging aspect of your research project?
Who are some of the authorities you will be citing in your research project?
ACCESS Curricula Guide • English Composition
Formative Assessments
61
Verbs to discuss interviewee’s responses might include:
addresses acknowledges describesdiscusses
agrees
believes
explains notes
wonders
thinks
Narrative Model:
Robin Student, a sophomore at Mission High School, explains that he is researching
a career in elder caregiving. With a smile on his face, he notes that the elderly
are commonly referred to as “the aged, retirees, old folks, and senior citizens.”
Robin believes that working with them and providing support will be rewarding,
mostly because the elderly “like to tell stories about how the world has changed,”
and Robin thinks that’s interesting. Although Robin looks forward to interviewing
elder caregivers, he thinks that completing the career project will be extremely
challenging. He is not looking forward to...
Next, students follow the rules of tagging quotations for three different citation styles:
MLA, APA, and Chicago.
Then, the students should research which professions and disciplines the associations
(MLA, APA, Chicago) represent.
Lastly, the students write a reflection on why the styles are different from each other and
why the fields represented by the citation style might have those preferences, given their
content.
Evaluation:
Suggested criteria
•
•
•
•
•
•
Conducts peer interview using provided questions.
Notes details and includes direct quotations.
Composes detailed narrative paragraph of the interview using appropriate quotation tags.
Uses correct spelling, punctuation, and grammar.
Creates a citation page using three different styles of citation (MLA, APA, Chicago).
Reflects on reasons for differences between the styles of citation, using research to
add context to reflection.
English Composition • ACCESS Curricula Guide
62
Formative Assessments
M o d el Fo r m a t ive A s s e s sment
12th Grade and College Basic Skills English: Four Great Ways to Integrate
Overview:
Students use a single long passage from a given source to demonstrate their ability to
summarize, paraphrase, integrate short quotations, and use block quotation.
“Four Great Ways to Integrate” formatively assesses the skills of varying the use of
paraphrasing, summarizing, and direct quotations, and of effectively using sentence stems/
attributive tags to identify sources and integrate them into writing.
Time Frame:
1 hour
Assessment Description:
In this short assignment, students will demonstrate the difference between summarizing,
paraphrasing, incorporating a quotation within an original sentence, and using block
quotation.
Prompt:
For the following quote, use four separate techniques for including the information in
your own essay. First, paraphrase the passage. Next, summarize the passage. Then, use an
attributive tag to introduce a short quotation into your own sentence. Finally, introduce an
appropriate block quotation from the source. After you’ve finished these steps, include a
citation appropriate for a works cited page.
J. Madeleine Nash wrote the article titled “Fireproofing the Forests,” which appeared on
page 52 in the August 18, 2003, issue of Time:
To many forest ecologists, manipulating fuel loads — whether by thinning, prescribed
burning, or a combination of the two — constitutes the best strategy we have for
ensuring that the ponderosa pine forests of the present survive into the future. And the
good news, says Mark Finney, a researcher with the U.S. Forest Service's Fire Sciences
Laboratory in Missoula, Mont., is that it's probably not going to be necessary to thin
or prescribe-burn every acre of forest at risk. According to mathematical models that
Finney has developed, reducing fuels in a strategic pattern across a more manageable
20% of the landscape may well be sufficient.
ACCESS Curricula Guide • English Composition
Formative Assessments
63
Evaluation:
Suggested criteria:
Summary:
• Condenses the information to include most important information.
• Includes author, text, page, and date.
Paraphrase:
• Includes all information from original selection in his/her own words, making information
more clear than original text.
Short quotation:
• Includes short selection that contains key phrase or important detail.
• Correctly integrates original text smoothly and efficiently.
Block quotation:
• Uses his/her own language to put block quotation in context.
• Correctly formats block quote.
Citation:
• Includes correct information in works cited page.
• Correctly capitalizes, punctuates, organizes, formats works cited page.
English Composition • ACCESS Curricula Guide
64
Formative Assessments
M o d el Fo r m a t ive A s s e s sment
College Freshman Composition: Integration Times Ten
Overview:
Students are challenged to come up with as many structural variations of integrating a single
short quotation as possible.
“Integration Times Ten” formatively assesses the skills of purposefully differentiating the
use of paraphrasing, summarizing, and directly quoting as a rhetorical strategy and applying
appropriate citation style (e.g., MLA, APA, Chicago) through in-text citations, attribution, and
works cited/references section in order to show writer credibility.
Time Frame:
1 hour for introduction, exercise, and post-discussion (Ideally, this assessment should occur
after students have written assignments that required incorporating outside texts.)
Assessment Description:
Students are given a short quotation and its context. For instance:
Who: Keith Richards.
His position: Rolling Stones lead guitarist.
Context: In an interview, offering his views on rock and roll.
Your paper’s claim: Rock and roll isn’t “dangerous” and shouldn’t be taken so seriously.
His quotation: “Rock and roll’s great weapon is humor.”
Given this information, students should work to create up to 10 original single sentences
that incorporate this quotation, altering sentence structure in as many ways as possible. The
goal is to demonstrate variety in quotation integration.
After 10 minutes or so of drafting sentences, students should finish their completed
sentences, then take 10 minutes or so to name or describe the different sentence structures.
Evaluation:
Suggested criteria:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Uses a variety of simple, compound, complex sentences.
Uses introductory phrases or appositives.
Uses different lengths of the original quotation.
Brings in different positions of the original quotation within the sentence.
Describes or names differences in order to express sentence variety.
Utilizes appropriate citation style (e.g., MLA, APA, Chicago).
ACCESS Curricula Guide • English Composition
Formative Assessments
65
COMPETENCY 8: USING CORRECT GRAMMAR
CONVENTIONS
CA Content Standards: Writing Strategies 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3
National Common Core Standards: 1 and 2
CERT Standards: Style/Expression
Correct grammar is the basis for good writing. Errors in these conventions inhibit a reader’s
understanding of a text. Good writing demands that writers consistently use proper, effective,
and purposeful sentence structure. Issues of proper agreement, idiom, and punctuation as well
as other minutiae of language construction are captured in this competency. This competency
also represents the importance of understanding how to identify and correct grammatical
errors in order to make writing clearer and to help communicate more effectively. Although
this competency is applicable throughout the writing process, these skills come to the
forefront in the editing phase. The knowledge of grammatical conventions is essential for clear
communication between reader and writer, but is not static and alters as our language alters.
Using Correct Grammar Conventions:
ACCESS Competency 8 by Grade Level
11th Grade
12th Grade
• With guidance, identify
and correct errors in
writing, such as errors in
syntax, sentence structure,
dependent and relative
clauses, agreement, idiom,
punctuation, and word
choice.
• With limited guidance,
identify and correct errors
in writing, such as errors in
syntax, sentence structure,
dependent and relative
clauses, agreement, idiom,
punctuation, and word
choice.
• With guidance, write
simple, complex, and
compound sentences using
correct punctuation.
• Write effective and
correctly punctuated simple,
compound, and complex
sentences that accurately
capture the relationship
between ideas.
• With guidance, apply a
variety of editing strategies.
• Format to meet assignment
requirements.
• Apply a variety of editing
strategies when directed.
• Format to meet assignment
requirements with limited
guidance.
College
• Independently identify error
patterns in writing, such as
errors in syntax, sentence
structure, dependent and
relative clauses, agreement,
idiom, punctuation, and
word choice.
• Write purposeful, simple,
compound, and complex
sentences that accurately
and correctly capture the
relationship between ideas.
• Independently apply variety
of editing strategies.
• Format paper to meet
assigned requirements based
on writing in the discipline.
English Composition • ACCESS Curricula Guide
66
Formative Assessments
M o d el Fo r m a t ive A s s e s sment
11th Grade English: Missing Links
Overview:
Students work in pairs to combine sentences, utilizing different grammatically appropriate
methods. The choices students make should reflect the demands of a more complex
vocabulary and ideas, and become a matter of rhetorical strategy and attention to
audience, genre, and purpose. Sentence structure should be a matter of thoughtful
selection and not habit.
“Missing Links” formatively assesses
the skill of writing simple, compound,
and complex sentences by using
— in this case — conjunctions and
transitions appropriately, logically, and
with correct punctuation.
Time Frame:
1 hour
Assessment Description:
Education, Child Development, Family Services
I use writing skills whenever I need to break
down an idea, express my appreciation,
request support, or simply engage in a casual
conversation online. I write formal letters
infrequently; however grammar, punctuation,
and spelling still matter despite the vehicle:
e-mail, chat, blog, handwritten note, or letter
of recommendation.
Gregg Ramseth
Director of Assessment and Technology
Using the provided list or something
Placer Union High School District
similar, cut out slips of paper with a
single clause printed on each. Ask
students to pair up with someone
holding a related clause. Once students
have identified suitable pairs, their job is to find three to five logically and grammatically
appropriate ways to link the clauses in a single sentence. Possible links include comma/
coordinating conjunctions, subordinating conjunctions, relative pronouns, semicolons, and
transitional words/phrases.
After pairs have combined sentences, it would also be appropriate to have pairs switch
and review other pairs’ sentences for logic and grammar.
ACCESS Curricula Guide • English Composition
Formative Assessments
67
Sample list of clauses:
Miniskirts get shorter every year.
Those shoes are an ugly color.
Berries usually ripen in the summer.
Wild mushrooms grow all over the world.
I bought seven pairs of earrings.
His pants are dragging on the ground.
Everyone at work has to wear a uniform.
The yard is full of dandelions.
Ostrich eggs are enormous.
Cherry tomatoes make excellent snacks.
Some come with a belt.
They are torn and dirty.
My mother hates them.
Some kinds are edible.
The silver ones are my favorites.
Only experts should pick them.
Digging them up is my job.
I will not try them on.
I love to throw them in salads.
Each one could make several omelets.
Evaluation:
Suggested criteria:
•
•
•
•
Combines sentences appropriate to purpose, idea, and context.
