Writing Assessment
Greetings. The following materials are intended to provide an introduction to Writing Assessment. They were assembled from the World Wide Web, ERIC Database, and a variety of other bibliographic resources. Instructions for acquiring the full text of the ERIC records are presented at the end of this file.
Fang Fang
Reference Specialist
Alphabetically arranged listing of bibliographies
Categorically arranged listing of bibliographies
Internet Sites
Tutorial, Evaluation and Resources for Writing Assessment Services
Six Trait Writing Assessment
Writing Assessment Handbook
An Overview of Writing Assessment: Theory, Research, and Practice
Writing Assessment Program
Writing Assessment Assumptions, Criteria and Examples
Resources on the Internet for Writing Assessment and Evaluation
Citations from ERIC Database
AN: EJ617734
AU: White,-Edward-M.
TI: The Opening of the Modern Era of Writing Assessment: A Narrative.
PY: 2001
SO: College-English; v63 n3 p306-20 Jan 2001
DEM: *College-English; *Educational-Finance; *Evaluation-Problems; *Politics-of-Education; *Writing-Evaluation
DER: Educational-Research; Higher-Education; Statistics-
AB: Notes that writing assessment has become an important specialty within composition studies with links to such "suspicious partners" as educational research, statistics, and politics and with profound effects on public policy and educational funding. Discusses the modern era of writing assessment beginning during the fall of 1971 an its implications. Considers assessment as a site of conflict. (SC)
AN: EJ601092
AU: Skillings,-Mary-Jo; Ferrell,-Robbin
TI: Student-Generated Rubrics: Bringing Students into the Assessment Process.
PY: 2000
SO: Reading-Teacher; v53 n6 p452-55 Mar 2000
DEM: *Learner-Controlled-Instruction; *Student-Evaluation; *Student-Participation; *Teacher-Student-Relationship
DER: Performance-Based-Assessment; Primary-Education; Self-Motivation; Student-Motivation; Thinking-Skills; Writing-Evaluation
AB: Highlights a performance assessment process used by one teacher with her second and third grade students, in which teacher and students work together to generate specific performance standards for a variety of reading and writing tasks. Looks at setting the stage; teacher-student collaboration in structured rubric development; expanding the possibilities; and how standards lead to thinking. (SR)
AN: EJ605514
AU: Kagan,-Sharon-L.
TI: Making Assessment Count...What Matters?
PY: 2000
SO: Young-Children; v55 n2 p4-5 Mar 2000
DEM: *Early-Childhood-Education; *Educational-Assessment
DER: Child-Development; Editorials-; Standards-; Systems-Development; Young-Children
AB: Early childhood educators should take advantage of attention on assessment to design appropriate systems. Proper assessments should enable more reflective teaching, honor children's full range of development, and provide safeguards to children from unnecessary assessment or misuse of assessment data. Issues include what standards to measure, what type of assessments to develop, and why assessments should be utilized. (LBT)
AN: ED452836
AU: Heinecke,-Walter; Blasi,-Laura; Skerker,-Sarah
TI: The Process of an Evaluation in Progress. Measuring the Impact of Teaching with Technology: Comprehensive Interdisciplinary Performance Assessment.
PY: 2000
AV: For full text: http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/teacherlink/presentations /tech_eval/cipa/. For full text: http://www.ed.gov/Technology/techconf/2000/presentations.htm l.
NT: In: The Secretary's Conference on Educational Technology, 2000: Measuring Impacts and Shaping the Future. [Proceedings] (Alexandria, VA, September 11-12, 2000); see IR 020 668.
PR: EDRS Price MF01/PC03 Plus Postage.
