MI Write is designed to support the teaching and learning of writing by providing automated scores and feedback to students' writing. Unlike summative assessments, MI Write is not intended for evaluating student learning at the end of an instructional period. However, by providing increased writing practice opportunities students need to improve writing quality, MI Write can help students prepare to demonstrate what they know and can do on end-of-year assessments. In fact, researchers have linked MI Write use with higher performance on large-scale writing assessments.

Summative assessments require on-demand writing, which differs from process writing used during the school year. On-demand writing need not be polished; the content, such as organization and elaboration, is most important. MI Write can be configured to assign on-demand writing tasks, providing students with the opportunity to practice the kind of writing expected on a summative test. 

To make the most of MI Write during the school year, insure your students have ample writing practice opportunities to write for multiple purposes with increasing complexity. As the end-of-year assessments draw near, consider the additional following strategies for using MI Write effectively:

• Create Similar Prompts: Find released questions on your state's assessment website and create prompts that are similar in structure and complexity, providing relevant reading passages or visual aids as stimulus materials. 
• Develop Constructed Response Prompts: Craft prompts to elicit short-answer responses, emphasizing complete and concise answers. 
• Simulate Testing Conditions: Provide students with on-demand writing practice by setting due dates, enabling timers, and controlling the number of drafts allowed for a prompt. Consider delaying grammar and spelling feedback to encourage students to focus any revisions on higher-level concerns. 
• Analyze MI Write Reports: Use the MI Write Reports to identify areas where your students may benefit from additional instruction or support. 
• Utilize MI Write Lessons: Make use of MI Write's lessons to reinforce writing skills for the entire class, small groups, or individual students. 
• Encourage Revision: Allow students to revise their essays using both PEG feedback and teacher guidance. Monitor their progress using MI Write Reports. Encourage students to generalize and transfer feedback to improve subsequent initial drafts. 
• Simulate Test Conditions Again: Create another prompt that closely resembles the actual testing situation, disabling the multiple drafts feature to create an on-demand writing assignment. 

If used intentionally, MI Write will provide valuable assessment data, indicating the extent to which students are prepared and identifying areas for improvement. Have conversations with students about how practicing with MI Write can enhance their writing skills and aid in their preparation. Make sure that students understand the purpose and format of the assessment and how MI Write aligns with these objectives.

In sum, incorporating these strategies will help students practice writing under test-like conditions, fostering confidence and readiness for upcoming state assessments.