ECE 661

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ANALYZING STUDENT WORK: CONTENT BASED ASSESSMENT

Process (used for individual student evaluation or group assessment of work products)
STEP 1: Assessing and Identifying Proficiency
Read the assessment prompt and/or rubric and identify:
 What are the students expected to do?
Response: Students were given a My Journal booklet of unlined paper and asked to
draw a picture, and then write the name of their favorite food.

 Which standards (CCSS or content standards) or curriculum expectations are

being assessed?
Response:
Alaska English/Language Arts Standards Kindergarten
Writing Standards Grade K: Text Types and Purposes.2
Conventions of Standard English.2.d

 What assistive devices, if any, will students be able to use (i.e. calculator, ruler,
protractor, number charts, graph paper, scrap paper, etc.)
Response: The students were allowed to use the alphabet chart on the wall, letter
sheets that display letters with associated sounds and words that begin with that
letter, and crayons of their choice.

 What do you consider to be a proficient response on this assessment? Exactly

what do students need to say or write for you to consider their work proficient?
Response: The goal was to have students communicate what their favorite food is,
both by drawing a picture, then writing the word using letter knowledge and
phoneme application.

 Does the assessment give students a clear opportunity to demonstrate what

they know or have learned? Provide a clarifying statement for how…
Response: Yes, the students in this class have been learning a new letter each day
with its associated ‘regular’ sound and provided with example words that begin
with that sound. They are applying phonemic knowledge to create a word that
may or may not have been covered in class that reflects print awareness.

STEP 2: Identifying Strengths and Needs if working with a group of learners

Do a “quick sort” of students’ work by the general degree of the objectives met,
developing, or not yet.
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Met Students have already demonstrated consistency

Objectives with key knowledge and skills for the assignment.

Developing Students are appropriately prepared to meet the

Objectives demands of the assignment.
Students have not yet met the pre-requisite
Not Yet knowledge of skills necessary to complete the
objectives assignment.

Sorted lists:

Met Developing Not Yet

objectives Objectives objectives
Delaney Brock Benson Orlando Rainier Zeke
Jyle

14 % of class 43 % of class 43 % of class

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STEP 3: Identify the prerequisite knowledge (skills) the students

demonstrated they are able to use (items may be bulleted within each category).
These are the strengths or skills demonstrated by student within each category of
your pre-sort.

Met Developing Not Yet

progressing work samples incomplete work samples
best quality work samples

 Each phoneme  Every word is  Few words attempted

addressed and attempted  One attempt did not
written  Word attempts using use letters (Orlando)
 Every word is phonetic spelling  One student used
attempted with combination of letters and symbols
 Letters clearly correct letters as well to represent food,
written as incorrect though each
 Each letter single  Letters clearly letter/symbol
attempt written appeared to
 Letter size and length  Single letter attempt represent a word
consistent  Left to right (Rainier)
 Letter spacing within directionality  Attempted at least
word appropriate  Print is large one letter in word
 Left to right  Work includes (Rainier, Zeke)
directionality picture that  Single letter use
 Print in a linear form demonstrates written backward
 Started top upper left word(s) (Zeke)
corner  Letters were
 Print contains the identifiable with
message correct phoneme use
 Work includes when utilized
picture that  Work includes
demonstrates picture
word(s)

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STEP 4: Identify the missing information/skills and the misconceptions and/or

wrong responses in the table that follows. You may need to review the
separate groups of work samples to ensure that you have no gaps.

Met Developing Not Yet

possible skills to work on for possible skills to work on for possible skills to work on for
this group of students:
 Recognize upper- and
lower-case letters
 Recognize alternate
spelling for ‘regular’
sounds
 Recognize proper
spacing between
words
 Return sweep
this group of students: this group of students:
 Recognize upper- and
lower- case letters
 Recognize phonemic
sound for each letter
 Develop strategies on
phonemic spelling
(stretch out each word
like a piece of taffy to
hear each sound)
 Write letters clearly
and in a linear fashion
 Letter size uniformed
 Letter spacing
uniformed
 Recognize that letters
and words transmit
message independent
of picture
 Recognize upper and
lower- case letters
 Recognize phonemic
sound for each letter
 Phonemic sound
automaticity
 Provide strategies for
phonemic spelling
 Write letters clearly
and formed smoothly
 Letter size uniformed
 Letter spacing
uniformed
 Letters written in a
linear fashion

STEP 5: Identify Instructional Next Steps

Based on the analysis of the students work samples, ask yourself:
 What patterns or trends are noted for the individual or the group?

