Focuses on the assessment of writing skills of incoming English-as-a-Second-Language college students in the United States and Canada. The article discusses the traditional impromptu essay and its alternatives, portfolio assessment and the Undergraduate Academic Writing Assessment (UAWA). The UAWA reveals students' previously unknown strengths and…

Compared teachers' holistic scoring of Nigerian English-as-a-Second-Language students' essays and their scores on a standardized language proficiency test. Results revealed that holistic scoring of essays lacked concurrent validity with the subject pool. (32 references) (CB)

The pedagogical literature on the peer response group as a teaching method in the writing classroom is examined, within the context of current theories on teaching and learning of writing. The few empirical studies on the method are reviewed. Suggestions for reconceptualizing peer response to writing are provided. (TJH)

Asserts the importance of incorporating art criticism into art instruction to achieve quality art education. Presents and discusses art criticism formats. Includes three figures illustrating a typical student's written art criticism, that same assignment after teacher evaluation, and an example of a student gradebook. (CFR)

Discusses issues in the design and assessment of classroom writing tasks assigned across the U.S. college curriculum. The article analyzes successful and unsuccessful writing across the curriculum assignments, particularly from the perspective of English-as-a-Second-Language writers, and offers suggestions to enable teachers design and assess…

Presents workable strategies for observing, tracking, and reporting student progress in the elementary writing classroom. The article offers tips and techniques for ongoing evaluation (observing writers as they write, conferencing, and student self-evaluation). It also includes a teacher-guided tour of a real Vermont student's writing portfolio.…

Analyzes the quality and content of written messages sent from nine schools and three district offices to residents of their respective communities. Analysis of 594 communiques indicates that they are usually quite functional, although typically dull and targeted toward society's mainstream. Ideas for improvement are discussed. (SLD)

Perceptions of 48 preservice elementary education teachers concerning their own writing were examined. The weaknesses and difficulties that these University of Saskatchewan (Canada) students admitted concerning their own writing have implications for teacher education. Improvement of university students' writing should be a joint venture of…

Summaries of six language-related research projects are presented from Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. Topics include reading proficiency evaluation instruments, computer-assisted language learning, English-for-Special-Purposes instructional design, editing strategies for college English-as-a-Second-Language student compositions, genre…

Discusses issues of fairness in the evaluation of bilingual writers. Warns of problems posed for them by the process approach to writing instruction. Describes a case study which suggests that even assessment procedures claimed to be holistic are biased against bilingual students. Compares one student's Spanish and English writing samples, noting…

A study investigated the ability of educationally disadvantaged and limited-English-proficient University of Cape Town (South Africa) students to write about science research projects. Analysis of students' reports showed a strong relationship between task presentation methods, specific task-completion guidelines, and quality of writing. Poor…

Reports a study carried out on a sample of final exam essays written by native-speaking Arabic students of English attending the freshman English course in the English-as-a-foreign-language program at the Lebanese American University. Examines what analytic and holistic scoring using one evaluation instrument can tell teachers about their…

Examines the case of two classes that used online posting of student papers to facilitate peer response critiquing. Reveals how many women may feel that choosing a male pseudonym is necessary for credibility; and sheds light on the readers' responses to particular identities. Considers the significance of gender choices in terms of classroom…

This article introduces a special issue dealing with selected aspects of writing disorders. It provides an overview of following articles and issues confronting the written language field, including definitional issues, assessment issues, neurodevelopment components, brain-behavior linkages, lifespan issues, and interventions. Recommendations are…

Investigates the nature of cohesion, content, and grammar emergent in children's essays, with emphasis on understanding of cohesion and coherence. Conceptual definitions of these constructs are summarized into a picture-based narrative writing task for elicitation and scoring criteria for quantification. First and second graders from an immersion…