Uses conjunctions appropriately and logically to connect ideas.
Uses transitions appropriately and logically to connect ideas.
Incorporates punctuation appropriate for sentence combinations.
English Composition • ACCESS Curricula Guide
68
Formative Assessments
M o d el Fo r m a t ive A s s e s sment
12th Grade/Basic Skills College English: Literary Imitation
Overview:
Students imitate a published writer’s structure and style in order to demonstrate syntactical
awareness.
“Literary Imitation” formatively assesses the skill of writing effective simple, compound,
and complex sentences that accurately capture the relationship between ideas.
Time Frame:
1–2 hours
Assessment Description:
Students imitate a writer with a strong and specific style. This method of literary imitation
demonstrates students’ syntactical awareness and requires students to carefully compose
sentences — or, in this case, a paragraph — modeled after the opening lines of Truman
Capote’s “In Cold Blood.”
Students will complete the template, edit and proofread their writing, and submit
imitations in MLA format. All imitations should reflect awareness of audience and purpose as
well as attention to diction and syntax.
Example using the opening paragraph from “In Cold Blood” by Truman Capote:
The village of Holcomb stands on the high wheat plains of western Kansas, a
lonesome area that other Kansans call “out there.” Some seventy miles east of the
Colorado border, the countryside, with its hard blue skies and desert-clear air, has
an atmosphere that is rather more Far West than Middle West. The local accent is
barbed with a prairie twang, a ranch-hand nasalness, and the men, many of them,
wear narrow frontier trousers, Stetsons, and high-heeled boots with pointed toes.
The land is flat, and the views are awesomely extensive; horses, herds of cattle, a
white cluster of grain elevators rising as gracefully as Greek temples are visible long
before a traveler reaches them.
ACCESS Curricula Guide • English Composition
Formative Assessments
69
The __________ of ______________ of _____________, a ___________ that other
__________call “______________.” Some ________ miles east of the ____________ border,
the countryside, with its ______________s and _______________, has an atmosphere that is
rather more ____________ than _________________. The local accent is _____________ed
with a __________ _________, a __________-_________ness, and the _________, many of
them, wear ________s, ________s, and ________________s with ___________s. The land
is ___________and the views are _________ _________; ________________s, __________s
of ____________, a ________ of _________ __________s ________ing as _________ly as
___________ ___________s are visible long before a ______________s them.
Evaluation:
Suggested criteria:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Demonstrates attention to diction and syntax.
Echoes structure and style of writing.
Uses correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
Uses conjunctions to connect ideas appropriately and logically.
Uses transitions to connect ideas appropriately and logically.
Incorporates end punctuation appropriate for sentences.
English Composition • ACCESS Curricula Guide
70
Formative Assessments
M o d el Fo r m a t ive A s s e s sment
College Freshman Composition: Two-Paragraph Breakdown
Overview:
After writing a paragraph or two on a topic, students are asked to analyze their own structural
and grammatical conventions.
The “Two Paragraph Breakdown” formatively assesses the skill of independently
identifying error patterns in writing, such as errors in syntax, sentence structure, dependent
and relative clauses, agreement, idiom, punctuation, and word choice.
Time Frame:
1 hour with time for homework; 1 follow-up hour for discussion
Assessment Description:
Students are given 10 minutes to write two paragraphs on a given topic. Afterward, they are
asked to review their piece of writing objectively by paying attention only to certain elements
of the writing.
First, they should indicate how many sentences include run-ons or comma splices. Next,
they should indicate any sentence fragments.
In the remaining complete sentences, students should indicate how many are simple,
how many are compound, and how many are complex. Then they should indicate how many
sentences use introductory phrases or appositives.
Finally, students should write a one-paragraph analysis of what their exploration tells
them about how intentionally they structure sentences and what might improve their writing
in terms of structure and variety.
Evaluation:
Suggested criteria:
•
•
•
•
Recognizes sentence types.
Correctly identifies sentence types.
Indicates sentence-level errors: run-ons/comma splices and fragments.
Demonstrates ability to draw conclusions and consider potential areas of revision.
ACCESS Curricula Guide • English Composition
Summative Assessments
71
Summative
Assessments
English Composition • ACCESS Curricula Guide
72
Summative Assessments
INTRODUCTION
Summative assessments differ from formative assessments in that they are designed to give
students opportunities to show that they have mastered all of the individual competencies
rather than just a single competency. Necessarily, the summative assessments featured here
are more extensive projects that function as course or unit culminating projects or finals. In
contrast to the formative assessments, summative assessments require an extended timeline,
and may include checkpoints along the way to help students through the multistep process.
The skills necessary to fully engage in these large projects must be introduced and
practiced in lower stakes formative assignments preceding the summative assessment. The
summative assessment measures the student’s ability to independently do what has already
been learned with support. Introducing the critical reading and academic writing skills
necessary to complete a culminating project during a summative assessment inevitably
leads to teacher frustration and student failure.
The skills required and content knowledge needed to successfully complete all of the
summative assessments included in this section illustrate the rationale for embedding the
skills and knowledge throughout the course. It further illustrates the need for formative
assessments along the way. Large scale products, such as the ones that follow, are not the
time to discover that students don’t have the prerequisite skills and knowledge needed
to complete the task. In other words, a student who is writing a research report should
not be learning the skills embedded in the competencies for the first time. Similarly, the
depth of content knowledge necessary to successfully complete these tasks also illustrates,
for example, the need for the content of a research paper to grow out of the content of
the course rather than having a decontextualized research project in which students are
simultaneously learning skills and gaining knowledge.
How to Use This Section:
This section presents four summative assessments (pages 75–83). Each assessment is
adaptable, and once adapted, appropriate for use at all levels.
Following the four assessments are three rubrics, one for use in the 11th grade/advanced
EL course, one for the 12th grade/college basic skills course, and one for the college level
transfer course.
ACCESS Curricula Guide • English Composition
Summative Assessments
73
Each rubric identifies four levels of achievement:
• basic
• emerging
• meets competency
• advanced
Each rubric assesses each level of achievement in six categories:
• writing process
• critical thinking
• organization
• support/evidence/sources
• style/voice
• conventions
Because the summative assessments evaluate student achievement for all or most of the
competencies in a multilayered project, and because the competencies overlap and reinforce
each other, the holistic rubric identifies categories for evaluation rather than evaluating each
competency separately. In other words, the categories of evaluation reflect the complexity
and interrelatedness of the reading, writing, and thinking tasks.
For example, there are two categories, “critical thinking” and “style/voice,” to which there
seem to be no direct references in the competencies. Upon further examination, however,
we see that the four levels of achievement related to “critical thinking” include skills such as
producing arguments and taking context into account (Competency 1: Writing an Argument
with Audience and Purpose in Mind), and using logic (Competency 5: Organizing Using
Accepted Text Structures and Patterns of Organization). The category “style/voice” includes
skills such as using appropriate vocabulary and making syntactical choices based on the
needs of the audience, skills that are represented in competencies 1, 6, and 8.
The language of the holistic rubrics representing the competencies is blended within
the levels of achievement (basic, emerging, meets competency, and advanced), hopefully
rendering the relationship between the rubric and the competency explicit and visible.
The holistic rubrics for each level are good starting places for considering ways to adapt
the assignments as well as for assessing student work and thinking about how rigor increases
English Composition • ACCESS Curricula Guide
74
Summative Assessments
at each grade level. Instructors are encouraged to adapt the rubrics to the specifics of the
assessments or focus on chosen elements of the rubric to highlight mastery in a particular
competency or competencies.
Similar to the formative assessments, the summative assessments are models, not
mandates. All assessments are offered with the caveat that teachers should adapt them
however they see fit to meet the particular needs of their students, their courses of study,
and the dynamics of their own classrooms.
ACCESS Curricula Guide • English Composition
Summative Assessments
75
S u m m a t ive A s s e s s m e n t
Project Public Service Announcements or Brochures
Overview:
Students create a triptych poster in which they analyze a poem in order to use the poem as
part of a concise, audience-appropriate visual document — a public service announcement
(PSA) or brochure — to promote an industry sector.
Time Frame:
2–3 weeks of class time, with outside homework and research
Real World Application:
The skills of analysis and research of a chosen topic, and the culminating product of a concise,
audience-appropriate visual document, are ubiquitous in many career pathways. Literature
generally, and poetry specifically, contains universal themes and subjects that can be used
to market, support, explain, or illuminate ideas in a variety of applications (marketing, teambuilding, organization, staff development).
Assessment:
Process and Product: In small groups, students use the Internet to locate a number of poems
that contain themes pertinent to various industries. After reading a variety of poems from
American poets, students will select a poem that best demonstrates a theme appropriate to
the aspect of the industry sector they wish to address. They will research and analyze this
poem, assert how the poem connects to an industry sector (why they selected the poem),
and present their findings in a neat, visually attractive three-panel poster to inform and
engage their peers.
This poster will be arranged in three distinct panels. The panels should include mostly
text (at least 70% of the space should be text) with appropriate accent visuals to draw in the
audience. The text should include the poem; the student’s exposition/analysis of the poem;
the poem’s connection to the industry sector; the poem’s literary, historical, and cultural
context; and a brief (no more than a paragraph) biography of the poet. The student will use
the research process (utilizing MLA references) to gather critical and background information,
and will demonstrate the writing process by turning in prewrites and drafts at scheduled times
and participating in group editing prior to submitting the final product.
Students must then identify a target audience that needs but is currently underutilizing
the services of the industry they’ve selected to promote. The students will then create a
PSA or brochure using the poem to highlight the chosen industry, paying close attention to
genre conventions, intended audience, and purpose. They need to engage in research to find
models of brochures and PSAs from their chosen industry. They will use sample brochures
English Composition • ACCESS Curricula Guide
76
Summative Assessments
and PSAs from their selected industry sectors as models for their products, and reflect on
how these examples assisted them in their creation process.