DL: http://www.edrs.com/members/sp.cfm?AN=ED452836
DEM: *Computer-Uses-in-Education; *Educational-Assessment; *Educational-Technology; *Instructional-Effectiveness; *Measurement-Techniques
DER: Annotated-Bibliographies; Evaluation-Methods; Primary-Education; Reading-Skills; Skill-Development; Student-Attitudes; Writing-Skills
AB: This paper discusses a pilot project in progress at Mantua Elementary School in Fairfax, Virginia begun on September 1, 1999 to develop, improve, and extend the school's current system of evaluating the effects of educational technology on student learning. The following sections are included: Purpose of the Project; Drawing upon the Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM); Measuring Current Approaches to Teaching with Technology; For Teachers and Instructional Designers: An Annotated Bibliography on Teaching and Learning, Performance Assessment, and Technology; Brief Introduction to the Teacher Inventory (downloadable); Preliminary Findings; Teachers and Students Have Their Say: Video Narrative; Questions We Have Raised as We Enter Fall of 2000; Working with a National Panel in Year Two; Digital Ethnography: Introducing Innovations in Year Two; and Our Own Experiences Working with Students (a pilot project with materials for teachers to download). (MES)
AN: EJ581355
AU: Yancey,-Kathleen-Blake
TI: Looking Back as We Look Forward: Historicizing Writing Assessment.
PY: 1999
SO: College-Composition-and-Communication; v50 n3 p483-503 Feb 1999
NT: Theme: A Usable Past: "CCC" at 50.
DEM: *Educational-History; *Holistic-Evaluation; *Objective-Tests; *Portfolio-Assessment; *Writing-Composition; *Writing-Evaluation
DER: Educational-Change; Educational-Trends; Higher-Education; Student-Evaluation; Writing-Tests
AB: Offers an account of three "waves" of writing assessment: objective tests, holistic scoring, and portfolios. Scrutinizes these modes of assessment for how they can serve needs beyond the institutional demands of sorting and selecting students, to discover what they can tell educators about writing, teaching, and courses and programs. (SR)
AN: ED423522
AU: Fiderer,-Adele
TI: 35 Rubrics and Checklists To Assess Reading and Writing: Time-Saving Reproducible Forms for Meaningful Literacy Assessment.
PY: 1998
AV: Scholastic, Inc., Penguin USA, P.O. Box 120, Bergenfield, NJ 07621; Tel: 800-526-0275 (Toll-Free); Fax: 201-385-6521.
PR: Document Not Available from EDRS.
DEM: *Reading-Achievement; *Reading-Instruction; *Spelling-Instruction; *Writing-Evaluation; *Writing-Instruction
DER: Classroom-Techniques; Early-Reading; Learning-Strategies; Primary-Education; Reading-Skills; Self-Evaluation-Individuals; Teacher-Developed-Materials; Teaching-Methods; Writing-Processes
AB: Intended for teachers of grades K-2, this book provides rubrics developed by and with teachers to assess a wide variety of reading and writing activities in primary classrooms. The rubrics and checklists are offered as reproducible forms. Most of the rubrics are accompanied by a matching form for children's self-assessment. Many of the assessment tasks include planning or graphic organizers that encourage children to write, draw, map, or outline their ideas before they begin to create their final work products. Sections in the book are: Writing; Spelling; Oral Reading Fluency; Reading Comprehension; Using Book Covers as Assessment of Literary Knowledge; Content Area Learning; Create Your Own Rubrics; Observational Checklists for Assessing Early Reading Skills; and a Class Record Form. (CR)
AN: ED423541
AU: Wolcott,-Willa; Legg,-Sue-M.
TI: An Overview of Writing Assessment: Theory, Research, and Practice.
CS: National Council of Teachers of English, Urbana, IL.
PY: 1998
AV: National Council of Teachers of English, 1111 W. Kenyon Road, Urbana, IL 61801-1096 (Stock No. 34904: $18.95 members, $25.95 nonmembers).
PR: EDRS Price MF01/PC09 Plus Postage.
