Coming to terms : : theorizing writing assessment in composition studies / / Patricia Lynne.

• Author: Lynne, Patricia, 1964-
• Year of Publication: 2004
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (201 p.)
• Notes: Description based upon print version of record.

In a provocative book-length essay, Patricia Lynne argues that most programmatic assessment of student writing in U.S. public and higher education is conceived in the terms of mid-20th century positivism. Since composition as a field had found its most compatible home in constructivism, she asks, why do compositionists import a conceptual frame for assessment that is incompatible with composition theory? By casting this as a clash of paradigms, Lynne is able to highlight the ways in which each theory can and cannot influence the shape of assessment within composition. She lament

Table of Contents

Large-scale writing assessment practices and the influence of objectivity -- Contemporary literacy scholarship and the value of context -- Wrestling with positivism -- Theory under construction -- The politics of theorizing -- Theorizing writing assessment -- Theory in practice.