English 830: Teaching Composition Chapter 8 — Assessing Writing

Required Materials and Tasks

Due July 22 Wednesday: Required Readings on Assessing Writing

• Handling Grading Workload
  • Hassel, H., & Klausman, J. (2020). Working paper #6: Two-year college English faculty workload: Making the labor of assessment visible. Two-Year College English Association.
    • This TYCA working paper argues that grading, feedback, and assessment are often the most time-intensive and least visible parts of two-year college English faculty workload, especially because effective response to student writing requires sustained intellectual and emotional labor.
• Contract Grading
  • Barnard, I. (2025). The problem with “more is better”: An assessment of the “new” contract grading. Journal of Response to Writing, 11(1), Article 4.
    • Barnard reviews recent contract, labor-based, and engagement-based grading in writing courses, praising its benefits for stress reduction and feedback while critiquing the “more is better” logic that can reproduce inequities around time, labor, disability, and access.
• Addressing AI
  • MLA-CCCC Joint Task Force on Writing and AI. (2023). MLA-CCCC Joint Task Force on Writing and AI working paper: Overview of the issues, statement of principles, and recommendations. Modern Language Association and Conference on College Composition and Communication.
    • This CCCC/MLA working paper frames generative AI as a major writing-instruction issue, warning against surveillance-heavy responses while urging teachers and programs to develop policies rooted in writing process, student learning, equity, and critical AI literacy.
• Neurodivergence, disability, and Alternative Assessment
  • Von Bergen, M., & Harnish, A. (2026). Introduction: JWA special issue on disability, neurodivergence, and writing assessment. Journal of Writing Assessment, 19(1).
    • Von Bergen and Harnish argue that anti-ableist writing assessment should be flexible, multivocal, context-specific, and attentive to varied bodies, minds, timelines, and rhetorical aims rather than relying on one-size-fits-all standards.

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Class Activities

Act 1: Opening (1 hour and 15 minutes)

Part 1. Journal Writing: What was it like to be a College Writer for an evening? (15 minutes)

• How did you feel about doing this Writing Task?
• How hard was the task?
• What did you like about doing the writing?
• What did you dislike about doing the writing?
• Did you get into a first year college student mode as you wrote or did you write as a doctoral student?
• What did you like about this Writing Task?
• What would you modify about this Writing Task?
• Do you think this would be an effective Writing Task for a First Year Writing course?
• Do you have any other thoughts about completing this Writing Task?

Part 2. Small Group Discussion (30 minutes)

• As a group, decide how you will assess these Writing Tasks?
• Write some guidelines/a rubric for assessing this writing
• You will be assessing the writing done by the students in the other group and putting a grade on the paper

Part 3. Individual Activity (30 minutes)

• And now for something fun…
  • Dr. Pagnucci has a surprise in store for this Writing Task Project
  • Below is a little hint
  • With a nod of appreciation to Andrea Martin, for helping me to find just the right graphic
  • And with deepest appreciation to Gene Roddenbery (R.I.P.), creator of Star Trek, and Sir Patrick Stewart, who played Captain Jean Luc Picard so perfectly for many years
  • And most chillingly in Star Trek: The Next Generation’s “The Best of Both Worlds, Part I (Season 3, Episode 26)

    • 

  • Bernard, J. (2024, November). Resistance is futile? Navigating faculty resistance to AI in education. Academic Senate for California Community Colleges. https://asccc.org/content/resistance-futile-navigating-faculty-resistance-ai-education
  • And now for the task…
    • Microsoft Copilot

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Intermission 1 (10 Minutes)

Break (10 minutes)

• We’ll take a short break

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Act 2 (1 hour)

Part 4. Individual Activity: Assess the Papers (20 minutes)

• First, have each person in the group read the papers and assess them
  • Assign a grade for each paper

Part 3. Small Group Discussion (20 minutes)

• Next talk over together as a group how you assessed the paper

Part 3. Full Class Discussion (20 minutes)

• We will talk as a full class about assessing the papers

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Act 4: Closing (15 minutes)

Part 10. Class Wrap-up (5 minutes)

• Dr. Pagnucci will take time to go over course assignments and answer any questions

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Assignments

Due July 23 Thursday: Required Readings on Teaching for All Students

Required Readings on Social Justice

• Fish, Stanley. (Jan. 23, 2003). Save the world on your own time. The Chronicle of Higher Education.
  • Famous Literary Scholar Fish challenges the teaching of social justice issues
• Bizzell, Patricia. (2009). Opinion: Composition studies saves the world! College English 72(2).
  • Famous Composition Studies scholar Bizzell says it is impossible to separate our politics from our teaching
  • I’ve placed this article in D2L for educational access to students in this course only
    • The link above should take you directly to the article in D2L (you will need to login)
    • Alternatively, login to D2L and go to ENGL 830 Resources in the Content area of the course
• McCoy, Shane A. (Winter 2020). Writing for justice in First-Year Composition (FYC). Radical Teacher, 116, 26-36.
  • McCoy talks about what it means to fully embrace the ideology of social justice teaching

Required Readings on Inclusion and Universal Design

• The Center for Excellence in Universal Design (CEUD)/National Disability Authority (NDA). (Accessed 2022). The 7 principles of universal design.
  • The basic concepts of universal design
• CAST. (Accessed 2022). Universal Design for Learning (UDL) guidelines.
  • Strategies for making classrooms more accessible for all learners

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Optional Materials

These materials are recommended but not required.

Optional Readings: Social Justice

• Blake, Caitrin. (Accessed 2022). Teaching social justice in theory and practice. Resilient Educator.
  • Blake offers practical ideas for making social justice a part of your teaching
• McIntosh, Peggy. (1989). “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack”
  • Classic article examining how race often provides often unrealized privilege to white people
• Williams, Deborah. (2020, Jan. 2) How first-year comp can save the world. Inside Higher Ed.
• Hackman, Heather W. (2005). Five essential components for social justice education. Equity and Excellence in Education, 38: 103–109.

Optional Videos: Supporting LGBTQIA+ Students

• Video Poem: Kaur, Rupi. (2020, Apr. 14). The art of growing. Girlboss Rally.
  • Young poet who has helped strengthen the #metoo Movement
• Video Poem: Mali, Taylor. (2016, May 28). Like Lily Like Wilson.
  • A poem about changing the world

Optional Readings: Teaching Multilingual Writers

• Best, Karen. (July 29, 2019). How faculty in all disciplines can help ESL writers succeed (Part 1). Another Word. The Writing Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
  • This article explores many of the key challenges ESL student writers need assistance with in order to succeed at the college level
• Wilson, Jennifer S. (Summer, 2010). Engaging second language writers in freshman composition: A critical approach. Composition Forum 22.
  • This article encourages composition teachers to view second language (multilingual) students as valuable members of a writing class who have much to contribute to the classroom community
• Riel, Shelynn. (August 19, 2022). Teaching writing to ESL/EFL students: Tips and activities at any level. Bridge Universe.
  • This article offers basic advice on how to help multilingual students to successfully write in English

Optional Readings: Inclusion and Universal Design

• 2022 Doyle, Brianna. Access is not enough: Helping students with learning disabilities succeed in college writing and beyond. [Doctoral dissertation, Indiana University of Pennsylvania]. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses. [PDF File Download.]
  • 2022 IUP CAL Graduate!
• Sathy, Viji, & Hogan, Kelly A. (2019). How to make your teaching more inclusive. The Chronicle of Higher Education.
  • Useful advice on how to make classrooms more inclusive
• National Center on Disability and Journalism (Aug. 2021). Disability language style guide.
  • A helpful guide on how to talk intentionally about people with disabilities