Teachers’ and Researchers’ Uses of Assessment and Evaluation Can Bring Reading and Writing Together

Abstract

Researchers and teachers of reading and writing can assess from different viewpoints or from a common one. In this manuscript two different viewpoints—a responsive view for writing and a developmental view for reading—show different vantage points, and the responsive view is used to show a way to bring reading and writing together. In general, this article advocates assessment for learning, as different from assessment of learning. Overall, my goal is to critique whether our uses of assessment and evaluation derive from our beliefs. Sometimes, as will be shown, this is the case, and at other times there appears to be a discrepancy between what researchers and teachers assess and value. This article may provide guidelines for assessment in classroom contexts, for uses of large-scale assessments, and for program evaluation.