The NC Graduation Project Implementation Training

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The NC Graduation Project Implementation Training

• 2008 Summer Teacher Conference
• Presenter Tisha Greene

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Day 1 Course Contents

• Overview of Day I
• NC Graduation Project Research Paper Rubric
• NC Graduation Project Research Paper Guidelines
• Reviewing the Anchor Set
• Applying the Paper Rubric Training
• Questions about the Research Paper Rubrics

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Types of Rubrics An Overview

• Holistic Scoring Assign a single score to work
  based on an overall impression of the work (SAT,
  NC Writing test).
• Analytic Scoring Assign separate scores for
  each criterion (the way most classroom teachers
  grade student writing)
• Quality Levels Define the levels of quality
  identified for the criteria/dimensions of quality
  identified for the criteria/dimensions in a
  scoring rubric (exemplary, satisfactory,
  developing/emerging, resubmission necessary NC
  Graduation Project Rubric).

Courtesy of Valorie Hargett, Section Chief, NC
DPI Eight Easy Steps for Implementing the NC
Graduation Project Rubrics
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Rubric Components/Criteria

• Focus
• Organization
• Support/Elaboration
• Style

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Focus

• Focus is the topic/subject established by the
  writer in response to the writing task. The focus
  is established with the thesis statement and how
  the writer makes connections between the thesis
  and related ideas. The writer must clearly
  establish a focus as he/she fulfills the
  research-based paper.

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Organization

• Organization refers to the progression,
  relatedness and completeness of ideas. The writer
  establishes for the reader a well-organized
  composition, which exhibits a constancy of
  purpose through the development of elements
  forming an effective beginning, middle and end,
  the use of transitions and a well-documented
  conclusion.

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Support/Elaboration

• Support and elaboration is the extension and
  development of the topic/subject. The writer must
  provide sufficient elaboration to present and
  synthesize ideas from the research sources
  (primary and secondary). The writer must also
  balance the use of sources and include both
  written and visual sources (a student-generated
  graphic, chart, diagram, picture, graph, or
  graphic organizer) to clarify content.

8
Style

• Style is the control of language that is
  appropriate to the purpose, audience and context
  of the writing task. The writers style is
  evident through word choice, sentence fluency,
  use of vocabulary, flow of ideas and transitions.

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NC Graduation Project Paper Rubric Descriptors

• Resubmission Necessary
• Developing Emerging
• Satisfactory
• Exemplary

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NC Graduation Project Rubric Completion
Requirements
not completed
completed
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Resubmission Necessary

• Formerly correlated with a score
• point of 1
• Major Descriptors
• - Lacking
• - Severely flawed

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Resubmission Necessary Content/Criteria
Descriptors

• Focus
• Presents a thesis statement with no insight or
  focus (or fails to present a thesis).
• Shows no understanding of connections between
  thesis and related ideas.
• Organization
• Does not provide a progression of ideas and
  supporting information in the body of the paper.
• Does not use transitions to connect supporting
  information.
• Does not arrive at a documented conclusion.

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Resubmission Necessary Content/Criteria
Descriptors

• Support/Elaboration
• No evidence of synthesizing ideas from research
  sources.
• Lacks supporting information clearly relevant to
  thesis and its related ideas.
• Does not present multiple perspectives.
• Does not balance use of quotations and student
  paraphrasing.
• Shows no use of student-generated visual aids
  (i.e. diagrams, charts, graphs, pictures, graphic
  organizers) to clarify content.

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Resubmission Necessary Content/Criteria
Descriptors

• Style
• Exhibits severely flawed use of language,
  including weak word choice, no clarity, and no
  voice.
• Lacks fluency through sentence structure,
  paragraphing, flow of ideas, and transitions.

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Developing/Emerging Content/Criteria Descriptors

• Formerly correlated with a score
• point of 2
• Major Descriptors
• - Insufficient
• - Ineffective

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Developing/Emerging Content/Criteria Descriptors

• Focus
• Presents a thesis statement with minimal insight
  and focus.
• Draws insufficient connections between thesis and
  related ideas.
• Organization
• Provides a poorly organized progression of ideas
  and supporting information in the body of the
  paper.
• Ineffectively uses transitions to connect
  supporting information.
• Arrives at an insufficiently documented
  conclusion.

