Describes a successful collaboration between high school and community college faculty that effected a reduced need for first-time college student remedial writing instruction. Discusses Ohio's Early English Composition Assessment Program, the model for collaborative success, and project recommendations. (YKH)

The materials, visuals to accompany a presentation on development of workplace literacy programs, include: a definition of workplace literacy; flow chart for basic skills program development; definition of workplace education needs assessment; list of topics for interviewing trainers, supervisors, management personnel/HR, safety, union/labor…

The two issues of this journal contain articles about aspects of English teaching and samples of student work. The Fall 1995 issue contains: "'I Want More Books Like It': Implementing a Reading Workshop in an Urban Classroom with At-Risk Students" (Rebecca Joseph); "Service Learning Prompt for the Maryland Writing Test" (Kathy…

Designed for secondary school English teachers who wish to improve their student's writing, this book offers a philosophy of writing and classroom strategies to make students comfortable with and interested in their own writing. Chapter 1 encourages teachers to set up a "safe," comfortable environment in which their students can create.…

Statewide competency testing as a high school graduation requirement represents a threat to those who encourage broad notions of reading and writing, even when a number of testing innovations in reading and writing mean a step forward in education. In Alberta, Canada, the English exam comes in a non-academic and an academic version, and…

Papers include: "ESP Tests: The Problem of Student Background Discipline (J. C. Alderson, A. H. Urquhart); "The Lexical Richness of L2 Written Productions and the Validity of Vocabulary Tests" (P. J. L. Arnaud); "The Construction of a Modular Thematic Task Bound English Language Achievement Test Battery for Kuwait" (M. I. Baghdady); "The Fill-In…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) evaluated the writing ability of American students in 1974, 1979, and 1984. Data from 95,000 students were examined for trends over this 10-year period. Writing tasks, including informative, persuasive, and literary or imaginative writing were administered to national samples of students aged…

As part of an ongoing dialogue among teachers in California high schools, this sourcebook addresses some of the issues involved in teaching English/Language Arts at the secondary level. The sourcebook is divided into eight chapters, and begins with an overview answering questions concerning the California Model Curriculum Standards (MCS) for…

This study investigated the comparability of scores for paper and computer versions of a writing test administered to eighth grade students. Two essay prompts were given on paper to a nationally representative sample as part of the 2002 main NAEP writing assessment. The same two essay prompts were subsequently administered on computer to a second…

Practices for improving adolescent literacy--which includes reading, writing, and speaking--are much discussed and debated among secondary school educators and researchers. At Discovery Middle School in Madison, Alabama, the debate has ended after teachers and administrators implemented several practices that elevated student achievement from…

This booklet provides practical exploration of the use of narrative in the classroom with students and in teachers' personal and professional development. The various narrative forms are described in boxes throughout the booklet and include letter writing, storytelling, autobiographical accounts and several others. There are four "Your…

A 1982 study assessed the comparative reading comprehension levels and writing ability performance of Trades Certification Board (TCB) apprentices in five trades in New Zealand. Test data were collected for 1,389 apprentices and a comparison group of 361 secondary school students. The cloze procedure format was adopted for assessing apprentices'…

Discusses one student's persistence in misunderstanding her teacher's written comments on her papers. Notes that student and teacher bring different sets of information, skills, and values to each written response episode, and that mismatched expectations can occur even with high-achieving students. (SKC)

This book covers essential problems and basic concepts of English language testing. There are 20 chapters in four sections. Section 1, "Background," includes: (1) "Why Teachers Test"; (2) "Some Definitions"; (3) "Validity and Reliability"; and (4) "What You Should Learn about Standardized Tests." Section 2, "Preparing To Write Tests," includes:…

Highly practical and accessible, this indispensable book provides clear-cut strategies for improving K-12 writing instruction. The contributors are leading authorities who demonstrate proven ways to teach different aspects of writing, with chapters on planning, revision, sentence construction, handwriting, spelling, and motivation. The use of the…