This article is a critique of current approaches to the teaching and assessment of writing in schools in the UK. Successive government initiatives, most particularly the latest (impoverished) version of the English curriculum, are seen as having led to a situation in which pupils are taught in a way that does not improve the quality of their…

High-quality undergraduate student writing is a common and important objective for sociology programs while at the same time a continuous challenge. Programs often struggle to address writing adequately because of the difficulty of fully evaluating student writing and responding to any identified limitations, largely because of the impact on…

In fall 2010, the University of Massachusetts Amherst instituted a new upper-division General Education requirement, the Integrative Experience (IE), designed to help students integrate the various components of their undergraduate experience and reflect upon their learning and development as a result of those experiences, both key dimensions of…

Communication is widely recognised as an important capability for university graduates [Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2013). "OECD skills outlook 2013: First results from the survey of adult skills." Author. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264204256-en]. Yet, research suggests that it is often not…

In this profile we describe changes to the composition program at Missouri University of Science and Technology, prompted by the hiring of the university's first writing program administrator (WPA). We describe our efforts to implement evidence-based best practices in undergraduate writing courses in a context where very little program specific…

When writing teachers at any level get together to assess student essays, they often disagree in their evaluations of the writing at hand. This is no surprise as writing is a complex process, and in evaluating it, teachers go through a complex sequence of thoughts before emerging with an overall assessment. Critical thinking, or the complexity of…

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…

Examining deficits in the development of adolescent literacy, this article explores conceptions of literacy not as a "simple" exercise that merely requires layperson understandings of words, but rather, as research shows, as a deeper action that requires disciplinary knowledge and standing. Vygotsky's distinction between tool users vs.…

From the early 1900s to the present, there have always been inconsistencies in how teachers evaluate the writing quality of their students' essays. Their critiques vary as much as their personalities. To establish common standards in writing for all courses in which essays are assigned and, at the same time, not infringe on the integrity of…

An Iowa school district's inservice program introduced nearly 150 teachers to the writing process to help the teachers be more effective as writers and as teachers of writing. Direct measures evaluate both the writing curriculum and students' improvement in writing: writing samples, each student's cumulative writing folder, and a formal…

This interactive panel discussion paper by three educators focuses on the design and evaluation process of writing assignments in two American History survey courses at Idaho State University. The paper states that both approaches used--student-centered, and authentic writing to communicate--offer two different perspectives on using…

Teachers in Iowa's North Scott School District have become writers helping their students learn through the writing process approach. The district's reading assessment is based on student writing samples, cumulative writing folders, and a holistic evaluation system. Includes two references. (MLH)

Describes a method for integrating writing into history classes. Suggests keeping writing assignments short and simple, rather than assigning a long paper that will be a burden to the instructor during grading. Discusses journal writing, pretest writing exercises, and microthemes written on a single index card. (DK)

Writing across the curriculum (WAC) programs had their genesis in grass-roots efforts to promote attention to writing in all disciplinary areas. At first based on generic faculty-development activities with little regard to systemic and institutional concerns, WAC programs are now more often engaged in assessment and research of writing,…

The advent of writing-across-the-curriculum programs at the college level has necessitated the development of institutional measurement schema to internally assess their pedagogical and curricular efficacy and to externally demonstrate to concerned constituents that specific institutions are effectively fulfilling the educational mission for…