The Problem With Assessing Writing

Unlike some subjects such as science or mathematics, writing is difficult to assess due to the fact that each and every piece of student work will be different from one another. This is a challenge for teachers, as it requires us to create assessment tools that are varied enough to account for an infinite number of writing results, and the large number of skills students use when producing a piece of writing.

This is clearly impossible, as no tool can possibly encompass every such factor. One of the most common themes I identified when reading articles on writing assessment was the idea that teachers need to understand that to assess student writing they need to utilize a number of assessment tools, in order to effectively assess all factors of student writing.

“In short, there is no ‘one size fits all’ method of writing assessment” (Olinghouse, 2009).

To identify which tools to use when assessing student writing, educators need to make decisions about assessment prior to instruction. By articulating objectives in terms of observable behaviour, teachers can make it clear to students and themselves what will effective writing looks like (Weigle, 2007). This then helps the teacher decide which assessment tool is best suited to assess the objectives identified.