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Developing/Emerging Content/Criteria Descriptors

• Support/Elaboration
• Ineffectively synthesizes ideas from research
  sources.
• Demonstrates insufficient selection of supporting
  information clearly relevant to thesis and its
  related ideas.
• Provides a limited presentation of multiple
  perspectives.
• Insufficiently balances use of quotations and
  student paraphrasing.
• Includes student-generated visual aids (i.e.
  diagrams, charts, graphs, pictures, graphic
  organizers) to clarify content.

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Developing/Emerging Content/Criteria Descriptors

• Style
• Exhibits ineffective use of language, including
  weak word choice, no clarity, and no voice.
• Demonstrates limited fluency through sentence
  structure, paragraphing, flow of ideas, and
  transitions.

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Satisfactory Content/Criteria Descriptors

• Formerly correlated with a score
• point of 3
• Major Descriptors
• - Adequate
• - Sufficient

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Satisfactory Content/Criteria Descriptors

• Focus
• Presents a thesis statement with adequate insight
  and focus.
• Draws adequate connections between thesis and
  related ideas.
• Organization
• Adequately provides a progression of ideas and
  supporting information in the body of the paper.
• Adequately uses transitions to connect supporting
  information.
• Arrives at an adequately documented conclusion.

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Satisfactory Content/Criteria Descriptors

• Support/Elaboration
• Sufficiently synthesizes ideas from research
  sources.
• Demonstrates sufficient selection of supporting
  information clearly relevant to thesis and its
  related ideas.
• Provides an adequate presentation of multiple
  perspectives.
• Adequately balances use of quotations and student
  paraphrasing.
• Effectively integrates student-generated visual
  aids (i.e. diagrams, charts, graphs, pictures,
  graphic organizers) to clarify content.

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Satisfactory Content/Criteria Descriptors

• Style
• Exhibits good use of language, including some
  mastery of word choice, clarity and consistent
  voice.
• Demonstrates sufficient fluency through sentence
  structure, paragraphing, flow of ideas, and
  transitions.

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Exemplary Content/Criteria Descriptors

• Formerly correlated with a score
• point of 4
• Major Descriptors
• - Effective
• - Skillful

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Exemplary Content/Criteria Descriptors

• Focus
• Presents an insightful and focused thesis
  statement.
• Draws strong and clear connections between the
  thesis and related ideas.

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Exemplary Content/Criteria Descriptors

• Organization
• Effectively provides a progression of ideas and
  supporting information in the body of the paper.
• Effectively uses transitions to connect
  supporting information.
• Arrives at a well-documented logical conclusion,
  involving critical thinking.

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Exemplary Content/Criteria Descriptors

• Support/Elaboration
• Effectively synthesizes complex ideas from
  research sources.
• Demonstrates exceptional selection of supporting
  information clearly relevant to thesis and its
  related ideas.
• Provides meaningful presentation of multiple
  perspectives.
• Effectively balances use of quotations and
  student paraphrasing.
• Skillfully integrates student-generated visual
  aids (i.e. diagrams, charts, graphs, pictures,
  graphic organizers) to clarify content.

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Exemplary Content/Criteria Descriptors

• Style
• Exhibits skillful use of language, including
  effective word choice, clarity, and consistent
  voice.
• Demonstrates exceptional fluency through sentence
  structure, paragraphing, flow of ideas, and
  transitions.

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NC Graduation Project Research-Based Paper
Guidelines At-A-Glance

• RESEARCH-BASED PAPER
• The content shows that knowledge has been gained
  and that the student is able to analyze, apply,
  and synthesize that knowledge.
• There is a minimum of five sources, including at
  least one primary source. Students should avoid
  encyclopedias and other general-information
  references (including current technological
  reference bundles).
• For purposes of documentation, students should
  use the most current MLA Handbook, APA Handbook
  or an equivalent with in-text citations and
  technological (the Internet, for example)
  referencing.
• The final draft of the paper includes a
  works-cited page.
• The paper is 8-10 pages of text.

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NC Graduation Project Research-Based Paper
(Student Guidelines)

• 1. The research-based paper can written in any
  genre, including but not limited to
• Expository
• Compare and Contrast
• Cause and Effect
• Argumentative (Persuasive)
• Critical Review
• Analytical
• Literary
• 2. Each paper must cite a minimum of five
  different sources. Encyclopedias and other
  general resources are not acceptable, including
  current, technological reference bundles.
  Students should strive for variety and balance in
  their selections.
• 3. Papers must be approximately eight to 10 pages
  of text.
• 4. The thesis statement should be in
  bold-faced type.

