Dedham Students Learn to Write?

The Dedham School Committee and school superintendent should be applauded for its decision to implement PARCC this spring with Dedham students in grades 3-8.

That was the easy part. However, the real work of the Dedham School Committee and school superintendent now begins in earnest. The results in ELA under MCAS were poor. The results with writing both in long composition and open response were even poorer. On PARCC, students will be asked to write more than ever in all grades both in ELA and math.

For example, in all grades students will be asked to read two to three complex texts on a topics. They then write across either narrative, informational, and persuasive formats using evidence across all of those texts. It is a task that the students in Dedham have not experienced before in school, despite the fact that the ELA Curriculum Frameworks adopted in 2011 have required such types of writing.

The best case scenario is that our students will now learn to write and will learn to love writing. In this scenario, students will also excel in this new measure that now assesses the critical thinking and analysis skills our students will need for college and career. The Dedham Public Schools would also begin the work of actually implementing the ELA Curriculum Frameworks of 2011.

To start, here are 10 questions parents can ask their school administrators, teachers, school superintendent, and the Dedham School Committee:

• What are the rigorous literature and text will students read and analyze for the remainder of the year?
• How will the literature be paired with other informational and persuasive texts so students experience the skills of reading across several texts?
• How will students write in response to what they are reading?
• What are the essays planned for the remainder of the year? What mentor texts will be used?
• How will students be asked to write across two and then three texts to develop a thesis and pull evidence across all of the texts?
• What are the procedures/routines for teaching writing? Do teachers conference with students? Is there a process/routine for peer revision and editing? How and when is feedback given to students?
• What checklists should students use at home for prewriting, editing, and writing?
• What research projects will students engage in that also require students to develop a thesis in response to a question, read multiple sources, and write/present information learned? Or, perhaps write persuasively?
• What are the rubrics for writing in narrative, persuasive, and informational at each grade levels?
• How will students to be learning about the PARCC format for writing, i.e. prose constructed responses?

In the end, my new year’s wish is that Dedham students learn the power of writing to communicate their knowledge and opinions to others. This next generation of Dedham citizens will use the power of the written wisely to improve the lives of others and their community.