Introductory biology courses are supposed to serve as gateways for many majors, but too often they serve instead as gatekeepers. Reliance on lectures, large classes, and multiple-choice tests results in high drop and failure rates. Critiques of undergraduate science education are clear about the problems with conventional introductory science…

Describes the Reading/Writing Task, a procedure used to assess what students recall and comprehend from their reading but that also guides them to recall, summarize, and react to what they have read. Discusses the activities involved in the task and the evaluation procedure, and outlines the Reading/Writing Task scoring framework. (TJQ)

Two common strategies for assessing writing techniques and objective techniques are compared in a study of third-grade students. Student performance on selected response and constructed response test items, measuring the identification and construction of complete sentences, is compared. Results suggest that selected response items may lack…

The purpose of this guide is to assist teachers in preparing their students to write effectively in all contexts, including the Georgia Grade Five Writing Assessment. Teachers are encouraged to make optimal instructional use of the information in this guide by creating transparencies and handouts for students. The guide includes a revising/editing…

The purpose of this guide is to improve high school writing and writing instruction. Teachers are encouraged to make transparencies and handouts of the information in this guide in order to make the information accessible to students. Using the scoring rubrics and model papers, students can be taught to recognize both strong and weak areas in…

Recommends student performance be evaluated by professional standards of excellence as preparation for survival at a professional level on the job. Emphasizes that all tasks given to students be as close as possible to those they would be asked to do at work. (EL)

The purpose of this guide is to assist teachers in preparing their students to write effectively, both on the Georgia Grade Three Writing Assessment and in other contexts. Using Quality Core Curriculum (QCC) writing objectives, teachers are encouraged to use the information in this guide to create transparencies and handouts for students. The…

Describes how technical writing teachers, by using a system of peer critiques, self evaluation, and portfolio grading, can use process activities (student literacy autobiographies, interviews with professional writers, and writing peer groups) to extend the range of activities in technical writing courses. (MM)

Describes an assessment strategy used by pharmacy faculty to grade student writing in a large-class, lecture-based course, outlining the steps the instructors took to recast an existing writing assignment so that it is carefully constructed and articulated, can be assessed quickly and consistently by multiple assessors (self, peer, instructor),…

Developed by classroom teachers during the development phase of Minnesota's Graduation Standards, this performance package is made up of locally designed assignments that, taken together, show whether a student has learned and can apply the knowledge and skills related to writing short stories and letters for a variety of academic and technical…

This guide provides materials for teaching a writing remediation class in the intermediate grades. Sections of this guide include: (1) background information for teachers about the writing process; (2) teaching units containing activities and games on selection of writing topics, organization of the elements in a paragraph, development of ideas,…

The articles contained in this volume on second language writing evaluation focus on the evaluation of academic English learned as a second language (ESL). Essays include: "Assessment by Misconception: Cultural Influences and Intellectual Traditions" (Brigid Ballard, John Clanchy); "Reading the World Differently: A Cross-Cultural Approach to…