Lexical diversity (LD) is an important indicator of second language lexical development. Much research has investigated LD indices, with a focus on learners of English. However, further research is needed in languages that are typologically distinct from English, such as Korean. In this study, we evaluated the reliability and validity of LD…

Background: Automated writing evaluation (AWE) systems, used as formative assessment tools in writing classrooms, are promising for enhancing instruction and improving student performance. Although meta-analytic evidence supports AWE's effectiveness in various contexts, research on its effectiveness in the U.S. K-12 setting has lagged behind its…

Students in higher education (HE) are required to complete a variety of writing tasks for coursework and examinations. However, for some students writing presents a major challenge. In the UK, the availability of tools for specialist assessors to help identify difficulties with the quality of written composition is limited. The aim of this study…

Background/purpose: Writing is an essential skill for EFL learners, and the development of flawless writing proficiency in English is the intended learner outcome of every writing course in an EFL program. Development of flawless writing skills involves perfection in orthography (spelling, punctuation, capitalization), grammaticality and syntax,…

Source-based writing, in which writers read or listen to academic content before writing, has been considered to better assess academic writing skills than independent writing tasks (Read, 1990; Weigle, 2004). Because scores resulting from ratings of test takers' source-based writing task responses are treated as indicators of their academic…

Numerous researchers have proposed methods for evaluating the quality of rater-mediated assessments using nonparametric methods (e.g., kappa coefficients) and parametric methods (e.g., the many-facet Rasch model). Generally speaking, popular nonparametric methods for evaluating rating quality are not based on a particular measurement theory. On…

The purpose of this study was to investigate evidence of reliability, criterion validity, and grade-level differences of curriculum-based measures of writing (CBM-W) with 612 students in grades 1-3. Four scoring procedures (words written, words spelled correctly, correct word sequences, and correct minus incorrect word sequences) were used with…

The New York State Education Department (NYSED) has a partnership with NWEA for the development of the 2024 Grades 3-8 English Language Arts Tests. Teachers from across the State work with NYSED in a variety of activities to ensure the validity and reliability of the New York State Testing Program (NYSTP). The 2024 Grades 6 and 7 English Language…

Educational systems in Lebanon are bilingual. They simultaneously impose two handwriting systems in Arabic and Latin. This historically driven situation could constitute a significant impact on the process and development of handwriting skills. Using an accurate and valid handwriting evaluation tool standardized for the Lebanese population is a…

This article contains two measurement development studies on writing apprehension. Study 1 reexamines the validity of the writing apprehension measure based on the finding from prior research that a second false factor was embedded. The findings from Study 1 support the validity of a reduced measure with 6 items versus the original 20-item…

The aim of the current study was to gather validation evidence for the "Comprehension of Written Grammar" (CWG; Easterbrooks, 2010) receptive test of 26 grammatical structures of English print for use with children who are deaf and hard of hearing (DHH). Reliability and validity data were collected for 98 participants (49 DHH and 49…

Proficiency with written communication (WC) is critical for success in college and careers. As a result, institutions face a growing challenge to accurately evaluate their students' writing skills to obtain data that can support demands of accreditation, accountability, or curricular improvement. Many current standardized measures, however, lack…

The first objective of this study is to identify the types of errors made by students in their ESL writing. The second objective is to compare the types of errors (overall, spelling, mechanics, grammar, coherence, sentence structure and lexical) in descriptive writing, according to gender. The third objective is to explore an ESL teacher?s views…

The purpose of this study was to examine 4 early writing measures used to monitor the early writing progress of 1st-grade students. We administered the measures to 23 1st-grade students biweekly for a total of 16 weeks. We obtained 3-min samples and conducted analyses for each 1-min increment. We scored samples using 2 different methods: correct…

The purpose of this study was to examine the validity and reliability of Curriculum-Based Measures in writing for English learners. Participants were 36 high school English learners with moderate to high levels of English language proficiency. Predictor variables were type of writing prompt (picture, narrative, and expository), time (3, 5, and 7…