Hello Alicia:
At the Collegial Review Sessions today there were several questions about work product formats that could potentially effect the level of independence on a worksheet. “Prompting” and/or “Cues” built into worksheets raised many questions. I would appreciate any guidance you could provide.
Scenario #1: The worksheet contains a “Word Bank” at the top of the worksheet page. The “Word Bank” contains the only the words the student would use to respond to the questions presented. The concern, the “Work Bank” does not contain any distracters. The question, would this be considered a “prompt” as a result of the worksheet format. RESPONSE: A WORD BANK IS NOT NECESSARILY A PROMPT. EVEN WITHOUT DISTRACTERS, THE STUDENT STILL NEEDS TO UNDERSTAND WHICH WORD FROM THE WORD BANK GOES WITH THE APPROPRIATE ITEM. THE WORD BANK IS NOT GUIDING THE STUDENT TO THE CORRECT ANSWER FOR AN ITEM.
Scenario #2: HS Social Studies AGLI # 22207
The worksheet contains the names of the continents and a map of the world. The student is to cut out the name of the continent and place the same on the map of the world in order to identify the location of the continent. The concern, it was felt this was similar to the “Word Bank” issue. Would this be considered a “prompt”? RESONSE: THIS IS SIMILAR TO THE WORD BANK IN THAT THE STUDENT IS STILL IDENTIFYING A CONTINENT LOCATION, WHICH IS THE INTENT OF THIS AGLI. THE FACT THAT THE STUDENT IS GIVEN THE CONTINENT NAME AND HAS TO PLACE THE NAME ON THE CONTINENT LOCATION SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS A PROMPT.
Scenario #3: Grade 8 – AGLI # 13309
The worksheet contains a written narrative containing seven sentences. Each sentence in the narrative represents a fact telling a reason why immigrants came to the United States. The student is asked to write three reasons why immigrants came to the United States. The format of the narrative is such that the student only has to copy the sentence(s) in the narrative located above as is. There are no distracters. Would this be considered a “prompt”? RESPONSE: THIS WORKSHEET COULD POSSIBLY BE CONSIDERED A PROMPT, HOWEVER THE STUDENT IS STILL LISTING REASONS AND IS GIVEN A NARRATIVE THAT HE/SHE NEEDS TO UNDERSTAND IN ORDER TO THEN LIST THE REASONS. IT WOULD BE HELPFUL IF THE TEACHER INCLUDED A NOTATION TO EXPLAIN HOW THE ACTIVITY WAS CONDUCTED AND HOW THE STUDENT CHOSE THE SPECIFIC REASONS TO LIST AS HIS/HER ANSWERS. Recommendation – if a question is raised during collegial review it is likely one would come up during scoring – this is the time teachers should make changes to ensure the AGLI is scored as intended.
Scenario #4: HS AGLI # 11211
The worksheet asks the student to identify the three branches of government. In completing the worksheet the student has cut out a picture representing the branches of government with the written text “Executive Branch”, “Judicial Branch”, “Legislative Branch”. The concern, there is no description of items of what the student selected from. It could have been just the three pictures presented or an array; was the word “branch” used as a prompt. If the teacher does not include a notation, as is could this be considered a “prompt”. RESPONSE: ASSUMPTIONS CAN NOT BE MADE THAT A PROMPT WAS AUTOMATICALLY PROVIDED TO THE STUDENT. DURING SCORING EACH PIECE OF VERIFYING EVIDENCE IS REVIEWED INDIVIDUALLY AND THE SCORER SHOULD NOT BE READING INTO A PIECE OF EVIDENCE. AGAIN, IT MAY BE BENEFICIAL FOR THE TEACHER TO GO AHEAD AND INCLUDE A NOTATION, SINCE YOU ARE QUESTIONING THIS PIECE OF EVIDENCE.
Scenario #4: Grade 3 # 13204
The worksheet has the student adding the whole numbers 1 and 2 using manipulative; the AGLI indicates add and/or subtract numbers 1-9 using. Is the task sufficient to make the connection to the AGLI? RESPONSE: WE CANNOT PROVIDE A SPECIFIC RESPONSE TO THIS SCENARIO, PLEASE PROVIDE THE ASSESSMENT TASK THAT WAS DOCUMENTED ON THE DATA SUMMARY SHEET.
As a result of Benchmarking; I am sure you have a sense that published worksheets often have “prompts” built into them; such as embellishments in borders (number lines), review sections at the top of the worksheet, reminders on steps to complete word problems within the worksheet. Can I assume this will be considered “prompts”. RESPONSE: A BLANKET STATEMENT ABOUT ALL PRE-PRINTED OR USE OF PUBLISHED WORKSHEETS CANNOT BE MADE. NOT ALL INFORMATION THAT IS INCLUDED WOULD BE CONSIDERED TO PROVIDE THE STUDENT WITH THE CORRECT ANSWER OR DIRECT THE STUDENT TO INDICATE A SPECIFIC RESPONSE. AS IN THE PAST During scoring – every benefit is given to the student and the assumption is that the task was conducted as indicated unless there in OBVIOUS information to the contrary; THE EXPECTATION IS THAT THIS WOULD REMAIN THE SAME FOR THIS YEAR. AGAIN, IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT TEACHERS INCLUDE A NOTATION REGARDING HOW THE ACTIVITY WAS CONDUCTED USING THE WORK PRODUCT IF THE SPECIFIC WORK PRODUCT IS BEING QUESTIONED DURING COLLEGIAL REVIEW.
Thank you very much for any guidance you can provide.
Maureen
