Considering questions relevant for teachers, students, researchers, and developers of educational innovations, this book centers on the words and experiences of the teachers and students who used QUILL--a system containing both computer-based tools and environments for writing. The first chapter introduces general issues on which the analysis of…

A study was designed to identify and codify behavioral trends in the composing process of early writers' narrative attempts in literate environment instructional settings. The study also examined regressive patterns within behavioral responses to determine how development in one area of the writing task influenced the development in other areas.…

This learning module is intended to improve the writing and business communications skills of individuals working in health care occupations. The module, which is designed to be presented in a 6-week course of twice weekly 2-hour sessions, targets an audience with basic grammar and punctuation skills but no formal introduction to the process of…

The purpose of this study is to determine whether college juniors and seniors view their freshman-writing instruction as beneficial and to assess its impact on the writing they do within their specific disciplines. Although a great deal of theory surrounds the teaching of freshman writing, very little research has been done to assess its…

This book contains a collection of essays about literacy, theory, and the Internet. It addresses problems concerning understanding the new electronic technologies, getting the computer in the classroom, and teaching students to write with it. The book's first section, "Literacy in the Information Age," offers four essays: "Literacy after the…

A comparative, protocol-based study is reported of the first (Chinese) and foreign (English) language writing processes of six postgraduate English-as-a-Foreign-Language students. The study revealed the approaches of the six writers to the task of producing academic written discourse to be very different, and suggested that if composing strategies…

Writing proficiency is an important skill that can help teachers communicate what they know to colleagues, teacher educators, and researchers. The effectiveness of the writing across the curriculum movement supports development and implementation of a writing program in undergraduate teacher education. The Advanced Writing Proficiency (AWP)…

Writing teachers and theorists face political and pedagogical dangers because of their increasing tendency to align themselves against each other on the side of either rhetoric or composition. As the differences between the two schools widens, writing teachers stand to lose political ground in English departments and their students stand to lose…

The Dewey Center Community Writing Project is a community-based, summer writing program collaboratively designed by students, teachers, and community members in Detroit's inner-city. During the first summer of the project, fifth- through seventh-grade students, primarily from the Jeffries Homes (or "Projects") worked with seven teachers…

The electronic classroom proved particularly effective in dealing with racism, sexism, and homophobia in an honors English class, in part because it facilitates teaching by modeling rather than by dominating. Synchronous software facilitates diversity better than the usual collaborative learning group whose goal of tailoring discussions to reach a…

This publication is designed to help home economics teachers reinforce basic skills in their curriculum. It contains a series of information sheets explaining basic concepts in sentence grammar, writing, mathematics, speech, and reading. Each concept is defined and illustrated with a home economics example. Step-by-step procedures are ready to…

This panel discussion document about portfolio evaluation of student writing consists of three presentations from faculty members of Lynchburg College in Virginia, who describe the introduction of a portfolio-assessment system in their writing program. In this system students choose the three papers they want to rewrite for inclusion in their…

A study examined the influence of mode of discourse, experiential demand and gender on quality of student writing. All of the eighth-grade students (125,756) who participated in a statewide assessment of writing during spring 1989 and spring 1990 were included in the study. Eighteen writing tasks were administered during these two years. The…

A metacognitive approach to written language instruction was implemented to ameliorate the severe deficits in written language exhibited by five learning-disabled third and fourth graders. The 10-week program contained two basic elements: sustained writing practice, and strategy training for revision of written projects. The sustained writing…

The report lists competencies for teachers in every day interactions with learning disabled students. Developed by a task force, the competencies are intended to serve as general guidelines. Information is presented on the goal, assessment competencies, and instructional competencies for the following areas: classroom management, spoken language,…