Call for Papers
Special Issue of Journal of Writing Assessment
The Common Core State Standards Assessments
The Journal of Writing Assessment is interested in scholars’ and teachers’ responses to the writing assessments connected with the implementation of the Common Core State Standards assessments. The two main consortia, Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) and Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Career (PARCC), have released various types of information about the writing assessments, including approach, use of technology, and sample items.
The assessments were piloted in 2013-14, and are being implemented in most participating states during the 2014-15 academic year. Both SBAC and PARCC are approving and releasing achievement levels based on student performance on the pilot assessments. The SBAC (http://www.smarterbalanced.org/) and PARCC (http://www.parcconline.org/) assessment instruments are reshaping the assessment of—and potentially the teaching and learning of—writing in elementary and secondary education in many states. These assessments are defining and measuring the writing skills students need for “college-and-career readiness.” This enterprise is one of the largest-scale writing assessment projects ever undertaken in the United States. Researchers need to evaluate not only the validity and reliability of these assessment instruments, but also their impacts on teaching and learning.
The Journal of Writing Assessment seeks articles that examine:
- Theoretical stances behind the Common Core State Standards assessments,
- Development processes for the CCSS assessment instruments,
- Implementation of the assessments, and
- Impacts of these assessments on writing curricula and instruction at the classroom, district, and/or state levels.
We are interested in manuscripts that explore the CCSS assessments from a variety of viewpoints including, but not limited to, empirical, historical, theoretical, qualitative, experiential and quantitative perspectives.
For inclusion in JWA 8.1, proposals (200-400 words) are due by Feb. 27, 2015 to the JWA Submission page. Full drafts of articles are due by May 31, 2015. As accepted manuscripts are developed, please follow JWA‘s guidelines for submission. Queries may be addressed to the JWA editors, Diane Kelly-Riley and Carl Whithaus, at journalofwritingassessment@gmail.com.
The Journal of Writing Assessment provides a peer-reviewed forum for the publication of manuscripts from a variety of disciplines and perspectives that address topics in writing assessment. Submissions may investigate such assessment-related topics as grading and response, program assessment, historical perspectives on assessment, assessment theory, and educational measurement as well as other relevant topics. Articles are welcome from a variety of areas including K-12, college classes, large-scale assessment, and non-educational settings. We also welcome book reviews of recent publications related to writing assessment and annotated bibliographies of current issues in writing assessment.
Source: jwa