When the Mesa, Arizona Public Schools initiated an ambitious writing instruction program in 1978, two assessments based on student writing samples were developed. The first is based on a ninth grade proficiency test. If the student does not pass the test, high school remediation is provided. After 1987, students must pass this test in order to…

Concerned with the failure of multiple choice tests to measure composition--as opposed to grammar and usage--skills, college researchers studied the value of using writing samples to place students in composition classes. Evaluating the writing samples of 300 incoming freshmen, they did not find a high correlation between sample scores and…

This paper reports on Educational Testing Service research studies investigating the parameters critical to reliability and validity in both the direct and indirect writing ability assessment of higher education applicants. The studies involved: (1) formulating an operational definition of writing competence; (2) designing and pretesting writing…