Despite the debate among writing researchers about its viability as a pedagogical tool in writing instruction [e.g., Helms-Park, R., & Stapleton, P. (2003). "Questioning the importance of individualized voice in undergraduate L2 argumentative writing: An empirical study with pedagogical implications." "Journal of Second Language Writing," 12 (3),…

Examines one aspect of elaboration in student writing as a product of the encounter between writers and readers. Studies a stratified random sample of student placement tests. Finds patterns that correlate significantly with readers' evaluations of texts. Concludes these patterns are two strategies for managing discursive conflict in this…

The variety of factors contributing to the quality of handwriting or print provides an opportunity to determine the extent to which teachers are influenced by the interaction between different bias elements during evaluation of examinations. Fifty-three teachers evaluated compositions that had been awarded grades of 80% by impartial experts. A…

Describes a project in which researchers work with teachers to increase their knowledge of a specific genre of writing and to use the knowledge in response to student work. Finds that few teachers used the feedback response form or scoring rubric provided to them but that teachers used many of the assessment techniques in instructional design and…

Addresses, in an empirical study, the role personality types of writers and of raters play in the holistic rating of writing, and whether there is a relationship between writers' personalities and raters' personalities. Indicates writers' personality types affect the ratings their essays receive and raters' personality types affect the ratings…

Investigates gender effects in critique of student writing. Finds that readers spontaneously constructed the author's sex even when they were not informed of it; rated the essays lower when they knew the writer was of their own sex; and showed an anti-male bias (measured by holistic rating) and an anti-feminine bias (measured by attribution of…

Discusses the possible disjunct between what is good for large-scale assessment and what is good for teaching and learning. Represents one attempt to "marry" large-scale and classroom perspectives. Presents background and rationale for a new narrative rubric that was designed to support classroom instruction. Presents evidence for the…

Defines a two-stage process by which a holistic rubric is applied to the assessment of open-ended items, such as writing samples. Indicates that the use of rating augmentation can improve the inter-rater reliability of holistic assessments, as indicated by generalizability phi coefficients, correlation coefficients, and percent agreement indices.…

Explores the dynamics of writing college application essays. Analyzes four high school seniors' think-aloud protocols as they composed the essays and college admissions officers' remarks as they read the essays. Finds that successful essayists were able to balance the requested self disclosure and the unstated deep institutional concern for…

Reviews findings of an investigation in which four European-American teachers assessed fifth- and sixth-grade students' written texts. Replicates the study using African-American teachers assessing the same texts. Finds that the teachers held consistently different views about assessment. Presents the voices of the African-American teachers, who…

Compares essays composed by secondary school students with pen and paper to those composed on a word processor. Finds that word-processed essays were neater, longer, more formal, and had a weaker voice than pen-and-paper essays. Finds word-processed essay quality was unaffected for students with high to medium computer experience but was adversely…

Suggests that students continue to regard teacher responses as directives that leave them few options in revisions. Finds that students generally look to their teachers to show them the "correct" way to write and resist the notion of making independent judgments about their writing and the necessary revisions, primarily because they could not…

Suggests and illustrates three areas for investigation: effects of error on teachers' processing of student writing; relationship between error and teacher's construction of the writer's persona; and the relationship between the changing status of socially constructed norms of language use and response to error. Advocates greater focus on…

Writing across the curriculum (WAC) programs had their genesis in grass-roots efforts to promote attention to writing in all disciplinary areas. At first based on generic faculty-development activities with little regard to systemic and institutional concerns, WAC programs are now more often engaged in assessment and research of writing,…

Examines the dynamic relation between response theory and responding practice, noting how the author commented on the writing of one case-study student. Argues that effective teacher response puts into practice certain accepted principles of response and adapts comments to the larger classroom context, according to the sequence of assignments and…