Some sample PSA and brochure projects:
•
Agriculture and Natural Resources: Use a passage from a poem to highlight the history
and benefits of an agricultural technology in an informative advertisement for public or
consumer education.
•
Energy and Utilities: Use a section of a famous poem in a marketing document to persuade
industries to embrace emerging technologies.
•
Health Care: Use excerpts from a poem or poems about grief, illness, dying, pregnancy,
or childbirth to encourage the continuing education of healthcare workers in the
psychological aspects of patient care.
•
Public Services: Highlight a patriotic poem as a marketing tool that supports the mission
of a government agency.
•
Hospitality, Tourism, and Recreation: Include local poets’ or writers’ works in brochures
to romanticize a locale and facilitate tourism, e.g., Visit Kerouac’s “Big Sur,” Come to
“Steinbeck Country,” Explore “Beat Poetry Headquarters” in Northern California.
Example:
Imagery and Symbolism:
Nothing Gold Can Stay
Nature’s first green is gold
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down today.
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ACCESS Curricula Guide • English Composition
Why Does it Matter?
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dolor et accumsan.
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Et accumsan. Lorem ipsum dolor
sit amet, consectetuer
Works Cited
Jameson.
Frost, Robert. Interview with James
Nov. 1958.
Literature Weekly, Vol 4. July
Smith, Jane. “The Meaning of Poetry.”
2010.
.” Writer’s Life. Sept. 2008.
Williams, Xavier. “Robert’ s Frosting
Summative Assessments
77
S u m m a t ive A s s e s s m e n t
California Water Persuasive Essay
Overview:
Students are required to research the current issue of water supply in California and write a
series of formal responses arguing for a specific course of action. The assessment includes
an annotated bibliography, researched persuasive essay, and three cover letters geared
toward varying audiences. The assessment includes an annotated bibliography, researched
persuasive essay, three cover letters geared toward varying audiences, and a formal
reflection.
Time Frame:
3–6 weeks of class time, with outside homework and research
Real World Application:
The issue of water supply potentially reaches into all California industry sectors. Some
examples are:
•
Agriculture and Natural Resources: An irrigation manager in Sonoma might engage in a
project of this scope to help Sonoma continue to produce world class wines.
•
Building Trades and Construction: A civil engineer working on the development of
subdivisions in outlying areas of Palm Desert might invest considerable time and
resources ensuring that the water demands of the project are met during construction,
and that the needs of the community will be met following construction.
•
Energy and Utilities: Waste management technicians and engineers might use such a
project to ensure improvement in efficacy of wastewater systems in existing communities
and new developments.
•
Hospitality, Tourism, and Recreation: The tourism industry in Santa Rosa, dependent upon
water supply as a jumping-off point for tours and wine country excursions, might enlist
lobbyists dedicated to projects such as this to ensure continued tourism.
Assessment:
Process and Product: Students will write from the perspective of a legal clerk for a legislator
and must provide a recommendation on the issue of California water supply and use. This
report must include an annotated bibliography that reviews different perspectives of the
issue, a persuasive essay that supports their thesis, and three cover letters that summarize
their argument.
English Composition • ACCESS Curricula Guide
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Summative Assessments
Annotated bibliography: Students will research and analyze various types of text of
increasingly complex discourses, which may include audio and visual media. For each text,
students should
1. write a brief summary that accurately identifies and analyzes the claim, and
2. provide a paragraph predicting how they will use this source in their final report or why
it will not be useful.
Persuasive essay: After completing an annotated bibliography from various interest groups
(the economy, the environment, the citizens) on the California water supply and use issue,
students will craft a persuasive essay. This essay should
1. begin with an overview of various stakeholder issues related to water supply and use in
California;
2. include a thesis that states their recommendation(s) to the legislator;
3. develop and support recommendation(s) with relevant reasons, evidence, and analysis;
4. address and evaluate the opposing view(s); and
5. conclude with a summary of their findings, including their recommendation(s).
Cover letters: Students will write three letters to three different legislators of different
partisan groups. These cover letters should
1. summarize their findings;
2. state their argument;
3. be specific to their audience; and
4. follow the format of a cover letter.
Formal reflection: Students will write a reflection of their writing process over the course of
these assignments. This reflection should
1. reflect thinking and rethinking of the organizational structure, connection, and ideas in
the persuasive essay and cover letters;
2. illustrate how they recognized and corrected significant patterns of errors in their writing;
and
3. answer the following questions:
• What are the strengths of this draft?
• What did you do to improve this draft?
• What skills did you learn in the process of crafting this paper that you could use in
future projects?
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Summative Assessments
79
S u m m a t ive A s s e s s m e n t
A Closer Look at Visual Texts
Overview:
This project focuses on visual rhetoric and argumentation. The project is comprised of four
components: the prospectus, the oral presentation, the annotated bibliography, and the
final research paper including a works cited page. The purpose of this research project is to
build skills at posing analytical questions, conducting an investigation of existing knowledge,
analyzing and synthesizing accumulated data, and presenting to a predetermined audience.
The primary text used in the class is “Picturing Texts” by Lester Faigley, Diana George,
Anna Palchik, and Cynthia Selfe. Other helpful resources are “Beyond Words” by John
Ruszkiewicz, Daniel Anderson, and Christy Friend, and “Seeing and Writing” by Donald
McQuade and Christine McQuade.
Time Frame:
4–8 weeks of class time, with outside homework and research
Real World Application:
Analysis of visual texts is a skill that crosses industry sectors. Some specific examples of
applications are:
Arts, Media, and Entertainment: A publicity director publicizing a graphic novel’s film
adaptation might participate in a careful analysis and study of graphic novel visuals to help
create publicity material consistent with the original work’s independent and edgy reputation.
Finance and Business: An accounting firm looking to redesign their marketing materials and
office interior might undertake an analysis of images to select icons and decor that represent
security, confidence, accuracy, or other appropriate ideals.
Information Technology: A software engineer creating a design for basic skills grammar
software might undertake a visual analysis of text design and images for the millennial
generation, and apply that research in the design of the software to facilitate a better user
experience for their younger target market.
Transportation: A vehicle-painting company interested in exploring new markets might
do a visual analysis to see whether the current and historical interest in tattoos and their
connotations would translate into removable decorative wraps, window decals, or custom
paint jobs.
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Summative Assessments
Assessment:
Process and Product: The first three components of this project — the prospectus, oral
presentation, and annotated bibliography — assist the student in writing the final research
paper. Students will have three choices regarding the type of research paper they will write,
with a couple caveats:
•
Students may not use topics that have been discussed in class or the topic of prior essays
or print advertisements.
•
Students may not use commonplace topics, such as tobacco or alcohol advertisements
or the use of sex as an advertising tool.
•
Topics must be approved before students proceed.
The goal of this project is to prepare students for the rigors of both investigative research
of a particular topic and the intellectual engagement required in career and industry fields.
Prospectus: The prospectus is the student’s consideration of the appropriateness of a
research topic. The purpose of this assignment is to help students clarify a research topic
and to guide them in their research. The prospectus is graded CR/NC, but it is a required
component of the final project. In one or two typed pages (one page minimum, two pages
maximum), the prospectus should address the following prompts:
•
Proposal: Choose one of the three research options and describe what specific topic
you’d like to know more about. Be sure to address how that topic fits with the parameters
of the particular option you’ve chosen. Tell why you want to study this topic.
•
Existing knowledge: What do you already know about this topic? Have you studied it
before? What interests you about this topic? List everything (or as much as you can)
about this topic that you know.
•
Research question: Articulate one or two research questions that will drive your
investigation: What needs to be discovered about your topic?
•
Future knowledge: What do you hope to learn through this process?
Annotated bibliography: A bibliography is a list of sources (books, articles, documents, etc.)
with complete citation information. An annotated bibliography also provides this information,
but each entry is followed by an annotation, a paragraph that first summarizes or describes the
main idea of the source in one or two sentences and then evaluates the source (6–10 sentences).
The annotated bibliography should contain a minimum of 12 entries from a variety of sources,
including books, articles, and Web sites.
Oral presentation: This will give students an opportunity to share information with peers, help
students to organize their thoughts and research, and provide feedback from classmates.
Students should strive to present their central claim and supporting ideas. They may mention
pertinent research, but the focus of the presentation should be on the student’s ideas.
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Final Research Paper: Using at least 10 outside sources in the text of their 8- to 10-page
paper, students have three options:
Option 1: Study of a visual text. Pick a work of visual art (painting, sculpture, film, etc.) that
has appeared in different contexts over time. Write a research paper exploring the meaning/
significance of that work in the different contexts in which it has appeared. Your research
should help you illuminate:
•
•
•
•
•
What was the original context in which it was made?
Who was the author/artist? What were her/his intentions?
How has the image been appropriated over time and for what purposes? How does this
change the meaning of the text?
Who was/is the audience for this work?
What historical, social, economic, or cultural factors have influenced the reception and
meaning of this work?
Option 2: Study of a message in visual genres. Pick a message or idea that has been
communicated in at least three different visual sources. Write a researched analysis of the
message's effectiveness in those sources (consider themed museum displays, festivals, or
conferences that include different visual texts focusing on the idea). Your research should
focus on:
•
•
•
•
Why is this message important?
Who is the audience for the message?
How is the message presented in each source, and how does the presentation affect the
effectiveness of the message?
What historical, social, economic, or cultural factors have influenced the reception of this
message?
Option 3: Ethical construction of a visual text. Using the principles of visual rhetoric, graphic
design, and argumentation, create your own visual text. Some examples of texts are a short
film, a poster for a business or organization, or any text that intentionally employs visual
rhetorical strategies. As you design the text, consider the factors that contribute to ethically
designing visual texts: your message (argument/claim), assumptions, audience needs,
purpose, and potential reactions. Then write an essay to accompany your text in which
you (1) describe your text, (2) perform an analysis of your text, (3) summarize two viewers’
responses, and (4) reflect on what worked about your text, what didn’t work, and what
aspects of the design you found most challenging. You should consider:
•
•
•
•
What is your message or intended effect?
