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Book 2: Listening & Writing

"Why the Rooster Crows at Dawn"

Listen to the Passage

Why-The-Rooster-Crows-At-Dawn.mp3

Read the passage

Main Essay Questions

How does Brownie the cow act at the beginning of the story? How does her behavior change by the end of the story? What causes this change? Use details from the story to support your answer.

In your answer, be sure to include

How Fourth Graders Responded to the Question

Parents of NYC students who took this test have asked their children how they perceived these essay questions about Brownie the Cow. Every student we've asked has responded in one (or more than one) of the following ways:

1. It seems like there was a mistake. Didn't they mean to ask these questions about the rooster, rather than the cow?

2. I don't think the cow changes much - certainly not as much as the rooster. If she does, I don't think we're given enough information to say how she changes. And the teachers told us in the test instructions that we're not supposed to guess. I'm not sure what the right answer is!

3. Since I have to give an answer about how the cow changes, I'd say she gets a little meaner as the story goes along. When Brownie is first mentioned, it says she was the "nicest" cow. But then she gets annoyed at the arrogant rooster, and plays a trick on her.

4. Since I have to give an answer about how the cow changes, I'd say she starts out a little threatening, raising her hoof to the rooster. But by the end she seems more good-natured, because the cows allow the rooster to believe he is the king.

Here is what one current Brooklyn fifth-grader wrote when asked to recall his reaction to the Brownie the Cow question:

"I didn't think the test made that much sense. I felt good and confident when I was going to take the test. I listened to the story about the rooster (I couldn't look at it). They read it twice, I took all the notes I could and once I got to the big question I only had one thing I had recorded about the cow. I felt terrible. I didn't have the information to answer the question. I thought I had made a mistake, how could I have missed the information about the cow?"

The State's Explanation of the "Right" Answer

We talked with a state Education Department official responsible for this test, and asked how fourth graders were supposed to answer the Brownie question. You could argue, based on the state official's answer, that there's merit in any and all of the children's responses and perceptions listed above.

Those with response #1 ("Didn't they mean to ask these questions about the rooster?") turn out to be perhaps the most accurate. Yes, the questions were originally meant to be about the rooster. The state's testing contractor, CTB/McGraw Hill, developed two sets of questions about the "Rooster" passage, we're told. The first set asked students to write about how the rooster changed. But the "test development team" convened by the Department of Education rejected those questions. The Education official told us that the teachers on this panel felt that the questions about the rooster required students to analyze changes in the rooster's thinking, rather than "outward" changes in the rooster's behavior, and that this was too complex or ambiguous. So the panel rejected CTB/McGraw Hill's questions about the rooster, and instead selected the back-up questions about the cow. Because of time pressures and the terms of the state's contract with CTB/McGraw Hill, the state was unable to develop any other alternatives, and was stuck with the "Brownie the Cow" questions.

(In reality, isn't it the rooster who changes "outwardly" in the story, and not the cow?)

The students who got the "right" answer, according to the state, were those who wrote essays with response #3 above. "The cow starts out nice, and becomes mean," the state official said.

But students with the other responses could have done fine on their essays too. There's not really a right answer, according to this official. The real point is just to "get them writing." And the graders are instructed to "look at the writing holistically."

Oh.

But if the point is to "get them writing," doesn't asking a nonsensical question risk undermining that goal?

Well, yes. "The smart kids and the analytical kids have problems with these questions," the state official said. "They drive themselves crazy looking for the right answer."

UPDATE: We got the state's "scoring guide" for this part of the test.  Here is the state's "possible exemplary response" to the Brownie question:

"At the beginning of the story, Brownie is kind to the rooster, but at the end she is not so nice. At first, Brownie tells the rooster to be careful because she is worried he might get hurt strutting around in the pasture. But the rooster just ignores her and boasts that he is king.

"Brownie doesn't like that the rooster ignores her advice so Brownie and the other cows play a trick on the rooster. They convince him that, as king, he must know everything that goes on in the barnyard, and must be the first one up in the morning. When the rooster falls for their trick, Brownie and the other cows laugh at the rooster's foolishness."

The state's scoring guide makes clear that there IS a right answer, and that students who get it (who "show an insightful interpretation of the text") are rewarded. And those who "show confusion" about the text, or show "less than thorough elaboration," are penalized.

We find it hard to believe that ANY student - "right" or "wrong" about Brownie the Cow - could do his or her best writing in response to such a nonsensical question.

What A Good Writing Question is Supposed to Do

Let's evaluate.

We're told that a good writing test question is one that:

Poll: Is This a Good Writing Question?

Yes
No

View Results


Brownie The Cow