2015-2016 Fifth and Eighth Grade Writing Tests

District Test Coordinators,

The February 2015-2016 fifth and eighth grade Writing Test will be used to field test writing prompts. Below please find information related to the February 2016 field tests for fifth and eighth grade writing. Please contact the Office of State Assessments with questions at 405-521-3341 or email sonya.fitzgerald@sde.ok.gov or amy.nicar@sde.ok.gov.

Writing Field Test for 2015-2016

• The fifth and eighth grade writing prompts for the 2015-2016 school year will be field tests. There will be no operational tests for the 2015-2016 school year.
• Students will read two passages, which may be fiction or non-fiction, and respond to a single writing prompt.
• All three writing modes will be field tested.
• Schools will receive summary reports of the results to be used to inform instruction.

Rubric for 2015-2016 Writing Field Test (The rubric is attached for your information or can be found on our website at http://ok.gov/sde/sites/ok.gov.sde/files/documents/files/OK%205-8%20Rubric_2015.pdf.)

• The scoring rubric for the 2015-2016 Writing field tests will be the Oklahoma state-developed rubric used in 2012 and in prior years.
• The State Assessment Rubric (2012) is a five-trait rubric and is PASS aligned.
• The State Assessment Rubric (2012) is not mode specific and is appropriate for on-demand writing.
• The State Assessment Rubric (2012) is nearly identical to the rubric currently used for scoring the End-of-Instruction English II and English III Writing Tests. This will allow for vertical alignment as students continue to progress in their writing instruction and development.
• The mode-specific rubrics used to score the 2013-2015 Writing Tests are still appropriate tools to use for formative assessments and for the writing process, which includes revisions and multiple drafts.

• OK+5-8+Rubric_2015.pdf