Research into portfolio assessment ("PA") typically describes teachers' development and implementation of different portfolio models in their respective teaching contexts, however, not much attention is paid to student perceptions of the portfolio approach or its impact on the learning of writing. To this end, this study aims to investigate how…

Although raters can be trained to evaluate the lexical qualities of student essays, the question remains as to what extent raters follow the "lexis" scale descriptors in the rating scale when evaluating or rate according to their own criteria. The current study examines the extent to which 27 trained university EFL raters take various lexical…

This study investigated the use of automated essay scoring (AES) to identify at-risk students enrolled in a first-year university writing course. An application of AES, the "Criterion"[R] Online Writing Evaluation Service was evaluated through a methodology focusing on construct modelling, response processes, disaggregation, extrapolation,…

In this paper, I describe the design and evaluation of automated essay scoring (AES) models for an institution's writing placement program. Information was gathered on admitted student writing performance at a science and technology research university in the northeastern United States. Under timed conditions, first-year students (N = 879) were…

An increasing number of writing programs and assessments are employing writing-from-sources tasks in which reading and writing are integrated. The integration of reading and writing in such contexts raises a number of questions with regard to writers' use of sources in their writing, the functions these sources serve, and how proficiency affects…

Raters of Georgia's (USA) state-mandated college-level writing exam, which is intended to ensure a minimal university-level writing competency, are trained to grade holistically when assessing these exams. A guiding principle in holistic grading is to not focus exclusively on any one aspect of writing but rather to give equal weight to style,…

The present study was conducted with a twofold purpose. First, I aim to apply the socio-cognitive framework by Shaw and Weir (2007) in order to validate a summative writing test used in a Malaysian ESL secondary school context. Secondly, by applying the framework I also aim to illustrate practical ways in which teachers can gather validity…

The decision-making behaviors of 8 raters when scoring 39 persuasive and 39 narrative essays written by second language learners were examined, first using Rasch analysis and then, through think aloud protocols. Results based on Rasch analysis and think aloud protocols recorded by raters as they were scoring holistically and analytically suggested…

Writing is complex, and assessment of writing is equally complex, particularly when considering the need to measure outcomes at the institutional level while providing meaningful data that informs curriculum reform and supports learning at the discipline-level. Using a multi-layered assessment that incorporates standardized measures of writing…

Using generalizability (G-) theory, this study examined the accuracy and validity of the writing scores assigned to secondary school ESL students in the provincial English examinations in Canada. The major research question that guided this study was: Are there any differences between the accuracy and construct validity of the analytic scores…

This paper reports on a qualitative research study into the test-taking strategies employed in completing two picture prompt writing tasks--Situational Writing and Interpretational Writing in the Beijing Matriculation English Test. Think-aloud and retrospective interview protocols were collected from twelve Chinese students representing two key…

This action research demonstrates the answer to this question: How can literacy professors provide effective training in evaluating writing to preservice graduate education students? The study examines writing assessment instruction in the context of a literacy course required of preservice teachers seeking secondary (7-12) certification in…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the intra-rater and inter-rater reliability of the Critical Thinking Analytic Rubric (CTAR). The CTAR is composed of 6 rubric categories: interpretation, analysis, evaluation, inference, explanation, and disposition. To investigate inter-rater reliability, two trained raters scored four sets of…

We explore how a local rating scale can be based on the Common European Framework CEF-proficiency scales. As part of the scale validation (Alderson, 1991; Lumley, 2002), we examine which adaptations are needed to turn CEF-proficiency descriptors into a rating scale for a local context, and to establish a practicable method to revise the initial…

The purpose of this study is to examine the interactions among measurement theories, writing theories, and writing assessments in the United States from an historical perspective. The assessment of writing provides a useful framework for examining how theories influence, and in some cases fail to influence actual practice. Two research traditions…