The purpose of this study was to examine the technical features of slopes produced from the curriculum-based measurement in writing (CBM-W) word dictation task. Seventy-nine elementary students in the U.S. Midwest with intensive learning needs responded to weekly word dictation probes across 20 weeks; responses were scored for correct letter…

The accuracy issues involved in detecting student writing skill deficiencies, factors to be dealt with or controlled, and procedural and statistical methods for controlling these factors are the focus of this article. The accuracy needed for effective instructional planning requires stability in writing assessment programs. (DWH)

Investigates whether prompts and topic types affect writing performance of college freshmen taking the Manoa Writing Placement Examination (MWPE). Finds that the MWPE is reliable but that responses to prompts and prompt sets differ. Shows that differences arising in performance on prompts or topics can be minimized by examining mean scores and…

Discusses some of the major issues faced in attempting to assess systematically the effectiveness of business-communication courses (by assessing the level of improvement of students' writing competency). Discusses goals of assessment, type of test (standardized versus custom-made), guidelines for scoring, use of results, and reliability and…