Reports on a study in the development of content-fair essay topics that provide the majority of examinees with the chance to write on a subject about which they know a great deal, and that reduce opportunities for linguistic misinterpretation. (HTH)

Concludes that the rhetorical specification approach to developing essay examination topics (giving writers information about the purpose of a composition, its audience, speaker, and subject) may not be the best way to elicit good writing. (JL)

A study tested the hypothesis that essay examination topics specifying full rhetorical contexts are superior to less information-laden versions of the same topics. Subjects were 360 college students who were given 45 minutes to write essays on 6 topics phrased at 3 information (or specificity of rhetorical context) levels--high, low, and moderate.…

Examines the effects of essay topic variations on the writing performance of honors students and students of low ability taking Florida's College-Level Academic Skills Test (CLAST). Finds that the effects of variations in essay topics are not significant compared to general verbal ability in English and prior experiences in writing. (RS)

Describes a study of the influence of wording changes in essay questions on test performance. Results did not support the hypothesis that such changes would affect writer performance. (HTH)

The hypothesis that role-playing scenarios specifying full rhetorical contexts were a superior means of eliciting valid writing samples for the purpose of assessing compositional skills of prospective Florida teachers was tested. In addition, topics for use on the initial administrations of the Florida Teacher Competency Examination's writing…

This manual is designed as a guide for the initial training of raters and referees in holistic evaluation of writing samples. It is intended for use by a single trainer in a group of twelve (nine raters, three referees) trainees. The manual is divided into sections corresponding to the procedures to be used in the training sessions. The left hand…

Technical problems involved in obtaining scores for essays written by teacher candidates are addressed. The rating procedure assures that each essay is read by three raters specially trained for the task. Ratings range from "1" for incompetent or unacceptable to "4" for outstanding. The score assigned to each essay will be the…