Assessment and Feedback: Expert Wisdom

Last month we shared some of the work of Dr. Karen Harris, which reinforces the foundation of our program. In this issue, we are highlighting the work of Steve Graham, who provides us with ideas, tips, and strategies to use with students in the writing classroom. Studying his work reaffirms that our program is firmly rooted in best practices and incorporates the most effective methods for building a community of writers where expectations are clear, instruction is productive, and assessment is part of the process and not simply an end point.

Graham’s exploration of writing assessment echoes much of what we at CEA recommend. Like us, he feels that too much feedback is counter-productive. And, also like us, he believes that meaningful, focused, and clear feedback can help students learn and teachers teach. His work reminds us that feedback should not be viewed as a negative, and teachers should remember to keep the joy in writing and celebrate what is good with the same energy used to comment on what needs revision. We were reminded of his shared ideas in a recent Marshall Memo, which included the gist of Graham's article, "Formative Assessment and Writing" (see page 74) featured in a recent issue of Literacy Today.