Responding to Student Writing

Coaching and Evaluating Methods

As the guidelines indicated, responding to student writing occurs throughout the writing process. When determining the response methods you will use, consider the following questions:

1. When exactly and how frequently will you respond or evaluate students?
2. How much will you respond during different phases of the writing process?
3. Who will respond and/or evaluate student writing? Peers, you, an outside reader?
4. What form will your response and evaluation take? Will it be through conferences or small groups? Will it be via a formal rubric, or informal, with comments in the margins? How will the form change throughout the process?

For some specific methods that address these questions in different ways, the following sources may be helpful:

Methods and Measurement Literature Review

The following dissertation (See Chapter 4) offers further insights into response options:

Person-Based Response: A Postmodern
Alternative to Text-Based Teacher Comments

Though there are numerous evaluation methods and complementary rubrics, the First Year Composition program encourages the use of CLAQWA. If you are interested in other methods, see the following annotated bibliography:

Annotated Bibliography on Evaluating Student Writing