New FCAT Writing Grades Target “Coached” Essays

The state is stepping up its standards on the written portion of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test to prepare for coming tougher national standards and to weed out essays that seem coached for better scores, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

Finally, the department doesn’t want to see evidence that students have memorized phrases to use on their FCAT essays.

“Rote memorization or overuse of compositional techniques, such as rhetorical questions, implausible statistics, or pretentious language is not the expectation for quality writing at any grade level,” the memo stated.

The use of memorized phrases, or what the department calls “template writing,” is one the state has been trying to stamp out for several years.

The practice, state officials have said, involves students at the same school using the same phrases in their essays, suggesting they’ve been “coached” to employ them. The phrases include over-the-top language such as “a potpourri of iridescent colors surrounded me,” and similar, contrived story conventions such as writing, “POOF!” and then describing the character suddenly being in a land of dragons, pirates or fairies.

“Teaching to the test” is a common complaint about standardized tests such as the FCAT, where teachers spend classroom time prepping students for a test that, in part, determines an educator’s performance. What does it say that the state has to revamp its grading to counteract “coaching” by schools?

The state plans to release examples of the new essay scoring system later this month.