Much of the school choice debate today is centered on charter schools, which are similar to private schools in that they operate outside the bureaucracy of the public school system and have some level of autonomy in their organization and curriculum delivery. Many charter schools serve specific religious, ethnic, or demographic needs. Parents and…

Describes the process approach to teaching writing and offers tips to teachers for increasing students' knowledge and understanding. (seven references) (LMI)

Reflects on a long career concerning teaching and testing at the secondary and college level. Talks about the relationship between secondary school testing and preparation, college entrance standards, and trends in college course organization and testing. (TB)

Examines the relationship between professional development characteristics of "healthy" vs. "unhealthy" school districts and student writing achievement. Measures health of 24 school districts using Organizational Health Scale. Analyzes professional development characteristics of high-health and low-health districts. Finds that student writing…

Argues that recent teaching strategies geared toward improving student writing through positive reinforcement have resulted in mediocre writing products. Suggests that mechanics be given the same value as content in the evaluation process. (KEH)

Finds main effects for group but not gender. Finds that the combined use of direct and indirect measures appeared most effective in examining the complexities of writing produced by learning-disabled and nonlearning disabled college students. (RS)

Presents an annotated bibliography of 12 research articles, all related to literacy assessment. Contains essays dealing with writing models, portfolios, and student performance in writing classes. (HB)

Discusses the six goals and some of the ramifications of the "Standards for the Assessment of Reading and Writing," developed by the National Council of Teachers of English and the International Reading Association Joint Task Force on Assessment. (RS)

Twenty learning-disabled students (grades 5 and 6) who received procedural facilitation for narrative composition, including story grammar cue cards and a metacognitive check-off procedure, produced better quality stories than a control group of 10 students. Including verbal reminders to develop characters did not affect story quality. (Author/JDD)

Investigates the relationships among self-confidence about writing, expected outcomes, writing apprehension, general self-confidence, and writing performance over one semester. Finds that students' beliefs about their own composition skills and the preperformance measure were the only significant predictors. (SR)

Discusses recent advances in technology that make it possible to integrate images, sounds, and text in multimedia computer environments. Presents several case studies of intermediate-grade students who, although reluctant writers, explored their potential by using visual and aural media as sources for texts. (RS)

Considers awareness, form, and use of notation by normally achieving and school-identified learning-disabled first-grade students. Finds that young normally achieving children spontaneously recorded and organized information, whereas learning-disabled children were more tentative in the use of notation. Suggests that the performance of…

Describes a learning environment that enhances student achievement in written communication as one that develops and maintains student interest; enables students to perceive a purpose for and attach meaning to their writing; and provides precise objectives for students to attain. (NH)

North Carolina ninth graders in an agriculture and natural resources course were divided into 102 controls and 97 experimentals. The experimental group exhibited higher achievement, retention, and writing confidence in a groundwater protection unit using the writing to learn method. (SK)

Notes a growing movement in elementary schools to expand the amount of time devoted to writing. Contends that the visual arts is a neglected aspect of the curriculum. Explores the influence of drawing on third-grade students' writing performance. Finds that students who drew before writing tended, overall, to write better than students who did not…