Writing Assessment Bridge: The Journey to Pass the TSIA2 Essay and Navigate from High School Over to College Courses

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D)

Department

Literature and Languages

Date of Award

Spring 2025

Abstract

This dissertation investigates writing instruction alignment from high school to college by examining an assessment designed to bridge the two realms of education. This exam, called the Texas Success Initiative Assessment 2.0 (TSIA2), is a college placement test required by institutions of higher education in Texas as a gauge of student readiness for college-level writing. I examine the nature of the test by looking closely at rubrics, scoring guides, and example essay score rationales alongside standards taught in high school and college classroom settings. I look at three areas for alignment including high school writing instruction, college writing instruction, and the TSIA2 as the intended connection in the following methods: • Texas Education Agency (TEA) and the STAAR End of Course (EOC) assessments as insight into high school writing instruction • Five Dallas area colleges including East Texas A&M University (ETAMU), the University of North Texas (UNT), the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD), Baylor University (BU), and Austin College (AC) for insight into college writing instruction • Accuplacer and College Board information over the TSIA2 to gain a better understanding of the bridge intended to connect high school and college The study provides valuable insights into writing pedagogy and measurement through analysis of rubrics, prompts, example essays, score rationale, syllabi, writing programs websites, and other publicly available information to identify the disconnect in the current system, using foundational scholarship in the fields of composition and rhetoric, supported by others in education, linguistics, and research methods. I begin with the history and context of writing instruction and assessment followed by analysis of related documents mentioned. As a result, I present test prep materials which I created as a writing instructor to help students overcome the challenges presented by the Accuplacer essay. This portion presents a multi-modal approach by providing the website link and figures of the materials created to share the writing “boot camp” designed to help students decode the essay rubric, write to the computer-scored platform, and successfully earn a passing score, thus passing over the bridge from high school to college.

Advisor

Ashanka Kumari

Subject Categories

Arts and Humanities | Rhetoric and Composition

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