Composition assessment scholars have exhibited uneasiness with the language of norming grounded in distaste for the psychometric assumption that achievement of consensus in a communal assessment setting is desirable even at the cost of individual pedagogical values. Responding to the problems of a "reliability" defined by homogenous agreement,…

This experimental project investigated the reliability and validity of rubrics in assessment of students' written responses to a social science "writing prompt". The participants were asked to grade one of the two samples of writing assuming it was written by a graduate student. In fact both samples were prepared by the authors. The…

Suggests that assessment must be built into the curriculum and focused upon the kinds of skills students need. Considers much educational testing in writing to be reductionist, unrealistic, and detrimental to learning. Critiques writing assessment's trust and reliance on a single or small sample of student work collected and scored outside of a…