Based on the district SC Ready breakdown reports, writing continues to be an area of emphasis.   We also know that skilled writing is required for career and college readiness.  For these reasons, the Middle School ELA SLO will shift to mirror the writing demands of the individual writing items found on the SC Ready assessment. The SLO measure found in Mastery Connect requires students to correctly answer single items based on individual indicators withing the writing standards. 

While teachers or PLCs are still able to create their own assessments for the second measure, a suggested writing prompt is provided that could be used as the school created assessment.   For each grade level, the pretest writing prompt is designed to give you insight into your students abilities to write on demand, as well as to know more about their thoughts on issues related directly to them as students.   If the SLO post test is given during the recommended window, the post test writing prompts align with the topic from the most recent unit taught ,according to the district pacing.   This pacing allows students to bring knowledge of a topic to their writing and creates an opportunity for original thinking as part of the response.