Who is your audience and how did you address your audience?
Why did you choose the particular medium/genre?
What visual/rhetorical strategies did you employ and for what purpose?
English Composition • ACCESS Curricula Guide
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Summative Assessments
S um m a t ive A s s e s s m e n t
Views from “The Devil’s Highway”
Overview:
Luis Urrea’s book The Devil’s Highway details the true account of 26 men who attempted
to cross the Mexican border into southern Arizona and only 12 survived. In this research
project, students take on the role of one of the stakeholders (law enforcement, healthcare
worker, social worker, historian, or politician) and make an argument from that person’s
perspective on immigration of undocumented workers. The product is a 5–7 page feature
magazine article in which students use Urrea’s book, outside research, and their own prior
knowledge to construct an argument for a specific audience.
Time Frame:
3–5 weeks of class time, with outside homework and research
Real World Application:
A variety of current, relevant, controversial situations that students are facing — or may be
facing in the future — are applicable in all of California’s industry sector pathways. One general
outcome of this assignment is that students will be able to see how issues often have many
points of view and many possible solutions. Students will also see the value of contributing
to their society and how their contributions can further enhance their connection to their
community. They should be aware of public debates on issues in their field.
Assessment:
Process and Product: Every year, hundreds of migrants cross the border between Mexico
and the United States. Immigration brings many challenges, not only for the undocumented
immigrants themselves but for legal citizens in the United States. For this paper, students
choose one of the five following roles and dilemmas. In addressing the questions, they are
asked to take into account the information in Urrea’s book and outside research regarding
the issues in the given field they select.
a) You are a law enforcement agent patrolling the border. What challenges do you
face? If you were in charge of the situation, explore three possible ways to deal
with the issue. Given your resources, which of the three ways do you see is the most
feasible and why?
b) You work as a hospital administrator who deals with many immigrants who come
to you uninsured, dehydrated, and sometimes dying. You also may be dealing with
citizens who have been in accidents involving immigrants. What challenges do you
face? How much medical care should the undocumented immigrants receive and
why? If you were in a situation where you had to make decisions, what possible
courses of action would you take that would be humane and that would take into
account the financial repercussions of caring for such people?
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Summative Assessments
83
c) You are a social worker who works with immigrants. What psychological and social
issues do immigrants bring to the community? What advice would you give to the
community as to how to work together and/or visualize the challenge?
d) You are a historian in charge of documenting the challenge of illegal immigration for
future textbooks. What about the situation concerning undocumented immigrants
would be important for students to learn? What lessons would you feel are important
for future citizens to learn so that they can resolve future immigration issues?
e) You are the mayor of a border town and are faced with a steady stream of
undocumented workers, irritated and supportive citizens, a budget shortfall, and
maintaining the well-being of the community, including keeping a strong workforce.
What are the challenges you face? What policies would you enact that would
benefit the majority of your constituency?
Students will choose a specific publication for their article that will establish the audience,
such as:
•
Esquire
•
The Weekly Standard
•
The Nation
•
Upfront (Scholastic News Magazine)
•
Good Housekeeping
•
National Geographic
Before choosing a specific publication, students will familiarize themselves with each of
the magazines, noting characteristics of the audience as well as the types and structures of
arguments the magazine tends to make.
English Composition • ACCESS Curricula Guide
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BASIC
Writing
Process
•• does not use a
consistent or planned
writing process
•• does not develop a
claim/controlling idea/
thesis
•• does not plan or write
with audience, purpose,
and genre in mind
Critical
Thinking
EMERGING
•• utilizes some writing
processes
•• develops a claim/
controlling idea/thesis
that may be simplistic
or formulaic
•• exhibits some sense
of audience, purpose,
and genre in planning
and writing
MEETS COMPETENCY
ADVANCED
•• utilizes necessary writing
processes: prewriting,
drafting, revising, editing,
and publishing
•• utilizes necessary writing
processes: prewriting,
drafting, revising, editing, and
publishing
•• develops a claim/
controlling idea/thesis
•• demonstrates ongoing
application of writing process
through evolving claim/
controlling idea/thesis
•• writes with a sense of
audience, purpose, and
genre
•• revises with audience,
purpose, and genre in
mind
•• writes and revises and makes
appropriate choices with
audience, purpose, and genre in
mind
•• produces clear but simple
arguments or solutions
•• produces clear arguments or
solutions
•• uses weak persuasive
and logical appeals
•• includes some
persuasive/logical
appeals
•• uses persuasive and logical
appeals
•• does not address
alternative views
•• may not address
alternative views
•• shows awareness of
opposing ideas
•• makes no connection to
a larger political/social/
cultural context
•• has little awareness
of a larger political/
social/cultural context
•• alludes to at least one
larger context — political/
social/cultural
•• acknowledges larger political/
social/cultural contexts
•• produces illogical
arguments or solutions
•• includes few, mostly
weak persuasive and
logical appeals
•• produces incomplete/
inconsistent
arguments/solutions
•• reflects on success of writing
with audience, purpose, and
genre in mind
•• addresses alternative views
Summative Assessments Grading Rubrics
ACCESS Curricula Guide • English Composition
S u m m a t i v e A s s e s s m e n t s G r a d i n g R u b r i c f o r 1 1 th G r a d e E n g l i s h
BASIC
Organization
•• generally organizes
around five paragraph
essay model
•• organizes information
in simplistic or random
order
•• uses few transitions
within and between
paragraphs/sections/
segments
•• includes basic
introduction and
conclusion with
limited body/sections/
segments
•• uses adequate order
of information
•• uses transitions
regularly; may be
predictable (first,
second, etc.)
•• uses sources
minimally; may not
meet the assignment
requirements
•• uses limited sources
that minimally
meet assignment
requirements
•• uses only secondary
sources
•• relies heavily on
secondary sources,
but may include a
primary source
•• uses support/evidence
that sometimes does
not relate to argument
•• often fails to use
evidence
•• uses support/
evidence that mostly
relates to argument
•• inserts evidence
(quotes, summaries,
paraphrases) in text
MEETS COMPETENCY
•• includes clear
introduction, body/
sections/segments, and
conclusion
•• uses effective order of
information
•• uses various transitions
regularly in paragraphs
•• employs appropriate
patterns of organization
ADVANCED
•• includes focused introduction
and clear body/sections/
segments and conclusion
•• maintains consistent focus
throughout the text
•• presents information in a
logical order
•• uses variety of transitions
regularly within and between
paragraphs/sections/segments
•• employs patterns of
organization that deepen
understanding of ideas
•• uses a variety of sources
that meet the assignment
requirements
•• uses credible sources
appropriately that meet
assignment requirements
•• uses mostly secondary
sources, but includes
some primary sources
•• uses both primary and
secondary sources
•• relates support/evidence
to central argument
•• clearly and consistently
focuses support/evidence on
central argument or claim
•• introduces evidence
(quotes, summaries,
paraphrases) into text
•• integrates evidence (quotes,
summaries, paraphrases) into
text
Summative Assessments Grading Rubrics
85
English Composition • ACCESS Curricula Guide
Support/
Evidence/
Sources
EMERGING
86
Style/Voice
•• uses simplistic word
choices that do not
create a voice
MEETS COMPETENCY
ADVANCED
•• creates an emerging
voice with awkward
word choices and
simplistic language
and descriptions
•• creates a voice with
accurate word choices,
figurative language, and
appropriate description
and tone
•• creates a voice through
appropriate word choices,
figurative language, creative
description, and appropriate
tone
•• has no awareness of
audience beyond self
•• shows awareness of
audience beyond self
•• uses vocabulary
and sources that are
consistently at odds
with purpose
•• uses simple
vocabulary
•• accurately uses vocabulary
that may or may not be
discipline-specific
•• demonstrates audience
awareness through choice of
sources and references
•• uses mostly complete
sentences and accurate
punctuation with some
sentence-level errors
•• uses simple sentence
structure and
punctuation
•• has no awareness of
audience beyond self
•• sometimes uses
inaccurate vocabulary
Conventions
EMERGING
•• inconsistently formats
in-text citing and
reference or works cited
page
•• uses vocabulary/
sources that
inconsistently support
purpose
•• inconsistently formats
in-text citing and
reference or works
cited page
•• uses vocabulary/sources
that support purpose
•• uses varied vocabulary; may
not always be disciplinespecific
•• uses vocabulary and sources
that consistently support
purpose
•• uses accurate sentence
structure and punctuation
•• uses varied sentence structure
and punctuation
•• consistently formats intext citing and reference
or works cited page that
is appropriate for chosen
style guide
•• consistently formats in-text
citing and reference or works
cited page that is appropriate
for chosen style guide
Summative Assessments Grading Rubrics
ACCESS Curricula Guide • English Composition
BASIC
S u m m a t i v e A s s e s s m e n t s G r a d i n g R u b r i c f o r 1 2 th G r a d e / C o l l e g e B a s i c S k i l l s E n g l i s h
BASIC
Writing
Process
•• utilizes some writing
processes
•• develops a claim/
