In the context of high school-college transition, how is the relationship between standardized testing and writing

affecting students' lives, voices, and learning?

 

For our first themed issue, coming out early Spring 2015, we wanted to build on an important conversation that took place in March 2014 on the

Council of Writing Program Administrators' listserv. The discussion on writing assessment prompted Rich Haswell to comment that testing has neglected the “uses and consequences of test scores (and I would add test preparation and test taking) as they affect the test takers." In other words, student ideas, experiences, and questions have been left out of conversations about writing assessment.

 

We are looking, in this special issue, for projects that investigate and reflect on the ways in which the standardized testing of writing affects students: the ways they compose, the reasons they compose, and the attitudes they develop about writing inside and outside of our classes. Other implications we’re interested in hearing about include the way teachers prepare for and enact instruction, test prep, learning objectives, and assessment. And then there are all the potential consequences that we have not imagined that we want to imagine, through this journal, with you.

 

Some interesting questions to address might be, but certainly aren't limited to, the following:

 

• How do students think, feel, and/or talk about testing?

• How does testing affect students' lives both in and beyond their formal educational experiences? How does testing shape students' attitudes towards composing?

• How does testing improve or undermine a student's ability to write?

• What other ways does testing impact students' minds and lives?

• What types of writing assessments are valued in transitional contexts by instructors, students, and other stakeholders?

• How does testing shape students' attitudes towards composing?

• How does testing improve or undermine students’ abilities to write?

• What other ways does testing impact students' minds and lives?

• What approaches to and forms of testing will motivate students based on their values and patterns of engagement?

• What models of assessment and, by extension, what relationships to testing could we foster and why?

 

We hope this call will generate many submissions and potentials for conversations. We are interested in publishing work by high school English or writing teachers; college writing teachers; and collaborations between the two. Additionally, we are interested in incorporating student voices in innovative and compelling ways. Anyone interested in writing a collaborative piece but unable to find a partner should email us at crosspol.ed@gmail.com, and we will try to facilitate a collaboration.

 

We will accept project submissions for this themed issue through January 12, 2014, and we will respond to submissions by February 9, 2015. If we request revisions, you’ll need to resubmit by April 6, 2015.

 

crosspol is a peer-reviewed online journal that welcomes both traditional and multimodal projects. You can find more details on the journal, including submission guidelines at www.crosspol-journal.com. Please direct any questions to Andrew and Colin at crosspol.ed@gmail.com.