Dilemmas in Assessment of Student Writing :: English Writing Teacher Student

Being a new teacher of English, I find the assessment of compositions to be a concept I call into question and struggle with on a regular basis. Having consulted several colleagues, learns, administrators, and fellow graduate students, I have come to the conclusion that there is no easy state to this tedious yet ever important question. While there are many inlets and outlets to this dilemma, for the sake of time I will touch on just three. While all three are very different in terms of concepts, rituals, and conducts, they all come together to adept common goal - component part students express themselves in terms of writing.SubjectivityWhile assessment can give students, parents, and administrators a view of where a student stands in terms of achievement, one must always remember that the grade is subjective. There is no right or wrong answer in English, as there is in maths or other quantitative areas of study. The basis of a grade depends upon a students ability to choose a course of thought and have it accurately and convincingly in written form. The subjectivity falls in how the teacher interprets or responds to the ideas and supporting information. For example, during my first venture as a student teacher, I was given the task of grading free choice essays. The students were given free range of the subject matter, and were told to write an insightful and poignant essay on the topic of their choice. After grading the papers, my mentor sat with me and we discussed some of the grades I had given for several of the students papers. Upon glancing briefly at the comments I had made and the grades I had given, my mentor began asking direct questions as to why I would grade certain papers one way, but would assign a different grade to others that were rather similar. As she went on to read through other papers, she would agree with some of my grades, but strongly disagree with others. I found this interesting because, while we were some(prenominal) re ading the same essays, we were focusing on different points or concepts, which shaded our perception of the piece as a whole.In retrospect, I believe that afternoon worn-out(a) rereading essays with my mentor was one of the best teaching practices that I have come across. Once in a while, teachers needed to refocus their grading instincts by, in effect, by word of mouth defending their stance on grading policies.