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This appeared on the Facebook Group Teacher2Teacher Pop-Up Feedback Community: Writing Instruction:

Hi, Friend!

We’re reaching out because our T2T team is currently helping to facilitate a feedback community for eighth-grade ELA teachers, and we’re hoping you might be interested in taking part.

The community takes place within a closed Facebook group, and our main goal is to gather feedback on Project Topeka, a brand-new resource for writing teachers that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is developing with a select group of ELA teachers from across the country.

We've heard from teachers like you that one of the biggest challenges of teaching writing is creating space for students to practice their skills. Project Topeka addresses that challenge by providing opportunities for students to get low-stakes writing practice.

We admire the way you share your practice and support your colleagues, and if you teach eighth-grade students and writing is a big part of your practice, we’d love to invite you to join this project and help shape Project Topeka!

If you’re interested, the next step is clicking here to complete a quick survey.

Once you finish the survey, you can go ahead and join the Facebook group here.

Please feel free to let us know if you have any questions at all. Thank you for all you do!

The Teacher2Teacher Team

P.S. We’d also love it if you’d invite your eighth-grade ELA colleagues to join along with you, and share this invite with any other eighth-grade ELA teachers you think might want to take part.

This site has loads of screen shots that show what Project Topeka looks like.  Currently, the program is part of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation pilot group for a new initiaties.  

Frequently Asked Questions About Topeka

What is Topeka?

Project Topeka is piloting the use of a free, online, automated essay-scoring service that equips teachers with greater insight into students’ argumentative writing capabilities while giving real time feedback to students on their writing. Project Topeka will also provide free resources to help teachers develop specific argumentative writing skills. The goals of this pilot are research based. Our goal is to conduct research around the hypothesis that more timely, automated feedback to teachers and students around argumentative writing will lead to improved student outcomes. During this pilot we are inviting a group of teachers to help us test this tool and co- develop the site in order to ensure it meets teacher needs.

Why should teachers use Topeka?

By automatically scoring student writing, Topeka provides teachers with detailed, individualized student assessments as well as more time for one-on-one writing instruction. Topeka enables teachers to work more frequently and more directly with students to help them develop their argumentative writing skills.

Who’s behind Topeka?

Topeka is produced and operated by a coalition of businesses and nonprofits led by The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. A complete list of partners can be found on the Partners page of the Topeka website.

Is Topeka designed to replace teachers?

No. We designed Topeka—with input from educators and literacy advocates—to empower ELA teachers to teach argumentative writing more effectively.

Does it cost anything to use Topeka?

No. Topeka was created for the public good. It’s free and always will be.

Does Topeka focus only on argumentative writing?

Yes. Topeka is not intended to be a complete writing curriculum. Rather, it focuses on four essential domains of argumentative writing—claim and focus, support and evidence, organization, and language and style— so teachers can help students develop this important life

skill.

Who wrote Topeka’s prompts and how were they selected?

Topeka’s prompts were written by Topeka partners. They were curated to give students a range of engaging topics to write about. All prompts have been evaluated by practicing teachers.

How do I know Topeka’s evaluation of student writing is accurate?

Topeka has been rigorously tested and validated by comparing its scoring against thousands of hand-graded student writing samples, so teachers can be confident that Topeka scores like they would. If Topeka’s absolute scoring sometimes diverges from what teachers expect, it’s important to remember that the relative scores are the most useful, because they indicate where

a student’s strengths and weaknesses lie, compared to the benchmark.

Who created Topeka’s teacher resources?

Topeka partner ThinkCERCATMcreated the resources, which will be continually improved based on ongoing evaluation by the Topeka user community.

How is student data collected and used?

Data, including personally identifiable information, is provided to teachers so they can tailor instruction to a student’s strengths and weaknesses. Anonymized student data is also stored in a protected database accessible by researchers at The University of Michigan, who use the

data to evaluate Topeka and help educators develop better writing interventions. Topeka partners may use anonymized data to improve the product. 

Student Personally Identifiable

Information is otherwise not shared or sold.

Can students and parents use Topeka independently?

No. Topeka is designed specifically for teachers.

What is the Topeka community?

The Topeka community is a network of educators committed to helping all ELA teachers build excellent skills. The Topeka community is currently closed to facilitate testing of Topeka. Our vision for the community is to eventually open it so that Topeka can be shared with as many teachers as possible.

I understand that Topeka is currently in alpha testing. What’s the next step?

Once alpha testing is complete in the summer of 2019, Topeka will undergo closed beta testing for two years. After that, we’ll evaluate Topeka with the aim of launching a free, open version for teachers across the United States, including additional prompts and teacher resources.

Where can I get more information about Project Topeka?

We’re always glad to hear from educators. Email us at support@projecttopeka.com.

Hello!

I’m writing to let you know that a teacher leader at your school has been invited to participate in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s pilot group for a new initiative: Project Topeka.

Project Topeka is a free online automated essay-scoring service that equips teachers with greater insight into students’ argumentative writing capabilities while giving just-in-time feedback to students on their writing.

We designed Topeka – with input from educators and literacy advocates – to empower ELA teachers to teach argumentative writing more effectively. Now, teachers are trying it out and continuing to provide feedback to make the tool as useful as possible.

In order to introduce the tool to students, we’re asking for school leaders to sign a form that describes the measures we are taking to protect student and teacher information. The participating teacher will provide you with this form.

We are so grateful to have found teachers who are so committed to continuously growing and learning in order to better support their own students and to further the teaching profession – and we’re grateful for the school leaders like you who support them!

Should you have any questions, you can check out some Frequently Asked Questions here, or please feel free to reach out to me at support@projecttopeka.com.

Sincerely,

Viraj Kamdar

Senior Program Officer

K-12 Education Program

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

500 Fifth Avenue North

Seattle, Washington 98109