The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy of formulaic writing such as the five-paragraph theme (FPT) or essay for the purpose of earning high scores on high-stakes writing assessments. This qualitative descriptive study analyzed more than 1000 essays from Delaware Grade 8 and 10 writers, written for a statewide…

In this work, prominent authorities review the latest research on all aspects of ELL instruction (K-12) and identify what works for today's students and schools. Provided are best-practice guidelines for targeting reading, writing, oral language, vocabulary, content-domain literacies, and other core skill areas; assessing culturally and…

This paper explores how teachers who choose the New Literacy approach to the teaching of reading and writing reconcile the conflict between their need for personal pedagogical integrity and public demands for accountability. The paper's first section describes one teacher's changing conceptions of evaluation of student writing. The second section…

A study investigated the extent to which children consider writing strategies in relation to types of writing. Data were evolved by interviewing 48 fifth-grade children on their processes of evaluating other children's papers. Each child was asked to read paired texts, judge their comparative quality, and explain the basis of their judgments. They…

The summary information in this report provides teachers, school administrators, students, and the general public in Alberta, Canada with an overview of results from the January 1997 administration of the English 30 Diploma Examination. The information in the report is most helpful when used in conjunction with the detailed school and jurisdiction…

This paper argues for a direct, holistic assessment of writing of limited-English-proficient (LEP) students. Holistic writing assessment is the term used for tests that evaluate writing wholly through the production of writing. A holistic writing assessment has at least the following five characteristics: each individual taking the assessment must…

Written responses to student writing assignments often can take the form of being directives which seem to try to control the student, and student response to such directive comments appears ambivalent. A logical question concerning such modes of response is to ask how a teacher's comments are influenced by his or her personality type. A study was…

Samples of student writing from the Alberta (Canada) 9th grade achievement test in writing (administered in June 1990) are presented with evaluative commentaries. They are intended to offer teachers, administrators, and students illustration of the criteria and approach used to score the exam. The exam is one part of a two-part standardized test…

A product of 3 years' experience in administering the Miami University Portfolio Writing Program, this handbook is designed to assist college faculty in administering a portfolio writing assessment program for incoming students (based on a collection of their best high school writing). The handbook's five chapters are: (1) Introduction: Portfolio…

The main task of reviewers for scholarly periodicals is to provide a fair reading of a paper, and thereby to help determine its suitability for publication. The reviewer's job is to evaluate the article according to the journal's criteria, most of which are publicly stated. Implicit criteria also exist which stretch, expand, or otherwise change…

Combining the journal writing process with the concepts of collaboration can produce more focused writing and learning. Through the channel of collaborative situations, such as group journal writing, teachers can capitalize on the benefits achieved from the collaborative process and cultivate thinking and writing skills. A group journal writing…

Exploring how new technologies and new pedagogies transform and are transformed by existing institutions, this book presents 14 essays that discuss network-based classrooms in which students use communications software on computer networks to converse in writing. The first part of the book discusses general themes and issues of the ENFI…

This handbook offers a guide to identifying curriculum activities which will enable the observation of significant literacy behaviors, recording these observations, and assessing and reporting student development in literacy. The handbook presents carefully considered descriptions of literacy learning behaviors noted by teachers in a wide variety…

A pilot project was developed to encourage teachers to look at assessment more comprehensively and to use a variety of ways to assess learning, emphasizing a collaborative process of ongoing assessment. The project was presented as a way to show students' accomplishments as readers and writers; involve parents, teachers, and students in the…

Designed to describe and assess the activities engaged in between a writing tutor and a student in a one-to-one writing conference, this survey contains two forms. The first records the student's major, native language, source of the writing task with which he or she needs help, and the student's perception of the problem. The second form, filled…