This booklet contains selected proceedings of the 1979 conference entitled "Competency Testing and Beyond: Improving Student Writing" held in Albany, New York. Topics covered in the 17 selections are: the "real" world and the teaching of English, what has been learned about competency testing in writing, the composing process, diagnosing student…

Writing can be taught most effectively when teachers build the disorienting characteristics of reading literature into the inventive stages (prewriting and revision) of writing literary interpretations. The reading of literature and the process of composing interpretive essays are both different and similar. They are similar because they are both…

To investigate differences in the writing processes of novice and expert writers, a test of writing skills was developed that required subjects to write a business letter in defense of a particular system of public transportation in response to a letter objecting to that system. In the first of three experiments, significant differences were found…

In 1963 the National Council of Teachers of English published a major summary of research in composition, sometimes referred to as the Braddock Report, which included 24 questions that addressed areas in which further research was needed. This paper describes more than 100 published and unpublished reports of research conducted since the Braddock…

Emphasizes the importance of participatory, consultative interaction among teachers using the Conference Writing Process (CWP) in the classroom. Describes CWP as inclusive of gender, class, and ethnicity. Discusses how CWP actively involves students in talking, reading, and writing. Considers the appropriateness of this method at one high school.…

Describes the Directed Reading-Writing Activity (DRWA) as a framework that helps high school students write about the information they acquire through reading. Discusses how the DRWA's three steps--preparation, involvement, and reaction--extends the thought processes associated with reading comprehension into effective writing. (AEW)

Describes a teaching strategy using Apple IIe computers in a sequence of individual conferences. Includes asking questions while scrolling through the paper, showing students how to elaborate ideas by entering suggested changes and prompts in capital letters during the conference, and using a spelling checker to prompt revision (e.g., by compiling…

Explores the connection between reading and writing implicit in children's creative writing and highlights the similarity between processes of reading and writing. (JC)

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…

Presents an effective strategy for having business writing students create drafts of their work, so that final copies of assignments receive better grades, and students subsequently feel better about the class. (JC)

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)

A review of recent classroom research regarding writing processes reveals ways in which contextual factors affect student learning. Teachers should investigate the relationship between teaching and writing development in their own classrooms. (Author/CB)

Describes a study in which twenty first grade students wrote daily in journals, which were then analyzed at the end of the school year. (JC)

Reports experiences and observations during a visit to a writing workshop where elementary school students were learning how to revise and edit their compositions. (NKA)

Advocates in-class group writing exercises to increase business students' writing skills as an alternative to homework writing assignments that may make a student feel extremely pressured. Also provides excellent practice in revision--one of the most important facets of business writing. (NKA)