Common Core State Standards are raising expectations nationwide about what teachers impart to their students and the depth of knowledge those students attain. The goal is for students to receive instruction that enables them to synthesize and creatively use what they have learned, thus equipping them for post-secondary school challenges. Quality…

Writing is a complex process, and this complexity poses particular challenges when researchers and teachers approach the task of analysing young students' writing samples. This paper outlines a program of research undertaken to develop a writing analysis tool. The tool is designed to map shifts over time in the range of skills and competencies…

Background: Many in education argue for the importance of incorporating teacher judgements in the assessment and reporting of student performance. Advocates of such an approach are cognisant, though, that obtaining a satisfactory level of consistency in teacher judgements poses a challenge. Purpose: This study investigates the extent to which the…

Various computer tools have been developed to support educators' assessment of student writing, including automated essay scoring and automated writing evaluation systems. Research demonstrates that these systems exhibit relatively high scoring accuracy but uncertain instructional efficacy. Students' writing proficiency does not necessarily…

Based on eighth-grade writing assessment data from the 1998 (N = 20,586) and 2007 (N = 139,900) National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), this study examines the relationships among students' writing attitudes, learning-related behaviors, and gender in relation to writing performance. Overall, the effects of attitudes were slightly…

Along with a more humanitarian movement in language testing, accountability to contextual variables in the design and development of any assessment enterprise is emphasized. However, when it comes to writing assessment, it is found that multiplicity of rating scales developed to fit diverse contexts is mainly headed by well-known native testing…

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…

We investigated the criterion-related validity of four indicators of curriculum-based measurement in writing (WCBM) when using expository versus narrative writing prompts as compared to the validity of passage copying speed. Specifically, we compared criterion-related validity of production-dependent (total words written, correct word sequences),…

A multiple-probe, multiple-baseline, across-subjects design was used to examine the writing performance of four low-achieving adult students with and without disabilities enrolled in general equivalency diploma (GED) preparatory classes. Students' writing was evaluated before instruction and after self-regulated strategy development (SRSD)…

Scoring SAT-style exam essays, John S. O'Connor is struck by the disconnection between the subject matter and students' personal lives. Further, O'Connor notes that such tests draw an alarming distinction between writing and "content"--as if the two are unrelated. O'Connor calls for a broader understanding of literacy, and he warns of dire…

This study evaluated large-scale state writing assessments for the inclusion of motivational characteristics in the writing task and written prompt. We identified 6 motivational variables from the authentic activity literature: time allocation, audience specification, audience intimacy, definition of task, allowance for multiple perspectives, and…

The paper presents weak points and certain strong washback effects from Thai university entrance examinations supporting hints to overcome some shortcomings from writing assessment and encourages the practices and classroom activities that enable graduates to have more competence in English communication particularly in writing skill.

This paper describes the process by which a rubric development team affiliated with the National Writing Project negotiated difficulties and dilemmas concerning an analytic scoring category initially termed Voice and later renamed Stance. Although these labels reference an aspect of student writing that many teachers value, the challenge of…

This article reports the results of data from 114 writing samples of 39 children who read braille and who were included in the Alphabetic Braille and Contracted Braille (ABC) Study between 2002 and 2005. Writing characteristics, miscues, and composition characteristics are analyzed, and two case studies are included. (Contains 1 box and 2 tables.)

This article reports the results of an experimental study on the effectiveness of mobile technology (WhatsApp) in improving the critique writing skills of English as a Foreign Language learners and increasing their motivation for learning. The participants (n = 52) are Average-English proficient learners enrolled in two writing courses given at…