Writing Assessment Test prepares students for next step

By Bob Robinson
Star Staff
brobinson@starhq.com

   How would you describe what you learned this past summer?
   What to say and how to say it. In a nutshell, that's what students in the fourth, seventh and 11th grades in Elizabethton City Schools (ECS) are tested on once a year, the first Tuesday in February.
   The Tennessee Writing Assessment, which began in 1993, measures student knowledge of writing skills. The test encourages creativity and sentence structure.
   Students are scored in six categories: creativity, organization, mechanics, punctuation, grammar and vocabulary.
   In the fourth grade, the test requires narrative writing, such as: How would you describe what you learned this past summer? Seventh-graders are scored on expository (one who explains) writing. Eleventh-graders are scored on persuasive writing.
   Last year, 359 students in grades four, seven and 11 scored four or above, including 57 students who scored a "perfect" six. It takes about 35 minutes to complete the paper test.
   Writing Assessment, part of the Report Card for schools, is included in the Gateway Test in Tennessee.
   Students meet graduation requirements if they score four or above on the test, according to Rick Wilson, principal at West Side and coordinator of the Writing Assessment Test for Elizabethton City Schools (ECS).
   Students begin to practice for the Writing Assessment Test several weeks prior to the test date.
   At West Side, Rochelle Imboden believes practice sessions help her fourth-grade students. Last year, nine of her students had perfect scores on the test.
   "As part of professional development, ECS teachers visit other schools to observe and discuss teaching methodologies and test results," Wilson said.
   Wilson taught the fourth-grade at Harold McCormick before accepting the principal's post at West Side. He has worked in the field of education for 22 years.
   A sign on the wall at West Side Elementary School reads: "Good memories last a lifetime."