controlling idea/thesis
that may be simplistic
or formulaic
•• exhibits some sense of
audience, purpose, and
genre in planning and
writing
•• utilizes necessary
writing processes:
prewriting, drafting,
revising, editing, and
publishing
•• develops a claim/
controlling idea/thesis
that may be simplistic
or formulaic
MEETS COMPETENCY
•• utilizes necessary writing
processes: prewriting,
drafting, revising, editing,
and publishing
•• demonstrates ongoing
reflection of writing process
through evolving claim/
controlling idea/thesis
ADVANCED
•• independently engages
in and reflects on writing
processes to meet the
specific demands of the
writing task
•• develops a clear thesis that
addresses the topic with
clarity, complexity, and
depth of thought
•• writes with a sense of
audience, purpose, and
genre
•• writes/revises and makes
appropriate choices with
audience, purpose, and
genre in mind
•• revises with audience,
purpose, and genre in
mind
•• reflects on success of
writing with audience,
purpose, and genre in mind
•• produces incomplete or
inconsistent arguments
or solutions
•• produces clear but
simple arguments or
solutions
•• produces clear arguments
or solutions
•• produces complex, original
arguments or solutions
•• uses weak persuasive
and logical appeals
•• includes some
persuasive/logical
appeals
•• uses persuasive and logical
appeals
•• integrates effective
persuasive and logical
appeals
•• may not address
alternative views
•• demonstrates little
awareness of larger
political/social/cultural
context
•• shows awareness of
opposing ideas
•• alludes to at least
one larger context —
political/social/cultural
•• addresses alternative views
•• acknowledges larger
political/social/cultural
contexts
•• uses appropriate rhetorical
moves, content, evidence,
and arguments with
audience, purpose, and
genre in mind during
all stages of the writing
process
•• demonstrates objectivity
by addressing alternative
views
•• makes connections to
larger political/social/
cultural contexts
Summative Assessments Grading Rubrics
87
English Composition • ACCESS Curricula Guide
Critical
Thinking
EMERGING
88
Organization
•• includes basic
introduction and
conclusion with
limited body/sections/
segments
•• uses adequate order of
information
•• uses few transitions
within and between
paragraphs/sections/
segments
EMERGING
MEETS COMPETENCY
•• includes clear
introduction, body/
sections/segments, and
conclusion
•• includes focused
introduction and clear
body paragraphs/sections/
segments and conclusion
•• focuses text on
argument
•• maintains consistent focus
throughout the text
•• organizes information
in logical order, perhaps
with one or two
exceptions
•• presents information in
logical order
•• uses some transitions;
may be formulaic or
repetitive
•• employs appropriate
patterns of organization
•• uses transitions regularly
within and between
paragraphs/sections/
segments
•• employs patterns of
organization that deepen
understanding of ideas
ADVANCED
•• includes engaging
introduction, clear
paragraphs/sections/
segments, and conclusion
that move the reader to
action
•• includes interpretations
with a rhetorical thread
throughout the text
•• presents information in
logical, thoughtful order
relative to the task
•• uses transitions regularly
and effectively within
and between paragraphs/
sections/segments
•• contains multiple patterns
of organization to best
showcase the relationship
among ideas
Support/
Evidence/
Sources
•• uses limited sources
that minimally
meet assignment
requirements
•• uses variety of sources
that meet assignment
requirements
•• appropriately uses
credible sources that meet
assignment requirements
•• effectively uses credible
sources that meet
assignment requirements
•• uses mostly secondary
sources
•• uses some primary
sources; uses mostly
secondary sources
•• uses both primary and
secondary sources
•• balances use of primary
and secondary sources
•• uses support/evidence
that mostly relates to
argument
•• uses support/evidence
that relates to central
argument
•• clearly and consistently
focuses support/evidence
on central argument or
claim
•• advances central argument
or claim through support/
evidence that works
together
•• inserts evidence
(quotes, summaries,
paraphrases) into text
•• introduces evidence
(quotes, summaries,
paraphrases) into text
•• integrates evidence (quotes,
summaries, paraphrases)
into text
•• cohesively integrates
evidence (quotes,
summaries, paraphrases)
within text
Summative Assessments Grading Rubrics
ACCESS Curricula Guide • English Composition
BASIC
Style/Voice
EMERGING
•• creates an emerging voice
through awkward word
choices, lack of figurative
language, and unclear
description
•• creates a voice through
accurate word choices,
figurative language, and
general description/tone
•• creates a voice through
appropriate word choices,
figurative language, and
clear description/tone
•• creates distinctive voice
through purposeful word
choices and consistent
tone
•• shows some awareness of
audience beyond self
•• demonstrates audience
awareness through choice
of sources/references
•• demonstrates command of
audience through choice
of sources and references
•• uses varied vocabulary;
may not always be
discipline-specific
•• uses complex and
discipline-specific
vocabulary appropriately
•• uses vocabulary and
sources that mostly
support purpose
•• uses vocabulary/sources
that consistently support
purpose
•• uses tone, vocabulary,
sources, and references
that work together to
support purpose
•• uses accurate
sentence structure and
punctuation
•• uses varied sentence
structure and punctuation
•• uses sophisticated,
varied, complex sentence
structure and punctuation
•• has no awareness of
audience beyond self
•• uses simple vocabulary
•• uses vocabulary and
sources that inconsistently
support purpose
•• uses simple sentence
structure and punctuation
• • inconsistently formats
in-text citing and
reference or works cited
page
•• consistently formats
in-text citing and
reference or works
cited page that is
appropriate for chosen
style guide
•• consistently formats in-text
citing and reference or
works cited page that is
appropriate for chosen
style guide
ADVANCED
•• consistently formats in-text
citing and reference or
works cited page that is
appropriate for chosen
style guide
89
English Composition • ACCESS Curricula Guide
Conventions
•• accurately uses
vocabulary that may or
may not be disciplinespecific
MEETS COMPETENCY
Summative Assessments Grading Rubrics
BASIC
90
BASIC
Writing
Process
EMERGING
•• utilizes necessary
writing processes:
prewriting, drafting,
revising, editing, and
publishing
•• utilizes necessary
writing processes:
prewriting, drafting,
revising, editing, and
publishing
•• independently engages
in and reflects on writing
processes to meet the
specific demands of the
writing task
•• develops a claim/
controlling idea/thesis
•• demonstrates ongoing
reflection of writing
process through
evolving claim/
controlling idea/thesis
•• develops a clear thesis
that addresses the topic
with clarity, complexity,
and depth of thought
•• writes with a sense of
audience, purpose, and
genre
•• revises with audience,
purpose, and genre in
mind
•• writes/revises and
makes appropriate
choices with audience,
purpose, and genre in
mind
•• reflects on success of
writing with audience,
purpose, and genre in
mind
Critical
Thinking
MEETS COMPETENCY
•• uses appropriate rhetorical
moves, content, evidence,
and arguments with
audience, purpose, and
genre in mind during
all stages of the writing
process
•• produces clear but simple
argument or solution
•• produces clear
arguments or solutions
•• produces complex, original
arguments or solutions
•• includes some
persuasive or logical
appeals
•• uses persuasive and
logical appeals
•• integrates effective
persuasive and logical
appeals
•• shows awareness of
opposing ideas
•• acknowledges larger
political/social/cultural
contexts
•• addresses alternative
views
•• alludes to at least
one larger context —
political/social/cultural
•• demonstrates objectivity
by addressing alternative
views
•• makes connections to
larger political/social/
cultural contexts
ADVANCED
•• uses writing processes that
demonstrate perseverance,
precision, and ownership
•• demonstrates clear and
engaging language in
thesis, which advances
sophisticated and unique
claim
•• uses knowledge of
audience, genre, and
purpose to inform critical
choices in the writing
process related to context,
organization, selection of
evidence, appeals, and
hierarchy of ideas
•• produces original,
sophisticated argument or
solution
•• integrates effective,
complex persuasive and
logical appeals
•• demonstrates objectivity
by thoughtfully addressing
alternative views
•• makes connections to larger
political/social/cultural
contexts that go beyond the
obvious
Summative Assessments Grading Rubrics
ACCESS Curricula Guide • English Composition
Summative Assessments Grading Rubric for College Freshman Composition
BASIC
Organization
•• includes clear
introduction, body/
sections/segments, and
conclusion
•• focuses text on
argument
•• presents information in
logical order with one
or two exceptions
•• uses repetitive
transitions
Support/
Evidence/
Sources
•• uses a variety of
sources that meet
assignment requirement
•• uses mostly secondary
sources
•• uses support/evidence
that relates to central
argument
•• introduces evidence
(quotes, summaries,
paraphrases) into text
•• includes a focused
introduction and clear
body paragraphs/
sections/segments and
conclusion
•• maintains consistent
focus throughout text
•• presents information in
logical order
•• uses transitions
regularly within and
between paragraphs/
sections/segments
•• employs patterns
of organization that
deepen understanding
of ideas
•• appropriately uses
credible sources that
meet assignment
requirements
•• uses both primary and
secondary sources
•• clearly and consistently
focuses support/
evidence on central
argument or claim
•• integrates evidence
(quotes, summaries,
paraphrases) into text
MEETS COMPETENCY
ADVANCED
•• includes engaging
introduction, clear body
paragraphs/sections/
segments, and conclusion
that move the reader to
action
•• includes engaging
introduction, clear
paragraphs/sections/
segments, and conclusion
that move the reader to
think beyond the text
•• includes interpretations
with rhetorical thread
throughout the text
•• integrates interpretations
with consistent rhetorical
thread throughout the text
•• presents information in
logical, thoughtful order
relative to task
•• presents information in
logical, thoughtful order
