Assessing Writing in Elementary Schools: Moving Away from a Focus on Mechanics

Autor/inn/en	Casey, Laura B.; Miller, Neal D.; Stockton, Michelle B.; Justice, William V.
Titel	Assessing Writing in Elementary Schools: Moving Away from a Focus on Mechanics
Quelle	In: Language Assessment Quarterly, 13 (2016) 1, S.42-54 (13 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1543-4303
DOI	10.1080/15434303.2015.1136311
Schlagwörter	Elementary School Students; Writing (Composition); Writing Evaluation; Curriculum Based Assessment; Evaluation Criteria; Grade 4; Grade 5; Rural Schools; Alternative Assessment; Statistical Analysis; Writing Improvement; Word Frequency; Writing Instruction; Teaching Methods; Interrater Reliability; Teacher Surveys; Writing Teachers; Scoring + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Schreibübung; School year 04; 4. Schuljahr; Schuljahr 04; School year 05; 5. Schuljahr; Schuljahr 05; Rural area; Rural areas; School; Schools; Ländlicher Raum; Schule; Schulen; Statistische Analyse; Word analysis; Frequency; Wortanalyse; Häufigkeit; Schreibunterricht; Teaching method; Lehrmethode; Unterrichtsmethode; Interrater-Reliabilität; Bewertung
Abstract	Many students struggle with writing; however, curriculum-based measures (CBM) of writing often use assessment criteria that focus primarily on mechanics. When academic development is assessed in this way, more complex aspects of a student's writing, such as the expression and development of ideas, may be neglected. The current study was a preliminary analysis of viability of the words per thought unit (T-unit) as an alternative to traditional approaches to writing assessment. Participants included 167 children enrolled in the fourth and fifth grade, ages 9-11, in a rural southeastern U.S. school district. Writing samples were collected in three probes across the school year (fall, winter, and spring) and analyzed by using a variety of measures. Words per T-unit were positively linearly correlated with other measures of literary proficiency. A repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) assessed growth in writing across time and grade. Results indicated a statistically significant time effect within subjects for words per T-unit across grades. Thus, the analysis of words per T-unit yielded promising results as an efficient means of measuring writing skills independently of mechanics. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01