Assessing with Clarity: Scaffolded vs. Independent Writing

The Backstory While meeting recently with teachers in my district, an interesting discussion came up around assessing writing: Which pieces of writing merit being used as a formal assessment? Some teachers hold a firm belief that assessment should focus on writing that students do independently without teacher scaffolding. Others are just as adamant that scaffolded pieces of writing, developed in class with modeling and support, will yield the most complete view of a student’s abilities.

Behind the Scenes When teachers introduce a new genre or writing skill to students, we begin with a lot of support: modeling, graphic organizers, mentor texts, and opportunities for guided writing experiences. Our goal is to provide writers with a clear understanding of the skills and strategies we eventually want them to use independently. As part of this work, students are given structured opportunities to practice the skills being taught. Ideally, though, this scaffolding is soon removed to give students the time and space to try writing with more independence and flexibility. The goal is that students will be able to independently create a piece of writing that incorporates their learning and reflects the skills they have mastered as developing writers.

SO… which type of writing yields more accurate–and useful–assessment results? Scaffolded writing or independent writing?

Here’s a Secret Like many situations in education, this is a both/and situation, not an either/or. Here are just a few of the benefits of assessing both types of writing:

Scaffolded Writing Written throughout a unit with structured guidance and modeling	Independent Writing Written close to the end of a unit, following a period of explicit instruction, as an opportunity for students to incorporate and apply the skills they have learned
Can be used as a daily formative assessment: How well were students able to apply the skill(s) they have just been taught?	Serves as a true example of students’ independent abilities: Any work students can create without the support of an adult demonstrates mastery and independence.
Provides the teacher with immediate feedback on the effectiveness of that day’s instruction: Did students understand what was taught or is more instruction/practice needed?	Provides students with an opportunity to spread their wings and develop writing that they “own”: When scaffolding is removed, students have more flexibility, creativity, and independence as writers.
Includes evidence of all skills and standards taught: Because this work is slow and structured, students should show evidence of each skill as it is being taught.	Serves as a perfect opportunity for student self-assessment: What skills do students think they have mastered? Where do they think they need additional support?
Gives clear evidence of students who are struggling before they fall behind: If a student is unable to apply a skill that has been explicitly taught and practiced in a scaffolded way, it is unlikely that student will be able to apply that skill in a more independent setting.	Gives clear evidence of students who are struggling before they fall behind: If a student is unable to apply a skill that has been explicitly taught and practiced in a scaffolded way, it is unlikely that the student will be able to apply that skill in a more independent setting.

Yes, But… Time is always an issue. It’s time-consuming to grade one class set of writing, let alone multiple pieces in a single unit. One way to avoid getting bogged down with grading (which makes your responsiveness less timely) is to be crystal clear in your intentions each time you sit down with a stack of papers to assess. Ask yourself:

• What skills, standards, and strategies do I want to assess?
• How will I see evidence that students have demonstrated these skills?
• How will I act upon the data?

If you can’t answer one or more of these questions, it might be time to reconsider how you are using that particular piece of writing to better understand your students’ developing writing skills.

A Final Thought In our teaching practices, students need to be engaging in both writing that is supported with scaffolding and explicit instruction and writing that encourages them to spread their wings and apply skills independently. By balancing the ways in which we use both types of writing for assessment, we will have a deeper and more vivid picture of our writers.