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,…

In higher education, issues of "in loco parentis" have been most often discussed in connection with campus administrative policies. College writing teachers need to reflect, however, on the ways they conceivably exercise parental authority in their own classrooms, through such models as the Stern Father and the Nurturing Mother. (Contains 26…

This is an article about the complex relationship between anger and plagiarism in composition studies. Here, the author brings into dialogue two strands of inquiry that have shaped recent disciplinary conversations in composition studies but that have yet to publicly influence each other. Because emotions and authorship have both been perceived…

Asserts that many composition instructors design courses around theories driven by two narratives of progress: solitary struggle; or earning placement by the dominant social order through passivity. Argues that these approaches are counterproductive and alienate the underclass, ensuring high failure rates at urban colleges and sending students…

Argues that, through its style, scientific communication conveys a view of the world as the causal interaction of physical objects and events. Claims that, to teach students to write experimental reports, composition teachers must see and study matters of style and organization as parts of a world they cannot enter or influence without knowledge…

Students in college writing courses need to understand world issues, including the oppressive effects of the global economy. But their teachers need to give them a sense of agency and authority, rather than simply telling them what political positions to take. One example of a writing assignment that might engage as well as inform students…

Presents notes on teaching writing. Discusses principles, dialects, and praxis. (SR)

Argues that, although writing teachers have come to see writing as socially constructed, they have failed to understand the teacher's role in such meaning construction. Calls for development of a theory of reading student texts which takes into account teachers' reading of the students themselves. Illustrates reading and misreading of student…