Reframing Writing Assessment to Improve Teaching and Learning

Cover

Download PDF (136.8 KB)
 

Title Page, Copyright Page

Download PDF (33.3 KB)
 

Contents

Download PDF (73.5 KB)
pp. v-

Acknowledgments

Download PDF (33.1 KB)
pp. vii-

We first began collaborating as part of the Network for Media Action, a component of the Council of Writing Program Administrators dedicated to developing strategies for program directors and writing instructors to participate in public conversations about writing. ...

1. Higher Education, Framing, and Writing Assessment

Download PDF (230.8 KB)
pp. 1-12

In listening to the conversations on campus, this program director feels there is an implicit message that the test would be a way of marketing the school as a “first-rate institution.” Although no one explicitly discusses the CLA as an assessment of writing (instead, they say, it is an indication of critical thinking skills), ...

2. Framing (and) American Education

Download PDF (366.5 KB)
pp. 13-39

In chapter one, we suggested that postsecondary writing instruction and writing assessment orbits are at the center of a very large galaxy that includes questions about the purpose of a college education, expectations of “productive” citizens, and, ultimately, the nation’s successful progress. ...

3. The Framing of Composition and Writing Assessment

Download PDF (193.3 KB)
pp. 40-80

In chapter two, we discussed how the current frame surrounding stories of American education perpetuates and builds upon existing tales of the purpose of school. This frame currently shapes a dominant story about postsecondary education focusing on “preparation for college and career,” ...

4. Reframing Strategies and Techniques

Download PDF (295.6 KB)
pp. 81-109

In chapter two, we described the current frames surrounding discussions of higher education, and stories linked to them. Their central concepts, conveyed in words and phrases like “preparedness” and “college and career readiness” are linked to a number of broader, interrelated stories. ...

5. Reframing in Action

Download PDF (179.6 KB)
pp. 110-144

So far, we have been discussing the issue of reframing writing assessment through historical and theoretical lenses, and describing some processes writing instructors might use for reframing. In this chapter, we move away from abstract discussions to examine how reframing works in the complexity and messiness of the real world. ...

6. Reframing Assessment: Why Does My Participation Matter?

Download PDF (193.0 KB)
pp. 145-178

In the last chapter, we saw how writing instructors and program administrators in different types of institutions and programs have used a variety of strategies to reframe writing assessment on their campuses. We also demonstrated how the efforts of these writing professionals reflect a number of the strategies ...

7. Reimagining Writing Assessment

Download PDF (122.5 KB)
pp. 179-191

Throughout this book, we’ve discussed the ways that frames and framing shape individual and group perceptions of what is “commonsensical” and what is outside of the boundaries of “common sense.” From communication studies and linguistics (Carey 1989; Hall 1983; Hanks 1995; Ryan 1991), to literature and literary criticism ...

References

Download PDF (145.6 KB)
pp. 192-204

Index

Download PDF (79.8 KB)
pp. 205-207

About the Authors

Download PDF (48.6 KB)
pp. 208-

Linda Adler-Kassner is professor of writing and director of the writing program at University of California, Santa Barbara, where she teaches undergraduate and graduate writing courses. Through 2011, she is also the President of the Council of Writing Program Administrators and served an additional five years ...