Assessing Writing to Support Learning

Sandra Murphy is Professor Emerita at University of California, Davis, USA.Peggy O’Neill is Professor of Writing at Loyola University Maryland, USA.

• Acknowledgements 1. Why Do We Need to Remodel Our Accountability and Assessment Systems and Why Now? What do we mean by assessment? How have high-stakes accountability policies impacted writing curriculum? 2. What Do Assessment Concepts Tell Us about the Limitations of Traditional Approaches to the Large-Scale Assessment of Writing? Reliability Validity Implications for rebuilding the system 3. How Have Theories of Writing and Learning Evolved? Conceptions of writing: Shifting toward the social Conceptions of writing: Emphasizing the social context Conceptions of learning: Shifting toward the social Implications of contemporary conceptions of writing and learning for the teaching of writing 4. Redesigning Assessments to Support Learning and Align with a Complex Cognitive and Social Construct of Writing Using assessment to promote learning Assessing a complex cognitive and socially situated construct of writing in large-scale systems Designing performance assessments and portfolios to support learning Taking social perspectives on learning, accountability, and assessment 5. Redesigning and Renovating Writing Assessment: Engaging Teachers and Students Investing in teachers and students Investing in teachers’ professional development Involving teachers in the development and scoring of assessments Encouraging collaboration across different levels of the system Supporting and reinforcing the teacher’s role in formative assessment Turning accountability inside out 6. An Ecological Approach to Writing Assessment Ecology in writing studies Writing assessment ecologies Ecological validity Taking an ecological approach to assessment

"Sandra Murphy and Peggy O’Neill take up an ambitious and important task: explaining the need for, and the ways to design, ecologically sound writing assessments that support students. Writing assessment itself, they argue, can provide a learning moment, one large-scale K-12 systems currently squander. Murphy and O’Neill also make the case that the definition, or construct, of writing informing standardized tests is out of sync with both current definitions of writing and everyday writing practices like digital multimodal writing and collaborative writing. We can do better, Murphy and O’Neill argue, and invoking ecological models of writing and of assessment, they show us how to begin. This book will be essential reading for stakeholders interested in writing assessment, including teachers, assessment practitioners, researchers, and policymakers."--Kathleen Blake Yancey, Kellogg Hunt Professor and Distinguished Research Professor Emerita, Florida State University, USA"This essential text for secondary and college writing instructors offers a fresh perspective by examining the complexity of writing instruction, its history, and the effects of high-stakes testing, all viewed through the lens of meaningful assessment."--Barbara A. Ward, Children's and Young Adult Literature Instructor, University of New Orleans, USA"An essential addition to the literature on writing assessment and a must-read for scholars working in writing studies, writing assessment, the teaching of writing, and the administration of writing programs." –Chris M. Anson, Distinguished University Professor, Executive Director, Campus Writing and Speaking Program, North Carolina State University, USA