ABSTRACT
Chapter 9 addresses the question of how writing is evaluated in school. As Macken and Slade argue, this is not simply a question that comes at the tail end of our educational discussions. As schools are coming under increasing public and political scrutiny, testing is more frequently being presented as an important instrument for accountability. In some very important ways, the issue of testing is driving current educational discussions. As progressivist curriculum does not have a very convincing response in this area, there is a danger that we will be drawn back in the direction of standardised tests.
