Sunday, November 21, 2010

More Than Assessment: Analytical Writing Continuum

This session discussed the use of the Analytical Writing Continuum (AWC) that the National Writing Project worked for over several years creating. They began working in 2004 and continue to refine the continuum each year. Many WP Teaching Consultants met to first look at rubrics and continuums currently being used. They didn't find any in use that fit the needs of the WP teachers. What they did find is that the 6-Traits was the one they could use as a framework to create their own. What they liked about the 6-Traits is it focused on the writer. The 6-Traits is based on a 4 point scale. The AWC uses a 6 point scale. This way, more growth can be shown. They also changed the headings to be more consistent in the ways they teach: Content (replaced Ideas), Structure (replaced organization), Stance (replaced Voice), Sentence Fluency, Diction (replaced Language), and Conventions.
The only way the continuum can be used in schools is if TC's go to training sessions and train their teachers. It looks promising and I think Bailey and I will be going for training next summer.

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