TO:
Principals, Instructional Coaches, and Teachers
FROM:
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching & Learning
Curtis Jenson, Assistant Director of Teaching & Learning
Jessica Stowe, Assistant Director of Teaching & Learning
Brandee Bergum, Teaching & Learning Consultant
Jared Covili, Teaching & Learning Consultant
We recently learned that Utah Compose is gone, and the USBE is replacing it with Scrible. If you’ve used Scrible, it’s not really the same thing as Utah Compose, although we’ve been told that there are plans to add more of the writing and feedback components found in Utah Compose in the future.
In the meantime, we want to give you a quick overview of the options you have going forward as it stands right now. This is an evolving process, and we’ll let you know if there are new developments.
SCRIBLE
Scrible is the official replacement for Utah Compose, but has historically functioned more as a citation and research tool than as a tool to help students compose writing and get feedback. However, Scrible plans to add more writing features sometime this fall (richer feedback tools, a sharper Outline Editor, automated scoring for argumentative essays, and more), so just because it can’t do something now doesn’t mean it won’t be able to in the near future. Regardless, it’s free to us, which makes it worth exploring.
If building-level coaches are interested in training from Scrible in order to help train others in your building, here are two sets of options:
Session 1: September Release Deep Dive
This session explores Rubrics and Reviews, the updated Outline Editor, Bibliography tools, and administrative settings.
- Tuesday, September 22nd at 3 pm MT
- Thursday, September 24th at 9 am MT
- Monday, September 28th at 12 pm MT
Session 2: October Release Deep Dive (Incoming features to replace Utah Compose)
Covers automated essay scoring, targeted student feedback, and the expanded prompt repository for grades 3-12.
- Wednesday, October 21st at 3 pm MT
- Thursday, October 22nd at 9 am MT
- Monday, October 26th at 12 pm MT
All presentations will be archived alongside a companion guide for building-level professional development.
These sessions are designed specifically for instructional leaders and coaches rather than classroom teachers. Scrible is coordinating with USBE to schedule general educator webinars later this fall, so stay tuned for additional updates.
SCHOOLAI
With some initial setup, the Spaces feature of SchoolAI offers some of the features of Utah Compose - primarily immediate, customized feedback on writing, and is also available immediately and at no additional cost to JSD teachers and students.
MI WRITE
MI Write is the direct successor to Utah Compose, and is built as a direct replacement. It is built on the foundation of Utah Compose, and uses the same workflows, technology, and functions. In terms of a seamless replacement, MI Write is essentially the same as Utah Compose. However, it is not free - which means that principals and teachers choosing to use MI should work closely together at the building level to evaluate the need and pricing.