Evaluating Writing

Purposes for Evaluating

100

What is Formative Evaluation?

Formative Evaluation: is instructional

• Its purpose is to improve an educational enterprise in a specific and direct sense
• Accurate and timely assessment

200

What is Summative Evaluation? Provide an example

Summative evaluation: administrative

• Assesses the state or quality of an enterprise or institution, or to report on its progress to an outside audience
• Its purpose is not aimed directly at improving instruction, yet it may indirectly bring about such a result 
• A traditional example is a report card

300

What can research evaluation tell us?

1. How well our students are writing 

2. How writing influences reading

3. What strengths and weaknesses students exhibit 

4. Which schools are doing well or poorly

5. What strategies and processes are most productive

6. Whether our resources are spent wisely or foolishly 

400

What determines the ideal form of evaluation? 

Purpose determines which procedures are best for a given situation. 

Procedures for Evaluating Writing

100

What three procedures were suggested? 

1. Holistic 

2. Analytic

3. Primary Trait

200

What is Holistic Evaluation?

assesses writing rapidly and impressionistically- usually within 3 to 4 minutes

- Most useful  for evaluating writing in broad contexts. 

300

True or False

In analytic evaluation, writing features are evaluated in terms of strengths and weaknesses, presence or absence, high or low quality. 

True

400

What does Primary Trait evaluation focus on? 

On assessing a single writing feature rather than on the whole. 

-useful in special situations since it focuses on a single feature. 

How to Involve Children

100

What were the three suggested ways to involve children in evaluating their own work?

Portfolios, Self-evaluation, and Peer Evaluation 

200

How could a teacher incorporate peer evaluation in a classroom setting?

Through whole class lessons, groups, or one-on-one settings.

-Helps to teach children to draft, revise, and produce written work in group settings. 

"What do you like about this piece?" and "What would you change?".

300

Portfolios are collections of work that document a student's achievement, progress, and effort. 

Does the teacher or student select the works within this collection? Why is this?

Student should select so that they can offer their best. Some pieces might be selected by a teacher if it is a class wide assignment.

400

What three aspects make up effective evaluation? 

"Effective evaluation is based on a thorough knowledge of ____, ____, and the ____  _____."

"Effective evaluation is based on a thorough knowledge of writers, writing, and the writing process."