The National Writing Project (NWP) is the nation's premier professional development network dedicated to improving the teaching of writing. The NWP network comprises nearly 200 local sites in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. This report presents the results of a seven-year survey study of teachers participating in NWP summer…

Summarizes 15 years of National Assessment of Educational Progress data on reading and writing in elementary schools. While reading performance has improved over the 1971-1984 period for black and Hispanic 9- and 13-year-olds and for younger disadvantaged children, writing results are less encouraging. Effective writing instruction may require…

A study was conducted at Walters State Community College (WSCC) using a "base rate" approach to evaluate developmental mathematics and English courses. The study involved the collection of data on students' success rates in developmental courses and later in college-level courses; on developmental students' success rates compared with…

A statewide sample testing of writing skills in the fourth, seventh, and tenth grades was conducted by the Michigan Educational Assessment Program in the fall of 1982. This report, which shares the writing assessment information (historical, descriptive, and interpretive) for educational decision-making, was prepared in the hope of increasing…

In 1992, a study was conducted at Golden West College (GWC) in California to determine whether an English prerequisite should be required for a speech communication course and, if so, what level of English course was necessary. Fourteen sections of Speech Communication 100 were randomly chosen from the spring, summer, and fall semesters during the…

In 1988, a follow-up study was conducted to describe and evaluate the academic progress of students who had been the subjects of fall 1986 and fall 1987 Learning Assessment Retention Consortium (LARC) student outcomes studies. The study samples included 2,012 students who had completed a remedial writing course at one of 10 participating…

In 2004, the Lumina Foundation for Education approved a generous grant to support validation research to explore and document the validity of the Community College Student Report (CCSR), add to the higher education field's understanding of student engagement, and help to identify research or institutional practices that require further attention.…

In spring 1992, a mid-term assessment of English 10 students was conducted at Golden West College, in California, in order to compare four course placement methods. English 10, "Writing Essentials," is a nontransferrable course which focuses on paragraph writing and grammar review in order to prepare students for entry into English 100.…