Pre

Institute Survey for the Content Area Literacy and the CCSS Institute
Please take a few minutes to fill out this survey. Your answers will be kept confidential. Thank you for your participation.

Part One: About You

1. What grade levels do you teach?

2. What content area(s) do you teach?

3. What is your gender?

Male Female

4. How many years have you been teaching?

0-2 3-5 6-10 11-15 16-20 More than 20

5. About how many students attend your school?

6. How many students do you have in all of your classes?

7. On a scale of 1-10 (10 being highest), how much do you know about the Common Core State Standards (CCSS)?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

8. On a scale from 1 to 10 (10 being highest), how comfortable are you in integrating the CCSS into your classroom?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Page 1 of 5

9. On a scale of 1-6, with 6 being the highest, how do you feel about teaching the following types of writing in your grade and/or subject area?
1 2 3 4 5 6

Writing to learn

Informational writing Technical writing

Research-based writing Argumentative writing

Published writing (paper copies for distribution and/or online)

Part Two - In the Classroom

10. On average, how often do your students engage in each of the following activities in your class(es)?
Once 2-3 Times Rarely a Semester Monthly Weekly a Week Daily

Book reports

Constructed response

Expository/informational writing Free writes Interviews Learning logs Letters

Note-taking Personal narratives Creative writing

Readers response notebooks Skill-based worksheets

Writing about readings discussed in class Analyzing anchor papers Other (Please specify):

Page 2 of 5

11. Which of the following practices do you use in your classroom?

2-3 Times Never Rarely Monthly Weekly a Week Daily

Graphic organizers Performance events

Scoring guides/rubrics Word walls/word banks Vocabulary instruction

Instruction on the craft of writing Small group/skill group instruction Gradual release of responsibility Other (Please specify):

12. How often do you use the following assessment strategies in writing?
2-3 Times Never Rarely Monthly Weekly a Week Daily

Provide regular feedback to students on drafts Use portfolios of student work to assess and monitor students knowledge and/or skills Analyze student writing to assess knowledge of content being learned Other (Please specify):

Page 3 of 5

Part Three - In the Classroom

13. The following 20 statements may address practices and dispositions that guide your teaching. Using a scale of 1-5 (1=Strongly Disagree, 2=Disagree, 3=No Opinion; 4=Agree; 5=Strongly Agree), please complete the following items.
1=Strongly Disagree 2=Disagree 3=No opinion 4=Agree 5=Strongly Agree

1) Student writers frequently benefit from considering three or four possibilities for a writing assignment and/or format and then choosing one.

2) Questions and discussions are helpful for writing. 3) Revision focuses mainly on careful word choice and correcting errors. 4) When assessing student writing, teachers should read primarily for spelling, grammar, and usage. 5) Teachers comments on student papers should only focus on a few specific issues. 6) There is a difference between persuasive and argumentative writing. 7) Traditional school grammar instruction does not have a positive effect on writing. 8) If students are provided with exemplars with scoring guides, they will understand teacher expectations for the assignment. 9) Developmentally, students speak and write about stories about their own selves and experiences before they write exposition, report, generalize, and theorize. 10) English teachers should be solely responsible for teaching students how to write argumentative, informational, and research writing. 11) Students need to write for real purposes and for audiences other than their teachers. 12) Programs that provide balanced attention to both imaginative and informative reading, writing, and speaking promote competence. 13) In teacher-student writing conferences, asking students questions or making brief suggestions may facilitate students working through problems with their writing.

Page 4 of 5

14) Rubrics/scales/scoring guides are effective means to articulate the expectations of an assignment. 15) Assignments that call for the student to investigate a topic have resulted in the highest level of student performance. 16) Interactive learning situations produce more effective growth than instruction in which students are passive. 17) A mixture of both constructive criticism and praise produce the most confident, successful writers and learners. 18) Grades on individual assignments tend to be subjective, which decreases consistency among teachers. 19) English teachers should grade students writing for their grammar and mechanics mistakes. 20) Curriculum, instruction, and assessment need to be aligned if we are to know that children have learned what has been taught.

Page 5 of 5