DL: http://orders.edrs.com/members/sp.cfm?AN=ED423541
DEM: *Evaluation-Criteria; *Student-Evaluation; *Theory-Practice-Relationship; *Writing-Composition; *Writing-Evaluation
DER: Computer-Uses-in-Education; Higher-Education; Instructional-Effectiveness; Secondary-Education; Writing-Assignments; Writing-Instruction; Writing-Research
AB: Intended for both beginning and experienced teachers at the secondary and college levels as well as teacher educators and assessment teams, this book reviews strengths and weaknesses of the major types of writing assessment, both for large-scale evaluations and for the individual classroom. The book includes: practical examples, applications, and Tips for Teachers sections that suggest ways to integrate assignments organically with pedagogical goals and assessment methods that are viable and--most important--useful to students. Also provided is accessible treatment of complex issues in large-scale and individual writing assessment, e.g., cultural diversity; reliability and validity; writing in content-area courses; implications of having computers conduct assessments; and how teachers can work to make large-scale evaluations as responsive as possible to best practice in the classroom. (NKA)
AN: EJ573255
AU: Wolf,-Shelby-A.; Davinroy,-Kathryn-A.-H.
TI: "The Clay That Makes the Pot"--The Loss of Language in Writing Assessment.
PY: 1998
SO: Written-Communication; v15 n4 p419-64 Oct 1998
DEM: *Childrens-Writing; *Language-Role; *Writing-Evaluation
DER: Case-Studies; Elementary-Education; Middle-Schools; Portfolios-Background-Materials; Writing-Improvement; Writing-Research
AB: Examines current reforms in writing assessment, including the California Learning Assessment System writing portfolio. Compares language writing to "the clay that makes the pot." Concludes that writing revolves around criticism, but if assessment stays on the surface, then criticism may not be helpful in pushing the generative aspect of writing: the work of language. (PA)
AN: ED427321
AU: Hill,-Bonnie
TI: Oregon Statewide Writing Assessment: Results, Analysis, and Sample Student Writings, 1993-1997. Grades 3 & 5.
CS: Oregon State Dept. of Education, Office of Assessment and Evaluation, Salem.
PY: 1998
AV: Oregon State Department of Education, 255 Capitol St., N.E., Salem, OR 97310-0203 ($8).
PR: EDRS Price MF01/PC05 Plus Postage.
DL: http://orders.edrs.com/members/sp.cfm?AN=ED427321
DEM: *Evaluation-Methods; *Writing-Achievement; *Writing-Evaluation
DER: Elementary-Education; Grade-3; Grade-5; State-Standards; Student-Evaluation; Student-Writing-Models; Writing-Instruction
AB: Noting that statewide writing assessment shows the achievements of Oregon students over the last decade, this booklet explains the results for the 1993-1997 assessments and provides papers illustrating the work that Oregon students in grades 3 and 5 produce on the state test. The booklet's chapters are: (1) The History of Writing Assessment in Oregon; (2) The Analytic Models and Highlights of the Assessment Results; (3) The Classroom Connection; and (4) Statewide Results and Sample Student Papers. Appendixes contain: a writing scoring guide; mode scoring guide; sample prompts; guides to revision; student writer's report; requirements for collection of student work samples; conversion tables from 5- to 6-point scale; inter-rater reliability 1996-1997; writing content panel members; and an 18-item annotated bibliography of materials on writing assessment and instruction. (CR)
AN: EJ537318
AU: Dudley,-Martha
TI: The Rise and Fall of a Statewide Assessment System.
PY: 1997
SO: English-Journal; v86 n1 p15-20 Jan 1997
NT: Special Issue: Alternative Assessment.
DEM: *Educational-Assessment; *State-Programs; *Writing-Evaluation; *Writing-Tests
DER: Politics-of-Education; Program-Descriptions; Program-Development; Secondary-Education; Writing-Achievement
AB: Details the history of California's experience with large-scale writing assessment. Describes the introduction, development, and scoring of the California Assessment Program, later renamed the California Learning Assessment System (CLAS). Discusses controversies over removal of certain writing prompts and objections to CLAS. Notes that funding for CLAS was vetoed in 1994. (RS)
AN: ED410585
AU: Shaw,-Ann-H.
TI: Improving Literacy for First Graders through Writing for Authentic Purposes and Self-Assessment.
PY: 1997
NT: Ed.D. Practicum, Nova Southeastern University.
