This paper reports on an analysis of large-scale assessments of Grades 5-8 students' writing across 10 provinces and 2 territories in Canada. Theory, classroom practice, and the contributions and constraints of large-scale writing assessment are brought together with a focus on Grades 5-8 writing in order to provide both a broad view of…

Focusing on the process approach to writing instruction, this book presents 18 instructional strategies organized around the four essential stages of the writing process: prewriting, drafting, editing, and sharing. Chapter 1 contains a program assessment survey to help teachers evaluate their current writing program and decide which strategies to…

A study investigated the effectiveness of the Writing Express program (similar to the "Writing to Read" program, but with the distinction that students write in their second-grade classrooms and follow thematic maps integrated into the regular classroom curriculum). All 895 second-grade students in six Writing Express schools and 6…

This booklet presents a qualitative evaluation of the Simi Star Project, which sought to demonstrate the use of a Writing to Read adaptation that supports a literature-based, whole language, writing process environment within kindergarten and first-grade classrooms. After a description of the questions that the evaluation asked, the booklet…

Responds to a call for proof of the effectiveness of the basic writing program at Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis, and documents a marked increase in the success rate of basic writers after the program had shifted from a traditional product centered course to a process course. (RS)

In order to ascertain the impact of post-graduate course work on curricular practice, a follow-up study was undertaken of the classroom writing practices of participants in the 1987 Writing as Process seminars sponsored by William Paterson College, New Jersey. Seminars were offered in four elementary school districts, each one taught by a William…

Studies the immediate effects of the Summer Institute of the National Writing Project upon the classroom practices of English teachers. Utilizes multiple sources of data for evaluation. Considers how teachers implemented the concept of writing process in their classrooms. Concludes with implications and questions for further study. (HB)

A study evaluated the effectiveness of an Instructional Television Program (ITV) designed to model and teach aspects of process writing to second-grade children. Two second-grade teachers and their students (each class contained 24 children) comprised the experimental groups; one second-grade teacher and 24 students comprised the control group.…

In its second year of operation (1988-1989 academic year), the Electronic Writing Center (EWC) of the Union County College in Cranford, New Jersey has expanded its capabilities and the amount of service it provides to at-risk students through the Computers in the Curricula Project. Major changes include: (1) increased numbers of classes and…

This paper reports on the findings about a mentoring project that failed. It is based on a case study in which the writer participated as a mentor of the staff members of the South African Department of Labour. In 2002, the South African Department of Labour (DoL) published a tender ref: Services/ta/cst/p1/wp3 for Communications Skills Training…

A study examined the effectiveness of a staff development program in the Yale (Michigan) public schools, intended to provide professional development to all elementary and secondary language arts teachers about the instruction of writing process and the evaluation of student work. Evaluation of the professional development model included teacher…

This resource book contains 10 articles on specific aspects of writing assessment. Article one addresses several key issues, among them (1) whether writing should be taught from a traditional analytic approach or from the "writing-as-a-process" perspective, (2) whether writing ability can be judged indirectly or only by actual performance, and (3)…

Evaluation results for the College Bound (C.B.) program at New York City public schools are presented. The C.B. program seeks to improve reading and mathematics skills of high school students who are 2 or more years below grade level and to prepare these students for college. It includes basic skills instruction in reading, career and college…

A study determined whether participation in a project using personal computers in the classroom to teach the writing process enabled students to improve their writing performance. One middle school from each of Delaware's 16 districts participated in the program. The project goals were incorporated into a set of four process and three outcome…

The first section of this report lists a variety of advantages and disadvantages of educational applications of Local Area Networks (LANs), with descriptive and evaluative comments on how the Union County Computers in the Curricula Network Project (Cranford, New Jersey) dealt with each. The second section of the report describes the following…