that illuminates task
•• uses transitions regularly
and effectively within
and between paragraphs/
sections/segments
•• uses skillful transitions
regularly and effectively
within and between
paragraphs/sections/
segments
•• contains multiple patterns
of organization to best
showcase the relationship
among ideas
•• effectively uses credible
sources that meet
assignment requirements
•• balances use of primary
and secondary sources
•• advances central argument
or claim through use of
support/evidence
•• cohesively integrates
evidence (quotes,
summaries, paraphrases)
within text
•• uses a variety of patterns of
organization with innovation
to showcase the relationship
among ideas and forward to
argument
•• effectively uses abundance
of credible sources that
support each other and
advances central argument
or claim
•• uses rigorous primary and
secondary sources
•• skillfully advances central
argument or claim through
support/evidence
•• cohesively integrates
evidence (quotes,
summaries, paraphrases)
within text
Summative Assessments Grading Rubrics
91
English Composition • ACCESS Curricula Guide
•• employs basic patterns
of organization
EMERGING
92
Style/Voice
•• creates inconsistent
voice through poor
word choices, lack of
figurative language,
simplistic description,
and inconsistent tone
•• creates a voice through
appropriate word
choices, figurative
language, adequate
description, and
consistent tone
•• shows limited awareness
of audience beyond self
•• demonstrates audience
awareness through
choice of sources,
allusions, and references
•• uses vocabulary that
may or may not be
discipline-specific
•• uses vocabulary and
sources that interfere
with purpose
Conventions
EMERGING
•• uses varied vocabulary
that may not always be
discipline-specific
•• uses vocabulary and
sources that are mostly
appropriate for the
purpose
MEETS COMPETENCY
•• creates a distinctive voice
through purposeful word
choices, figurative language,
appropriate description,
and clear tone
•• demonstrates audience
awareness through choice
of sources, allusions, and
references
•• uses sophisticated
vocabulary that is complex
and discipline-specific
•• uses tone, vocabulary,
sources, and references that
work together to support
purpose
ADVANCED
•• creates a distinctive
voice through skillful and
purposeful word choices,
figurative language,
creative description, and
clear tone
•• demonstrates command
over audience through
choice of sources, allusions,
and references
•• purposefully and skillfully
uses vocabulary that is
complex and disciplinespecific
•• advances paper’s purpose
through tone, vocabulary,
sources, and references
that work together
•• accurately uses
sentence structure and
punctuation
•• uses varied sentence
structure and
punctuation
•• uses sophisticated, varied,
complex sentence structure
and punctuation
•• skillfully uses purposeful
and complex sentence
structure and punctuation
• • consistently formats
in-text citing and
reference or works cited
page that is appropriate
for chosen style guide
•• consistently formats
in-text citing and
reference or works cited
page that is appropriate
for chosen style guide
•• consistently formats in-text
citing and reference or
works cited page that is
appropriate for chosen style
guide
•• consistently formats in-text
citing and reference or
works cited page that is
appropriate for chosen
style guide
Summative Assessments Grading Rubrics
ACCESS Curricula Guide • English Composition
BASIC
Acknowledgements/Contributors
93
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS/CONTRIBUTORS
English and English Language Arts (ELA) faculty from 13 Cal-PASS Professional Learning
Councils (PLCs) collaborated toward the common goal of aligning curricula from 11th grade
through transfer-level coursework in postsecondary education in the disciplines of English/ELA
and English Learners (EL). One EL and 12 English Cal-PASS Professional Learning Councils from
the following regions participated in the ACCESS Initiative:
Contra Costa
East San Diego County
Los Angeles*
Merced
North Bay
North Coast
Placer-Nevada
San Francisco
San Mateo
Santa Barbara
Siskiyou County
West Fresno Region
West San Bernardino County
*EL PLC
Several Cal-PASS Professional Learning Councils began this type of alignment work in
their local regions, and their experience helped Cal-PASS develop a model for aligning exit and
entrance competencies for sequential coursework. This initiative is unique in that it brought
together a collaboration of high school and postsecondary faculty from around the state to
discuss curriculum and build a clearly articulated curricula guide chronicling what students are
expected to know upon completing one course and to be prepared for subsequent courses. The
names of Cal-PASS Professional Learning Council faculty participants who graciously volunteered
their time and expertise for this project are listed starting on page 94.
English Composition • ACCESS Curricula Guide
94
Acknowledgements/Contributors
The ACCESS initiative was made possible through partnerships between Cal-PASS
and The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, The James Irvine Foundation, The Evelyn
and Walter Haas Jr. Fund, and The Girard Foundation. This far-reaching project could not
have come to fruition without the keen vision and generous funding of these partners.
The coordination and management of this statewide endeavor was the accomplishment
of Eden Dahlstrom, ACCESS project director, who traveled around the state over a 2-year
period to meet with the Cal-PASS Professional Learning Councils and keep the project
relevant and on track. She also headed up the summer workshops, where faculty from
around the state came together to specify competencies and assessments. Cal-PASS
leaders Michelle Kalina and Shelly Valdez also traveled to Cal-PASS Professional Learning
Council meetings and offered collegial guidance and assistance to keep this project
energized and relevant.
After hundreds of pages of English assessments, guides, and rubrics were compiled,
the guide was handed over to English instructors Kent Fortin and Laura Malcolm to handle
the initial editing process. English instructors Veronica Toledo-McLennan, Jessica Holman,
Stephanie Macceca, and Susan Johnson also contributed to the editing and proofing of
this guide. Following several rounds of editing, Cal-PASS’s Katheryn Horton stepped up to
oversee the editing process. Finally, English instructors Cindi Davis Harris, Cali Linfor, and
Adrianna Lazzarini edited and honed the content into its final form. Throughout the
editing process, freelance copyeditor Cindi Patton (www.thefinaledit.com) handled
copyediting and formatting as well as production and print management. Patton Brothers
Illustration & Design, Inc. (www.pattonbros.com) created the design.
For more information, please contact Shelly Valdez, EdD, at [email protected].
ACCESS Curricula Guide • English Composition
Acknowledgements/Contributors
95
English Faculty Participants
Name:
Region:
Avila, Mario
Los Angeles
Acosta, Cheryl
San Diego - East
Ahrens, Joan
San Diego - East
Almeida, Regina
San Bernardino - West
Amann, Nicolette
North Coast
Amerian, Melissa
San Diego - East
Anderson, Leah
San Diego - East
Ashcraft, Monica
Sonoma (North Bay)
Ballard, Dora
Sonoma (North Bay)
Barba, Michael
Merced
Barese, Dani
Sonoma (North Bay)
Barnett, Karen
San Diego - East
Barnett, Lynda
Siskiyou
Barr, Marsha
Santa Barbara
Barrillas, Maria
Los Angeles
Betteschild, Mary
Fresno - West
Bianco, Jessica
San Diego - East
Biczo, Andrea
San Bernardino - West
Bjorkman, Mariann
Placer–Nevada
Boehme, Cece
San Diego - East
Borden, Todd
Santa Barbara
Boyson, Andy
San Mateo
Brant, Tera
Merced
Caldwell, Marie
Siskiyou
Cardona, Martina
San Bernardino - West
Carmean, PJ
Santa Barbara
Carrizoja-Robledo, Imelda
San Bernardino - West
Carter, Chuck
San Diego - East
Castanos, Jean
San Diego - East
Castillo, Raul
San Bernardino - West
English Composition • ACCESS Curricula Guide
96
Acknowledgements/Contributors
Name:
Region:
Cavales-Doolan, Sheryl
Sonoma (North Bay)
Chabran, Gail
Los Angeles
Chavez, Arcely
Los Angeles
Clark, Donna
Los Angeles
Cooke, Trisha
North Coast
Daniels, Neomi
Fresno - West
Day, Vicki
San Mateo
De Shazo, Elsa
San Bernardino - West
Dentino, John
Los Angeles
Derscheid, Vicky
Santa Barbara
Devlin, Pam
Sonoma (North Bay)
Doane, Margaret
San Bernardino - West
Dobbs, Marcie
Santa Barbara
Doherty, Donna
North Coast
Elam, Shawn
San Diego - East
Erpelo, Liza
San Mateo
Evans, Eva
Los Angeles
Fagaly, Elizabeth
San Diego - East
Farquar, Kirin
San Diego - East
Favero, Gary
San Bernardino - West
Feinblum, Kathleen
San Mateo
Feiner, Jarrod
San Mateo
Fiedler, Bonnie
San Mateo
Fischer, Ann
Santa Barbara
Fitzpatrick, Lynn
Sonoma (North Bay)
Flores, Jeanette
San Bernardino - West
Forslund, Jeannine
Santa Barbara
Fortin, Kent
Placer–Nevada
Foster, Ann
Sonoma (North Bay)
Friesen, Julian
San Diego - East
Furry, Carly
Siskiyou
ACCESS Curricula Guide • English Composition
Acknowledgements/Contributors
Name:
Region:
Gai, Stephanie
North Coast
Galindo, Laura
Los Angeles
Garcia, Nancy
Sonoma (North Bay)
Gibson, Alicia
San Diego - East
Gillesepie, Jimi
San Bernardino - West
Ginsberg, Eric
San Diego - East
Gomez, Tatiana
Los Angeles
Gonzalez, Heather
Merced
Griffith, Ryan
San Diego - East
Guiremand, Tanya
Santa Barbara
Hall, Sadie
Santa Barbara
Hanford, Linda
San Bernardino - West
Hanna, Judd
Siskiyou
Haro, Ignacio
Los Angeles
Harris, Cindi Davis
San Diego - East
Hernandez, Carla
Los Angeles
Hernandez, Myra
Los Angeles
Herrera, Carla
Los Angeles
Hobbs, Jack
Santa Barbara
Holcomb, Robert
Los Angeles
Hollems, Diane
Santa Barbara
Huntington, Pam
Merced
Hurvitz, Tate
San Diego - East
Huttenbrauck, Jesse
San Diego - East
Jackson, Jeremy
Los Angeles
Javitch, Daniel
San Francisco
Jeffers, Mark
San Diego - East
Jendian, Micah
San Diego - East
Jenkins, Heather
San Bernardino - West
Johnson, Susan
Placer-Nevada
Joyner, Cassandra
Santa Barbara
97
English Composition • ACCESS Curricula Guide
98
Acknowledgements/Contributors
Name:
Region:
Joyner, Cassie
Santa Barbara
Kelly, Peggy
Santa Barbara
King, Stephanie
San Bernardino - West
Krespan, Silvia
Los Angeles
Kruse, Debbie
San Bernardino - West
Kurtz, Vicki
North Coast
Laughrea, Suzanne
Placer–Nevada
Leary, Donna
Contra Costa
Leber, Heidi
Contra Costa
Lehman, Jennifer
Sonoma (North Bay)
Leighton Keith
Santa Barbara
Liddell, Michelle
San Diego - East
Lindemulder, Char
San Bernardino - West
Lindenstein, Mary
Santa Barbara
Lindgard, Sue
Siskiyou
Little, Holli
Placer–Nevada
Lopez, Becky
Merced
Lopez, Gerald A.
