Self-assessment and gender considerations in utilizing the CAFE (Complexity, Accuracy, Fluency, Evaluation) to assess student word writing abilities

This investigation studies the influence of self-assessment, through rubric utilization, and gender on student word writing abilities as assessed through the use of the CAFE (Complexity, Accuracy, Fluency, Evaluation) assessment tool. Dependent variables investigated include the quantitative change score, which provides the fluency data and the complexity score, which looks at the number of syllables in each written word.;Participants included 54 students of which 31 were males and 23 were females, ranging from first to fifth grades. The study was conducted during a summer reading clinic in Marietta, Ohio. Utilizing an ANOVA as the statistical design, students were divided into two grade groups, grades 1st through 2nd and 3rd through 5th, and then randomly assigned to a rubric or non-rubric group. Pre and post data was collected and compared as fluency and complexity change scores according to gender and rubric utilization.;The ANOVA indicates no significant interaction between the use of rubrics and CAFE scores. There is also no significant interaction between gender and CAFE scores. There is a significant effect produced when comparing the means of the two grade groupings on the quantitative change score, with the older students scoring higher on this aspect of the CAFE. When looking at the correlation between fluency and complexity, a significant negative correlation was found in that the fluency scores increase as the complexity scores decrease.;While there are limitations of this study including time constraints and small sample size, the CAFE is a reliable and objective form of assessing written fluency skills of students and should be implemented on a higher scale.