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MY Access!® Nonscoreable Essays

Have you ever wondered what happens to an essay that gets flagged as nonscoreable?  Vantage Learning’s Writing Support and Scoring Services team diligently reviews each essay written to an IntelliMetric prompt to confirm that it is nonscoreable or release its IntelliMetric® score to the student’s portfolio within 24 hours of submission.  In the near future, essays using Approximator scoring will also receive nonscoreable flags; however, no human review will be available for these submissions.

Why does an essay get flagged as nonscoreable in the first place? There are nine answers to this question:

Off Topic: The prompt task dictates what essays will be accepted for a given prompt. To minimize the occurrence of the off-topic flag, a conscious adherence to the prompt task is vital. For example, if the high school literary prompt “Biography of an Author” is assigned, an essay about the writer’s favorite rock band or favorite sports star would not align with an expected response for the given task. This flag is only available for IntelliMetric prompts.

Too Short: Essays that are less than three sentences and less than fifty words will not register as a full essay.  

Insufficiently Developed: The essay contains insufficient content to satisfy the requirements of the prompt task. This tells the writer that further development is needed. This flag is only available for IntelliMetric prompts.

Major Syntax Problems: Oftentimes, the writer may not include sufficient punctuation or phrase his or her sentences in a way that interferes with communication of the intended message. This tells the writer that more revision is needed.  

Repetitious: Words, phrases, or complete sentences and ideas that are repeatedly used will result in a repetitious flag. Writers should use a variety of language to express their ideas.

Unknown: This flag is for essays that reflect an inconsistency, or shift, in the writer’s style or voice. They are also used to flag inauthentic writing, which can be caused by using too much information from a source or sources (quotes, etc.) and not enough original writing.  This flag is only available for IntelliMetric prompts.

Copied Prompt: When the writer copies and pastes part of the prompt task or any related texts in his or her response, the essay will register as copied content. This flag is only available for IntelliMetric prompts.

Early Submission: If the writer submits the same essay multiple times, IntelliMetric will only score the final submission and flag each previous essay as an "early submission".  This flag is only available for IntelliMetric prompts.

Too Many Unknown Words: This flag occurs when an essay contains too many uncommon or misspelled words.  Essays will also receive this flag if they are written in another language or if there are random characters included in the essay.

Although a nonscoreable flag is not ideal from the writer’s perspective, it can provide very valuable feedback that will send the writer in a new and effective direction. In making the necessary revisions after receiving a nonscoreable flag, a writer can really see improvement in his or her writing!

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MY Access!® School December 2013 Product Update

This document highlights a few enhancements that were launched in MY Access! School this weekend. All of these changes were the direct result of customer feedback. We continue to focus on strengthening customer experience and understanding, as well as improving usability.

Feature #1: Store and Display Student Created Date

MY Access! School now stores the date of creation for student accounts. This is of great assistance to our customers who want to manage student access based on a designated period of time as opposed to the date of the order. For example, if a district wants to allow students to have access for one year, they can identify which student accounts should expire with the order and which student accounts should be moved onto a new order.                                                                   

On the Manage Student Accounts page, there is a new Student Created Date column. When a student account is created in the system, the date is stored and displayed in this column. If there is an “n/a” in the field, it means that the student account was created before this information was being captured.  The Student Created Date column is also on the export file.

Feature #2: Modify “Final Submit” button to “Submit for Score” on Student Review Your Essay page

We have heard repeated concerns about the phrase “Final Submit” on the Review Your Essay page. Teachers typically instruct students to not submit their work until they are sure it is perfect. Students have been afraid to click on the “Final Submit” button to submit their first drafts. Because we encourage revision as a critical component of the writing process, we needed students to understand they will be able to continue to work on their essay.

As depicted in the following screenshot, we changed the button to say “Submit for Score,” since it is a much better reflection of what students are doing (they are not doing a “final” submission until the due date).

Feature #3: Change “Practice Test” to “Practice Prompt” in Assignment Wizard

There has been much customer confusion about practice assignments: Are they tests? Why can’t I find the results?

So, in Step 3 of the Assignment Wizard, we changed references of “practice test” to “practice prompt”. We have also added a help window that provides users with more information about these types of assignments.

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COMING SOON—Short Constructed Response! Help Us Expedite the Process!

MY Access!® School is about to have a new, very timely addition to our selection of prompts. We are in the final stages of designing a Short Constructed Response feature. These types of prompts will enable your students to write responses that are considerably shorter in length than a full-fledged essay. Our new feature for these prompts will then score them accordingly.

But first, we need your help! In order to finalize our scoring process, we need more student submissions written to the “Field Test” prompts that are now available within MY Access!. For each grade level, there are two prompts available at this time—a text-based informational prompt and a non-text-based persuasive prompt.  Here are the titles:

Upper Elementary text-based prompt: The Date Palm: A Tree of Life in the Desert

Upper Elementary non-text-based prompt: Seatbelts on Buses: Yes or No?