 Think about a range of instructional strategies that will be beneficial for the
individual or the group? Then based on your analysis of student data
(responses), within each category, identify specific instructional strategies
to be used in the support of learners in meeting the identified objectives.
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Complete the table:

Instructional Strategies/ Next Steps

What will you focus your instruction on for the student or students in each group?
Met Developing Not Yet
Students who demonstrated full Students who demonstrated partial Students who attempted to complete
competence in this assignment need to competence in this assignment need to this assignment need to focus on the
focus on the following skills next: focus on the following skills: following skills:

 Practice spacing  Practice phonemic  Shared reading of

between words when
writing
 Recognize upper and
lower- case letters
 Identify syllables in
words
 Recognize chunks in
spelling (ex. -ake)
 Practice onset/rime
 Practice writing words
 Practice writing
sentences
 Introduce punctuation
 Build repertoire of site
words
 Begin to use writing as
primary mode of
communication
automaticity
 Identify different
letters/sounds in
books
 Identify syllables in
words
 Recognize words are
arranged in a linear
fashion
 Recognize chunks in
spelling
 Practice appropriate
letter spacing in words
 Recognize upper- and
lower-case letters
 Build repertoire of site
words
 Practice writing words
 Practice writing
sentences
phonemic alphabet
book to develop
phonemic automaticity
 Identify different
letters/sounds in
books
 Recognize that words
are comprised of
letters
 Recognize that letters
have unique sounds
 Appropriate letter-
spacing within words
 Recognize upper- and
lower-case letters
 Practice writing words
 Recognize chunks in
spelling
 Recognize words are
written in a linear
fashion
 Build repertoire of site
words

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Self-reflection on your process (Reflect on the use of such an informative assessment tool
and how you think this tool or similar type of process could be used in your developing
practice.):

As I reflect on the writing samples that I collected, I sit in awe at what our students produced
so early in the year. This was their first attempt at writing anything beyond their first names!
Up to now, their only exposure to words has been the teacher writing words that are
associated with their letter of the day. The fact that most were able to actually transfer the
phonemic knowledge that they’ve been learning every morning, to producing actual words is
mind-boggling (and had me and Ms. Alexis giddy with excitement). The hardest part of this
process was trying to group students into the ‘met’, ‘developing’, or ‘not yet’ columns. I
must have moved students from one group to the other at least three times! Each of the
writing samples was so unique, that I found it difficult to find consistent commonality in the
samples. The saving grace was in the reflection, where I could address how each child was
so different and how I could scaffold their needs individually. I respect the process and
acknowledge the benefit of grouping students so that we can address the needs of the many
before getting bogged down in the minutia. This process allows us to shine a light on the
individual, and for that I am grateful!

Delaney is the one student that met the expectations for this lesson. She is a quiet studious
child that is usually spot on when asked which sound corresponds to which letter. I have
seen her hold her pencil appropriately as she writes and is efficient in her efforts. She writes
her name with ease and has an extensive vocabulary when speaking. In her sample, she
addressed each sound in her food miso soup and wrote a letter for each sound. She has a
solid grasp on the fact that there is a specific sound to each letter and can readily tell you the
name of each letter. As Clay noted (2014), in English, consonants are easier to hear than
vowels. With this in mind, it’s clear that Delaney is sounding out the words and using those
sounds and their associated letters to write words (graphophonics). She began her word in
the upper left quadrant of the paper and progressed in a left to right fashion. Her letter-
spacing within to word is appropriate, and each letter is the same size, with each letter clearly
written. On the writing continuum, I would say that she is between Emergent and
Developing (Dev.Writing Cont). At this point, I think that it would be appropriate to start to
introduce the differences between upper- and lower- case letters to Delaney. I would also
consider introducing the concept of syllables, which in turn will lead to an understanding of
rimes and onsets. Studies have shown that children process words in chunks, rather than
individual letters, so I think that now would be a good time to introduce that concept as well
(Weaver, 2002). Delaney is not familiar writing words next to each other, as her ‘s’ in ‘sp’ is
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right next to the ‘o’ in ‘miso’. This is a great opportunity to allow Delaney to write sentences
and introduce the concept of appropriate spacing between words.

