Assessing Students' Text-Based Arguments: Structural Features and Logical Coherence

• In Event: Poster Session 14
  In Poster Session: Advances in Reading and Writing Research

Abstract

Text-based argument writing is a vital literacy skill for students’ success in college and has become more prevalent in secondary schooling since the Common Core was established. We contend that instructional interventions in writing should address both structural and conceptual components of argumentation. We designed two feature-based rubrics, one to assess a student’s use of argument schema and another to assess the argument’s logical coherence in order to score 84 pieces of argument writing written by middle school students. Preliminary results suggest the two rubrics identify somewhat independent features. These findings have implications for researchers who are interested in measuring progress in student argument writing over time. The rubrics can also help teachers provide targeted feedback to their students.

Authors

• Emily Howe, University of Pittsburgh

• Richard James Correnti, University of Pittsburgh

• Mary Sartoris, University of Pittsburgh

• Rafael Quintana, University of Pittsburgh