Assessment: Insights Into Teachers\u27 Beliefs and Practices

It is well established that instruction in process writing is important from the primary grades through the high school years. The work of Graves (1983) and Calkins (1986) provides teachers with a theoretical framework for implementing process writing instruction. However, wide variation in translating theory into practice is evident among teachers (Mangano and Allen, 1986; Bridge, Hiebert and Chesky, 1983). Research reveals that teachers seem to maintain their preset notions about writing conventions such as correct spelling, proper grammar and neatness while attempting to incorporate process writing into the curriculum (Ray, Lee and Stansell, 1986). Thus, teachers\u27 conceptualizations seem to affect the way writing is taught (Bridge, Hiebert and Chesky, 1983)