Students in grade five have consistently improved in writing across the three cycles: 2015 (404 points), 2018 (452 points) and 2021 (473 points). Grade seven showed an increase from 2015 (456 points) to 2018 (519 points) and a drop in 2021 (499 points).

Coding: In the PILNA writing assessment at Grade five and 6, students were required to write a story based on either of the two prompts provided. The prompts were provided to encourage ideas and engagement in the process. The criteria for the narrative task encompassed the two main features of writing – content and language elements – as can be seen in the writing rubric. Six writing skills are assessed in PILNA: ‘Quality of ideas’, ‘Structure and organisation’, ‘Grammar and syntax’, ‘Vocabulary’, ‘Spelling’, and ‘Punctuation’.

Coding data allow for an interpretation of how students have performed. A code is assigned for each criterion, according to how well the student has performed. A Code 0 is assigned when there is insufficient evidence to assess.

Quality of ideas (Codes 1–8): This criterion measures the quality of the students’ ideas and how well those ideas have been developed to produce an entertaining story. More than half (56%) of grade five students in Federated States of Micronesia were given Code 4 or the codes below 4 in this criterion. These students would have struggled to write a few words or used random words or copied words from the prompt. Almost 40% knew what to do in the writing test and wrote stories that related to the prompt; these students were awarded code 5 or above.

Structure and organisation (Codes 1–5):  This measures the students’ ability to shape a story or to produce a coherent story with ideas that relate to each other and are logically sequenced. Seven out of ten grade five students in Federated States of Micronesia received Code 3 or lower in this criterion. Around 46% were awarded code 2 or lower, indicating a lack of understanding of story structure and their writing was limited to a few words and ideas. A little more than 20% of Grade five students were awarded codes 5, 4 and 3. These students were aware of the mechanics of writing and were able to write stories that had logical sequencing of events.

Grammar and syntax (Codes 1–4): This measures the students’ ability to produce a range of sentence structures with accuracy. Eight out of ten Grade five students in Federated States of Micronesia received Code 2 or lower in this criterion, indicating that they had written repetitive sentences and had also made frequent errors in grammar.         

Vocabulary (Codes 1–4): This measures the variety of their vocabulary in telling the story. About 37% of grade five students in Federated States of Micronesia received Code 1 or 2, indicating that they were limited to only a few words that made sense. Close to 60% had enough words to help them express a variety of ideas in their stories, so they were awarded code 3 or higher.

Spelling (Codes 1–2): This measures the students’ ability to spell both basic and more difficult words. Up to 80% of the grade five students in Federated States of Micronesia received two top codes in this criterion, indicating that they were able to spell some basic words correctly in their writing test and, except for a few errors, managed difficult words well in their stories.

Punctuation (Codes 1–3): This measures the range and precision of punctuation used in telling the story. Close to 76% of grade five students in Federated States of Micronesia received the top three codes in this criterion, indicating a certain level of mastery in the use of punctuation marks in their stories.