“Voice” in children's science arguments: Aligning assessment criteria with genre and discipline

Rubrics commonly used in the U.S. to assess elementary students' writing often ask raters to score for “voice.” However, voice is not a unitary construct that can be applied across genres and disciplines. In this article, we draw on functional linguistics to describe features of voice in science writing. We then review national standards, state curriculum documents, assessments, and a popular commercial writing program, revealing that teachers get little guidance in understanding disciplinary and genre differences in the ways an authorial voice can be realized. We present a case study reporting on assessment of 2nd and 4th grade students' science arguments after instruction in voice features. Analysis of raters' scores and evaluative comments on that writing suggest a potential mismatch between teachers' expectations for voice in the logical arguments emphasized in standards recently adopted by a majority of U.S. states. We call for more differentiated rubrics for assessing voice to inform robust instruction that prepares students to write in different ways across genre and subject area.