| Within the current national conversation about high-stakes testing is a more defined debate about writing assessment. At issue is the best way to accurately measure and increase students' competence at writing, a key component of literacy. As a result, many states have developed high-stakes, direct writing assessments in an effort to increase student writing performance. This ethnographic case study of four eleventh-grade English teachers sought to investigate their attitudes about writing, how they teach writing, and the Georgia state-wide direct writing assessment. In addition, their perceptions about the link between their beliefs and instructional practice were explored. Specific research questions were: (1) How can teachers' attitudes toward writing and the teaching of writing be characterized? (2) What are teachers' attitudes toward direct writing assessments, the Georgia High School Graduation Writing Test (GHSGWT) in particular? To what extent do teachers feel responsible for their students' performance on such tests? (3) What relationships, if any, are evident between teachers' beliefs and their teaching of writing?; Preliminary data collection activities began in Spring 2004, while intensive data collection and analysis took place throughout Fall 2004 and into Spring 2005. Data sources included a demographic questionnaire, three in-depth phenomenological interviews of between 60--90 minutes each for every teacher, three classroom observations for each teacher, debriefing sessions for each observation, member checking with the entire group, and a research journal.; Results revealed a strong commitment to teaching writing because of its importance in student literacy, as well as a need for greater support of such teaching through increased professional development in writing pedagogy and better coordination of writing standards and expectations at the state, district, and local school levels. In addition, teachers endorsed student accountability for competent writing through testing, but they cited specific aspects of the Georgia assessment that could be improved. Lastly, teachers articulated reasons for the link, or lack of connection, between their attitudes and instructional practice. |
