Explores grading strategies for English composition teachers that are consistent with modern discourse and pedagogical theories.

Asao B. Inoue argues for the use of labor-based grading contracts along with compassionate practices to determine course grades as a way to do social justice work with students.

Grading in the Post-Process Classroom tackles that all important and difficult issue: How do we fulfill our responsibilities to the traditional academy and still teach our students to become resistant critical thinkers? While the question is not new, new faces and voices in the field as well as the advent of virtual writing classrooms require different responses. Currently, most articles on the subject of grading end with the suggestion that teachers should not give grades--an alternative that few instructors find viable, especially in an era of increasing calls for teacher accountability. Grading in the Post-Process Classroom answers the question of what to do when theory and practice collide. In addition to discussions of the ideology of grading, it offers specific alternative, theoretically informed grading schemes--from narrative evaluation, contract grading, and new ways to configure portfolio grading to how to grade in cyberspace. Included are pieces by both established scholars and new voices in the field. Interspersed among the theory chapters are shorter, personal, self-reflexive essays that consider how to negotiate political pressures within a department.

"This book is for teachers who want to honor their students' experiences as writers and readers-and their own." -Maja Wilson In Reimagining Writing Assessment,Maja Wilson shows us that by replacing the scales embedded in rubrics with new tools--an array of interpretive lenses designed to observe and describe growth-we can create healthier readers and writers who are more proficient in the long run and more motivated to read and write. She reminds us that "assess" in its Latin derivation means "sit beside." In this book she models new ways of "sitting beside," listening to student stories of the writing, respecting the writer's intentions, and telling stories of our reading. Taking the form of conversations, Maja's new definition of writing assessment is not an outcome or final evaluation: it is an ongoing process in which writers and readers make meaning from texts and attempts, from intentions and effects. In this process, teachers come to understand how to teach and talk with each student about writing differently. And students learn to understand and take control of their own development as decision-makers.

"Brian Huot's well-reasoned, provocative discourse on primary conceptions in the field will be of significant value to scholars in writing and writing assessment, to writing program adminstrators, to readers in educational assessment, and to graduate students in rhetoric and composition."--BOOK JACKET.

The best classes have a life of their own, powered by student-led conversations that explore texts, ideas, and essential questions. In these classes, the teacher’s role shifts from star player to observer and coach as the students Think critically, Work collaboratively, Participate fully, Behave ethically, Ask and answer high-level questions, Support their ideas with evidence, and Evaluate and assess their own work. The Spider Web Discussion is a simple technique that puts this kind of class within every teacher’s reach. The name comes from the weblike diagram the observer makes to record interactions as students actively participate in the discussion, lead and support one another’s learning, and build community. It’s proven to work across all subject areas and with all ages, and you only need a little know-how, a rubric, and paper and pencil to get started. As students practice Spider Web Discussion, they become stronger communicators, more empathetic teammates, better problem solvers, and more independent learners—college and career ready skills that serve them well in the classroom and beyond. Educator Alexis Wiggins provides a step-by-step guide for the implementation of Spider Web Discussion, covering everything from introducing the technique to creating rubrics for discussion self-assessment to the nuts-and-bolts of charting the conversations and using the data collected for formative assessment. She also shares troubleshooting tips, ideas for assessment and group grading, and the experiences of real teachers and students who use the technique to develop and share content knowledge in a way that’s both revolutionary and truly inspiring.

A textbook for composition pedagogy courses. It focuses on scholarship in rhetoric and composition that has influenced classroom teaching, in order to foster reflection on how theory impacts practice.

Implement standards-based grading practices that help students succeed! Classroom assessment methods should help students develop to their full potential, but meshing traditional grading practices with students’ achievement on standards has been difficult. Making lasting changes to grading practices requires both knowledge and willpower. Discover eight guidelines for good grading, recommendations for practical applications, and suggestions for implementing new grading practices as well as: ? The why’s and the how-to’s of implementing standards-based grading practices ? Tips from 48 nationally and internationally known authors and consultants ? Additional information on utilizing level scores rather than percentages ? Reflective exercises ? Techniques for managing grading more efficiently

This book comes at the right time with answers for teachers, principals, and schools who want to be on the cutting edge of the effective use of technology, the internet, and teacher pedagogy.

In Antiracist Writing Assessment Ecologies, Asao B. Inoue theorizes classroom writing assessment as a complex system that is “more than” its interconnected elements. To explain how and why antiracist work in the writing classroom is vital to literacy learning, Inoue incorporates ideas about the white racial habitus that informs dominant discourses in the academy and other contexts.