This digest describes the three most prominent approaches to essay scoring by computer: (1) Project Essay Grade (PEG), introduced by E. Page in 1966; (2) Intelligent Essay Assessor (IEA), introduced for essay grading in 1997 by T. Landauer and P. Foltz; and (3) e-rater, used by the Educational Testing Service and developed by J. Burstein. PEG…

The purpose of this research was to establish, within the constraints of the methods presented, whether the computer is capable of scoring essays in much the same way that human experts rate essays. The investigation attempted to establish what was actually going on within the computer and within the mind of the rater and to describe the degree to…

Learning to read and write is critical to a child's success in school and adult life. One of the best predictors of whether children will function competently in school and, later, contribute to the increasingly literate society is their progress in reading and writing. For this reason, the 1985 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)…

Suggesting that, given the right tools and encouragement to do so, all children will write, this book describes the technique of "written conversation" in which two partners write back and forth to each other. This coproduced book serves as both a means for communication and expression and as a source of data about the child's knowledge of the…

This paper presents a discussion examining personal revelations discovered through peer critique and teacher response. It begins by discussing the issue of dealing with alien terms and specialized jargon in academic papers, through the example of one instructor's different treatment of two student papers based on the instructor's familiarity with…

Teachers who use a dialogic approach to teaching and responding to student writing view their comments as a conversation with the students. They view writing in relation to the larger context of writing--the type of writing, the audience and purpose, and the conventions of the writer's community. When responding to student writing, a teacher's…

These official scoring guide for reading/literature present details of the 6-point scoring system used in Oregon schools for the 1989-99 and 1999-2000 school years for grades 4-12. They list the attributes of students' responses to merit a score from 1 (lowest) to 6 (highest) in the areas of comprehension, extending understanding, reading…

This manual presents information and instructions for test administrators in administering the 1998-99 version of the writing session of the Maine Educational Assessment (MEA). Sections of the manual present a checklist for test administrators; changes and reminders to the MEA for 1998-99; responsibilities of test administrators (scheduling,…

This manual presents information and instructions for principals and test coordinators in administering the 1998-99 version of the writing session of the Maine Educational Assessment (MEA). Sections of the manual present a checklist for principals/test coordinators; changes and reminders to the MEA for 1998-99; instructions for test coordinators…

It is important to teach students the ways in which rhetorical and literary texts are produced, distributed, and consumed. It is equally important, however, for teachers of writing, primarily members of English departments, to acknowledge the production and consumption processes of texts external to the genres of the academy and to recognize that…

This collection of essays, culled from presentations at the first Thomas R. Watson Conference in Rhetoric and Composition, examines the development of composition as a profession, focusing on the period between 1963 and 1983 when composition changed in a number of crucial ways. Essays in the collection are: (1) "Composition History and…

This workbook provides four classroom-proven steps to improve students' narrative, expository, and persuasive writing, and to raise student scores on standardized state writing tests. Following an introduction, the workbook is divided into the following sections which conform to the four steps: Step One: Teach Students to Write Strong Verb…

Presents a model that the student can use in analyzing the communication context of the business letter, and in composing and revising the letter. Also provides the evaluator with necessary contextual data. (PD)

A chemistry professor and an English professor combined their efforts in a regularly scheduled chemistry course to guide students in writing better laboratory reports. This approach is described, including criteria (which are part of the course syllabus) used to evaluate student papers. (JN)

Suggests guidelines for evaluating and using the findings of research in the classroom. (JL)