Delve deeper into District writing with WriQ’s Admin Dashboard

Since we first developed WriQ, the idea of district level insights into student writing was always part of our plan. Giving administrators, curriculum directors, headteachers, and department leaders more insight than ever before into the writing that is happening in their schools.

Find out from our WriQ Product Manager, Mark how the new WriQ Admin Dashboard provides a single platform for admins to know how much writing is happening in their schools, how accurate that writing is, and how well students are progressing in several essential areas, all at a glance. 

When we first outlined the roadmap for WriQ, district level analytics for student writing achievement was an important part of the WriQ platform for us. If you currently have a WriQ account, you may already be familiar with the teacher dashboard, which gives teachers an understanding of their students' writing process, struggles, and achievement in ways they had previously not been able to. We’re excited to share that administrators within your school or district will now have access to similar analytics but with a view of all classrooms and students in the domain. 

Developing your writing program 

When we meet with administrators to show them how WriQ works, we always ask three questions: 

• How do you measure writing in your district from elementary through high school?
• Where/what are the strengths and weaknesses of your writing program in the district?
• How much time does your average 7th grader spend writing a two-page essay?

Rarely (if ever) do we get a clear answer, it is often a mix of anecdotal evidence, teacher reporting, and end of year data from state exams - essentially, guesses. The power of the WriQ Admin Dashboard is in the simplicity in which it allows administrators to answer these questions (and more!). As teachers use WriQ to assess writing, the data feeds into the admin dashboard. The same data that can be used on a classroom level to drive instruction, can now be used at a district level to guide resources in curriculums and professional development.

For example, in analyzing the data for two sixth grades in two different schools, a curriculum director sees it is clear that the students in one of the classes have spent just one-third of the hours working on writing as the other. While also typing far fewer words and having significantly fewer pieces of work scored. Further inspection reveals that the teachers in those classes have less experience, and therefore less confidence in teaching writing. 

The curriculum director can then redirect PD funds to those teachers to build their skills and conviction in their writing pedagogy. Without the data from WriQ, identifying the problem and the opportunity for improvement could have been missed.

Get ahead of the trend

Arguably the most powerful metric created by WriQ is Texthelp's unique WriQ Score. This 0-400 measure combines four data points into one easy to understand number. The four parts are Total Words (how much was written), Accuracy Percentage (by Correct Word Sequence), Vocabulary Maturity (how mature is the writing), and Time on Task (how much time did it take to write). By analyzing the data in over 30,000 documents, we have been able to create national norms for both Vocabulary Age and WriQ Score. 

By studying the trends in these scores and comparing them to national percentiles at each grade level, administrators can now gain a deeper understanding of the precise strengths and weaknesses of writing throughout their districts.

How to get access to District analytics

If you currently have a WriQ premium subscription, your sales and tech contacts can access the Admin Dashboard today by going to wriq-admin.texthelp.com. Watch our short video below which explains how you can start analyzing your own district’s dashboard today:

Remember we are always here to help so if you’re having trouble adding teachers or administrators, get in touch and we will be happy to guide you through it. 

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For more information on WriQ licensing and pricing, or if you’d like to upgrade or start a free premium pilot, please visit our website.