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)

Describes a study of the influence of wording changes in essay questions on test performance. Results did not support the hypothesis that such changes would affect writer performance. (HTH)

Explores rhetorical specification in writing tasks by examining responses to a poorly constructed task used in large-scale placement testing at a major university. Argues that fictional scenarios (writing prompts which give student writers a role to play) can be effective, provided that the roles created are reasonable ones for students to adopt.…

Students at grades four and five were administered a writing assessment that was developed to correspond to the California Learning Assessment System (CLAS) writing tasks at grade four. Teachers were trained to score the CLAS-like tasks according to the rubric developed by the State for CLAS. In addition, 164 students at three schools in the…

To compare the different images of writing that different assessment methods produce, a study examined two formal writing assessments--holistic and the specially developed intra-subject paired comparison method (IPC)--of pre/post university freshman composition-course writing. The samples of writing were unrehearsed, 50 minute, in-class essays.…

Discusses the gap between the perspectives and practices of (1) teachers in classrooms where writing and reading are being learned and put to good use and (2) those who test students' language competence. Considers ways to narrow this gap, including the notion of teachers acting as tester-researchers. (JD)

To examine "bluffing"--ways in which conflicts in classrooms and evaluation procedures influence the styles of student writing and teachers' responses to different styles, a study analyzed the placement-test essays of 99 undergraduates entering Temple University (Pennsylvania) in the fall of 1982. Analysis of the texts was based on a…

A study examined whether Canadian twelfth grade students' papers would rate differently when they were written in different modes and whether there are significant differences between global (modified holistic) scores and rhetorical effectiveness (modified primary trait) scores for the same papers. Fifty students wrote on two transactional topics…

Provides data and discussion about the effect of different kinds of testing upon the distribution of scores for racial minorities. Also considers the issue of direct versus indirect measures of writing ability and the place of usage testing in the measurement of writing ability. (RL)