Compares White and African-American basic writers' texts produced during districtwide holistic writing assessments. Shows that White basic writers differ little from African-American basic writers, although African-Americans tend to use a stronger personal voice and drop standard word ending. Concludes that dialect is not the key issue. (MG)

Compares writing performance of Anglo American and Navajo students in grades 7 and 11 by gender and ethnicity. Finds, for example, that Navajo female students' writing is longer and more expressive than that of Navajo males. (Contains 40 references.) (PKP)

Finds main effects for group but not gender. Finds that the combined use of direct and indirect measures appeared most effective in examining the complexities of writing produced by learning-disabled and nonlearning disabled college students. (RS)

Notes a growing movement in elementary schools to expand the amount of time devoted to writing. Contends that the visual arts is a neglected aspect of the curriculum. Explores the influence of drawing on third-grade students' writing performance. Finds that students who drew before writing tended, overall, to write better than students who did not…

Examines argumentative and research papers written by students using Macintoshes in comparison to those written using IBM-compatibles. Finds that differences are not large enough to justify claims that the use of a graphical user interface affects writing skills. Suggests that rapid changes in technology makes the issue moot. (RS)

A study diagnosed the nature of different text production abilities of Swiss grade 5 and grade 9 students, and of adults, and diagnosed good and poor writers' differences within each of these three age groups. Subjects, 36 in all, were uniformly divided between 11- and 15-year-old students from the Bernese secondary school and high school…

Compares writing products of first graders who were taught to write using a structured approach (including phonemic awareness and phonics training) to the products of students taught using a holistic approach. Finds that children in the structured program wrote more words, wrote better overall compositions, and spelled more words and different…

This document compiles the one-page state "snapshot reports" for the 2002 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) writing assessment at grade 4. In 2002, 45 states and 5 other jurisdictions at grade 4 participated in the writing assessment. Two states at grade 4 did not meet minimum school participation guidelines for…

This study compared ISTEP+ (Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress) writing test scores before the implementation of a writing improvement program with ISTEP+ writing test scores. The study was conducted two years after such a program was implemented. Data from two groups was collected for this comparison. The first group used was the…

This document compiles the one-page state "snapshot reports" for the 2002 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) writing assessment at grade 8. In 2002, 44 states and 6 jurisdictions at grade 8 participated in the writing assessment. Three states at grade 8 did not meet minimum school participation guidelines for reporting…

In 1998 for the first time, the NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) administered a writing assessment at the state level. This report describes the writing achievement of Arkansas eighth-grade students and compares their overall performance to students in the Southeast region of the United States and the nation (using data from the…

In 1998 for the first time, the NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) administered a writing assessment at the state level. This report describes the writing achievement of California eighth-grade students and compares their overall performance to students in the West region of the United States and the nation (using data from the…

In 1998 for the first time, the NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) administered a writing assessment at the state level. This report describes the writing achievement of Connecticut eighth-grade students and compares their overall performance to students in the Northeast region of the United States and the nation (using data from…

In 1998 for the first time, the NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) administered a writing assessment at the state level. This report describes the writing achievement of Florida eighth-grade students and compares their overall performance to students in the Southeast region of the United States and the nation (using data from the…

In 1998 for the first time, the NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) administered a writing assessment at the state level. This report describes the writing achievement of Georgia eighth-grade students and compares their overall performance to students in the Southeast region of the United States and the nation (using data from the…