The growing interest in the higher education sector in publishing pedagogical research has led to a focus on professional development for staff who wish to engage in this endeavour. This paper describes and evaluates a specific programme designed to help university staff to prepare and submit a high-quality paper to a peer-reviewed journal.…

In 2007, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) funded 22 colleges to establish developmental summer bridge programs. Aimed at providing an alternative to traditional developmental education, these programs involve intensive remedial instruction in math, reading, and/or writing and college preparation content for students entering…

Discusses the experiences (reading, scoring, discussing, reviewing, refining of scoring, etc.) of a participant in the first-ever competitive review of all sites of the National Writing Project. Notes that the participant read many applications from sites that "lived" the model on which the project is based. (RS)

Describes two methodological approaches (qualitative and quantitative) that grow out of two different research examples. Suggests the problems these methods present. Discusses the ways in which an awareness of these problems can help teachers to understand how to work with researchers in designing useful evaluations of writing programs. (PRA)

Suggests that students and tutors resist conference summaries because they maintain a hierarchy between student and tutor. Proposes that tutors and students need to embrace the resistance that they feel toward conference summaries and rethink how tutoring sessions are "written up." Concludes that tutors must be willing to believe that students can…

Lists six recommendations made by consultants who evaluated a writing program at Lehigh University. Gives a brief history of the problem that led to each of the recommendations. Offers five tips for others who are thinking of doing a writing program evaluation. (MG)

Considers that ever since distance learning technology has enabled colleges and universities to offer courses to students who might otherwise not be able to earn college credit, resistance has emerged on pedagogical or fiscal grounds. Notes that most students in distance learning composition classes indicate that they would participate in such a…

The late Donald C. Stewart's assertion that "the era of the cognitive psychologists is waning; the era of the social constructionists is just beginning" drew attention to a major ontological and epistemological shift in composition studies. This shift demanded a methodology to accommodate it. Some composition researchers have considered…

Noting that present evaluation systems are so limited that they are neither reliable nor valid, this monograph critically reviews studies designed to evaluate composition programs at four major universities. The book offers theoretical and practical guidance through discussion of generalities from the four studies and pertinent questions and…

Evaluates the effectiveness of a writing improvement program outside the English department. Finds that the program prepared students for writing on the job. Considers changes in the writing program to make it a true writing-across-the-curriculum program. (RS)

Presents a draft (representing a massive revision) of the guidelines that have directed campus self-studies (preceding visits from WPA consultant-evaluators) for over a decade. Requests interested persons to make comments and propose changes to the draft document. (RS)

Describes the institutional and programmatic context in which a consultant-evaluation visit was requested at Washington State University and the evaluators' recommendations and subsequent changes that have taken place. Lists five reasons for requesting an evaluation. (MG)

Examines two West Virginia writing centers and finds no significant difference in the writing quality growth of students taught by individualized instruction in writing centers and those taught by conventional classroom instruction. Finds that the writing center programs achieved the same gain at one-half the instructional cost. (RS)

Describes the training program at Penn State University for training nontraditional composition instructors--those with no formal training in English. Evaluation of the training program indicated that students' writing neither benefited nor suffered from new teachers' lack of teaching experience, because of the effectiveness of the training they…

States that one liberating feature of modern writing centers is the way they oblige individuals to (re)examine conventional definitions. Argues that writing centers contribute to developments in writing pedagogy. Describes the WCCD (Writing Center Conference Diagnostic) test and how it is used in writing centers. Discusses success and failure in…