Taking the long view on writing development

Studies on writing development have grown in diversity and depth in recent decades, but remain fragmented along lines of theory, method, and age ranges or populations studied. Meaningful, competent writing performances that meet the demands of the moment rely on many kinds of well-practiced and deeply understood capacities working together; however, these capacities’ realization and developmental trajectories can vary from one individual to another. Without an integrated framework to understand lifespan development of writing abilities in its variation, high-stakes decisions about curriculum, instruction, and assessment are often made in unsystematic ways that may fail to support the development they are intended to facilitate; further, research may not consider the range of issues at stake in studying writing in any particular moment. To address this need and synthesize what is known about the various dimensions of writing development at different ages, the coauthors of this essay have engaged in sustained discussion, drawing on a range of theoretical and methodological perspectives. Drawing on research from different disciplinary perspectives, they propose eight principles upon which an account of writing development consistent with research findings could be founded. These principles are proposed as a basis for further lines of inquiry into how writing develops across the lifespan

The Nature of Knowledge in Composition and Literary Understanding: The Question of Specificity

↵PETER SMAGORINSKY is Assistant Professor, College of Education, University of Oklahoma, 820 Van Vleet Oval, Norman, OK 73019-0. He specializes in classroom literacy.Yeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline

Issues in Large-Scale Writing Assessment: Perspectives from the National Assessment of Educational Progress

This article reviews the development of the framework for the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress in writing. An issue paper commissioned by the National Assessment Governing Board is used to consider a number of continuing issues in large-scale assessment of writing, including the definition of the domain of writing tasks, which tasks should actually be assessed at which grade levels, the relationship of the assessment to postsecondary demands, the role of commonly available tools such as word processing software in the construct of writing achievement, the specification and measurement of achievement, the development of appropriate topics for writing, the issue of time for writing, and accommodations for English learners, students with disabilities, and low achievers

Applebee, Arthur N., Curriculum as Conversation: Transforming Traditions of Teaching and Learning. Chicago: The University of Chicago, 1996.

Proposes a conception of curriculum as conversation with attendent options for alternative patterns of design and related pedogogy; examples are from models in the curriculum of English but principles are applicable more generally

Recherches en écritures : regards pluriels

International audienceIn February 2014, nearly 1,200 researchers from 60 countries took part in the Third Writing Research Across Borders Conference, which presented a “cross­border” panorama of recent happenings in research in writing. These borders were not only geographical borders, but epistemological ones as well, since writing is a complex matter that resists being considered as a whole. The borders are also linguistic, since research into writing is notemphasized in the same way, according to whether the language for the intellectual sphere is English or French. This is why the articles in this review have been published in the language in which they were originally written. The first two Sections concern articles about the activity of writing, in compulsory schooling on the one hand; and in the Academic and Professional worlds in the other hand. The third Section concerns articles which deal with the cognitive and linguistic dimensions of writing. A panorama of present-­day research in writing is presented through the articles in this book – as a witness to the manner in which our knowledge of writing and learning how to write is progressing.En février 2014, la troisième édition du congrès Writing Research Across Borders a rassemblé à Paris près de 1200 chercheurs venus de 60 pays, offrant ainsi un vaste aperçu de l’actualité des recherches en écriture, « au-delà des frontières ». Frontières nationales certes, mais aussi frontières d’ordre épistémologique, parce que l’écriture est un objet complexe résistant aux entreprises holistiques. Et frontières linguistiques car les recherches sur l’écriture n’ont pas exactement les mêmes accentuations selon qu’elles proviennent d’une sphère intellectuelle qui a pour langue de travail l’anglais ou le français, d’où le choix de faire figurer dans ce recueil les articles dans leur langue originale. Les deux premières sections de l’ouvrage regroupent des articles s’intéressant à l’activité d’écriture, d’une part dans le cadre de la scolarité obligatoire, d’autre part à l’université et dans le monde professionnel. La troisième section regroupe des articles questionnant les dimensions cognitive et linguistique de l’écriture. Ainsi, à travers les articles rassemblés dans cet ouvrage, se dessine un paysage de la recherche actuelle en écriture, qui témoigne de la manière dont progresse notre connaissance de l’écriture et de son apprentissage