This session will focus on how our district successfully implemented standards-based rubrics to drive both writing and comprehension instruction with greater intentionality and rigor. Rather than treating writing as a standalone subject, we embedded purposeful writing tasks throughout the day to align with ELA comprehension standards—ensuring students engage daily in writing that reflects the depth of knowledge required by the standards. Our instructional shift focused on improving our Teacher Clarity by creating and utilizing rubrics that are directly aligned to the language and expectations of each ELA standard. These rubrics serve as both teaching tools (success criteria) and progress monitors, guiding instruction and helping students clearly understand what proficiency looks like. Teachers have utilized the rubrics to design writing tasks that are aligned to our current curriculum that ask students to recount, summarize, analyze, and compare texts—making writing an essential component of how comprehension is taught and assessed. Participants in this session will leave with practical tools, sample rubrics and benchmark assessments, and implementation steps for adopting a similar approach in their own districts or buildings. This includes: ●Developing standards-based rubrics for comprehension and writing ●Embedding writing tasks into daily ELA instruction ●Aligning instruction to the depth of knowledge required by the standard ●Supporting teacher clarity and student ownership of learning Whether you are leading a building-wide initiative or starting with a single team, this session will offer actionable strategies to increase rigor, promote consistency, and help students write with clarity and purpose.
