Writing program administrators and other composition specialists need to know the history of writing assessment in order to create a rich and responsible culture of it today. In its first fifty years, the field of writing assessment followed educational measurement in general by focusing on issues of reliability, whereas in its next fifty years,…

Proposes a general theory of writing evaluation that attends to communication intention, as well as formal semantics. Suggests practical ways of implementing such a theory. (RL)

Considers the problems with ranking students' written work and some of the benefits of evaluating. Argues that teachers should do less ranking and more evaluation. Discusses the limits of evaluation. Asks teachers to foster a "liking" for their students' writing. (HB)

Begins with a quick history of the English profession's response to the prospect/specter of the computer as reader of student writing. Describes two programs that are now being heavily marketed and publicized nationally. Sketches out some of the implications of these programs for members of the profession of English in America. (SG)

Concludes that the rhetorical specification approach to developing essay examination topics (giving writers information about the purpose of a composition, its audience, speaker, and subject) may not be the best way to elicit good writing. (JL)

Focuses on the kind of assessment that takes place within a classroom context, and therefore looks at assessing, grading, or testing writing, since when educators talk about classroom assessment they talk of grades and tests, at times using all three terms interchangeably. Hopes to draw educators into new conversations about assessment and the…

Describes an English articulation program in which a college teacher evaluates the compositions of high school students and then works closely with students, English teachers, school administrators, and parents in follow-up activities. (RL)

Examines four approaches to evaluating writing, and notes the strengths and weaknesses of each. (RL)

Aims to redefine what happens in the margins through a practice called "sideshadowing," adapted from Bakhtinian theorist Gary Saul Morson's examination of narrative technique. States that sideshadowing redirects the attention to the present moment, its multiple conflicts, and its multiple possibilities. Argues for sideshadowing's…

Analyzes the use of transitional markers in 25 published essays. Concludes that while marker usage at times obfuscates rather than clarifies relationships, it can also enhance the writer's authority and provide both writer and reader with a mental respite before they plunge into the next thought. (MM)

Four experiments that elicited both high school and college writing teachers' evaluations of prose styles (nominal versus verbal) and a typing test that examined the processing of nominal-verbal prose revealed that nominal styles, though they are more indirect and can be too inflated and too abstract, are preferred as indications of writing…

Examines eight major reader roles and suggests that the role the teacher assumes depends on the situation in which the writing is produced. (MM)

Illustrates a change in emphasis on grading for form and content which has occurred in English composition by giving examples from a study conducted in 1972 and 1978 in which seven instructors of English composition were given the same essay to grade six years apart. (MKM)

Contains readers' comments as well as the authors' responses to earlier "College English" articles by Kenneth Bruffee and Johnathan Kamholtz and Robin Sheets. Contains comments only on articles by Ann Berthoff and William Marling. (EL)

Suggests slyly that, while word processors may have increased writing speed, they cannot ensure improved writing quality. (MM)