Welcome to ENG 590/EDU 591, Writing Assessment in Secondary Schools.  According to the course description, “this course will examine the many forms of writing assessment used in secondary English classrooms, ranging from teachers’ responses to student texts to government agencies’ methods of evaluating student writing.  We will investigate what the various forms of assessment teach us about writing, learning, our students, and our pedagogies.”  This means that we will be doing a lot of reading and discussing of materials that will foster your development as a teacher of writing and language at the secondary level. 

Website:  Check this for current information about the assignments and schedule.  <http://www.fredonia.edu/faculty/english/spangler/Assessment>

Class Web Board: www.nicenet.org  Class Key:  .  Use the class key to add yourself to the roster.  Go to the Nicenet URL to join the class.  Be sure to enter a name and e-mail address.  You will use this web board to post your reading responses.  I use this instead of ANGEL in order to give you experience with a FREE web resource that you might want to use in your classroom, too.

Office hours:

            By appointment        

In person:                   Fenton 266, Monday through Wednesday 1-3 p.m.

            Virtual:                        SusanSpangler1 on AOL Instant Messenger, pretty much when

                                                my computer is on and I’m available to chat.

Required Texts:

• Hillocks, George.  The Testing Trap: How State Writing Assessments Control Learning.  New York: Teachers College, 2002. 
• Wiggins, Grant.  Educative Assessment: Designing Assessments to Inform And Improve Student Performance.  San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1998.
• Wilson, Maja. Rethinking Rubrics. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2006.
• Murphy, Sandra and Mary Ann Smith.  Writing Portfolios:  A Bridge from Teaching to Assessment.  Toronto:  Pippin, 1992.
   

Course Goals

Students will become familiar with theories of writing assessment and will begin to articulate their own writing assessment philosophy and how it impacts their teaching practices.  Students will also reflect on their teaching experiences involving writing assessment.  Students will participate in professional practices by compiling a course portfolio and developing teacher research interests.
 

Course Requirements

ENGAGEMENT WITH COURSE MATERIAL AND ACTIVITIES.  Part of your obligation to this class is to participate vigorously in the ongoing dialogue we will have about writing assessment, whether in group activities, in individual activities, or in class discussions.  Engagement includes sharing most of the work that you produce this semester as well as commenting on others' work.  If you don't attend class, you can't participate, so I discourage absences unless absolutely necessary, in which case you notify me prior to your absence and meet with me afterward.  Perfect attendance is expected.

WEB BOARD POSTING.  An easy way to share your thoughts on the readings and on class discussion is to post your thoughts in a timely manner to the class web board, available at nicenet.org.  You will be posting your reading responses weekly on the web board, and you will also respond to others’ writing at least three times during the semester.

COURSE PORTFOLIO.  Your grade for the class will be based on the completion of your course portfolio.  We’ll discuss these items more throughout the semester.  Here are things that will go in it, in no particular order:

• An introduction (well, that should go first, I suppose)
• Reading responses
• Teaching demonstration and reflection on it
• A professional article, conference presentation, or other individual teacher research project based on an issue in writing assessment
• Group project based on your research of an issue in writing assessment

General Policies

In the event of an emergency absence, it is your responsibility to check for any missed assignments.  See the office hours above and check with classmates or the website for work missed.  Of course, the information you receive from these sources will be less complete than if you were actually in class.  Just avoid the whole mess and be here.  You’ll find as an effective teacher that it’s just easier to go to school than to miss, and that attitude should be evident here.

I hate grades.  There, I said it.  I try to do as little grading as possible, but I DO love reading your writing.  Basically, I'll assign a grade for your portfolio, which counts for 100% of your grade, at the end of the semester, but I’ll look at drafts of your work throughout the semester to give you feedback.  Any other time you want to talk about your progress in class, come and talk to me.  We won't necessarily talk about your grade, but we will talk about what you are learning in class.

Sadly, computers don’t always work the way we want them to.  It’s an unfortunate fact of life.  You are ultimately responsible for your work, even if the computer fails.   Please avoid saying things like, “My disk broke,” “I couldn’t get online,” “I swear I e-mailed it to you” to me.  Ways to avoid computer problems include 1) printing everything, 2) backing up on disk/jump drive, at home, in cyberspace.

Which leads me to a long discussion of professionalism.  I will expect you to act in a professional manner.   Such behavior means, among other things, always doing your best work, remaining positive in the face of adversity, showing integrity in your actions, joining professional organizations, and reflecting on your teaching (sometimes before the fact).  A question I’ve always found helpful is this:  “Would I do/say this/act this way if my principal/grandmother were standing right here/able to see this?”  You should always be able to be proud of your actions as a professional.  This includes any public forums in which you choose to represent yourself:  Facebook, MySpace, or other venues.

Being a professional also means solely taking responsibility for your actions.  While your parents may be an integral part of your personal life, they should not be part of your professional life.  That is, they may privately rejoice with you or grieve with you in your professional successes or disappointments, but they should not take an active role in discussing these events with your colleagues or supervisors. 

Acting in a professional manner also means being academically honest (i.e. not plagiarizing anything).  The lines are often blurry, but in general, when you adapt a lesson for use, it’s a good idea to acknowledge or cite the source of the lesson or idea.  It’s professional courtesy, really.
 

If you are having problems with the class, PLEASE see me.  That’s what learning is about, people helping people.  I would LOVE to have you visit me during my office hours.  You can be sure I will not hesitate to see you if you are having problems.   Other sources of help to consider:
 

Any student needing to arrange a reasonable accommodation for a documented disability should contact Disability Support Services at 673-3270 (Voice) or 673-4763 (TTY).