This paper provides a brief overview of three direct measures of writing assessment--holistic, analytic, and primary trait scoring--and several variations and combinations of the three. It then relates these measures to eight types of educational decisions: (1) diagnosis of individual learner strengths and weaknesses, (2) student placement, (3)…

Examination of native English-speaking secondary school students' reactions to letters written in English by German students indicated that effective communication depends not only on a comprehensible message but also on the ability of the writer to sustain the reader's interest and sympathy. (CB)

Suggests ways for the instructor to turn evaluation into an open-ended transaction with the student writer rather than a final pronouncement. Suggests that teachers should ask questions of the writer to clarify the rhetorical situation and goal, give the student one piece of advice per paper, and help the student set a reasonable goal for each…

A cost-effective, efficient strategy for informal assessment of learning-disabled students' writing samples utilizes an "Error Analysis Worksheet" which provides a written, documented record of the evaluation which can then be used to plan goals and objectives for writing instruction for the student. (CB)

Describes the Early English Composition Assessment Program of the Ohio Writing Project and the Ohio Board of Regents at Miami University. The project brings together high school English teachers who collaboratively grade papers and discuss the assessment process. Contains sample papers ranked by consensus. (SKC)

Discusses the results of an evaluation of National Park Service planning workbooks. Examines ways of structuring a written presentation so that it helps the reader utilize the information presented. Describes facilitation of orientation and in-depth review styles of presentation. (CW)

The connection between length of school day and time allocated to 10 school subjects and scores for grade 6 in reading, writing, and mathematics was studied for 1,030 schools in the 1982 California Assessment Program. More time for science and mathematics and a longer school day correlated with higher test scores in all subjects. (SLD)

Presents the Wilkinson Scales for writing assessment and shows how one eighth grade student's essay, using the scales, can be evaluated for grammatical and mechanical problems without devaluing the emotion that went into its composition. (JC)

This study evaluated procedures for establishing a minimum performance standard for the essay subtest of the National Teacher Examinations Communications Skills test. Results indicated the preferred procedure for setting standards on essays should involve a blind review followed by an informed review. (Author/DWH)

Explains a five-step study strategy (PORPE) that can be used in any content area: Predicting potential essay questions to guide subsequent study; Organizing key ideas using own words; Rehearsing the key ideas; Practicing the recall of the key ideas in self-assigned writing tasks; and Evaluating the completeness, accuracy, and appropriateness of…

Presents results of a study indicating that evaluations of basic students' writing more closely resemble those of employers than those of English faculty. Suggests that English teachers redefine the basic writing student and the criteria used for evaluations. Includes samples of student essays evaluated in the study and evaluation results.(HTH)

Describes assessment techniques for accommodating various facets of the process approach to teaching writing. Includes rating scales, self-evaluations, peer evaluations, holistic scoring, and team grading. (EL)

Proposes use of criteria-based scales, which prescribe levels of writing performance for a particular mode of discourse, as a way to teach and test student writing skills. Pre- and posttesting, teaching for the test utilizing the criteria-based scale, and why this method is successful are also discussed. (MBR)

Articles in this publication address the writing process, teaching writing, and research on the teaching of writing, and take the form of personal experience or opinion, or explore the work of others who have contributed to the field. Articles in the first issue of this volume include: "What the Children Convey: On Matters of Time, Talk, and…

David Bartholomae's notion of "Writing on the Margins" is intriguing. He claims that good writers are those who "poise themselves on the margins in a tenuous and hesitant relationship to the language and methods of the university." This paradox is captivating because the margins serve as a place to which one is banished for not…