This article describes how four English language arts teachers formed an inquiry group to design approaches to writing assessment that would support and foster student writers' agency, empowerment, and freedom. They hoped that by focusing assessment on students' articulation of their writing processes rather than on rubrics or final products, they…

The author began using 1:1 screencast video assessment tools: nimble apps such as Movenote, Screencastify, and Snagit that attach to his browser and allow him to efficiently provide a far more valuable writing assessment experience for students than ever before. This article explains the many advantages of Digital Video (DV) Assessments, student…

Keri Franklin has proposed that creating the appropriate social-emotional environment for peer response (or peer conferencing, as she calls it) is a necessary first step. Within the context of her peer response process, though, are there strategies that can be adopted that would further scaffold students' ability to take each other's work…

The authors consider how portfolios can meet the challenges of assessing various aspects of literacy and student learning. The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) specify the knowledge and skills students need for success in college and the workplace--including writing in all content areas. The CCSS attends to range as a core theme in a more…

One of the most challenging aspects of the teaching profession, at all levels, is to identify and illuminate assumptions--one's students' and one's own. This article describes how three members of the Hudson Valley Writing Project (HVWP) at the State University of New York (SUNY) at New Paltz worked closely with the National Writing Project's…

The author finds using software to make audio comments on students' writing improves students' understanding of her responses and increases their willingness to take her suggestions for revision more seriously. In the process of recording audio comments, she came to a new understanding of her students' writing needs and her responsibilities as…

In the May 2009 issue of "English Journal", we reported on our analysis of data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress to provide a first look at changes in the teaching of writing over the past 30 years. In this article, we provide a more detailed look, drawing on data collected from visits to 260 English, math, social…

Some "English Journal" ("EJ") readers may fondly (or not so fondly) remember reading lists for college-bound students, which were once routinely distributed to promote the reading of "The Scarlet Letter," "Pride and Prejudice," "The Pearl," and other noteworthy classics. Today, virtually any English teacher would recognize that a focus on solely…

Describes a successful use of portfolios to assess the development of eleventh grade students' writing skills by inviting self-reflection and encouraging students to assume control over their writing. (KEH)

Contains two articles on writing instruction: the first shows how the prospect of student publishing inspires students to try new forms of writing; the second explains a marking system that encourages students to see the importance of the content in their writing. (TB)

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)

Describes various teaching tips used by a practicing English teacher to enhance writing instruction assessment in the classroom. Focuses on the ways a skills review might be more fun for students. (HB)

Describes a conferenced writing program in a suburban St. Louis high school. Asserts that this kind of instruction is not merely the utopian ideal of writing teachers but a method that can and should be implemented in all schools. (PRA)

Describes how students can help evaluate each other in discussion groups and how this improves their writing. Asserts that students appreciate the scrutiny of the conferences and take their own writing much more seriously as a result. Describes this technique in the context of a high school writing workshop. (PRA)

Describes the author's efforts in establishing writing groups in a middle school classroom. Discusses setting standards, teacher role, and common projects. Concludes that the development of a safe writing environment requires open discussion about the needs and ears of writers and a common objective or project for revision and response. (SR)