Premium
Baseline assessment of writing: the need for reconsideration
Author(s) -
Nutbrown Cathy
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
journal of research in reading
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.077
H-Index - 51
eISSN - 1467-9817
pISSN - 0141-0423
DOI - 10.1111/1467-9817.00067
Subject(s) - baseline (sea) , clarity , psychology , scale (ratio) , curriculum , writing assessment , pedagogy , medical education , political science , medicine , biochemistry , chemistry , physics , quantum mechanics , law
This article questions the usefulness to teaching of items to be used in baseline assessment of writing in the UK. Current requirements for national baseline assessment are intended to serve two very different purposes: assessment for management and assessment for teaching. It is argued that this duality of purpose can threaten teaching and overemphasise assessment for management. This article describes a small study investigating items on the baseline assessment scale developed by the Schools Curriculum and Assessment Authority (SCAA, 1997a), which suggests that the SCAA criteria for baseline assessment of writing need to be reconsidered. This reconsideration can be sought in the light of research and evidence of children’s achievements. Finally the paper concludes that there needs to be greater clarity of purpose and a redefinition of the misleading term ‘baseline assessment’.