Benson is a rambunctious gregarious five-year-old. The only way to describe Benson is

‘big’. He’s big in his emotions (usually happy and excited about one thing or another); he’s
big in his activities (jumping, hopping, skipping); he’s big in his vocabulary use. During
morning lessons, I can see that he’s becoming proficient at connecting sounds with letters. In
his writing sample, he indicated that his favorite food was ribs. He was able to correctly
identify the beginning and ending sound in ribs with the letters ‘r’ and ‘s’. As with most of
the students in his class, all of his letters are upper-case. He is inconsistent in his letter size
and spacing within his word. He shows appropriate left to right directionality, though his
letters tend to ‘float’ in an upward direction. His spelling reflects a semi-phonetic
understanding in that he correctly identified the first and last sounds in the word ‘ribs’. Each
of his letters is easily identifiable and written in a single attempt. It’s interesting to note how
large Benson wrote the word ‘RAWS’. This might reflect Benson’s perceived importance of
ribs, as children in the early stages of literacy will try to demonstrate the importance of a
word by either writing it large in size or long (with many letters) in length. On the writing
continuum, Benson is Emergent (Dev.Writing Cont). Now may be a good time to review
letter sounds with Benson. In class, we have already discussed the ‘i’ and ‘b’ sounds, so it
would be interesting to talk to Benson to understand why he wrote ‘a’ and ‘w’ instead. I
would also consider introducing upper- and lower- case letters to his current letter schema.
Now is the time to show Benson that words are written in a linear fashion and that letter size
and space should be uniform. As his grasp on letter sounds becomes more consistent, we can
then begin to introduce syllables and chunking so that his writing becomes more automatic
rather than focusing on individual sounds. I would continue to provide daily writing
opportunities to practice his literacy skills.

Brock’s writing surprised me the most! He is a special needs student that doesn’t seem to
focus often in class. He rarely participates in group activities and often seems to be in his
own world. His favorite food is a cookie, which is spelled almost phonemically correct with
‘coke’. He was able to correctly identify three of the four-letter sounds in the word cookie
which tells us that his grasp on letter/sound is progressing nicely. All of his letters are upper-
case. His letters are inconsistent in size and spacing but show correct left to right
directionality. He is coming to understand the linear pattern of letters in that most letters are
straight, only the ‘k’ begins to float down, but he autocorrects with the next letter ‘e’. It’s
interesting that Brock chose the ‘o’ in the ‘oo’ sound to represent the middle sound. We are
no-where near covering the ‘oo’ sounds and so he may have used a sound that was close in
his estimation ‘o’ for ‘oo’. Also, maybe he’s familiar with the word cookie and knows that
there are ‘o’s’ in that word and so used an ‘o’ instead of the ‘oo’. On the writing continuum,

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I would say the Brock, like Benson is Emergent (Dev.Writing Cont). I would continue with
our lessons on letter sounds as Brock continues to expand his knowledge on letter sounds. I
would begin to introduce the difference between upper and lower- case letters. I would also
confirm with Brock that letters are to be written in a linear fashion. I would also introduce
the fact that letter size and spacing should be uniform and I would illustrate this by showing
Brock (and the rest of the students) that this is the case in the books of our class library. As
with Benson, as his grasp on the letter/sound connection becomes more sound, I will
introduce the concept of syllables and chunking. As with the rest of the students, I would
allow them more time to practice writing words and eventually sentences.

Jyle is a quiet student whom I believe to be an English language learner. He is quite shy and
unless he’s called upon, does not volunteer answers. He tends to be a bit unfocused and takes
his time when performing any task asked of him. His favorite food is an apple which he
spelled ‘ap’. He is semi-phonic in that he was able to identify most of the sounds in the word
apple, leaving out only the last sound ‘l’. All his letters were upper-case. His letter size and
spacing are also variable, but he does show proper left to right directionality. It’s difficult to
determine how linear his letters are with two letters, but it would seem that they do line up!
He is able to label his picture correctly as the ‘ap’ shows that he’s connecting the word to his
apple. In the writing continuum, Jyle is Emergent (Dev.Writing Cont). At this point, I
would continue to reinforce Jyle’s letter-sound awareness. As an ELL, I would like to anchor
his grasp on English sound and words to that of his home language. Many ELL students
process sounds and words in their native language, then transfer that knowledge to the
language that they are learning (Peregoy & Boyle, 2016). This would help Jyle in his
English language acquisition. I would begin to teach him the difference between upper- and
lower-case letters as well as letter size and spacing. I would scaffold Jyle’s ability to stretch
out words so that each sound is correctly identified and recorded. As his phonemic
knowledge continues to expand, I would begin to introduce site words as well as the concept
of chunking of letter sounds.

