As teachers consider ethics, they find that it may often look like a student issue. It may be discussions of plagiarism, social justice, honesty, bullying, privacy, child labor, free speech, inequity. However, even as teachers struggle with ways to model ethics or "teach" ethics, they find that their teaching practices may warrant reflection. One…

Considering ways to assess digital compositions and their results (i.e., media products) is an important part of the author's pedagogical practice as a teacher educator. Discovering ways to evaluate the quality, effectiveness, and efficacy of these compositions and products presents an important aspect of responsive, critical instruction. Yet this…

Self-directed writing is an opportunity for teachers to write with their students, and it is writing that ultimately ends up in the student's portfolio at mid-term and end of term. It is one component of a structured writing class in which students also do other writing assignments. It is important for teachers to communicate their expectations of…

Describes an alternative to standardized reading tests which fairly and effectively assesses student reading abilities. (DD)

Seeks evaluative strategies for grading poetry that occupy an elusive middle ground between flexibility and consistency. Discusses rubrics, collections, conference/negotiation, self-evaluation, and explication. (RS)

Reviews the research done on the evaluation of student compositions. (JL)

Reframing the Great Rubric Debate beyond the taking of sides, Eric D. Turley and Chris W. Gallagher propose a set of questions designed to help educators assess the value of rubrics: (1) What is the tool for?; (2) In what context is it used?; (3) Who decides:; and (4) What ideological agenda drives those decisions? They contend that these four…

Argues that teachers and students would benefit from teachers' mastering of a variety of types of responses to writing, including personal and empathetic responses, in addition to the traditional advisory and evaluative responses. (RL)

Offers six descriptions from middle school, high school, and college teachers regarding how they handle grading and evaluation in the reading/writing workshop. (SR)

Offers four evaluative questions for revising writing assignments into vehicles that steadily move students toward writing fluency. (RL)

Rejects grading student journals. Describes various approaches to journal writing evaluation the author used with her students and approaches used by her professors when she returned to school. Questions the educational process of grading student journals. Discusses how to create real dialog. (RS)

The Advanced Placement (AP) exams have a significant impact on teaching English and the AP scores are recognized by most of the colleges and universities in the United States. The limitations of timed, standardized writing are discussed.

Notes the problem of Net-based plagiarism in student papers. Describes a solution that turns the tables by using the Internet: TurnItIn.com, an Internet scanner that annotates/marks unattributed material in student papers and compiles a report for the teacher overnight. (SR)

Describes the curriculum for undergraduates majoring in English at one of Oxford University's 35 colleges and suggests that it can serve as a model for high school students in the United States. (JL)

Describes a series of procedures that can objectively measure student growth in interdisciplinary humanities courses at the secondary or college level. Preinstruction and postinstruction assessments determine student attitudes, responses to literature, art, and music, and knowledge of course content; midcourse individual conferences are also used.…