I sent this letter to Joyce earlier tonight. I hope the state department makes changes by next school year.
April 26, 2011
Dear Joyce DeFehr:
Imagine that you are a sixteen-year-old girl. Your handwriting is large but legible. You are taking the ACE English II writing test, and you reach the third and final page of the test packet. You are not allowed to write any more, even though you want to write one more body paragraph before your conclusion. You erase two lines and rewrite your sentences in tiny, cramped letters, hoping to pack in a few final details. You skip the body paragraph you wanted to write, and squeeze in two sentences as a conclusion. You wish you could have written more, but the directions say you cannot write below the final line. You close your test booklet, knowing you could have done better.
My students—like all sophomores in the state of Oklahoma—took the ACE English II writing test last week. All year long, I have had my students write a variety of genres. They have written quick writes in their notebooks. They have analyzed models of writing by professionals and my former students. They have revised and edited their drafts in groups. They have even shared their writing in front of the whole class. I did my part to take my students through the writing process with all five state-mandated modes of writing. My sophomores felt confident going into the “EOI.” They soon discovered one component beyond their control: a page limit.
State testing is not the time to go green. As I’m sure you know, students are only given two-and-a-half pages on the ACE English II writing test, compared to the six-and-a-half pages on the ACE English III writing test. (The page inequality even reaches down to the fifth and eighth grades, which each receive four-and-a-half pages for their state-mandated writing tests.) This hardly seems fair. The essay accounts for 9% of a student’s score on the ACE English II test, compared to 14% on the ACE English III test. Still, the English II and the English III essays are scored with the same rubric, which awards 30% of the score for ideas and development. How can students be expected to fully develop their ideas when they are given a limited space? Students are given unlimited time to write their essays. Surely they could be given an extra page or two. If paper is too costly, then steps should be taken, so students can write their essays on computers.
Incredibly, 40% of every public Oklahoma high school’s Academic Performance Index score is determined by ACE English II test scores. Shouldn’t a test that determines a school’s progress and performance allow students to succeed regardless of the size of their handwriting?
The day after the writing test, I asked my ninety English students, “How many of you would have written more had you been given more space?” Sixty-five of them raised their hands.
Sincerely,
Jason Stephenson
Oklahoma Writing Project Teacher Consult
Deer Creek High School, Teacher of the Year, 2008-2009
