Analyzes the implicit requirements for achieving reliable results from holistic ratings of writing samples and argues that these conditions bring the validity of the ratings into doubt. (HOD)

Reports on the steps undertaken and the discoveries made by the English department of Illinois State University in its development of a valid, reliable measure of student competency in freshman composition. (HOD)

Investigates the question of T-unit length stability in informative discourse written by freshmen near the end of an intensive course in college writing. (HOD)

Examines the relative effects on holistic scores given to college students' expository essays of three types of variables--essay, reader, and environment. (HOD)

Using essays written by twelfth grade students, a study explored the relationship of Halliday and Hasan's system for analyzing cohesion and instructors' ranking of textual coherence. (HOD)

The test scores of college freshmen given both a multiple choice test and an essay test of writing skills were compared to assess the validity of a multiple choice test compared with an essay test. (HOD)

Explores the effects of a high-stakes, direct writing test on three teachers and their students. Suggests that an emphasis on test preparation diminished the likelihood of the teachers' engaging in reflective practice that is sensitive to the needs of individual students, and that the high-stakes assessment process discounted the validity of…

Observations of four students, from their second through fourth grades, as they evaluated compositions revealed, among other findings, that (1) affective responses tend to dominate quality judgments, (2) the number of criteria children used in arriving at quality judgments increased over time, and (3) evaluation criteria are used in both planning…

Identifies a set of linguistic/rhetorical measures which were developed to analyze cross-cultural differences in student argumentative/persuasive writing at the same age level. Compares the writing achievement of students from America, England, and New Zealand to test these measures, and contrasts these results with those produced by holistic…