Challenging Neuronormativity: A Disability Studies Framework for Communal Justice in Writing Assessment

Abstract

This dissertation’s primary goal is to trouble the ableism embedded in the ways writing is taught and evaluated. Drawing on principles of disability justice, user experience (UX) design, and socially just writing assessment theory, I develop equity-oriented approaches to classroom grading, writing program directed self-placement, and theories of validity. I argue that for writing assessment ecologies to continue moving toward the goals of justice and equity, including intersectional anti-ableism, there must be commitments to crip community building, flexibility as access, radical trust, and participatory localization. This dissertation thus examines how ableist norms, particularly those around neurodivergence (non-normative ways of thinking, behaving, and being), inform writing assessment across various assessment sites. In synthesizing multiple justice frameworks, I provide timely contributions (both theoretical and practical) to the aim of equity-oriented assessment methodologies. I focus on critiquing normative assumptions of how we value and assess student writing so that we may improve students’ learning conditions in our classrooms and beyond.