A summary of research findings on the writing process reveals a number of distinct stages and the recognition that errors are a natural part of learning and often indicate progress rather than failure. Writing evaluation and inservice education programs are discussed. (Author/MLF)

Reports the highlights of the first year of the National Study of Secondary School Writing, which provides new information about secondary school writing instruction. (RL)

In the belief that effective writing instruction can be a critical component in successful learning, and to better understand the role that writing plays in content area learning, this book presents an extensive study of writing assignments in the secondary school curriculum. Following an introduction, the book provides an overview of the project,…

A study examined the writing performance of American schoolchildren based on a survey conducted in 1992 by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Nationally representative samples of fourth-, eighth-, and twelfth-grade students attending public and private schools--approximately 30,000 in all--responded to a variety of writing…

Recent trends in composition research indicate that attention has turned away from the parts of the writing product toward the steps involved in the writing process. There are two common threads to this research: (1) writing has a number of distinct stages including prewriting, writing, and editing, and (2) errors are a natural part of learning,…

The seven chapters of this final report provide a discussion of a study detailing the instructional situations within which students are learning to write. Data reported from the study include a national survey of teaching practices and many classroom observations in ninth and eleventh grade content area classrooms (English, mathematics, foreign…

To evaluate the writing abilities of American students, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) asked nationally representative samples of fourth, eighth, and twelfth graders--approximately 20,000 students in all--to perform a variety of informative, persuasive, and narrative writing tasks. In addition, students were asked about the…

Building upon the National Study of Writing in the Secondary School conducted in 1981, this volume presents the results of recent scholarly inquiry into the nature of writing. Background information for the study is discussed in chapter 1, while chapter 2 describes the additional data that have been gathered since the national survey: a study of…

Based on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 1984 assessment of the writing achievement of American school children, this report presents national and demographic subgroup achievement results for students in grades four, eight, and eleven, and discusses students' attitudes toward writing and instruction. The first chapter…

Focusing on the development of students' writing skills and on the instructional techniques used to promote those skills, this report relates the findings of the second phase of the National Study of Writing in the Secondary School. In addition to further analysis of data collected during the first phase of the study, the report provides…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) evaluated the writing ability of American students in 1974, 1979, and 1984. Data from 95,000 students were examined for trends over this 10-year period. Writing tasks, including informative, persuasive, and literary or imaginative writing were administered to national samples of students aged…