Writing Assessment Chapter 6

O’Malley & Pierce, Chapter 6: Writing Assessment

The writing assessment chapter discussed the variety of ways to assess writing, with the English language learner (ELL) in mind. In the “nature of writing” (p. 136) the article mentioned that the writing shouldn’t just be an end product, it should be looked and viewed as a process that a student actively participates in. In this process the student participates through self and peer assessment, and conferencing with the teacher. These assessments include checklists and rubrics, surveys of interests and awareness, learning logs, dialogue journals that are shared and reviewed by both the teacher and student. By sharing and conferencing with the student a teacher can use these as opportunity for instruction. When a student sees a connection with their writing and some kind of score (or purpose), it will help them become proficient writers.
The writing assessment chapter was helpful in clarifying the use and development of rubrics and checklists. The discussion on the difference in the use of a holistic and analytic rubric was very helpful. By being specific and by having tables to show exactly what is being discussed is very helpful in my understanding of authentic assessment.