San Diego - East
Love, Amy
San Mateo
Lynes, Rosabelle
San Mateo
Macceca, Stephanie
San Diego - East
Magner, Heather
Santa Barbara
Malcolm, Laura
Sonoma (North Bay)
Mario, Avila
Los Angeles
Marriot, Douglas
Los Angeles
Marshall, Kristina
San Bernardino - West
Martinez, Linda
Los Angeles
Matanane, Margaret
San Bernardino - West
McCroskey, Tara
Placer–Nevada
McIntyre, Sue
North Coast
Metlitzky, Lilian
San Bernardino - West
ACCESS Curricula Guide • English Composition
Acknowledgements/Contributors
Name:
Region:
Michelson, Sarah
San Diego - East
Miele, Ilene
Santa Barbara
Millican, Rick
San Diego - East
Miluso, Schecky
San Diego - East
Mitchell, James
San Diego - East
Monda, Kim
Santa Barbara
Mondor, Shannon
North Coast
Montesanto, Lisa
San Diego - East
Montgomery, John
Placer–Nevada
Morris, Paul
San Francisco
Muro, Debbie
Fresno - West
Murray, Julie
San Bernardino - West
Myers, Kathy
Placer–Nevada
Naas, Jodi
San Francisco
Nazar, Robert
San Bernardino - West
Nelson, Jennifer
Placer-Nevada
Nguyen, Scott
Los Angeles
Nuth, Tara
North Coast
Ochoa, Yolanda
Los Angeles
Oh, Susan
San Bernardino - West
Ostini, Ashley
Santa Barbara
Ostini, Joshua
Santa Barbara
Ourique, Jared
North Coast
Oxford, Susan
San Diego - East
Palko, Carol
San Bernardino - West
Parker, Lynette
Contra Costa
Patlán, Carmen
Los Angeles
Patterson, Kathy
Santa Barbara
Pierce, Emmet
San Diego - East
Piro, Vince
Merced
Poole, Eileen
San Diego - East
Poremba, Jeanelle
San Bernardino - West
99
English Composition • ACCESS Curricula Guide
100
Acknowledgements/Contributors
Name:
Region:
Praniewicz, Brendan
San Diego - East
Preston, James
Fresno - West
Putman, Debbie
San Bernardino - West
Ramirez, Laura E.
Los Angeles
Ramirez, Laura M.
Los Angeles
Ransom. Julie
Merced
Reyerse, Rene
San Bernardino - West
Reynolds, Steve
Siskiyou
Rhoads, Andrea
Fresno - West
Rhodehamel, Jivan
San Diego - East
Richter, Jan
San Bernardino - West
Rivas, Claudia
Los Angeles
Roberge, Mark
San Mateo
Roberts, Debbie
Los Angeles
Robledo, Julio
Los Angeles
Rose, Christie
Sonoma (North Bay)
Ruggles, Barbara
San Diego - East
Salcido, Bard
Santa Barbara
Samuelson, Amy
North Coast
Schmitt, Adelle Reinert
San Diego - East
Semik, Mathias
San Diego - East
Sheffield, Kimberly
Fresno - West
Shehorn, Jacqui
Fresno - West
Silva, Alan
San Diego - East
Smith, Victor
Merced
Snider, Robert
San Diego - East
Snyder, Octavia
San Bernardino - West
Solano, Angela
San Bernardino - West
Solorio, Victor
Los Angeles
Sperling-Nordquist, Petra
Sonoma (North Bay)
Stevens, Ellen
Los Angeles
Sumner, Ann
Sonoma (North Bay)
Thomas, Georgina
San Diego - East
Thomas, Jerry
Los Angeles
ACCESS Curricula Guide • English Composition
Acknowledgements/Contributors
Name:
Region:
Toledo, Veronica
Contra Costa
Torres, Kay
Los Angeles
Torres, Victor
Los Angeles
Turnbull, Laura
San Bernardino - West
Van Riper, Maggie
San Bernardino - West
VanderHeide, Pamela
Santa Barbara
Vasquez, Natalie
San Diego - East
Vidaurre, Lorena
Los Angeles
Waldron, Tom
San Diego - East
Walker, Mike
Santa Barbara
Webber, Carla
San Bernardino - West
Weidman, Mark
San Bernardino - West
Weightman, Wayne
San Diego - East
Wilds, Brandy
Fresno - West
Wilson, Kristine
Placer–Nevada
Wolking, Susan
San Diego - East
Yepez, Veronica
Los Angeles
Zanzucchi, Anne
Merced
Zimmerman, Andrea
Placer–Nevada
101
Career and Technical Education Participants
Name:
Region:
Davis, Bill
Fresno Area
Harvey, Elizabeth
Riverside Area
Hollems, Diane
Santa Barbara
Kellar, Raymond
Siskiyou Area
Miller, Jerald
Santa Rosa Area
White, Kathleen
San Francisco Area
Scott, Sandra
Placer–Nevada
English Composition • ACCESS Curricula Guide
102
Acknowledgements/Contributors
Cal-PASS Regional Coordinators
Name:
Region:
Ceaser, Lisbeth
Santa Barbara
Dahlstrom, Eden
Siskiyou
Horowitz, Virginia
Placer–Nevada
Horton, Katheryn
Sonoma (North Bay)
Iwasaki, Kentaro
San Francisco
Lachmayr, Lucia
San Mateo
Linfor, Cali
San Diego - East
Mahar, Kate
San Francisco and Contra Costa
Owens, Rae
Merced
Schneider, Garry
Los Angeles
Schneider, Katy
San Bernardino - West
Sizoo, Bob
North Coast
Sutherland, Camilla
Fresno - West
Tyberg, Alana
San Diego - East
Wintermeyer, Lauren
Santa Barbara
ACCESS Curricula Guide • English Composition
Appendix 1 • Mapping Competencies
103
APPENDIX 1
Mapping ACCESS Competencies to California Content Standards
and Common Core Standards
The California Language Arts Standards were designed by appointees of the State Board
of Education. Postsecondary faculty who may have participated in those discussions did so
without approval of or by their Academic Senates. Thus, this document does not retain the
official input of California’s public colleges and universities. The document was adopted by
the State Board of Education and mandated for all public K–12 schools. These standards are
available online at www.cde.ca.gov/board/.
The Common Core State Standards Initiative is a state-led effort launched in 2009 by state
leaders, including governors and state commissioners of education from 48 states through
membership in the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center)
and Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). The process used to write the standards
were informed by
• the best of state standards
• the experience of teachers, content experts, state leaders, and leading thinkers
• feedback from the general public
To write the standards, the NGA Center and CCSSO brought together content experts,
teachers, researchers, and others.
The Common Core Standards, which can be found online at www.corestandards.org, are
divided into two categories:
1. college and career readiness standards, which address what students are expected to
have learned by the time they graduate from high school; and
2. K–12 standards, which address expectations for elementary through high school.
The California Education Round Table Content Standards (called the CERT Standards) were
published just prior to the state’s content standards for language arts in 1997. The standards
were designed by a task force sponsored by the Round Table. The Round Table comprised,
in part, the heads of the California Department of Education, the California Community
Colleges, the California State Universities, and the University of California. Serving on the task
force were K–12 faculty, administrators, public participants, and academic Senate-appointed
postsecondary faculty. While these standards have no official status under the Board of
Education, they provide a point of contrast, noting competencies that are not addressed in
the California Language Arts standards. These standards can be found at www.certicc.org.
English Composition • ACCESS Curricula Guide
104
Appendix 1 • Mapping Competencies
Curricular Theme
ACCESS
Competency
CA Content
Standard
National
Common Core
Standard
Writing an
Argument with
Audience and
Purpose in Mind
1
Writing
Strategies
1.1, 1.2, 1.5, and 1.9
1, 2, and 4
Invention
Reading and
Processing Sources
2
Reading
Comprehension
2.2 and 2.4
7, 8, and 9
Invention
Utilizing the Writing
Process
3
Writing
Strategies
1.9
5 and 10
Arrangement
Incorporating Ideas
from Other Texts
in Writing
4
Writing
Strategies
1.3 and 1.8
7, 8, and 9
Invention
Organizing
Using Accepted
Text Structures
and Patterns of
Organization
5
Writing
Strategies
1.2, 1.3, and 1.4
1, 2, and 4
Arrangement
Developing Clarity
6
Writing
Strategies
1.2, 1.3, and 1.4
1, 2, and 4
Arrangement
Using Correct
Conventions for
Incorporating
and Documenting
Sources in Writing
7
Writing
Strategies
1.7
8
Style/Expression
Using Correct
Grammar
Conventions
8
Writing
Strategies
1.1, 1.2, and 1.3
1 and 2
Style/Expression
ACCESS Curricula Guide • English Composition
CERT Standards
Appendix 1 • Mapping Competencies
105
CERT Writing Competencies:10
Invention
•
Generate ideas for writing by using texts in addition to past experience or
observation.
•
Duly consider audience and purpose.
Arrangement
•
Develop thesis convincingly with well-chosen examples.
•
Organize information.
•
Use revision techniques to improve focus, support, and organization.
Style/Expression
•
Vary sentence structure and word choice as appropriate for audience and purpose.
•
Edit or proofread to eliminate errors in grammar, mechanics, and spelling using
standard English conventions.
•
Critically analyze and evaluate the ideas or arguments of others.
•
Summarize ideas and/or information contained in a text.
•
Write well-organized, well-developed essays.
•
Synthesize ideas from many sources.
•
Provide factual descriptions.
•
Report facts or narrative events.
•
Prepare lab reports using the conventions of the discipline.
•
Produce informal writing in and out of class (e.g., journals, “quick-writes”).
•
Use the library catalog and Internet to locate relevant sources.
•
Critically assess the authority and value of research materials that have been
located.
