Making Writing Assessment Authentic and Effective

 

Adopting a Broader View Of Writing Assessment

When teachers look closely at the writing students produce - using authentic writing assessment, they begin to understand, more clearly, how writers operate. The teacher learns exactly what the developing writer knows and what they need to know next.  The sampled writing reveals what the writer has mastered, partially learned, and those aspects of writing not yet consistently controlled. 

Peter Johnston (1997) described assessment as a 'disposition' and children as rich sources of information about themselves as writers. We need to become the kind of teacher who develops an assessment stance whenever we are in the company of student writers. The forward planning a teacher then undertakes endeavours to focus on the point of need for each writer.

The instruction that grows from such evaluation occurs on several levels -whole group, small group and individual. Importantly, it doesn’t limit the young writer’s choice, nor deny them opportunities to demonstrate their growing repertoire of craft strategies.

 Authentic Writing Assessment

    ‘Our assessment of student writing, what we can see in what our students do,                                  teaches them so much about what we value in writing,’                                

Katie Wood-Ray, ‘Wondrous Words.’

It is helpful to think of student writing as an iceberg. Ask yourself, what lies below the surface? What is yet to be revealed?

Assessments may be conducted for many purposes, but the ultimate goal is always to improve instruction for each student.  An authentic writing assessment should offer choice and ownership. An authentic writing assessment should be open-ended, where the student is asked to submit an example of their writing, considered an example of their best writing.

The submitted sample may be the final submission from the student’s writing folio. However, the sample may also be limited to specific components of the writing process, such as planning, outlining, or even revising. We can choose to assess writing through a specific lens...

Using the writing folio allows the writer to make selections from their own body of work. This allows the writer to exercise their growing ability to examine their personal writing history, with a view towards improvement.  A teacher may consider allowing the writer to submit either a single writing piece, or multiple pieces. This type of assessment provides a naturalistic approach to teaching and evaluation. Student writers are provided with genuine validation through their choice of writing sample/samples.

Let’s be clear, there are various forms of student writing teachers can use beyond finished pieces, or process pieces to gather assessment information. Think of all the writing students undertake in the process of creating a finished piece.

Consider their writer’s notebooks. We can gather valuable data regarding how they find topics, research and gather information and explore a topic of choice.  Their drafting hopefully reveals visible signs of revising and editing.

We must also consider the critical conversations that take place in the course of daily interactions, when conferring with writers. These conversations, and hopefully the notes and actions that flow from this, provide invaluable data informing assessment.

 We can further add to this broad assessment picture by including student reflection pieces and surveys undertaken to consider writing process, new learning and projected actions and goals.

Each of these kinds of writing provide valuable information regarding assessment. When we examine a finished piece, we get a clear picture of what a particular student does when they try to write to the best of their ability.

Other forms of writing allow us to see more clearly into the process of preparing to write. We see how a young writer’s authorial knowledge, preparation, and any rehearsal shaping the eventual writing outcome. Such formative assessment helps to identify the current needs of writers.

If a teacher’s assessment paradigm is restricted to a view of a writing where every student must write in a predetermined genre, on a pre-determined topic, with a pre-determined length, the student writer is denied any choice. The teacher is denied a valuable opportunity to build a broader, more comprehensive picture of students’ writing lives.

This kind of assessment is reminiscent of Australia’s NAPLAN writing test. It astounds me why anyone would pursue such a contrived and narrow model for assessment?  Such an assessment bears no resemblance to how writing takes place on a daily basis in the classroom.

Such an approach presents as an artificial construct- a distorted view of the writer. The writer is being asked to please the teacher’s pre-determined criteria, and meet the demands of a contrived assignment. The picture of the writer is limited to a single piece of writing, which does not necessarily reflect a true image of the writer’s actual development and the broad range of influences and understandings they bring with them when writing.

‘It is important to recognize that effective writers do not write in a genre just to practice it. They choose the genre that will best convey the meaning they intend.’    

 Gay Su Pinnell, Irene C. Fountas, The Continuum of Literacy Learning Grades 3-8

Some Ideas For Making Writing Assessment Authentic and Effective

Make sure students know the criteria for good writing. We can expect students to produce good writing only if they understand what good writing looks and sounds like.

Let students help develop the criteria. If it is feasible in your classroom, involve students in determining the criteria you, and they, will use for evaluating a piece of their writing of their choosing.  This provides student writers with a sense of ownership. It will assist them to see why a given piece of writing does, or does not, meet the criteria.

Evaluate the writing process, not just the final product. Writing is a process of steps, from the spark of an idea to the finished piece. Students will improve their writing, as they improve their ability to complete each step in the process.

Discussion and moderation of student’s writing samples with other educators is a most valuable professional learning exercise. Bring writing samples to planning meetings and quarantine time to look more closely at the work of the writers in your care.

Comprehensive assessment of student writing which includes review and discussion will help students understand what works in their writing and most importantly, why it works.

Provide opportunities for feedback. Whenever possible, give students feedback about their writing to help them understand their strengths and identify what parts, or aspects of their writing require more attention.

Providing frequent feedback can also be valuable in helping to identify patterns of growth, providing direction and helping students improve their abilities to assess their own work and respond to the writing of others.

Feedback may be provided in writing, or in conversation, during a conference with the student. Further feedback may also be provided through peer assessment.

It was Donald Graves who provided the salient reminder that evaluation must begin with a careful assessment of our own literate practices as educators. Children cannot be expected to practice what we do not practice ourselves. The entire evaluation process ought to be a celebration of what we have learned together. Risk taking, achieving identified objectives, and celebrating together. 

‘Our research data show that entire years- or even school careers - can be wasted if                                             we don’t let our students teach us.’                                          

Donald Graves, A Fresh Look At Writing

©Alan j Wright

Some Further Reading:

'Wondrous Words,’  Katie Wood Ray

‘The Continuum of Literacy Learning Grades 3-8,’ Gay Su Pinnell, Irene C.Fountas

‘Assessing Writers,’ Carl Anderson

‘A Fresh Look At Writing,’ Donald Graves