The purpose of this study was to examine, describe, evaluate, and compare the rating behavior of faculty consultants who scored essays written for the Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition (AP® ELC) Exam. Data from the 1999 AP ELC Exam were analyzed using FACETS (Linacre, 1998) and SAS. The faculty consultants were not all…

Discusses changes on the European university scene since 1968, when students protested against university administration and capitalism, and describes some plans, programs, and problems in improving higher education. Problems are mainly due to general economic conditions, aggravated by the students' own insistence on higher enrollments and lower…

Six essays submitted to Harvard University (Massachusetts) by applicants for the class of 2000 are presented. Topics include a refugee's experiences, a football player's passion for musical theater, the death of a sister, a mother's influence, living in China, and a renaissance-English poetic lament about being a dog. (MSE)

Recommends including essay questions on state economics examinations to prevent misclassification of students. Briefly reviews the literature arguing that certain groups of students do poorly on multiple choice tests. Discusses California's experience with adopting a combined-format type test. (MJP)

The effects of dictation and explicit instruction in planning on the composing skills of 42 fifth, sixth, and seventh graders with learning disabilities were studied. The combination of dictation and instruction in advanced planning resulted in more complete and qualitatively better essays than those written by comparison students. (SLD)

Four fifth grade students with learning disabilities were taught a strategy to facilitate setting product and process goals, generating and organizing notes, continued planning during writing, and evaluating goal attainment. Strategy instruction had a positive effect on students' essay writing and knowledge of the writing process, and effects were…

The technique of having college economics students write brief reaction papers in response to assigned readings has been found to be useful in motivating and enhancing student preparedness for classroom discussions. The reaction papers also helped students study for exams and develop writing skills. (MSE)

This instructional module from the National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME) explains how to design assessments for written reports, develop performance criteria and communicate them to students, monitor progress, and assess the outcome. Learning how to give students a role in assessment adds a dimension to their responsibilities. (SLD)

Analysis of the use of a cloze-procedure test to measure the English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) proficiency of Japanese college students revealed that the cloze test correlated significantly with an essay test and improved prediction of ESL proficiency, suggesting that carefully constructed cloze tests could be useful in integrative language…

Describes four instructional techniques used to deliver specific developmental objectives in both an introductory chemistry course and a general course in science and technology. The four techniques described are miniresearch projects, scenario-based research projects, short essay examination questions, and issues-directed research project. (PR)

A study of 543 South African university freshmen examined testing issues in relation to use of English as a first or second language. Results suggest multiple-choice tests yield higher grades than essay tests for both native and nonnative speakers, performance on essay questions varies depending on type of question, and open-ended tutorial…

Studied the amount of measurement error in a state's performance-based writing task as it relates to high-stakes decision reproducibility. Using 175 eighth-grade writing samples, the study finds moderate correlations between the two raters' scores, with significant differences for the rates for the handwritten, but not the typed, essays.(SLD)

A hurdles approach, where qualitatively different expectations are linked to higher grades is suggested as a way of challenging high performing students in large classes with extreme range in ability. Large classes and increasing range in student ability and preparedness as well as diverse student learning styles have made it difficult to design…

This article employs the concept of intersubjectivity to analyze developments in and discrepancies between students' understandings of criteria for effective writing and the criteria of their teacher. It reports on a study that employed qualitative methods of interview and classroom observation in conjunction with analysis of students' writing and…

Two groups of middle school students were taught U.S. colonial history during a 5-week period using 2 different instructional strategies. In the experimental group, concepts and problem-solving strategies were explicitly taught; in the control group, content was presented using lectures and reading. All students took a pretest and several…