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NC Graduation Project Research-Based Paper
(Student Guidelines)

• 5. Sources should include at least one
  primary source, such as original documents,
  authoritative interviews or analytical data based
  on interviews. Primary sources add immediacy and
  relevance to the research. Students whose
  primary sources are individuals should note in
  the text or annotate in the works-cited entry the
  persons area of expertise. NOTE Students
  should identify primary sources with bold-faced
  type in the list of works cited.
• 6. Students should learn to interpret research in
  terms of possible bias and to examine research in
  terms of validity. This examination is
  especially important when students are using
  online sources.

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NC Graduation Project Research-Based Paper
(Student Guidelines)

• 7. Research should take a variety of forms,
  both primary and secondary and traditional and
  non-traditional. Students may design,
  administer and analyze surveys, conduct
  interviews of experts, access online databases,
  or consult portable database products. Students
  should tailor the type of research to the topic
  to ensure a reasonable balance of sources.
• 8. Students should not rely solely on online
  sources.
• 9. Students must carefully document all research
  information they cite in their papers Including
  parenthetical documentation within the paper and
  a list of works cited at the end of the paper.

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NC Graduation Project Research-Based Paper
(Student Guidelines)

• 10. Students should access the most recent
  edition of the MLA Handbook for Writers of
  Research Papers or the American Psychological
  Association (APA) Publication Manual for
  guidelines for appropriate documentation.
• 11. Students should be thoroughly informed of
  research ethics and the serious consequences of
  plagiarism.

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Exercise Time.

• Lets take a look at the Anchor Set

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Using the anchor set in your school

• Use as a guide when training your Academic
  Advisors.
• Use as a guide to calibrate your scoring.
• Use as a reference to provide feedback to
  students.
• Integrate the content features into your school
  and classroom environment.

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Questions about the Anchor Set?

• ?

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Exercise Time..

• Lets practice with the Training Set

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Using the training set in your school

• Use the training set to train your Academic
  Advisors, scoring team and to calibrate scoring.
• A new set of training papers will be provided in
  the spring by the state, along with a new set of
  anchor papers.
• To keep the fidelity of the training set, they
  should not be provided to faculty and staff.

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Integrating Research/NC Graduation Project Skills
9-12

• Emphasize Writing Across the Curriculum.
• Emphasize the use of rubrics in all classes.
• Integrate charts, graphs, tables and diagrams
  into research projects (see the website
  http//www.wtvi.com/html/addinggraphics.html).

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Integrating Research/NC Graduation Project Skills
9-12 continued

• Integrate business/cover letter and resume
  writing skills.
• Provide students with opportunities to give oral
  presentations.
• Allow students to apply the NC Graduation Project
  rubrics to class activities/assessments.

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NC Graduation Project Research Paper Frequently
Asked Questions

• Do rubrics have a corresponding numerical scale?
• - it is a local option to determine if the
  rubrics will used a numerical scale. We might
  associate points (1, 2, 3, 4) with the completion
  scale.
• May the rubrics be modified to reflect district
  or school priorities?
• - Additional criteria may be added.
• - No criteria may be removed.

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NC Graduation Project Research Paper Frequently
Asked Questions Continued

• How will the NC Graduation Project be recorded in
  a students transcript?
• - The standardized transcripts is currently
  being modified to include the four components of
  the NC Graduation Project.
• - additionally CMS is also considering making
  the paper component part of the promotion
  standard from 11th grade to 12th grade.

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NC Graduation Project Research Paper Frequently
Asked Questions Continued

• Will students select their own topics or will
  these be determined by the school/district or
  teacher?
• - Students select their own topic for their
  project, but topics must be approved by the
  Academic Advisor/mentor and/or Graduation Project
  Coordinator.
• Who will score the research-paper?
• - Each school will select a scoring committee
  that must be provided training by the Graduation
  Project Coordinator at the school prior to
  scoring papers.

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NC Graduation Project Research Paper Frequently
Asked Questions Continued

• How will scoring fidelity be monitored at the
  district/state level?
• - the state is piloting software that will
  house student papers and scores/quality levels
  assigned to those papers. Sample papers will be
  requested at the district and state level (much
  like an audit) periodically to check scoring
  fidelity at the school level.

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NC Graduation Project Research Paper Frequently
Asked Questions Continued

• What checks are in place to monitor student
  plagiarism?
• - the state is piloting software that will
  both monitor plagiarism at the local and state
  level, but it is currently up to each school/LEA
  to fund plagiarism initiatives.

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Graduation Project Rubric Questions?

• ?