Developing Scales and Investigating Writing Proficiency Among Fifth- and Eighth-Grade Students in Norway

• In Event: Poster Session 1
  In Poster Session: Issues in Assessment Development and Practice in Public School Classrooms

Abstract

In 2010 the Norwegian National Writing Center (NWC) was commissioned to develop a national sample-based writing test (NSBWT), informing relevant stake holders about student writing proficiency. This paper reports on the developmental work with the final NSBWT, answering three questions: How was the scales developed? Was it possible to reliably measure writing proficiency with the scales? What were the results of the NSBWT?
Participants in the scale development were a group of senior researchers, teachers and test developers. Participants in the NSBWT were 950 students.
Scale development is described in the paper. Reliability analysis revealed trustworthy results with an overall test reliability of .95. There were major differences between 5th and 8th grade students and between boys and girls.

Authors

• Arne Johannes Aasen, Norwegian University of Sceince and Technology

• Gustaf Bernhard Uno Skar, Norwegian University of Sceince and Technology