Page 47 - Composition in Convergence The Impact of the New Media on Writing Assessment

14 CHAPTER 1

than the models we now have in place. However, all of this does little
to express to the powers that be in institutions just what the student
did over the course of a semester. This is a particular problem for fac-
ulty or K-12 teachers functioning in an academic culture that re-
quires grades and specific outcomes; a check or minus system
applied to major projects or significant components of the writing
class may not be a useful assessment tool even when a lack of inter-
vention is the wisest choice. If internetworked writing courses or hy-
brid electronic or F2F writing courses are to demonstrate the power
and potential for Composition's future, then there need to be some
type of new or different evaluation mechanisms in place to accom-
modate student writing performed in public spaces so those who
teach at institutions governed by learning outcomes, assessment
goals, and other accountability concerns can address writing
development when students engage in public writing situations.
For many writing instructors, making the move to inter-
networked writing assignments conflicts with institutional de-
mands for accountability through high-stakes testing. Without a
mechanism in place to gauge student learning, some school districts,
like some colleges and universities, will not permit instructors or
their writing programs to incorporate significant changes that en-
courage student writers to produce more of their assignments on-
line. The dominant perception held by many legislators, admini-
strators, and faculty is that without some form of high-stakes test-
ing (barrier exams, large-scale performance portfolios, rising junior
essays, etc.), standards cannot and will not be reinforced, instructors
will not realize what is important to teach, and students will not be
motivated to work harder to learn, and that the results of these tests
provide better instruction for future students as well as offer better
opportunities for the instructors' professional development (Amerin
& Berliner, 2002).
How this belief affects online writing and its assessment connects
to how we in Composition have tested writing. Unlike the five-para-
graph model that produces predictable "rote writing" (Amerin & Ber-
liner, 2002) and lends itself to holistic scoring, internetworked
writing neither conforms to a single format nor reflects a predictable
model. A rubric becomes highly unreliable if there is no consistent
pattern in the genre. Often genuine electronic writing displays little
consistent surface patterning or generic conventions. Consequently,
many writing instructors find themselves in a curricular mis-