Assessing and providing feedback for student writing in Canadian classrooms

This paper reports on the feedback and assessment practices of Canadian grades 4–8 teachers; the data are drawn from a national study of the teaching of writing at the middle grades in all ten Canadian provinces and two (of three) territories. Respondents were 216 grades 4–8 teachers from rural and urban schools. Data sources were audio-recorded telephone interviews analyzed using a constant comparative method. Participating teachers were mindful that feedback is important for student self-esteem; they valued peer editing and viewed feedback as essential for fostering students’ writing development; they strove to be what they considered “objective” while adhering to criteria for standardized exams.