Online Writing Assessment Across South Dakota

Getting Smart

June 1, 2012 – by Carri Schneider

With approximately 40% of high-schoolers learning in 1:1 environments and statewide use of an online writing assessment program, South Dakota is taking important steps toward the digital future of education.  We connected with South Dakota Director of Assessment Gay Pickner to find out more.

Like so many states, South Dakota used to rely on hand-written annual writing tests taken in two grade levels.  Once the teachers received feedback on each student’s performance, the class had already moved on to the next teacher’s classroom.  The tests were good at providing an end-of-year snapshot, but the system was not set-up to generate results that teachers could use to guide instruction. This frustration of teachers drove South Dakota’s conversion to a writing assessment program that harnesses the power of automated scoring to facilitate more writing and more structured feedback.

After issuing an RFP with several vendor responses, South Dakota chose Pearson’s WriteToLearnprogram and purchased a state license for $10 per student. Teachers now issue three formative writing assessments in grades five, seven, and ten and get immediate, structured feedback to work directly with students to improve their writing—before they move to the next grade level.

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