Chapter # 4


Assessing Writing
Reaction paper by; Licda: Sylvia Johnson S.
Give students multiple writing assessment opportunities.

Provide plenty of opportunities for students of all levels to practice the type of writing that you expect them to do on the writing test. Often teachers avoid writing until exam time because it is a lot of work to individually mark several drafts of the same essay.


Develop prompts that are appropriate for the students.

The prompts you select or develop should invite the desired type of writing. They should be realistic and sensitive to the cultural background of the student. Choose subjects within the realm of your students’ experience.

Evaluate all answers to one question before going on to the next.

This practice prevents a shifting of standards from one question to the next and helps the rater mark more consistently.


Mark only what the student has written.

Don’t be influenced by other factors in addition to the quality of the work, such as the quality or legibility of the handwriting.


Get students involved.

Get students involved in developing and marking their writing tests. Have them suggest prompts they’d like to write on and get them involved in peer assessment. Share whatever scoring criteria and rubrics you use with students. Transparency can help students internalize the rubric so that it becomes a natural part of their editing process.