Volunteer Writing Coach Project

A Collaborative Service Project of
Morehead State University and Rowan County Schools

Kentucky's shift to portfolio assessment is a progressive step, but the transition has presented a tremendous challenge. As a writing instructor and parent of elementary, middle-, and high-school students, I have observed with great respect the effort in the past few years in local classrooms toward this transition. Even the teachers most committed to the advantages of portfolio assessment will admit that the greatest frustration is just finding time in the school day to conference each student through the process of each portfolio piece.

During the 1993-94 school year, we initiated a means for higher education faculty, staff, and qualified students to provide some support. The project is in now in its fourth year and expanding. The response from both volunteer coaches and host teachers has been extremely favorable and suggests that we have discovered a real need and an opportunity for genuine service that not only benefits host teachers and their students but also teaches us, as visitors, a great deal about the nature of the assessment process mandated by KERA.

For more information about this project, go to a descriptive article, "Extending Conference Time with Volunteer Writing Coaches."

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