PR: EDRS Price MF01/PC03 Plus Postage.
DL: http://orders.edrs.com/members/sp.cfm?AN=ED410585
DEM: *Emergent-Literacy; *Self-Evaluation-Individuals; *Writing-Assignments; *Writing-Instruction; *Writing-Processes
DER: Childrens-Writing; Class-Activities; Grade-1; Instructional-Improvement; Primary-Education; Student-Development; Student-Evaluation; Writing-Achievement; Writing-Evaluation
AB: A practicum was designed to increase the literacy levels of first graders through writing daily for authentic purposes and self-assessing their work. A writing program was designed which allowed for daily authentic writing, and students were taught how to self-assess their written work. Subjects were 60 students in 3 Grade 1 classrooms in a city elementary school serving more than 400 students total. Each first-grade classroom devoted 45 minutes daily to writing for authentic purposes. Results indicated through analysis of the data that when teachers allowed time for daily authentic writing, students were active participants in their own writing process. Data also indicated that when teachers write long range plans for teaching writing, writing tends to become a daily classroom activity. Findings suggest that when teachers increase their knowledge of process writing and how to teach writing to children, students and teachers tend to engage in daily authentic writing. Further, students could be taught to self-assess their own writing after repeated modeling from the teacher. (Contains 1 table of data and 41 references; appended are a school mission statement and various forms for classroom use.) (Author/CR)
AN: EJ558994
AU: Wolf,-Shelby-A.; Gearhart,-Maryl
TI: New Writing Assessments: The Challenge of Changing Teachers' Beliefs About Students as Writers.
PY: 1997
SO: Theory-into-Practice; v36 n4 p220-30 Aut 1997
DEM: *Student-Evaluation; *Teacher-Attitudes; *Writing-Evaluation; *Writing-Skills
DER: Elementary-Education; Elementary-School-Students; Elementary-School-Teachers; Evaluation-Methods; Faculty-Development; Resistance-Psychology; Teacher-Improvement
AB: Examines how elementary teachers' understanding of new writing assessments and beliefs about students as writers mediate their acceptance of new narrative-writing assessment methods, noting dilemmas teachers face, staff developers' roles in resolving dilemmas, and ways teachers handle change. Experiences of teachers involved in the Writing What You Read professional development project illustrate this situation. (SM)
AN: EJ563854
AU: Kuhlemeier,-Hans; van-den-Bergh,-Huub
TI: Effects of Writing Instruction and Assessment on Functional Composition Performance.
PY: 1997
SO: Assessing-Writing; v4 n2 p203-23 1997
NT: Journal availability: Ablex Publishing Cor p., 55 Old Post Road No. 2, P.O. Box 1678, Greenwich, CT 06831-0504.
DEM: *Instructional-Effectiveness; *Writing-Achievement; *Writing-Evaluation; *Writing-Instruction
DER: Audience-Awareness; Foreign-Countries; Secondary-Education; Writing-Exercises
AB: Examines relationships between writing instruction and functional composition performance of third-year secondary education Dutch students. Finds that, of 36 instructional characteristics, effective ones included instruction and exercises in writing functional texts, writing for a specific purpose, tailoring to a particular audience, global rating of students writing by the teacher, and frequent evaluation of Dutch language proficiency through teacher-made tests. (RS)
AN: EJ539010
AU: Huot,-Brian
TI: Toward a New Theory of Writing Assessment.
PY: 1996
SO: College-Composition-and-Communication; v47 n4 p549-66 Dec 1996
DEM: *Portfolio-Assessment; *Testing-; *Writing-Composition; *Writing-Evaluation
DER: Higher-Education; Theory-Practice-Relationship; Writing-Instruction
AB: Explores the ability to construct a theory of writing assessment based on an understanding of the nature of language, written communication, and its teaching. Looks at current practices at universities that have been using assessment procedures that are site-based, practical, and have been developed and controlled locally. (TB)
AN: EJ562433
AU: Gearhart,-Maryl; Herman,-Joan-L.; Novak,-John-R.; Wolf,-Shelby-A.