Middle School text-based prompt: Ocean Giants

Middle School non-text-based prompt: Pets in Public: Yes or No?

High School text-based prompt: Cape Canaveral

High School non-text-based prompt: “You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone”

Just a few hundred additional submissions will enable us to begin the process of creating IntelliMetric® scoring models for these prompts—a few districts or classes could put us over the top!—and your students’ writing could be included in this important new MY Access! feature. 

To participate in this project, please contact Joan Gravelle at [email protected]. Joan can share with you the details of this quick and easy student writing opportunity and how you can help us activate the Short Constructed Response feature soon!

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Writing Ideas to Kickstart the School Year!

August is the beginning of a new school year for some students. Instead of assigning the trite “What I Did For My Summer Vacation” essay, consider acquainting your students with American Artist Appreciation Month or National Water Quality Month, both of which are nationally recognized themes during the month of August. 

Here are some MY Access! prompt suggestions for each of them:

American Artist Appreciation Month

Upper Elementary

 Artwork Worthy of a Medal of Honor (Informative)

 Imagine That You Are an Artist (Narrative)

Middle School

 An Artist You Admire (Informative)

 Sketching Across the Professions (Informative)

 What Kind of Artist Would You Be? (Informative)

High School

 Sketch of an Artist (Informative)

 The Source of Our Talent (Persuasive)

 Why Do You Need to Create Art? (Informative)

  National Water Quality Month

Upper Elementary

 How Can You Help Our World? (Informative)

Middle School

 Are We Protecting Our Freshwater Ecosystem (Informative)

 A Memorable Experience Near Water (Narrative)

 Conservation of Water (Informative)

 Marsh Cleanup (Narrative)

 Protect the Watershed (Informative)

High School

 Cleaning Up the Marsh (Narrative)

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Celebration of MY Prompts!

The team at Vantage Learning would like to applaud the creativity of all the teachers who authored their own MY Prompts this past school year. You have customized writing prompts to the needs of your students in some extremely imaginative ways.

We would like to invite all of you to share your MY Prompts for pilot prompt consideration. There are two types of prompts we would especially like to add:

Text-based information prompts: Have you created a prompt that includes a reading passage for students? We would like to see that prompt! 

Prompts established for Career and Technical Education classes: Have you created a writing prompt specifically for a trade or career class (welding, auto body, culinary arts, health care, etc.)? Send us your MY Prompts, and we may make them into pilot prompts.

To share your MY Prompts with us, log into your MY Access! account and go to the Resource and Training Center. In the MY Access! Pilot Prompt Scoring Services section, you will find a link to the “Pilot Prompt Submission Worksheet.”

Summer is here, and it’s time to celebrate your hard work and creativity! We are excited to see all the unique prompts you have created. Hats off to all of you!

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MY Access!® End of Year Account Procedures

The end of the school year is a busy time for everyone. However, taking a small amount of time now to maintain your MY Access® account will greatly reduce next year's burden for your school's teacher and administrators.  

The following guidelines will help you manage your MY Access! account and prepare for the year ahead. If you have any questions about this process, you may always contact MY Access! Customer Service for support by email ([email protected]) or phone (1‐800‐322‐0848). All of these tasks should be completed by a district- or school- level administrator.

Extract Important Data

Student data is stored in MY Access! for three consecutive years. Depending on your needs (e.g., grant funding, end-of-year reports, etc.), you can view, print, and export the data from the Reports page.

Log in and select the Reports link from the silver navigation bar.

Identify the reports that will most clearly meet your needs.

View, print, or export the data you require.

Deactivate/Archive, Update, and Create New Student Accounts

Based on the size of your school or district and the number of changes that need to be made, the following actions may be completed account‐by‐account or in bulk.

1. Deactivate/Archive Students

Students who no longer use MY Access! should be deactivated. Student performance data will be archived and licenses will be freed for use by other students.

Account‐by‐account: Login > Manage Accounts > Filter for students > Click the Deactivate icon next to an individual student.

Bulk: Login > Manage Accounts > Filter for students > Check multiple students or select Check All > Select Deactivate from the dropdown menu above > Click Go.

2. Update Student Accounts

Because data is only useful when it is accurate, it is important to update accounts for all continuing MY Access! users. Make sure student demographic data is accurate and that students are assigned to the correct school.

Account‐by‐account: Login > Manage Student Accounts > Filter for students > Click the Edit icon to change demographic data or the Move icon to move a student to a new school.

