Welcome back to the Journal of Writing Assessment’s Reading List!
The JWA Reading List has historically provided reviews of books related to writing assessment in its many forms and locales. Casting a wide net, reviews in the RL have covered texts on K-12 accountability testing, programmatic assessment in college writing programs, the history of writing assessment in the US, classroom writing assessment and alternative grading approaches, social justice in writing assessment, and more. It has also provided a space for graduate students and junior scholars to gain publication experience in a low-stakes, affirmative environment.
Since 2019, the Reading List has remained dormant in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and as our former editorial team, editor Ti Macklin and editorial assistant Skyler Meeks, both stepped back. But with the help of our four new editorial assistants—Kathleen Kryger (University of Arizona), Jennifer Burke Reifman (University of California, Davis), Tiffany Smith (Georgia State University), and Sarah Stetson (University of Massachusetts, Amherst)—we’re very excited to be relaunching this resource and once again reviewing new scholarship in writing assessment.
This relaunch issue focuses on recent texts related to social justice in writing assessment. We offer four reviews as well as a Special Introduction from Megan Von Bergen (University of Tennessee, Knoxville). Our four reviews for this issue include:
- Mikenna Sims’ (University of California, Davis) review of Ellen Carillo’s Hidden Inequities in Labor-based Contract Grading (2022)
- Cassandra Goff’s (University of Utah) review of Anne Ruggles Gere, Anne Curzan, J. W. Hammond, Sarah Hughes, Ruth Li, Andrew Moos, Kendon Smith, Kathryn Van Zanen, Kelly L. Wheeler, and Crystal J. Zanders’s “Communal Justicing: Writing Assessment, Disciplinary Infrastructure, and the Case for Critical Language Awareness” in CCC (2021)
- Madeline Crozier’s (University of Tennessee, Knoxville) review of Deborah Crusan’s “Writing Assessment Literacy” in Research Questions in Language Education and Applied Linguistics (2021)
- Michelle Tram Nguyen’s (Bowling Green State University) review of Alfie Kohn and Susan D. Blum’s Ungrading: Why Rating Students Undermines Learning (and What to Do Instead) (2021)
As evidenced by the reviews in this issue, going forward the RL will aim to cast an even wider net by exploring not just books, but also recently published journal articles, book chapters, and other forms of scholarship. We will also be releasing bi-yearly “issues” of the RL focused on current themes in writing assessment, much like special issues in our parent journal, JWA.
We are always interested in recruiting new reviewers; you can be added to our list by filling out this form. We’re also always interested in recommendations for new texts in writing assessment to review (self-promotion is welcome!); you can contact us at jwareadinglist@gmail.com.
Cheers!
Stacy Wittstock | Assistant Editor, JWA Reading List | University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Chris Blankenship | Assistant Editor, JWA Reading List | Salt Lake Community College