TI: Toward the Instructional Utility of Large-Scale Writing Assessment: Validation of a New Narrative Rubric.
PY: 1995
SO: Assessing-Writing; v2 n2 p207-42 1995
NT: Journal availability: Ablex Publishing Corporation, 355 Chestnut Street, Norwood, NJ 07648.
DEM: *Instructional-Effectiveness; *Writing-Evaluation
DER: Higher-Education; Models-; Scoring-; Student-Evaluation; Validity-; Writing-Research
AB: Discusses the possible disjunct between what is good for large-scale assessment and what is good for teaching and learning. Represents one attempt to "marry" large-scale and classroom perspectives. Presents background and rationale for a new narrative rubric that was designed to support classroom instruction. Presents evidence for the validity of the Writing What You Read framework. (PA)
AN: EJ481026
AU: Duke,-Charles-R.; Sanchez,-Rebecca
TI: Giving Students Control over Writing Assessment.
PY: 1994
SO: English-Journal; v83 n4 p47-53 Apr 1994
DEM: *Classroom-Techniques; *Cooperative-Learning; *Evaluation-Methods; *Writing-Evaluation; *Writing-Instruction
DER: English-Curriculum; Secondary-Education; Student-Centered-Curriculum
AB: Advocates providing students more control in the writing assessment process of English classrooms. Describes how two teachers developed methods allowing students participation, individually and in peer groups, in writing assessment. Compares student criteria with Pennsylvania Department of Education criteria. (HB)
AN: ED369090
AU: White,-Edward-M.
TI: Teaching and Assessing Writing: Recent Advances in Understanding, Evaluating, and Improving Student Performance. Second Edition, Revised and Expanded.
PY: 1994
AV: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 350 Sansome Street, San Francisco, CA 94104-1310 ($34.95).
NT: For earlier edition, see ED 263 615.
PR: Document Not Available from EDRS.
DEM: *English-Instruction; *Student-Evaluation; *Writing-Assignments; *Writing-Composition; *Writing-Evaluation; *Writing-Instruction
DER: Higher-Education; Reading-Writing-Relationship; Teaching-Methods; Theory-Practice-Relationship; Writing-Skills; Writing-Teachers
AB: Reorganized and revised, the second edition of this book provides the latest theoretical and practical materials that instructors across the disciplines will need to help students build strong writing skills. It offers suggestions about how to develop effective writing assignments; and it evaluates various methods of assessing student writing, including the multiple-choice test, the essay exam and the writing portfolio. It also uses theories about reading to examine how teachers read student papers. The book breaks down into two main sections, "Part One: Assessment--A Critical Tool in the Teaching of Writing," and "Part Two: Writing Assessment beyond the Classroom." Chapters in the first section are: (1) Assessment as Threat and Promise; (2) Assessment and the Design of Writing Assignments; (3) Using Essay Tests; (4) How Theories of Reading Affect Responses to Writing; (5) Responding to Student Writing; (6) Using Portfolios. Chapters in the second part are: (7) Language and Reality in Writing Assessment; (8) Assessing Writing Proficiency; (9) Selecting Appropriate Writing Measures; (10) Organizing and Managing Holistic Essay or Portfolio Readings; (11) Avoiding Pitfalls in Writing Assessment; (12) Evaluating Writing Programs. The book's final chapter (The Politics of Assessment: Past and Future) looks back on the historical and political issues in writing assessment over the past two decades. Contains 105 references. (TB)
AN: EJ487334
AU: Roid,-Gale-H.
TI: Patterns of Writing Skills Derived from Cluster Analysis of Direct-Writing Assessments.
