e-asTTle writing (revised) Manual 2012 (3).

4.5.6.Set the date and time the test will be available. Note that e-asTTle writing tests are “paper and pencil” testsand you ultimately control when the students will do the test. Changing the date here will not affect theavailability of the test. However, scores for a test can only be entered within the e-asTTle application oncethe date for availability to students has passed.When you are happy with your selections, press “Save”.You can add more students to a writing test at any time.3.2.3.2.1.Administering an e-asTTle testPreparation and planningThe e-asTTle writing tool enables teachers to assess student writing of continuous text. In order to make avalid assessment and produce useful diagnostic information, the tool should only be used with students whoare able to independently communicate at least one or two simple ideas in writing. If students do not have thislevel of ability you will need to consider alternative assessment activities.The assessment requires up to 40 minutes of writing time, plus an additional five to ten minutes to introduceand discuss the prompt. Schedule a session when the students will be uninterrupted for this length of time.Before administering a writing assessment, you will need to familiarise yourself with the material, especiallythe range of prompts and their format, the administration guidelines, the marking rubric and the annotatedexemplars. You will also need to consider which prompt or prompts will be most suitable for your assessmentgroup, download the appropriate materials, and make enough copies of the prompt booklet for everyone inthe group. The prompt booklet includes a cover page, the writing prompt, a planning page and writing pages.You may need to have a supply of extra pages available.We recommend that students experience photos or illustrations included in prompts in colour, to ensuredetail can be clearly seen. Class sets of hard copies could be photocopied and laminated or an electronic copyprojected onto a large screen. Photos and illustrations that cannot be seen clearly will disadvantage students.3.2.2.Teacher administration of the testAdministration instructions, including a teacher script, are provided in each test package (which also includesthe prompt, a student response booklet, the marking rubric, the structure and language notes and annotatedexemplars for the prompt, and the glossary and definitions). Read the administration instructions and use thescript to guide students through the test.3.2.3.Marking the tests using the rubric and exemplarsThe e-asTTle writing assessments are scored offline. Once scored, the data can be entered into e-asTTle toproduce a variety of reports.To score the students’ completed writing, you will need:• the writing prompt• the marking rubric• the structure and language notes for the prompt• the annotated exemplars for the prompt• the glossary and the definitions.All these resources can be downloaded from the tool as part of the test package. An additional resource isthe set of generic exemplars which can be downloaded from the “Enter Scores” page under “Mark Test”. Thisdocument contains a larger set of exemplars taken from across the range of prompts.Page 16 Part A: e-asTTle writinge-asTTle writing (revised) Manual