This manual outlines the strategies used by the University of Minnesota Technical College (UMTC) to generate student and faculty support for its reading and writing tutorial program. The manual first outlines 20 factors that contribute to a successful reading program, such as the provision of student support services, the awarding of credit to…

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…

Devised by participants in a summer workshop focusing on writing in the content areas, this guide contains activities for improving writing skills at all grade levels. The various sections of the guide provide the following: (1) a general discussion of teaching writing in all subject areas; (2) ways to use interviews to gather information for use…

A major cause of writing anxiety among graduate students is their previous academic success. Graduate students are also plagued by their multiple roles and ambiguous situations, the mixture of dependence and independence, and freedom and responsiblity--all of which create tensions and problems particular to their writing. Graduate schools can…

The results of an informal, random survey that examined the freshman English offerings in 23 two-year and four-year colleges are contained in this paper. Among the findings reported are the following: (1) the majority of schools surveyed used a placement test of some kind, and over half required students to enroll in a particular course based on…

Although the acts of reading literature and writing are closely linked, literature study and composition instruction remain distinct pursuits within college English departments. Style seems to be an interest that unifies the two pursuits. The most common view of style equates it with acceptable rhetorical and grammatical conventions. A second view…

To examine the effect of placement in freshmen English classes on the way students perceived themselves as writers, a college English instructor conducted an informal comparison of the attitudes of freshman English students with those of tutor-trainees. Both groups of students were asked to write a description of themselves as writers with no…

In addition to helping students revise thoughtfully by placing them in situations where revision matters, advanced composition instructors can use the complementary method of discourse analysis scales. These scales provide advanced writers with ample data for making decisions about revisions, and for identifying relevant semantic, syntactic, and…

Hartford, Connecticut's Intensive Reading Instructional Teams (IRIT) were designed to improve achievement levels of elementary pupils deficient in basic language and reading skills. In 1978-1979, 683 students in grades two through six received instruction in reading vocabulary and comprehension and in decoding. This report updates and expands an…

This booklet offers teachers of mainstreamed educationally disadvantaged and learning disabled students some practical strategies for tailoring general writing assignments to meet individual needs. The concept of mainstreaming is discussed in part one, and general strategies for composition teachers are listed in part two. Part three describes 13…

A variety of components that operate in tutoring writing are examined in this paper. Discussed are (1) the importance of the tutor's language, tone of voice, and verbal interaction with the students; (2) active listening techniques; (3) establishing an atmosphere of trust and acceptance; (4) helping students develop a framework for understanding…

This booklet is one of a series of teacher-written curriculum publications launched by the Bay Area Writing Project, each focusing on a different aspect of the teaching of composition. The first part of the booklet describes a college writing center and the tutorial teaching that takes place in the center. The second part reports a case study of a…

Eight teachers in two-year and four-year colleges discuss in this book their effective methods of teaching writing based on the process of composing. The articles deal with the following topics: (1) the constant interaction of collecting, connecting, writing, and reading in the process of making meaning on paper; (2) the integration of prose…

Results of writing tests given to a large sample of 9, 13, and 17-year olds throughout Texas are reported in detail. Results are reported in terms of the percent of students writing at stated levels of competency or exhibiting particular writing skills. The results are reported for eight categories: (1) statewide; (2) 20 state geographic regions;…

A total of 113 seventh grade students participated in a study to test the effectiveness of sentence combining practice as a means to significantly improve syntactic and semantic fluency in student writing. Methods included pretest, posttest, and delayed posttest t-unit analyses of syntactic fluency, and four pretest and posttest analyses of…