Expresses the serious problems inherent in minimum competency testing, particularly as it is used in assessing student writing ability. (RL)

Raises three issues of competency testing: how competency is to be defined, tested, and paid for. (JL)

A tongue-in-cheek version of a school administrator's "memorandum" illustrates how simplistic solutions to the educational problems, such as establishing minimum competencies for writing achievement, are generated and why they may not solve the problems. (RL)

Describes a remedial writing class in which students learned organizational skills by cutting up and rearranging their own freewriting on a particular topic. (JL)

Stresses that both teachers' experiences in writing projects and the work of educational researchers support a "romantic" attitude toward writing in opposition to the back-to-basics and drill approaches. (JL)