Using Pooled Judgments to Develop Tests of Basic Writing

In this paper I describe the technique that we at East Texas State University use to create, administer, and monitor valid and reliable measures of the writing skills of students enrolled in basic writing courses. 1 Our technique meets two major needs: it provides one means by which the instructors of basic writing students2may benefit from the judgments of colleagues in assessing the skill levels of their students, and it allows students to have an audience beyond the class in which they are enrolled.