Background/Context: Many students in the United States need access to effective writing instruction, with some requiring intensive intervention. Results from the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) in writing over the past 25 years revealed that most students in the U.S. have yet to attain a proficient level of written expression…

Designed to evaluate high school or college writing programs and writing instruction, this instrument includes six different questionnaires that provide information about the foundations of the writing program; teachers' assumptions, goals, and plans; classroom activities as observed by colleagues; the quality of writing assignments; the quality…

In an effort to identify characteristics of effective college composition programs, an examination was made of 19 campuses of the California State University. Each English department chair was sent a "fact sheet" requesting program information on such matters as the use of placement test scores, sequence of and prerequisites for lower…

This response to Englert's article (EC 602 935) on sociocultural factors in teaching writing to students with learning disabilities addresses the application of social constructivist theory. It notes that the success of the Cognitive Strategy Instruction in Writing program may be not only attributable to its holistic social emphasis but also to…

Outlines elements of instruction--knowledge, information, action--and describes each in the context of writing instruction, reviews writing research, and uses these components of instruction to explore possibilities for automated writing instruction. The Writer's Workbench language analysis programs are used to illustrate major points. Program…

These two serial issues are devoted to the impact of computers on education, and specifically their effects on developmental education programs. First "The Effects of Computer-Based Instruction" summarizes the literature on the impact of computer-based instruction, including a study by James and Chen-Lin Kulik and Peter Cohen, which found that:…

Getting papers published in the (largely English-language) international literature is important for individual researchers, their institutions, and the academic community, and the resulting pressure is being felt increasingly in China as a result of top-down policy initiatives. For many researchers, reaching this goal involves two intersecting…

An analysis was conducted of the results of a formative evaluation of the LiteracyLink "Workplace Essential Skills" (WES) learning system conducted in the fall of 1998. (The WES learning system is a multimedia learning system integrating text, sound, graphics, animation, video, and images in a computer system and includes a videotape series, a…