Explanatory Performance Assessment
The Explanatory Performance Assessments were developed as part of the
Reading and Writing Project at Columbia University, and is closely
aligned with Common Core goals. Children are asked to listen to a piece
of nonfiction writing. They are then asked to summarize the information
in writing. Writing is then analyzed across several parameters,
including reading, ideas and content, voice, word choice, sentence
fluency, and conventions. Each parameter is judged on a scale of 1-4,
according to a scoring rubric. The rubric can be interpreted as showing
the student’s proficiency across each of the seven parameters. A total
score is then produced across all seven parameters, with a possible
total score of 28. Table 4 presents the mean and standard deviation for
the total scores of the experimental compared to the control group.
Please Insert Table 4
The children in the control group had higher total scores, on the
average, during all three assessment periods. The experimental group
children had less variation in their EPA Performance Assessment scores
than did the control group children during the Winter and Spring
assessment.
When these data were subjected to an analysis of variance, the results
were much the same as the above two analyses, F (1,4) =.307, p=.608.
Effect size calculations were: d=.337 for the Fall assessment, d=.206
for the Winter assessment, and d=.297 for the Spring assessment. On the
basis of this analysis the null hypothesis is accepted. Effect size
calculations indicate small effects between the groups.