PY: 1994
SO: Applied-Measurement-in-Education; v7 n2 p159-70 1994
DEM: *Cluster-Analysis; *Scores-; *Writing-Evaluation
DER: Discourse-Modes; Educational-Assessment; Elementary-Education; Elementary-School-Students; Evaluation-Methods; Grade-3; Grade-8; Writing-Composition
AB: A study with more than 1,000 students in grades 3 and 8 explored the advantages of analytical scoring in writing assessment. Cluster analysis revealed 11 patterns of student scores, reflecting different patterns of writing strength and weakness, and replicated across 5 modes of writing. (SLD)
AN: EJ451385
AU: Holladay,-Sylvia-A.
TI: The Impact of Writing Assessment on Curriculum and Instruction in the Two-Year College.
PY: 1992
SO: Teaching-English-in-the-Two-Year-College; v19 n3 p177-84 Oct 1992
DEM: *Testing-; *Two-Year-Colleges; *Writing-Evaluation; *Writing-Instruction
DER: English-Curriculum; Higher-Education; Literature-Reviews; State-Standards; Teacher-Attitudes
AB: Argues that study, research, and discussion is needed to determine more specifically how large-scale writing assessment has influenced curriculum and instruction in two-year colleges. Discusses the image of the two-year college, the intent of statewide assessment, faculty attitudes, and the lack of evidence of the impact of assessment upon curriculum and instruction. (SR)
AN: ED346466
AU: Coon,-Anne-C.
TI: Large-Scale Writing Assessment: Methods, Accommodations and Reliability.
PY: 1992
NT: Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Conference on College Composition and Communication (43rd, Cincinnati, OH, March 19-21, 1992).
PR: EDRS Price MF01/PC01 Plus Postage.
DL: http://orders.edrs.com/members/sp.cfm?AN=ED346466
DEM: *Freshman-Composition; *Instructional-Effectiveness; *Student-Placement; *Test-Reliability; *Writing-Evaluation
DER: Higher-Education; Program-Descriptions; Program-Evaluation; Special-Needs-Students; Testing-Programs; Writing-Research
AB: Every year approximately 1,300 first-year students at the Rochester Institute of Technology complete a 50-minute placement essay during summer and fall orientations. The essays are scored holistically, and the students are placed into one of three levels of an English composition course. At the end of the 10-week quarter of instruction, students take an exit exam which is rated as either "passing" or "incomplete." International students take the same placement exams, but their essays are graded by instructors knowledgeable in English as a Second Language. The results are used for placement in English composition and for referrals into second language instruction. Learning disabled students are allowed to take their exams in the most appropriate environment and may use a word processor. Deaf or hearing impaired students (approximately 293 undergraduates in academic year 1991-92, once they are placed into English composition, have the option of enrolling in a section restricted to deaf students, or taking the course with hearing students and using the services of an interpreter and notetaker. In 1990, placement and exit exams of 120 randomly-selected freshmen were holistically and anonymously scored. Results indicated that: (1) the majority of students demonstrated improved writing skills after the course; (2) placement and exit tests can be accepted as valid; and (3) the holistic exams used can be considered reliable. (RS)
AN: ED345281
AU: Brand,-Alice-G.
TI: Writing Assessment at the College Level. ERIC Digest.
CS: ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading and Communication Skills, Bloomington, IN.
PY: 1992
AV: ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading and Communication Skills, Indiana University, 2805 E. 10th St., Suite 150, Bloomington, IN 47408-2698.
PR: EDRS Price MF01/PC01 Plus Postage.
DL: http://orders.edrs.com/members/sp.cfm?AN=ED345281
DEM: *College-Outcomes-Assessment; *Higher-Education; *Student-Evaluation; *Student-Placement; *Writing-Evaluation
DER: High-Schools; Writing-Processes; Writing-Skills
AB: This digest reviews writing assessment--what it means and how it works--at a selected number of colleges and universities in the United States. The digest discusses outcomes assessment, placement testing, placement and the writing process, and end-of-course evaluation. The digest concludes with a brief reminder for college-bound students of what writing specialists look for in determining writing skill: fluency or the amount written; quality and quantity of detail; complexity of ideas; organization; and correctness. (RS)
AN: EJ437456
AU: Licklider,-Mary-M.
TI: Are Today's Students Better Writers?
