Chapter 10

When I first started reading chapter 10, I found some of Williams's criticism to be quite harsh. I then re-read and started to agree with much of what he writes about assessment. So often, we as teachers expect students to already know a great deal about writing when we assign essays; but often, we haven't taught the key lessons needed for students to become proficient writers. Williams states "More troubling is Wd White's (1986) suggestionthat many teachers know almost nothing about writing assessment and that large numbers of them are arrogant about thier ignorance." (Williams 299) These are harsh words, but very true. This is why rubrics are so important so that teachers know specifically what they are looking for and can relay that expectation to the students. Williams goes on to quote another important bit of information from White when he states "Valid assessment will not measure anything that was not taught. Quite simply, teachers need to be certain that they are measuring what they are teaching ."(Williams 302) He touches on a key point here. I often have students tell me "We like you because you actually TEACH us, Ms." I wold always look at them strangely, but now I realize not every teacher actually teaches what they want to see reflected by the students. I may have to duplicate parts of this chapter to share with my colleagues. It definitely leaves the reader something with something about which to self-reflect!