Reimagining Writing Assessment for Socio- and Racio-Linguistic Justice

Abstract

This case study draws on data from a multi-year qualitative study on middle school students' uses of linguistic repertoires in a two-way dual language immersion school (Spanish/English) and their teachers' development of writing assessment. In this project, the authors explored emergent bilingual middle school students' writing to identify students' translanguaging practices. They also examined teachers' burgeoning understanding of translanguaging and its implications for assessment. The participants included 20 (eleven 7th and nine 8th grade) emergent bilingual middle school students in a dual language (50/50 model) elementary/middle school in the Mid-Atlantic region. The authors also examined how teachers developed ideas around writing assessment with 18 faculty members (including instructional aides). Findings revealed tensions between identifying multilinguistic repertoires and legitimizing them as valid meaning-making practices. The discussion aims to contribute to the development of socio- and racio-linguistically just assessment tools that validate all students' cultures and languages.