Title: Writing for Diversity
Description: Writing for Diversity explores why assessment matters in the context of school communities and students’ lives. It draws from the initial findings of a multiyear research study on the consequences of writing assessment in New York City’s public high schools and CUNY colleges to explore a) how students experience writing, learning and school; and b) develop a student-centered approach to writing assessment research (using a variety of creative tools). In the introduction, called “People and Places,” I thread research on assessment consequences into a narrative on my experience in schools. In the first chapter, called “Design and Production,” I describe the project, which is intended to support community-driven, student-centered research, with an emphasis on promoting learning and diversity. In the second chapter, “Ethical Aims and Attempts,” I explore the ethical questions that emerged from field research. In the final chapter, called “Diversity as Knowledge,” I analyze the New York City Department of Education and City University of New York’s current methods for sorting and reporting demographic data and describe what I consider a more future-oriented approach to describing people in places (e.g., self-reporting, intersectional methods of analysis).

More important, I share what students had to say through the lens of what I consider goals or desirable consequences of writing assessment: student learning and school success, inclusion, equity and access, and the development of capabilities. I close by arguing for writing, teaching and research that reflects present realities and works toward an unknown and more just future.