The Paradox of performance pressures: an exploration of writing assessment in high school English classrooms

Through interviews and analysis of writing assessment documents, this study focused on writing assessment programs of three Alberta high school English teachers to answer two questions. First, how do high school English teachers incorporate discourse community, process-oriented writing, writing community, self-assessment and feedback into their writing assessment programs? Second, what factors influence the implementation of these elements in the classroom assessment programs? Thematic analysis revealed that these elements are valued by teachers, but due to limited time and exam preparation pressures they are not all meaningfully incorporated on a regular basis. Process-oriented writing, teacher feedback and writing communities play a significant role in writing assessment programs, while discourse communities and self-assessment are rarely present. These findings prompt exploration into both the supports teachers need to encourage them to incorporate all of the elements into their writing assessments, and the impacts of full incorporation of these elements on student writing development.

Authors

• Burke, Taylor Alexandria
• University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Education

• writing instruction
• curriculum and assessment
• high school
• English language arts
• metacognition
• writing assessment
• secondary education
• Education, Secondary--Alberta
• Language arts (Secondary)--Alberta--Evaluation
• Language arts (Secondary)--Ability testing--Alberta
• Creative writing (Secondary education)--Alberta--Evaluation
• Composition (Language arts)--Study and teaching (Secondary)--Alberta--Evaluation
• English language--Rhetoric--Study and teaching (Secondary)--Alberta--Evaluation
• English language--Composition and exercises--Ability testing--Alberta
• School prose--Evaluation
• Report writing--Study and teaching (Secondary)--Alberta--Evaluation
• Language arts teachers--Alberta
• Dissertations, Academic

Identifier

hdl:10133/6249

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:opus.uleth.ca:10133/6249