10 Intersegmental Committee of the Academic Senates, Academic Literacy: A Statement of Competencies
Expected of Students Entering California’s Public Colleges and Universities, Sacramento, CA: 2002.
English Composition • ACCESS Curricula Guide
106
A p p e n d i x 2 • Te s t i m o n i a l s
APPENDIX 2
Testimonials
The Importance of Writing in the Workplace
••• Agriculture and Natural Resources
Dewey Lucero
Lucero Olive Oil
I use writing skills in my job as owner and head of operations for my olive oil company, Lucero Olive
Oil, daily. Communication is the largest part of my job; I write daily, and I must do it well in order for
my company to be successful. I use these skills in the following ways: I write e-mails to my employees
and customers, press releases for newspapers and magazines, marketing literature, copy for labels and
print advertising material, sales letters, and letters to local business owners and city leaders.
___________________________________________________
Greg Reynolds
Riverbend Farm
I use writing skills in my job as a farmer every week in preparing a newsletter to my customers. I tell the
story of the farm in weekly bites. People are curious about what we do and how we do it.
___________________________________________________
••• Arts, Media, and Entertainment
Beverly Lewis
Director
Placer–Lake Tahoe Film Office
I used to be a documentary filmmaker and found that the writing skills I developed there — writing
grants to raise funding to make my TV shows, researching the topics and morphing that information into
a script to tell a story that was visually exciting, and writing promotional materials during distribution
— made the difference between getting funded for a project or not. I still use these abilities today in
my job as the director of the Placer–Lake Tahoe Film Office and as the chair of our state professional
organization, Film Liaisons in California Statewide (FLICS).
These writing skills afford me the opportunity to write letters of support for pending legislation;
compose e-mails that persuade homeowners to make their homes available for filming; explain rules
and regulations to production companies; and explain production needs to a multitude of state, federal,
and local authorities and the public.
All major productions start with a concept. If you can’t write out an idea articulately, there is no
script and you won’t convince anyone to finance your production. Learn how to write, and you can take
that skill anywhere!
___________________________________________________
ACCESS Curricula Guide • English Composition
A p p e n d i x 2 • Te s t i m o n i a l s
107
Robert Ansell
Videographer
Robert Royce Video
As a director of photography, I use written communication when describing scenes to other camera
people in a multi-camera shoot.
___________________________________________________
••• Building Trades and Construction
Joe Bittaker
President
Landmark Construction
I use writing skills in my job when I present myself and my company to prospective customers, when I
work with customers and project teams to ensure successful project delivery, and when I follow up with
customers and project teams to verify satisfaction. In other words, skilled writing is the central method
of communicating all that is important to my firm and my industry.
___________________________________________________
••• Education, Child Development, and Family Services
Gregg Ramseth
Director of Assessment and Technology
Placer Union High School District
I use writing skills whenever I need to break down an idea, express my appreciation, request support,
or simply engage in a casual conversation online. I write formal letters infrequently; however grammar,
punctuation, and spelling still matter despite the vehicle: e-mail, chat, blog, handwritten note, or letter
of recommendation.
___________________________________________________
Jana Evans
Area Supervisor
Regional Center of Orange County
As a supervisor of case managers, I write performance appraisals and performance improvement plans
on an annual basis. As a manager and decision maker, I write follow-up letters to families and attorneys
regarding provision of or denial of services. As a trainer, I write training materials for new hires, as well
as training materials to further staff development within the organization.
___________________________________________________
English Composition • ACCESS Curricula Guide
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A p p e n d i x 2 • Te s t i m o n i a l s
••• Energy and Utilities
Brian Hurd
President
Hands on Solar, Inc
With more than 40 years in the construction industry as a contractor, building inspector, energy
auditor, and educator, I have written a wide variety of proposals, evaluations, explanations, synopses,
reports, and opinions. But I would say that letters — whether the stamp and envelope variety or e-mail
— have been the lifeblood of my business.
I am asked on a regular basis to weigh-in on various issues concerning alternative energy
education, and I have contributed to monthly newsletters and professional journals. Articles
concerning alternative energy education that have appeared in Green Technologies Magazine, The
Wall Street Journal, the LA Times, and others were based on my original submissions. My biggest
writing assignment was a 220-page report for the South Coast Air Quality Management District about
the state of solar education in the Los Angeles Basin.
I could not have become successful in my business without the ability to express myself through
the written word.
___________________________________________________
••• Engineering and Design
Mark Middleton
Corrosion Engineering Manager
Calpine
I use my writing skills when I provide detailed instructions to engineering consultants who install
or repair corrosion prevention systems on high pressure natural gas pipelines. The written detailed
instructions are transmitted in the form of letters, e-mails, engineering specifications, and construction
and drawing details.
___________________________________________________
••• Fashion and Interior Design
Louisa Elliott
Clothing Designer
Writing skills in my job as a fashion designer are very important. In order to market my designs, I
have to submit applications related to marketing and selling each item. I must be able to describe my
products in detail in order to have my application accepted. In working with suppliers, I must accurately
specify the exact materials I need as well as the associated costs. Once the product is designed, I
must contract for the garment assembly; this requires precise assembly instructions related to seam
allowance, hem widths, and stitching details. Other marketing involves brochures, cost sheets and
quantity break points, and shipping and payment details.
___________________________________________________
ACCESS Curricula Guide • English Composition
A p p e n d i x 2 • Te s t i m o n i a l s
109
••• Finance and Business
Chris Hebard-Summers
Insurance Agent
Hebard Insurance and Finance Services
I use my writing skills in my job as an insurance agent to effectively communicate with both my clients
and the insurance company underwriters. Many times, the only interaction I will have with people is
through written communication.
___________________________________________________
••• Health Science and Medical Technology
Kevin Coleman
Paramedic, First Responder EMS
MedCor, Inc.
As a paramedic, I use writing skills during every shift and after every patient contact. Clear and concise
communication is essential when I fill out patient care reports that provide nurses and doctors with the
information they need to continue proper care for my patients. All of my reports are legal documents,
so writing skills are an essential part of my work.
___________________________________________________
••• Hospitality, Tourism, and Recreation
Jan Holt
Campus Club, University of Minnesota
I use writing and language skills every day. As the executive director of a private club at a major
university, I oversee four departments, interacting with members, staff, vendors, and university
personnel, and report to a board of directors. In the course of one week, I may write reports for my
board or my auditors, write and edit promotional pieces for both digital and print media, engage in
written correspondence with members and others, and complete necessary office and human resources
reports such as disciplinary action reports.
I work in the field of hospitality, but my job requires that I write in many different styles and
voices. For example, I write personal thank-you letters to couples who hold their weddings at the club,
I compose business letters to professional entities such as insurance companies or the university real
estate office, and I write blog postings for local foods groups. Occasionally I must write speeches for
myself and board members and put them into Powerpoint presentations. Last year, I helped to write and
edit a cookbook for the club’s 100th anniversary. With the rise in popularity of digital communications
— social media sites, blogs, etc., I write more than ever, and to a wider audience.
___________________________________________________
English Composition • ACCESS Curricula Guide
110
A p p e n d i x 2 • Te s t i m o n i a l s
••• Information Technology
Owen Kittredge
Owner
Valley IT Support
I use writing skills in my job as an IT professional when I prepare proposals for new and existing clients
and produce planning documents (called “change controls”) to implement network changes.
___________________________________________________
••• Marketing, Sales
Karen Fraser-Middleton
Marketing Consultant
Marketing Action
I use writing skills in my job as a marketing consultant to write proposals; craft a few words for
advertisements; tell a client success story for a newsletter; provide in-depth marketing plans that
clients can follow; and report on results of meetings, training sessions, and marketing campaigns.
___________________________________________________
••• Public Services
Dave Snyder
Director
Placer County Economic Development
I use writing skills in my job when I generate reports, draft correspondence, and communicate with
businesses considering location or expansion within Placer County.
___________________________________________________
John Ruffcorn
Chief of Police
Auburn Police Department
I use writing skills in my job as chief of police to document criminal activity, write traffic tickets,
create performance evaluations, create staff reports, write grants, and communicate with other law
enforcement agencies.
___________________________________________________
ACCESS Curricula Guide • English Composition
A p p e n d i x 2 • Te s t i m o n i a l s
111
••• Transportation
John Paulling
Naval Architect
Herbert Engineering Corp.
I use writing skills in my job as a naval architect in the following ways: to describe studies of new
transportation routes; to put together manuals for safe stowage of cargo aboard ships; to prepare
procedures for safe operation of a ship’s equipment; to develop marketing materials describing
new equipment and services; and to present investigations into loss of cargo overboard from ships,
groundings, collisions, or other casualties.
___________________________________________________
Fran Hunt
Retired
Union Pacific
I hired on with the Southern Pacific Transportation Company (now merged with Union Pacific) in 1979
as a data process coordinator in Sacramento. This job required writing skills for the initial planning,
analysis, and overall conceptual development of new systems.
In 1992, I transferred to the Operating Department in Roseville as a train dispatcher. My
responsibilities included moving rail traffic on a safe and timely basis to meet predetermined
timetables; communications regulated by the Federal Communications Commission; supervision for
all train and engine crews; and overseeing applications and enforcement of operating rules. At the
end of a shift, each train dispatcher had to prepare a turnover book for the next shift dispatcher
to sign in order to accept responsibility of the ongoing operations. This book consisted of vital
information the new dispatcher would need to continue operating that region of the railroad. Also,
any report a chief dispatcher required pertaining to any accident or rule violation during the shift
would have to be written before the end of a shift.
In 1996, I transferred and began training as a locomotive engineer. Each engineer, upon taking over
a train, is required to inspect each engine and fill out a daily inspection report before moving the train.
Daily writing is required for equipment and mechanical inspections, which include detailed information
regarding any equipment that may need to be repaired.
English Composition • ACCESS Curricula Guide
www.iebcnow.org
2011
For more information, contact Shelly Valdez, EdD, at [email protected]