Cover: Assessing Writing, 1st Edition by Brian Huot; Peggy O'Neill

Assessing Writing

A Critical SourcebookFirst Edition ©2009 Brian Huot; Peggy O'Neill

Assessing Writing assembles the essential research for any writing instructor — from graduate student to program director — who wants to understand and implement effective large-scale writing assessment. Topics include the history of the field; the concepts of validity and reliability; assess...
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ISBN:9780312475963

Cover: Assessing Writing, 1st Edition by Brian Huot; Peggy O'Neill

Assessing Writing assembles the essential research for any writing instructor — from graduate student to program director — who wants to understand and implement effective large-scale writing assessment. Topics include the history of the field; the concepts of validity and reliability; assessment methods, such as portfolios, essay exams, and directed self-placement; and models of successful assessment programs.

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Table of Contents

Introduction
An Introduction to Writing Assessment Theory and Practice
 
Part One: FOUNDATIONS
1. Direct and Indirect Measures for Large-Scale Evaluation of Writing
L. Ramon Veal and Sally Ann Hudson
 
2. Holisticism
Edward M. White
 
3. Reliability Issues in Holistic Assessment
Roger D. Cherry and Paul R. Meyer
 
4. The Worship of Efficiency: Untangling Theoretical and Practical Considerations in Writing Assessment
Michael Williamson
 
5. Can There Be Validity Without Reliability?
Pamela A. Moss
 
6. Portfolios as a Substitute for Proficiency Examinations
Peter Elbow and Pat Belanoff
 
7. Changing the Model for the Direct Assessment of Writing
Roberta Camp
 
8. Looking Back as We Look Forward: Historicizing Writing Assessment
Kathleen Blake Yancey
 
9. Testing the Test of the Test: A Response to “Multiple Inquiry in the Validation of Writing Tests”
Pamela A. Moss
 
10. Toward a New Theory of Writing Assessment
Brian Huot
 
Part Two: MODELS
11. The Importance of Teacher Knowledge in College Composition Placement Testing
William L. Smith
 
12. Adventuring into Writing Assessment
Richard Haswell and Susan Wyche-Smith
 
13. Portfolio Negotiations: Acts in Speech
Russel K. Durst, Marjorie Roemer, and Lucille M. Schultz
 
14. Directed Self-Placement: An Attitude of Orientation
Daniel J. Royer and Roger Gilles
 
15. WAC Assessment and Internal Audiences: A Dialogue
Richard Haswell and Susan McLeod
 
16. A Process for Establishing Outcomes-Based Assessment Plans for Writing and Speaking in the Disciplines
Michael Carter
 
Part Three: ISSUES
 
17. Influences on Evaluators of Expository Essays: Beyond the Text
Sarah Warshauer Freedman
 
18. “Portfolio Scoring”: A Contradiction in Terms
Robert L. Broad
 
19. Questioning Assumptions about Portfolio-Based Assessment
Liz Hamp-Lyons and William Condon
 
20. Rethinking Portfolios for Evaluating Writing: Issues of Assessment and Power
Brian Huot and Michael M. Williamson
 
21. The Challenges of Second-Language Writing Assessment
Liz Hamp-Lyons
 
22. Expanding the Dialogue on Culture as a Critical Component When Assessing Writing
Arnetha F. Ball
 
23. Gender Bias and Critique of Student Writing
Richard H. Haswell and Janis Tedesco Haswell
 
24. Validity of Automated Scoring: Prologue for a Continuing Discussion of Machine Scoring for Student Writing
Michael M. Williamson

Additional Readings
 
About the Editors

Index
Headshot of Brian Huot

Brian Huot

Brian Huot has been working in writing assessment for nearly twenty years, publishing extensively in assessment theory and practice. His work has appeared in a range of journals, including College Composition and Communication, College English, and Review of Educational Research as well as numerous edited collections. Huot is one of the founding editors of the journal Assessing Writing, and more recently the Journal of Writing Assessment, which he continues to edit. He has coedited several scholarly books, and in 2002 he published (Re)Articulating Writing Assessment for Teaching and Learning. He is currently at work on the Handbook of College Writing Assessment, coauthored with Peggy O’Neill and Cindy Moore. He is professor of English and coordinator of the writing program at Kent State University.

Headshot of Peggy O'Neill

Peggy O'Neill

Peggy O’Neill’s scholarship focuses on writing assessment theory and practice as well as writing program administration and the disciplinarily of composition and rhetoric. Her work has appeared in journals such as College Composition and Communication, Composition Studies, and the Journal of Writing Assessment as well as several edited collections. She has edited or coedited four books and more recently coauthored two: A Guide to College Writing Assessment (with Cindy Moore and Brian Huot), and Reframing Writing Assessment to Improve Teaching and Learning (with Linda Adler-Kassner). O’Neill also serves on the editorial board of several journals. She is an associate professor and director of composition in the writing department at Loyola University Maryland.