Zeke is a serious child that has clear views of right and wrong. He works hard at most of the
tasks that he’s given and usually stays focused (as much as a kindergartener can be). His
favorite food is spaghetti which is spelled with a backward ‘s’. He also wanted to emphasize
that he REALLY like spaghetti by writing a heart next to his ‘s’ and by underling it for
emphasis. His picture is detailed with meatballs and a long string of spaghetti rising from the
plate. Zeke is just starting his literacy journey and is in the exploratory stage of early
Emergent (Dev.Writing Cont). He uses his pictures and his underlining as a major emphasis
for meaning. He was able to identify the first sound in spaghetti. His directionality, spacing,
and size are difficult to evaluate with one letter. He did write his letter in the upper left
quadrant of the paper, which may indicate an emerging understanding of how writing usually

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begins. With Zeke, I would continue to work with letter sounds and use every opportunity to
reinforce that connection – when reading, when watching videos, when speaking. I would
encourage Zeke to continue to practice his writing, at which point letter size and spacing can
be taught. Now would be a great time to begin introducing site words as well as sound
chunking. This will help Zeke, and the rest of the students, as they begin their journeys into a
literate world.

Rainier is also a special needs child. She has problems focusing and cannot regulate her
emotions consistently in class. This makes it hard for her to get along with other students on
a regular basis. She is able to speak with appropriate vocabulary, and when focused, can
create quality work. Her favorite food is mac-n-cheese. I provided several pictures of her
writing as the yellow was difficult to read. Her picture is somewhat random – does not look
like mac-n-cheese though she did choose to use yellow, the correct color of this food. The
first symbol in her word is the same symbol she uses for the ‘r’ in her name. The second
symbol is similar to the first, though with only one line, thus distinguishing between the two
words. Her third symbol may be a squiggle or possibly a ‘w’. Her letters are the same size
and show consistent spacing, though they tend to float in an upward direction. It would
appear that Rainier has used one symbol to represent each word in her favorite food, mac-n-
cheese. In the writing continuum, I would say that Rainier is between Early Pre-
Conventional and Pre-Conventional (Dev.Writing Cont). With Rainier, I would continue
to emphasize the word/sound connection and continue to reinforce the topic at every
opportunity. I would encourage her to continue to practice her writing and help her to make
the connection that letters create sounds, which in turn can be used to write words. We
would begin by writing letters and focusing on the sound that each letter makes. As she
makes that jump to pre-conventional using more letters than symbols, we can begin to
address that words are written in a linear fashion, then reevaluate her letter size and spacing
at that point.

Orlando is a talkative outgoing child whose vocabulary is quite advanced for a

kindergartener. He is able to communicate easily and has become a classroom leader. This
writing sample would be considered an outlier, as I saw him write word tiger as ‘tigr’ on the
next prompt that the teacher gave (you can see it through the page). His favorite food is
nachos, which he illustrated with chips and beans. Based on this specific sample, Orlando
would fall somewhere between Early Pre-Conventional and Pre-Conventional. I did not
have the opportunity to ask Orlando why he did not write the corresponding word, but I
chose his sample to illustrate just how misleading one sample analysis can be. We as
teachers must know our students and their abilities, from our observations and not as
numbers on a test (thank you for making that point)! By taking one snapshot of a student’s
work, without considering the whole student, we can severely misjudge and thereby limit our

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ECE 661
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students’ learning, based on false data. I would re-evaluate Orlando and give him the
opportunity to attempt the prompt again, emphasizing the expectations of the analysis.

This has been an incredibly insightful assignment. By viewing children’s efforts through the
lens of what they can do, versus what they cannot, provide us with means to empower our
students to take ownership of their learning. This practicum allowed us as future teachers to
look at each student’s writing, dissect and analyze it with researched backed methods, thus
providing every one of our future students the opportunity to experience success in our
classroom. It is our job to scaffold those students that need it, expand the thinking and
knowledge of those that don’t, but in all cases be the little voice in their heads that tells them
‘You can do this!’ and providing them the tools to do so.

References
Clay, M. (2014). By different paths to common outcomes. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Salt Lake City School. (n.d.). Developmental writing continuum. Retrieved from
https://www-old.slcschools.org/departments/assessment-and-
evaluation/documents/Writing-Continuum.pdf

Peregoy, S.F., Boyle, O.F. (2016). Reading, writing, and learning in ESL (7th Ed.). New
York City, NY: Pearson.

Weaver, C., (2002). Reading Process & Practice. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

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Assessment, Inc.
ECE 661
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Delaney

Benson
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ECE 661
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Brock

Jyle
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ECE 661
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Zeke

Orlando
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ECE 661
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Rainier

Adapted from: Rhode Island Department of Education & the National Center for the Improvement of Educational
Assessment, Inc.