Is grading writing even possible?

I recently had a conversation with someone who didn’t know I was an English teacher. More accurately, I overheard a conversation in which one person said she liked writing, and the other person complained that the teaching of writing in college was basically a scam. Why? Because, he reasoned, the grading was inconsistent. Unlike math or science, where you have an objective standard, “you could turn in the same paper to three different teachers, and all three would give you a different grade.”

It’s a reasonable concern. I was relieved to be able to ruminate without engaging, because while I felt defensive, I needed some time to formulate my thoughts.

What would I say in reply? Part of the problem is that writing is a different activity than solving a math problem with one right answer. Those three different hypothetical teachers probably weren’t all setting the same problem to be solved in their writing assignments. They might well be setting different writing tasks — evaluating, or interpreting, or arguing, or reporting information, or reflecting on an issue or reading. They may have been specifying different audiences as well. Classmates? Or a more general audience that doesn’t share the same body of facts the class has access to? Scholarly, or popular? And how about the host of other requirements those three teachers could have differed about: length, research, documentation, process work, and so on.

Suppose I wrote a great report on the songbirds in our local nature preserves, and then submitted it to Nature, Scientific American, and Nature Friend. Each publication is aimed at a different audience (adult scholars, adults with an interest in science, and children). They also have different research, length and formatting standards. Each one would assess my report differently. Yet this isn’t because assessment of writing is illegitimate; it’s because assessment of writing involves several criteria that cannot be applied to every kind of writing or situation. 2+2 always equals 4, but my report on birds won’t get an A everywhere.

Still, most of us can distinguish “good” from “bad” writing. Good writing connects with its intended audience and accomplishes the purpose for which it is deployed. Most of us are comfortable making these calls informally all the time. But assigning grades can seem unfair to students and intimidating to teachers. And there’s certainly some subjectivity involved that can be abused if we don’t approach it with care.

Certain practices can help ensure fairness, as well as ensure that grades are a constructive tool in learning. Clear expectations and rubrics that can be discussed with students help to establish achievable goals. We also have different assessment approaches to choose from, such as analytic, holistic, and contract grading. One of the great things about homeschooling is that parents can choose the approach that works best for their student, and use that approach consistently. Rewrites are an option as well, though this can be controversial. I used to be against rewrites (and am still against unlimited rewrites). I felt that the process of producing a paper was already revisionary, since it involved multiple drafts. But I’ve come to believe that allowing students to have another go at a paper that went off track can be a good learning experience. A grade can get their attention, and if they understand where they went wrong and have the motivation to go back and revise, how is that not a win? The student gains valuable insight into the writing process and discovers that it’s not rocket science or fate.

But I’ve gone off the track myself. The original topic was whether grading is totally subjective and therefore illegitimate. My answer is no. We have standards, and they should be clear and consistent for students. But the standards should also be applied in a way that motivates students to write. The goal is to minimize anxiety, so that they know they’re free to make mistakes and learn from them — as long as they keep writing.

We learn to write by writing. I can’t think of a greater discouragement to this than believing the grading process is inherently inscrutable and unfair.