Bulk: Login > Add/Update Users > Add Multiple Users > Download and complete the student template with accurate demographic data > Select the appropriate school in Step 3 > Select the expiration date for the next year in Step 4 > Select the order in Step 5 > Select the appropriate option in Step 6* > Select the username and password combination in Step 7 > Name the template in Step 8 > Attach the template in Step 9 > Click Upload.

*Step 6—Maintain Current Accounts and Update—this option will update current students within the system and add new student accounts. Please note that if you want to bulk update and move previous students with this option, the information for those students needs to be included in this template.

Once the template is uploaded successfully, you will have to activate the accounts. You can perform this step by clicking on the Activate Account link located on the Uploaded Files screen.  

3. Create New Student Accounts

Make sure you get the most out of your investment in MY Access! by enabling your students to begin writing right away. Double check that you have purchased enough licenses for your student body and make a habit of creating new student accounts as soon as students enroll.

Account‐by‐account: Login > Add/Update Users > Click Add Single User > Enter student information.

Bulk: Login > Add/Update Users > Add Multiple Users > Download and complete the student template with accurate demographic data > Select the appropriate school in Step 3> Select the expiration date for the next year in Step 4 > Select the order in Step 5 > Select the appropriate option in Step 6* > Select the username and password combination in Step 7 > Name the template in Step 8 > Attach the template in Step 9 > Click Upload.

*Step 6—Deactivate Current Student Accounts and Add New—this option will deactivate all current students who are not included in the new import template.

Once the template is uploaded successfully, you will have to activate the accounts. You can perform this step by clicking on the Activate Account link located on the Uploaded Files screen.

Archive Teacher Groups

Teachers will need to create new groups for the new school year. This process is facilitated by archiving all teacher groups from the current school year. Archiving will not affect student accounts; student data is retained and licenses remain unaffected.

Account‐by‐account: Login > Setup & Assignments > Select Group > Click Status Change> Select Archived.

Bulk: Login > Setup & Assignments > Bulk Group Management > Filter for groups > Select Group(s) > Click Archive.

Add New Teachers

Teachers are always very busy when they return to school in the fall, so take the time now to ensure that your new teachers will have active MY Access! accounts.

Account‐by‐account: Login > Add/Update Users > Click Add Single User > Enter teacher information.

Bulk: Login > Add/Update Users > Click Add Multiple Users > Download and complete the teacher template > Select Teacher/Admin for User Type in Step 2. > Select the appropriate school in Step 3 > Select the expiration date for the next year in Step 4 > Select the order in Step 5 > Steps 6 and 7 will be disabled (usernames/passwords will need to be user-created) > Name the template in Step 8 > Attach the template in Step 9 > Click Upload.

Once the template is uploaded successfully, you will have to activate the accounts. You can perform this step by clicking on the Activate Account link located on the Uploaded Files screen.

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MY Access!® School May 2013 Product Updates

This document highlights new MY Access! School enhancements introduced in May.

Feature #1: Word Count

MY Access! now displays a dynamic word count in the Student Writing Space (if the student is working in a non-flash environment such as an iPad).

Feature #2: Improved Early Intervention Report

In the Early Intervention Report, teachers and administrators can now see the date and time a submission was started as well as the total writing time that a student spent on it. In addition, Holistic Score data is now sorted from highest to lowest, making it easier to identify students in border areas between groups.

Feature #3: New Information Available in the Teacher Resource Center

Teachers and administrators now have access to the following information in the Teacher Resource Center:

New State Testing Prompt Alignments

(Resource and Training Center -> Prompt Alignment to State Tests)

Alabama State Test Prompt Alignments

Louisiana State Test Prompt Alignments

Mississippi State Test Prompt Alignments

New Rubric Comparisons

(Resource and Training Center -> Rubrics -> MY Access! Rubric Comparisons)

MY Access! vs. PARCC rubrics  (coming soon)

MY Access! vs. Smarter Balanced rubrics (coming soon)

MY Access! vs. TN 4-Pt rubric

MY Access! vs. TN 6-Pt rubric

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Featured Feature: “Total Writing Time”

MY Access!® has so many tools for teachers and students.

This month, let’s take a look at “Total Writing Time," a relatively new addition to the system. This feature allows both students and teachers to know how much time was spent on each writing submission.

Students

Students see Total Writing Time information every time they submit an essay for scoring and feedback. It is located at the top of the My Tutor Feedback page.

In this example, the student spent 1 minute and 12 seconds on this submission. Since this was the student’s second submission for this essay, this may represent time spent making corrections to grammar and mechanics.

  Teachers

Teachers can see how long students actually spend writing or revising a submission. The Total Writing Time appears on many of the MY Access! reports. In the example below, a Performance Summary report for each student in the roster is shown. The three right-hand columns show the date and time each submission was started and submitted as well as the total writing time. Teachers can use this information when advising students about revision goals and editing tasks.