PY: 1992
SO: English-Journal; v81 n2 p34-39 Feb 1992
DEM: *Writing-Evaluation; *Writing-Improvement; *Writing-Research
DER: Secondary-Education
AB: Describes the difficulties in assessing writing improvement in high school students based on national reports. Discovers that students' fluency, their use of dialogue, and their ease in moving between the abstract and the concrete is increasing. Suggests the resources of the National Assessment of Educational Progress might yield the information that teachers need. (PRA)
AN: EJ437455
AU: O'Brien,-Charlotte-W.
TI: A Large-Scale Assessment to Support the Process Paradigm.
PY: 1992
SO: English-Journal; v81 n2 p28-33 Feb 1992
DEM: *Writing-Evaluation; *Writing-Instruction; *Writing-Processes
DER: Program-Descriptions; Secondary-Education
AB: Asserts that writing assessment should reflect current composition pedagogy, and offers a design to assess process writing. Discusses the development of the scoring criteria and the selection of range finders, as well as the standardization of training and scoring procedures. (PRA)
AN: ED340037
AU: Brand,-Alice-G.
TI: Constructing Tasks for Direct Writing Assessment: A Frontier Revisited.
PY: 1991
PR: EDRS Price MF01/PC01 Plus Postage.
DL: http://orders.edrs.com/members/sp.cfm?AN=ED340037
DEM: *Test-Construction; *Writing-Evaluation; *Writing-Tests
DER: Higher-Education; Secondary-Education; Test-Validity
AB: Since the 1980s, composition studies have considered the steps to be taken before assessment: designing the test essay question. While large-scale assessment has little control over writing variables (such as students' learning styles, their reading ability, and their interpretation of the topic), the content or the topic of the writing prompt and the procedures for writing can be manipulated, or at least acknowledged. In 1984, A. C. Purves and his colleagues classified 15 dimensions of the writing task that could be brought to bear on a writing prompt. This list provides a sense of the options available even though only a few can be dealt with on any one test. Ways to overcome the problem of choosing an appropriate topic include: select a topic of more or less equal familiarity to all students; generate a pool of topics of similar difficulty; supply the information for the topic; and allow students to write about whatever subjects they care about and/or believe they have the most knowledge of. A study comparing three topical structures in the writing prompt found that their utility depended upon purpose. In the interests of consistency, topics across an assessment and the accompanying instructions should share several of the characteristics that reduce the risk of interpretations too different from the intentions of the task. Four questions can guide broad decisions about writing assessment design and furnish test developers with the raw materials to create fair and meaningful writing prompts: (1) To what degree will the assessment be content specific? (2) What are the rhetorical demands of the task? (3) What topical structure and level of specification should be used? and (4) How should the prompt look on the page? (A table listing the dimensions of a writing assignment is included; 23 references are named.) (RS)
AN: EJ414690
AU: White,-Edward-M.
TI: Language and Reality in Writing Assessment.
PY: 1990
SO: College-Composition-and-Communication; v41 n2 p187-200 May 1990
DEM: *Educational-Assessment; *Testing-Problems; *Theory-Practice-Relationship; *Writing-Achievement; *Writing-Evaluation; *Writing-Skills
DER: Higher-Education; Minority-Groups; Writing-Composition; Writing-Teachers
AB: Identifies problems inherent in writing assessment. Suggests that the measurement of minority students' test results can pose difficulties. Cites the practical impossibility of finding objectively true answers to some questions and of making value-free assessments of what students learn. Highlights conflicting views of writing teachers and writing assessment theorists. (SG)
 The Writing Book |
Other Resources (available either for sale or via interlibrary loan
Title: Grading students' classroom writing : issues and strategies
Author: Bruce W Speck
Year: 2000
Publisher: Washington, DC : Graduate School of Education and Human Development, The George Washington University
ISBN: 1878380915 (pbk.)
Title: Writing assessment
Author: Robert S Boone
Year: 1996
Publisher: Lincolnwood, Ill. : VGM Career Horizons
ISBN: 0844258954
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