Intended for both elementary and secondary school teachers who have little or no experience in teaching creative fiction writing, this booklet presents sample lesson plans for writing short stories, fables, myths, mysteries, science fiction, and historical fiction. The lesson plans discuss such elements as plot, setting, characterization, mood,…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has acted to provide a new perspective with its 1985 survey of the literacy skills of young Americans aged 21-25. In the Spring of 1985, NAEP began screening 40,000 households to identify a nationally representative sample of between 3,600 and 5,000 young adults aged 21-25 and several hundred…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has acted to provide a new perspective with its 1985 survey of the literacy skills of young Americans aged 21-25. In the spring of 1985, NAEP began screening 40,000 households to identify a nationally representative sample of between 3,600 and 5,000 young adults aged 21-25 and several hundred…

Based on a study dealing with problem-finding behavior of artists as the first step in the creative process (Getzels and Czikszentmihalyi), this study on the empirical nature of problem-finding included middle school students from a suburban-rural area in Western Pennsylvania. Eight students identified through three measures as creative were…

One objective of the International Study of Achievement in Written Composition was to develop an instrument that could explore the relationships between instructional variables and educational results. Three levels of specificity were aimed at: (1) broad and general characteristics of the instructional process; (2) specific dimensions of native…

A college expository writing instructor investigated how students perceive teacher intervention during the writing process and how written teacher comments affect successive drafts of student compositions. During the semester, four students were asked to react on tape to the comments the instructor wrote on the second drafts of their compositions…

Based on the premise that teaching basic writing involves first understanding what tends to go wrong when students write, a computer assisted system of error prediction and analysis was designed to improve college students' writing skills in both English and French. Students were to complete a sequenced series of writing assignments first in…

The reliability of four measures of written expression was examined (total words written, mature words, words spelled correctly, and letters in sequence). Subjects included elementary-age students in several school districts, some of whom were learning disabled. Results revealed high coefficients for test-retest reliability, parallel-form…

Collaborative learning, in which students form small groups to analyze their own writing, can cause students who recognize good writing and know the "rules" to reexamine their own writing and writing processes and then produce an acceptable product. Given eight sample paragraphs from their own writing, 20 freshman students working in 5…

Because student-teacher conferences appear to be more effective than other methods of writing evaluation, a study was conducted to observe how students' writing changed over a semester and whether those changes were related to the conversations in student-teacher conferences. Two college freshman composition students--one strong and one weak…

As a follow-up to the Central Wisconsin Writing Project, a writing survey was prepared to (1) introduce the concept of writing across the curriculum to high school faculty in the district, (2) determine the district's need for inservice in writing across the curriculum, (3) establish the validity of the data, (4) collect information about writing…

The third (1978-79) of three writing assessments conducted by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is reported. The writing achievement of American 9-, 13-, and 17-year-olds was surveyed using a deeply stratified, multistage probability sample design. The specific procedures used in the assessment to develop objectives and…

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)

Investigates the quality of 800 business letters using 43 business communication and writing deficiency criteria placed within one of the following categories: form, grammar, content, sequencing, and style. (NKA)

Lists and discusses nine classroom practices designed to support writing as a process. (SRT)