Analysis of an Assessment
Evaluating student writing is never easy. There are so many aspects to consider in determining whether or not a piece of writing has succeeded or failed, or done something in between. What was were the writer’s intentions? What was the writer asked to do? Has the writer expressed his/her thoughts clearly? Has the writer convinced the reader to agree with him/her? Has the writer used “proper” grammar? Is the effort to the develop the writing between the rough draft and the final draft clear? As a teacher, what do I do if a student’s writing conveys brilliant ideas but doesn’t include a single period or capital letter? Balancing my expectations for a piece of writing gets further complicated when I start to consider the various students’ individual needs? Should all students be held to the same standards, or should how much a given student has “improved” be a factor in determining his/her grade on an assignment? Research on evaluating the writing of culturally and linguistically diverse students - like those in my class - suggests that one-on-one writing conferences offer “opportunities for teachers and students to better understand each others’ intentions and visions for constructing a successful text (Ball, 1999, p. 239). Of course, with over 30 students in a class, finding a time to meet with each student individually begins to resemble a Herculean task.
Though still open to interpretation, rubrics provide a way for teachers to communicate their expectations for a given writing assignment. Recently, the students in my class were instructed to write a poem from the point of view of one of the characters in the novel we’d been reading. The unit had emphasized characterization, and the assignment itself was meant to assess, in addition to their understanding of the characters, students’ abilities to apply the characterization techniques we’d studied. Throughout the unit, we had also been practicing using MLA format to use textual evidence to support their arguments, and I wanted students to demonstrate their handling of this skill, as well. This was done through footnotes that provided a quote with analysis to support character traits they presented in their poems. Finally, I have continuously stressed the importance of the writing process, and I set aside time in class on several occasions for students to review each other’s work and revise their own work. Having students do this also gave me the opportunity to check in with individuals and answer questions. I wanted their scores to reflect their use of class time for drafting purposes, as well. The rubric for the assignment went through several revisions until I settled on a version that I felt measured the skills I wanted the students to demonstrate (see below).
Deciding on this rubric, I felt that it measured most of the six facets of understanding. Students interpreted their character using direct and indirect characterization techniques to illustrate their characters’ main traits; students empathized with their characters, as demonstrated by their ability to capture the characters’ voices; students explained their reasoning behind their writing choices by referencing quotes from the text; students applied their understanding of MLA formatting to their analysis of the quotes they selected; and students demonstrated self-knowledge through the revisions they made during the various stages of drafting. In this way, I was satisfied with this particular assessment. However, there are still questions of whether the rigid distribution of points as dictated by the rubric interferes with the ability to look at student work holistically. I will say that using similar criteria to grade a previous assignment served a diagnostic purpose in making me aware of the fact that students did not seem to have a solid grasp on the MLA format. In response, for this assignment, I spent time reviewing how to integrate quotes, which seemed to be effective in that students overall scored much higher in the formatting section this time around.
Though still open to interpretation, rubrics provide a way for teachers to communicate their expectations for a given writing assignment. Recently, the students in my class were instructed to write a poem from the point of view of one of the characters in the novel we’d been reading. The unit had emphasized characterization, and the assignment itself was meant to assess, in addition to their understanding of the characters, students’ abilities to apply the characterization techniques we’d studied. Throughout the unit, we had also been practicing using MLA format to use textual evidence to support their arguments, and I wanted students to demonstrate their handling of this skill, as well. This was done through footnotes that provided a quote with analysis to support character traits they presented in their poems. Finally, I have continuously stressed the importance of the writing process, and I set aside time in class on several occasions for students to review each other’s work and revise their own work. Having students do this also gave me the opportunity to check in with individuals and answer questions. I wanted their scores to reflect their use of class time for drafting purposes, as well. The rubric for the assignment went through several revisions until I settled on a version that I felt measured the skills I wanted the students to demonstrate (see below).
Deciding on this rubric, I felt that it measured most of the six facets of understanding. Students interpreted their character using direct and indirect characterization techniques to illustrate their characters’ main traits; students empathized with their characters, as demonstrated by their ability to capture the characters’ voices; students explained their reasoning behind their writing choices by referencing quotes from the text; students applied their understanding of MLA formatting to their analysis of the quotes they selected; and students demonstrated self-knowledge through the revisions they made during the various stages of drafting. In this way, I was satisfied with this particular assessment. However, there are still questions of whether the rigid distribution of points as dictated by the rubric interferes with the ability to look at student work holistically. I will say that using similar criteria to grade a previous assignment served a diagnostic purpose in making me aware of the fact that students did not seem to have a solid grasp on the MLA format. In response, for this assignment, I spent time reviewing how to integrate quotes, which seemed to be effective in that students overall scored much higher in the formatting section this time around.