Responding to Writing
Faculty response to student writing often takes the form of evaluation.
Evaluating student writing and grading it are two different activities, as Peter Elbow so convincingly argues in "Ranking, Evaluating and Liking: Sorting out Three Forms of Judgment" (College English 55.2 February 1993, 187-206). The evaluator acts as a reader, questioning, exclaiming, connecting; the grader communicates only by translating an evaluation into a single number. The evaluation examples here are offered as guidelines; each assignment exists within a larger context determined by the instructor.
Some faculty may prefer rubrics that evaluate various aspects of the writing product; others may prefer a holistic approach in which an overall rhetorical effect is evaluated; still others may opt for a dimensional approach that assesses traits. Evaluation instruments may also include peer reviews, individual conferences and portfolios. Ultimately, what is most important is that every evaluation serve as an educational moment for student and instructor alike.
"Responding to Student Writing" by R. Straub
Sample Portfolio Rubric
"Managing the Paper Load" by R. Straub