Ongoing assessment strategies for writing
Making final assessment easier by helping students improve the quality of their writing along the way.
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Do you ever become frustrated about the quality of the student writing you receive when it comes time to evaluate it? Do you see the same problems coming up again and again in student writing? The following suggestions are designed to help you help your students improve the quality of the writing before it is turned in for assessment.
1. Help your students get off to a good start.
We have a history in schools of simply telling students to go off and write on a particular topic and then turn the writing in for a grade. One way to help support students from the beginning is to use effective prewriting activities such as brainstorming, clustering, freewriting, and graphic organizers. These techniques can not only help students gather ideas; they can also help them begin to create an initial organizational pattern for their writing. These techniques can be especially helpful for students who struggle with the “blank page” and put off writing until the last minute because of their apprehension.
2. Encourage students to share their writing for feedback and support throughout the process.
One way to encourage students to share parts of their writing is through conferencing. Even brief, targeted conferences give students a chance to think and talk about their writing in a supportive atmosphere. Students can also benefit from peer revision opportunities. Students can read each other’s drafts while responding to a specific set of criteria. A third way to encourage sharing is to give students opportunities for self-assessment. Students can read their own writing, note places where they are struggling or need assistance, and discuss questions with peers or the teacher. By giving students opportunities to share their writing throughout the process, we encourage revision and self-assessment. An additional benefit is that we become familiar with the student’s writing throughout the process and can more easily recognize plagiarism.
3. Provide guided revision activities throughout the process.
Some students draw a blank when told to go off and “revise” a draft. So, teachers can come up with guided revision activities that will help make this process more concrete for them. For example, if students are writing a point of view essay and are having trouble telling whether or not they have elaborated on all of their points, they can use different color highlighters to go through and mark places where they have given a reason in one color and then supported it using a different color. Teachers may find that it helps to skim some student drafts to determine a specific target area for revision which is appropriate to the type of writing and the developmental level of the students
4. Encourage focused editing.
Students can be encouraged to be more careful in their editing when the editing is focused on key areas. By indicating which areas are the focus of a particular assignment, the teacher can not only make the process of editing less overwhelming for the student but can also focus the student’s attention on a key feature to really work on improving. Students also find it helpful when teachers create an “editing checklist” containing reminders of what to look for when editing the final draft. These can also be used in peer response groups.
5. Provide models for your students.
Sometimes students need to see a sample of the kind of writing they are being asked to do. Although the general features of good writing transcend content areas, students benefit from being initiated into the specific characteristics of writing in particular content areas. This is especially true of non-fiction writing. Students may not have been exposed to much writing beyond the textbook in science or math, for example. Teachers can either show students a model and point out the features of that kind of writing or provide a model and let students inductively figure out the features and discuss as a class. Teachers may even want to write with their students to model the process of creating a particular kind of composition.
6. Involve students in making decisions about the writing.
Whenever possible and appropriate, teachers can give students the power to choose their own topics and form for their writing. Also, teachers can involve students in designing the rubric as a way of helping them identify and place value on particular features of the writing. Sometimes students benefit when they can give input into making decisions about deadlines as well. Being given these responsibilities — selecting topic, determining form, identifying expectations, and monitoring the process — fit the process that “real” writers go through and can help students take more responsibility for their own writing.
7. Create writing assignments that have a clear purpose and audience.
Too often the “purpose” for writing in schools has simply been to produce a composition for a teacher to grade. Instead, we can create writing assignments that have a clear purpose and audience. When we help students see the reader beyond the teacher, we can help them figure out how to meet the needs of that audience.
8. Create writing assignments that have authentic value beyond the classroom.
When students are invested in a writing activity for reasons that go beyond the classroom, they can see the results of their writing, participate in community dialogue, and make connections between school and real life. This can be an incredible motivational tool for students who may not work as hard on a piece that is simply to be submitted for a grade.
