Monday, February 1, 2010

Topic: Shared Rubric in Writing in Five Different Universities

Ten-second review: Five university English departments used the same rubric (criteria for grading) for a one-semester first-year writing course. All students improved in writing performance. Students at selective universities scored highest. Students with full-time instructors scored higher than students with adjunct faculty. Gender, SAT verbal Scores, number of class assignments, and number of drafts written in class were not significantly related to scores.


Title: “An Inter-Institutional Model for College Writing Assessment.” N Pagano, et al. College Composition and Communication, 60 (2), 285-320, 2008.


Comment: I think the key to this success was agreed-on expectations in writing. I wonder to what degree teachers of writing agree on the quality of writing they expect. I am willing to bet that writing teachers do not agree on their expectations in writing. My expectation for expository writing? Introduction; thesis; topic sentences in intermediate paragraphs (with additional extending paragraphs if needed) and summary paragraph. RayS.

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