ABSTRACT
During the 2000-1 school year, our small coastal school district of fewer than 1,000 students decided to implement a standards-based writing assessment for our K-6 students (approximately 5-12 year-olds). I responded to this new development with mixed feelings. One part of me welcomed the attention to writing that a new writing assessment would bring to our district. Another part of me feared the limitations of this assessment and the prospect of writing instruction becoming another “teaching to the test” opportunity. I didn’t want writing to become formulaic with the writing assessment as the sole focus. I still wanted writing to be creative, explorative, and meaningful to students. Instead of complaining, resisting, or passively acquiescing, I decided to use this as an opportunity for inquiry. As a teacher-researcher and a teacher with a strong interest in writing, I became involved in the development of our district prompted writing assessment and researched its effect on my students. Specifically, my research focused on my desire to understand the relationship between classroom writing instruction and district-wide prompted writing assessment.
