Discusses the problems of readers' different responses to essay test passages and the implications for the subsequent writing assignment. Describes a model of the writing assessment episode and discusses four generalizations about writing task interpretation. (HTH)

Suggests that assessment must be built into the curriculum and focused upon the kinds of skills students need. Considers much educational testing in writing to be reductionist, unrealistic, and detrimental to learning. Critiques writing assessment's trust and reliance on a single or small sample of student work collected and scored outside of a…

Reports on the development and testing of the Revision and Editing Test. Presents the test and its answer key in an appendix. (RL)

Students at grades four and five were administered a writing assessment that was developed to correspond to the California Learning Assessment System (CLAS) writing tasks at grade four. Teachers were trained to score the CLAS-like tasks according to the rubric developed by the State for CLAS. In addition, 164 students at three schools in the…

This article identifies language issues confounding the assessment of deaf students' English writing competence. Possible alternate methods of test administration are explored, and direction for future test development is offered. (Author/DB)

To compare the different images of writing that different assessment methods produce, a study examined two formal writing assessments--holistic and the specially developed intra-subject paired comparison method (IPC)--of pre/post university freshman composition-course writing. The samples of writing were unrehearsed, 50 minute, in-class essays.…

Describes efforts in the Canadian provinces of Manitoba, British Columbia, New Brunswick, and Ontario to require actual samples of student writing on English performance tests. Includes a bibliography, a holistic marking scale, and an outline of criteria typical in analytic scoring. (EL)

A comparison of the holistic, error-count, and categorical methods of assessing written work presents disadvantages and advantages in terms of validity, reliability, and efficiency. The results of a pilot study indicate that the error-count method may provide the most benefits. (CB)

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…

Competency in the three skills areas of reading, writing, and mathematics is a requirement for high school graduation in the state of New York. The writing competency requirement consists of two tests: the Preliminary Competency Test in Writing, given to students in the eighth or ninth grade, and the Regents Competency Test in Writing, given to…

Discusses the gap between the perspectives and practices of (1) teachers in classrooms where writing and reading are being learned and put to good use and (2) those who test students' language competence. Considers ways to narrow this gap, including the notion of teachers acting as tester-researchers. (JD)

Prepared as part of a series applying recent research in oral and written communication to classroom practice, this booklet reviews a number of concepts and issues important to communication assessment. The first section of the booklet discusses several issues related to assessing communication at both district and classroom levels. Issues…

A former reader-evaluator of essays for "Advanced Placement Examination in English" explains why he cannot with good conscience continue as "part of a process which tells these students they are (to different degrees) 'qualified."' (RL)

This review of the Test of Early Written Language concludes that the test succeeds in identifying students who are below their peers in writing and in measuring long-term gains in written language achievement; but its format makes it difficult to document specific strengths and weaknesses and its reliability; and validity have not been…

A study examined whether Canadian twelfth grade students' papers would rate differently when they were written in different modes and whether there are significant differences between global (modified holistic) scores and rhetorical effectiveness (modified primary trait) scores for the same papers. Fifty students wrote on two transactional topics…