Students’ growth as communicators depends upon timely, meaningful feedback. These resources synthesize the best practices emerging from research in Rhetoric and Composition for improving the quality of feedback that students receive on their work and the timing of such feedback.
Aligning goals and tasks is the first step in effectively assessing students` work. In particular, pacing the writing process so that students have time to apply feedback is critical. These resources offer strategies for designing assignments as well as examples of effective assignments.
Students apply skills in reviewing peers` work that improve their own work as writers. This resource examines the strengths and weaknesses of peer review, provides strategies for teaching students to conduct effective peer reviews, and suggests ways to structure peer review workshops.
Responding to student writing is perhaps the most time-consuming aspect of writing instruction. Unfortunately, research indicates that it is also often the least effective. These strategies maximize students` learning while minimizing instructors` time commitments.
Evaluating student writing requires a careful articulation of criteria. These resources offer methods of grading student work and examples of effective grading rubrics and grids.
Interpreting Student Performance
Interpreting student performance is complex. These methods of analyzing students` scores suggest ways to learn from summative evaluation in classrooms.