Wikipedia:School and university projects/Kentucky portfolio transactive writing

Overview of Transactive Writing
Transactive writing, or what may be more commonly known as real-world or authentic writing, is one of four types of writing that must be included in the K-12 Kentucky Writing Portfolio for Assessment. It is characteristic of writing for publication, not writing to learn or writing to demonstrate learning. Although it may incorporate content knowledge, its main function is to achieve an authentic purpose for an authentic audience, using an authentic form. As a type of writing for publication, transactive writing incorporates academic writing, technical writing, workplace writing, and persuasive writing and requires the writer to engage in analysis and critical thinking skills.1


 * [[Image:Transactive.jpg]]

Authentic Purpose
The Kentucky Department of Education defines transactive writing as “writing from an informed writer to a less informed reader.”2 The emphasis, then, is on the writer accomplishing a meaningful purpose for the benefit of the reader. For this reason, transactive writing is not confined to the classroom; it needs to fulfill more than just the requirements of a class assignment.1 When composing a transactive piece, students may do any one of the following actions in order to achieve an authentic purpose:


 * Evaluate
 * Analyze
 * Interpret
 * Defend an idea
 * Solve a problem
 * Propose a change
 * Explain a procedure
 * Draw conclusions from inquiry
 * Support an idea
 * Clear up a misconception
 * Provide/explain needed information
 * Persuade readers
 * Present a needed plan
 * Convey emotions and ideas about human experiences
 * Create artistic expressions
 * Reflect on experiences
 * Entertain1

Authentic Audience
The audiences for transactive pieces must also be authentic. They almost always should include someone or some people other than the class teacher. Yet, in order for an audience to be authentic, it has to be capable of actually reading the transactive writing. Prompts that ask for students to pretend they were living at some other time writing to some other people do not elicit transactive writing.1 Following are some examples of authentic audiences:
 * An individual
 * A group
 * Classmates
 * Readers of a publication
 * People concerned about a problem
 * People interested in a hobby
 * Citizens, members of the community
 * Parents
 * People who requested a report (e.g., supervisor/boss)
 * People with a certain view or position on an issue
 * People interested in literature
 * Readers of literary magazines
 * Readers of academic journals
 * People interested in ideas about human experience
 * School leaders (principal, teachers, site-based council)
 * Participants in a conference, meeting or seminar
 * Learners in the study area or discipline
 * People serving in workplace roles
 * Public officials
 * People who can act on a proposal
 * Scholarship committees1

Authentic Form
The final component of transactive writing is the authentic form which it is supposed to take. Several examples of authentic forms are listed below.
 * Articles (Various publications [academic, technical, general, special interest, workplace, etc.])
 * Editorials
 * Written speeches
 * Letters
 * Proposals
 * Reviews (movie, book, theater, art, music, etc.)
 * Personal essays
 * Personal narratives
 * Memoirs
 * Short stories
 * Plays/scripts1

NOTE: Brochures are not included on this list since they are not considered appropriate for the Kentucky Writing Portfolio, though they do constitute transactive writing. The reason for this is because the portfolio requires a “depth of idea development;” brochures, by definition, are intended to demonstrate breadth, not depth, of knowledge.1 The Kentucky Writing Handbook, published by the Kentucky Department of Education, states, “form alone does not make a piece a good choice for the assessment portfolio”.1 When writing transactively, students must be aware that form is dependent upon both purpose and audience.

Scoring Transactive Writing for the Kentucky Writing Portfolio
In the second semester of the school year, 12th graders in the state of Kentucky finish the compilation of their writing portfolios. Once submitted, transactive writing, as all other included pieces of writing, is scored according to content, structure, and conventions. The scoring is analytical, double-blind, and results in the determination of one of the following performance levels: novice (non-performance), novice, high novice, low apprentice, mid apprentice, high apprentice, proficient, or distinguished.1

See:

School and university Kentucky portfolio scoring