Alternatives To Grading Student Writing

The result of an investigation into the grading writing by the National Council of Teachers of English Committee on Alternatives to Grading Student Writing, this collection of essays offers the writing teacher several innovative and interesting options. Following an introduction by the editor (chair of the Committee), in which he delineates the field of possibilities, the essays and their authors are, as follows: (1) "It's Broken--Fix It!" (Liesel K. O'Hagan); (2) "Growth-Biased Assessing of Writers--A More Democratic Choice" (Marie Wilson Nelson); (3) "Writing Students Need Coaches, Not Judges" (Lynn Holaday); (4) "Response: A Promising Beginning for Learning to Grade Student Writing" (Carol Beeghly Bencich); (5) "Can You Be Black and Write and Right?" (Elaine B. Richardson); (6) "Alternative Assessment of Second-Language Writing: A Developmental Model" (Janis Massa); (7) "Scribliolink: Inviting Parents To Respond to Their Children's Writing" (Joyce C. Fine); (8) "Student Attitudes toward Grades and Evaluation on Writing" (Jean S. Ketter and Judith W. Hunter); (9) "Writing at Reading: How a Junior Year in England Changes Student Writers" (Mary B. Guthrow); (10) "Assessment through Collaborative Critique" (Sarah Robbins and others); (11) "What Grades Do for Us, and How To Do without Them" (Marcy Bauman); (12) "Seeing How Good We Can Get It" (Kelly Chandler and Amy Muentener); (13) "Grading on Merit and Achievement: Where Quality Meets Quantity" (Stephen Adkison and Stephen Tchudi); (14) "Total Quality: A Farewell to Grades" (Charles McDonnell); (15) "Using a Multidimensional Scoring Guide: A Win-Win Situation" (Gail M. Young); (16) "Students Using Evaluation in Their Writing Process" (Jacob S. Blumner and Francis Fritz); (17) "Unlocking Outcome-Based Education through the Writing Process" (Rick Pribyl); (18) "Portfolio Assessment as an Alternative to Grading Student Writing" (Kathleen Jones); and (19) "Issues To Consider When Scoring Student Portfolios" (Anne Wescott Dodd). Faculty workshops in alternatives to grading student writing were: "Developing Intrinsic Motivation for Students' Writing" (Immaculate Kizza); "Weighing and Choosing Alternatives" (Stephen Tchudi); "Contract Grades: An Agreement between Students and Their Teachers" (Lynda S. Radican); and "Using Rubrics and Holistic Scoring of Writing" (Jean S. Ketter); "Alternative Assessment Methods across the Disciplines" (Pamela B. Childers); and "Communicating with Parents and the Public" (Marilyn M. Cooper). Individual chapters contain references. (NKA)