How to make writing curriculum decisions based on the assessment of students' needs

The focus of this study was to examine how educators make writing curriculum decisions based on the assessment of students' needs. More explicitly, to what extent do students benefit from teachers' analysis of writing samples as a basis by which to make decisions about what to teach and how to teach writing based on students' errors? This study analyzed the progress of 82 fifth graders in their writing abilities at a school in a middle to high socioeconomic area in southern California. First, students were given a pre-test writing prompt for a persuasive essay. Next, the fifth grade teachers, including the researcher, analyzed the writing prompts based on the Six Traits Writing Assessment Model. The two weakest traits found were organization and voice. For the next five weeks, the teachers used writing workshop and mini lessons to teach organization and voice. After the five week period, students were given a similar post-test writing prompt. The fifth grade teachers again scored the writing pieces using the Six Traits Writing Assessment Model. The researcher compared the data and found that the majority of the students achieved gains in both organization and voice. The findings in this study reveal how important it is for teachers to assess their students' writing abilities before deciding what areas of writing to teach