Document text
53 °F Forecast | Road Cams Friday, January 28, 2005 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Opportunities Moving to Southern Oregon? MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend January 9, 2005 School-paper reader pool shrinks Medford schools have put out a call for paid outside readers to grade student papers as class sizes grow By ANITA BURKE Mail Tribune A stack of roughly 200 research papers — each eight to 10 pages long — is enough to make even a seasoned, professional English teacher blanch. Recognizing the amount of work involved in grading all those papers, the Medford school district long has hired readers to help teachers evaluate student writing. The readers, often retired English teachers themselves, typically pitch in when a crush of junior research papers are submitted in late November and when senior projects come due in the spring, said Phil Long, the district’s curriculum director. Teachers usually can only use a reader for one project a year. In recent years, though, the pool of readers has dwindled, even as budget cuts have forced increased class sizes, he said. In late December, the district put out a call to hire more readers to work as needed at an hourly wage of $11.14. "It’s become much more significant as classes grow," said Peggy Strain, a South Medford High School teacher who has extra administrative duties this year. Advertisement Getting help with big projects enables teachers, some of whom have 180 to 220 students this year, to assign papers and still have time to prepare daily lessons, she said. "The only way to learn to write is to write," Strain said. "We want to maintain the frequency of writing assignments." The Medford district budgets $5,500 for each high school and $2,250 for each middle school to hire readers as needed, Long said. The Ashland school district doesn’t provide funds for readers, but allows teachers to use their own money to pay certified English teachers to help score papers, said Leeanne Wallace, a Ashland High School English teacher. Eagle Point High School has teachers do all their own grading of writing projects. Vice Principal Tiffany O’Donnell said the school doesn’t have money to hire outside graders, but even if it did, she prefers having teachers who know classroom and state standards evaluate student work. "I don’t think I would entrust grading to someone else," she said. "I’m not sure the feedback would be valid." O’Donnell, a former English teacher, said Eagle Point teachers come together and grade sample papers from the state once or twice a year. The sample papers illustrate specific levels of achievement and the exercise enables teachers to "calibrate" their expectations with those of their peers and with state standards. Medford provides readers with detailed state scoring standards and specific guidelines for assignments, Strain said. Teachers meet with readers to discuss what they are looking for in a writing project and may even provide samples of a top quality paper, an average paper and a failing paper. Since advertising for readers, the Medford district has received 35 applications from people of a variety of backgrounds, Long said. Applicants will evaluate a sample paper according to provided guidelines, then teachers and administrators will critique those evaluations and select readers who can interpret the guidelines and offer helpful feedback to students. Readers also must undergo a criminal background check. Reach reporter Anita Burke at 776-4485, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities Student Loan Consolidation Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers