Entry 10

Carrie mentions the integral issue of our writing assessments--they do not allow for full execution of the writing process. The standardized tests have always been an issue of contention for me. I understand the need to assess students and hold them accountable, I just think the way we have gone about it is unfair and frankly unpedogogical. My reasoning stems from experience as a student and belief as a teacher. Anything we assess a student on should be something they have been exposed to in the same format as it was taught. The assessments clearly do not align with what teachers are teaching--the writing process.

Interestingly, Dr. Jones’ mantra “form follows function” actually relates to the issue of assessment. If the form of our assessment, multiple choice and contrived essay tasks, does not fit the needs of our assessment, then why are we still using the standardized tests as a marker of success or failure in school. Hmm...politics sound familiar? When it comes down to it, it just does not make sense to me as a teacher to use the format of a standardized test to truly assess our students. I realize we are attempting to assess and hold accountable thousands and thousands of students. That’s why I think Dr. Jones’ suggestion of maintaining writing over time iwould be a logical addition to assessing our students.

Here comes the kicker, how do we make such changes in such a vast political arena that education in the U.S. has become? Yes, the writing portfolio addition to the standardized tests will begin to balance the potential distortion the tests create in the first place. But to really address the issue is to possibly revamp how we assess thousands of thousands of students. I’m not really sure what the answer is. Perhaps simply adding the portfolio component would be the most effective way to assess the writing process.

In addition, I think students connect writing with judgement and evaluation due to how we assess them. These tests are unforgiving representations of student performance. They are a snapshot of how that student performs on that given day, in that given setting, likely different than their normal classroom. This also highlights that we as teachers need to combat this association students have with writing and judgment even more throughout the school year. I think one of the most important things we can do as teachers is to build up our students’ confidence about where they are in their learning. When students can self-evaluate their writing, then they gain more confidence in their abilities.

In short, writing assessment needs to be multifaceted. It is important to assess students over time using a portfolio. Teachers need to help build students’ confidence regarding writing and the writing process. Both teachers and students also need to assess their own writing. If we must rely on the standardized tests, we must also balance that assessment with the portfolio component. We cannot be biased and outweigh one day’s writing over writings over time. Hopefully, with a multifaceted assessment, students will begin to realize that critiques are just suggestions to improve their writing.