The document provides guiding questions for three readings on designing effective writing prompts and assessments. The first reading addresses common writing prompt formats and variables to consider when constructing prompts, such as topic, task, and audience. The second reading covers general principles for crafting prompts, such as clarity and appropriateness. The third reading examines different rating scale types like holistic and analytic scales, as well as factors to account for when devising writing evaluation rubrics.

1. GUIDING QUESTIONS
READING 1 – “Guidelines for Designing Writing Prompts: Clarification,
Caveats and Cautions”
1. What are the common formats of writing prompts? (Page 233)
2. What variables should teachers and test designers focus on when constructing
academic writing prompts? (Page 234-240)
3. What are the major steps in designing a specific writing promt? (Page 241-244)
READING 2 – “Guidelines for designing VSTEP writing items”
1. What are the general principles in designing effective writing prompts? (Page 5-10)
READING 3 – “Scoring procedures for writing assessment”
1. What are the common types of rating scales? (Page 109-112)
2. What are the differences between holistic and analytical scales ? (Page 121)
3. What are the factors to consider in designing writing rating scales? (Page 122-128)