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…

While teaching in Taiwan, Ah-Young Song found that asking students for midterm self-reflections helped them to be more attuned to their distinct educational trajectories and that their comments provided useful insights into adjustments that could be made as a teacher. This article describes how two of those English language learners from the…

Choosing a text that offers students the chance to empathize with a character from a sociocultural background different from their own and that is based on an understanding of universal challenges all adolescents face offers the opportunity to change minds. The preservice teachers who field tested the use of "Moon at Nine" in middle…

This article explores the use of informal communication as an assessment tool for English language arts teachers.

Emphasizing the deficiencies of standardized assessments in measuring what counts for learners, the author highlights the complexity of assessment as well as the significance of the teacher-student relationship in learning.

This article, grounded in the belief that art is a way of understanding, describes when faculty asked young people of various ages to draw themselves as writers. Several examples of students' work are coupled with a discussion and a rationale for integrating drawing into the assessment process. Asking students to draw, write, and talk about their…

Presents an English teacher's irreverent look at grades and grading. Argues that learning must somehow be linked to a product, which must be measured or graded to gauge the worth of the product according to the merit it deserves. (RS)

Rejects grading student journals. Describes various approaches to journal writing evaluation the author used with her students and approaches used by her professors when she returned to school. Questions the educational process of grading student journals. Discusses how to create real dialog. (RS)

Claims that asking students to evaluate their own reading and writing encourages more authentic assessment. Discusses guiding reflection in writing and reading workshops, and teacher responsibility for grading. Presents student comments that show students are able to self-evaluate and improve their efforts to justify higher ratings. (RS)

Discusses a collaborative writing project where all students, regardless of ability, can demonstrate their understanding of Homer's "Odyssey" by writing a contemporary odyssey. Notes that students eagerly awaited and then read the final compilation of the project. (RS)

Discusses uses learning logs for student assessment. Defines learning logs. Discusses structuring the logs; student voices and responses; a map drawing assignment; and using logs for evaluation. (RS)

Discusses a teacher's reactions when a student commented on the teacher's short story. Discusses dealing with feedback, the vulnerability of writers, and attitude changes. Claims that writing with students shifted the focus of the teacher's writing instruction and the focus of students' writing. (RS)

Describes an oral curriculum constructed to help students develop a personal understanding of literature in a demanding academic program. Notes that an integral part of the International Baccalaureate (IB) program is centered on the need for students to create both oral and written commentaries as part of their assessment. Concludes that this oral…

Discusses the four-week summer Memphis (Tennessee) Urban Writing Institute, during which a furor erupted over the dilemma of grading. Provide a number of approaches to grading students' writing, including minimalist grading, cassette grading, collaborative grading, and portfolio grading. Suggests that teachers consider the grading dilemma and…

Offers three brief descriptions, from three high school English teachers, of unusual or alternative forms of assessment they use successfully in their classrooms: a system of tokens in an alternative school; a literary digest; and creating CD soundtracks for novels read in class. (SR)